ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Demonstrating against Jew-hatred isn’t enough A direct line runs between defamation of Israel and attacks on Jews Melanie Phillips

Posted By on December 3rd, 2023

https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/demonstrating-against-jew-hatred?utm_campaign=email-post&r=8t06w&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

The enormous demonstration against antisemitism in London last Sunday provided a much-needed morale boost to the beleaguered Jewish community.

There is profound shock that the barbaric Hamas pogrom in Israel on October 7 has given rise to a tsunami of incitement, intimidation and abuse of Jews. In this appalling situation, the emergence of tens of thousands of decent British citizens declaring their support for the Jewish people was heartening indeed.

However, declaring abhorrence of antisemitism needs to be backed by action if it is to mean anything.

The government has stated its solidarity with Israel over the massacre and has vowed to combat antisemitism. Yet if it really wanted to tackle this eruption of the oldest hatred, it would be addressing what’s driving it.

It would be speaking out against the virulent Islamic antisemitism that’s now on display in Britain and worldwide. It would be shutting down mosques where imams are preaching incitement against Jews and Israel.

It would be educating the country about the extraordinary lengths to which Israel goes in order to avoid harming Gaza’s civilians, unmatched by any other country.

It would be declaring that anyone who portrays Israel as genocidal, Nazi or guilty of illegality or human rights abuses is perpetrating a grotesque lie about the Jewish state that incites abuse and violence against Jews everywhere.

But the government has said none of these things. Instead the new Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, has actually fuelled the demonisation of Israel.

Echoing the malign barbs delivered by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Cameron lectured Israeli leaders that “they must abide by international humanitarian law, that the number of casualties are too high and that they have to have that top of their mind”.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

The Truth About the Hostages and the Israel-Hamas ‘Ceasefire’—Colonel Richard Kemp VIDEO

Posted By on December 3rd, 2023

https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/the-truth-about-the-hostages-and-the-israel-hamas-ceasefire-colonel-richard-kemp-atlnow-5539835?ea_src=author_manual&ea_med=related_videos

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

President Biden Must Stop Caving to Far Left Ceasefire Calls and Instead Stand Firm With Israel By Mike Pompeo,

Posted By on December 3rd, 2023

https://aclj.org/israel/president-biden-must-stop-caving-to-far-left-ceasefire-calls-and-instead-stand-firm-with-israel

As Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza this week, calls for a long-term ceasefire from inside the United States – particularly within the Democrat Party – have remained strong.  Indeed, many had pushed for the previous short-term pause in fighting, which allowed the release of hostages held by Hamas, to remain in place indefinitely.  While we should celebrate the return of innocent Israeli civilians being reunited with their families and loved ones, we must recognize that a long-term ceasefire would play right into Hamas’ hands.  Such a ceasefire would not remove Hamas from Gaza, and it would only encourage future attacks on Israel.

Make no mistake: A long-term ceasefire is exactly what Hamas wants.  In the immediate aftermath of  Hamas’ barbaric acts on October 7, Israeli leaders pledged to wipe out the terrorist organization and the Israeli military has since begun an effective campaign to do just that.  In the face of utter annihilation, Hamas decided to use the hostages it took to ensure its own survival, helped especially by the Biden Administration’s pressure on the Israeli government to allow for a ceasefire.  With the vast majority of Hamas’ forces still intact, there are signs that the Biden Administration is now pushing Israel to accept a long-term ceasefire.

Think, for a moment, of the long-term consequences of such a decision.  The attacks on Hamas were the worst acts of antisemitic violence perpetrated since the Holocaust.  Pressuring Israel to now sign a long-term ceasefire would only encourage future attacks like those we saw on October 7.  It would be a green light to Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies that America will not have Israel’s back, making the region far less safe for Israelis and Americans alike.

Yet this would be perfectly in step with Team Biden’s broader approach to the region.  Its weak, ineffectual responses to the attacks on our own military bases in the region – now totaling over 70 – have further emboldened the Iranian regime.  Biden’s decision to issue a sanctions waiver earlier this month, granting the regime in Tehran access to more than $10 billion, will only fuel more attacks on America and raise the risk faced by Israel and our other allies and partners in the region.

FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

US Efforts to Extend Gaza Truce Are ‘Objectively Pro-Hamas’: John Bolton

Posted By on December 3rd, 2023

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/us-efforts-to-extend-gaza-truce-are-objectively-pro-hamas-john-bolton-5540240?utm_source=News&src_

‘I think Israel’s best judgment here is simply to proceed militarily to achieve the objective it says it wants, which is the elimination of Hamas.’

Former national security adviser John Bolton on Saturday criticized the Biden administration for its attempts to extend the truce in Gaza, calling them “objectively pro-Hamas.”

“I think with the initial pause now behind us, I think Israel’s best judgment here is simply to proceed militarily to achieve the objective it says it wants, which is the elimination of Hamas,” Mr. Bolton told News Nation.

“I think the second-guessing by the Biden administration, the efforts to prolong the pause to turn it into a full ceasefire, are objectively pro-Hamas because it denies Israel the self-defense right it has to eliminate the terrorist threat.”

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Israel’s war with the Hamas terrorist group resumed on Friday after a weeklong truce brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, during which Hamas freed 110 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
A day before the truce ended, Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged for a longer truce on Thursday. He said, “Our immediate focus is working with our partners to extend the pause so that we can continue to get more hostages out of Gaza and more assistance in.”
Also on Friday, the White House blamed Hamas for ending the truce. “It’s because of Hamas that this pause ended,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, per USA Today.

“They were just simply unable, failed to produce a list of hostages that could help enable that pause extending,” Mr. Kirby added. “The onus is on Hamas to be able to produce a list of hostages that that they can get out so that we can try to get this pause back in place.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Ukraine: The Decimation Point by Amir Taheri

Posted By on December 3rd, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20193/ukraine-decimation-point

[B]oth Russia and Ukraine have passed what military theoreticians call the “decimation point” when you see that you have lost at least 10% of your fighting manpower.

In the West, public opinion saw the war as a means of keeping the Russian giant in chains, while anti-West forces admired Putin for challenging the American big bad wolf.

Thirsting for a bit of good news in these bad times of war, Ukraine’s media headlined what it saw as a victory: The return to Kiev of a haul of artefacts from Crimea that had been on exhibit in European cities before Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.

The return came after a ten-year legal battle in which Russia claimed that it should receive the artefacts because they were made before the 1950s when the then Soviet ruler Nikita Khrushchev “handed Crimea over to Ukraine.” Ukraine counter-argued that the artefacts were loaned to a Dutch museum before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops annexed Crimea.

Well, in every war even the tiniest bit of good news could help divert attention, even momentarily, from bigger bad news.

Though actual and sustained fighting started in February 2022, Russia’s war against Ukraine started almost a decade ago when Crimea was annexed. Since then, the fratricidal war has offered no good news for either side. Putin called the war “special operations”, implying it would be over in a matter of weeks if not days. Although not as starry-eyed, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky also dreamed that thanks to support from NATO, the biggest military machine in history, his side would quickly emerge victorious.

The bad news that didn’t get the headlines either in Moscow or Kyiv is that both Russia and Ukraine have passed what military theoreticians call the “decimation point” when you see that you have lost at least 10% of your fighting manpower.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

POSITIVE NEWS FROM ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on December 3rd, 2023

The news from Israel is dominated by reports of war, hostage exchanges, and hostages including children still in bondage in appalling conditions. Beyond the headlines Israeli resilience and patriotism, and research and development to benefit humanity continue apace. Michael Ordman compiles an essential catalog of the foregoing every week. Here is positive news at a time of suffering and despair. Read it all…..rsk

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR

Female tank crews save kibbutzim. (TY Manfred) On Oct 7 Israel’s all-female tank crews made history when they fought Hamas terrorists and prevented them from overrunning many Israeli southern communities. They are the first female armored crews in Israel, and perhaps the world, to participate in active battle.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/female-idf-tank-crews-ran-down-dozens-of-hamas-terrorists-on-october-7/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjy0wpdSAI0

The farmer who neutralized a Hamas cell. Eran Smilansky was a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz’s emergency squad. On Oct 7, he eliminated eight Hamas terrorists who had stormed his home. He then saved his father and his two daughters at his father’s home that the terrorists had tried to burn down with his family inside.

https://idsf.org.il/en/stories-of-valor/singlehandedly-neutralized-a-terrorists-cell/

Eritrean given residency for saving life. Eritrean national Mulugeta Tsagi received permanent residency status in Israel as a “thank you” for saving an Israeli soldier’s life on Oct. 7. Tsagi gave lifesaving first aid to an IDF officer shot by Hamas in Sderot, then stayed with him for several hours until he finally reached hospital.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/eritrean-given-permanent-residency-in-israel-after-saving-idf-officers-life-on-oct-7/  https://www.jns.org/eritrean-granted-israeli-residency-for-oct-7-heroism/

What’s cooking? Beraha Astruk is a Head Nurse at Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. After work, she voluntarily spends her evenings and weekends cooking for two IDF battalions stationed near the northern border. She even invites the soldiers to do their laundry at her house. Beraha has two sons in the IDF in Gaza.

https://www.israel21c.org/after-hospital-shifts-head-nurse-cooks-for-idf-battalions/

Care for released hostages. (TY Cynthia) Schneider Children’s Hospital is THE hospital designated to receive many of the released children and their families. It has a media-free area, decorated recovery rooms, a multi-disciplinary team of medical and support staff, even family pets are allowed. See photos & donation links here.

https://www.schneider.org.il/?CategoryID=844&ArticleID=5328

https://www.schneider.org.il/?CategoryID=1011&ArticleID=5327

https://www.justgiving.com/ukfriendsofschneider/donate (UK donors)

https://www.schneider.org.il/?CategoryID=1063&ArticleID=3238 (Israeli & US donors)

Late birthday present for released hostage. On his 9th birthday, Ohad Munder was a hostage in Gaza. He was told that his favorite soccer team, Hapoel Be’er Sheva, wished him a happy birthday on TV. It gave Ohad renewed strength and on his release, the players visited him in hospital.

https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-soccer-teams-heartfelt-reunion-with-9-year-old-captive-is-a-birthday-wish-fulfilled/

Entrepreneur raises $40 million for IDF. Since Oct 7, Dutch-based Israeli entrepreneur Eran Efrat, has raised some $40 million to produce tactical gear for IDF soldiers. He didn’t simply give the money to the army but directly solicited US-based manufacturers to produce helmets, ceramic vests, and more.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bkseqpnnp

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Liver cancer patient saved. A patient with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) who participated in the Phase II trials of namodenoson from Israel’s Can-Fite (see here previously) had an extremely good response. His liver function returned to normal, and he is looking forward to a good quality of life.

https://ir.canfite.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1035/can-fite-complete-response-and-6-9-yearsoverall-survival

Traffic lights to silence cancer genes. (TY Laura) Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered how DNA methylation acts as a gene control system, like a traffic light that can modulate gene activity and trigger or prevent cancer mutations. It will help develop personalized therapies for cancer patients.

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-775427

https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-023-03094-6

Clearing the airways. The LibAirty compression vest from Israel’s Synchrony Medical (see here previously) has begun clinical (human) trials at the National Cystic Fibrosis Center of Sheba Medical Center, where it was developed. Synchrony’s CEO says the device is twice as effective as similar products currently on the market. 

https://nocamels.com/2023/11/compression-vest-that-clears-the-lungs-in-clinical-trial-in-israel/

Amorphous calcium to treat IBD. Israel’s Amorphical (see here previously) has adapted its amorphous calcium carbonate production technology to treat inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and arthritis. The mineral neutralizes the acidity within affected tissue to prevent inflammation.

https://nocamels.com/category/news-briefs/#post-125592

Developing RNA-based treatments for rare diseases. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Skip Therapeutics is partnering with Sheba Medical Center to develop ASO-based (short RNA sequences) treatments for rare genetic diseases. Skip’s ASOs (Antisense Oligonucleotide) aim to restore the function of mutated genes in genetic disorders.

https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/skip-therapeutics-and-sheba-medical-center-to-collaborate-for-the-development-of-rna-based-treatments-for-rare-diseases-301994662.html   https://www.skiptx.com/

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Islamic Terrorists Bomb Catholic Mass in Philippines It’s a religious war. by Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on December 3rd, 2023

https://www.frontpagemag.com/islamic-terrorists-bomb-catholic-mass-in-philippines/

It’s not just Israel. Islamic terrorists are coming after the entire world.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr condemned a deadly bombing on Sunday, blaming “foreign terrorists”, as police and the military strengthened security in the country’s south and around the capital Manila.

At least four people were killed and at least 50 injured after a bomb exploded during a morning Catholic Mass in a university gymnasium in Marawi, a city in the south of the country besieged by Islamist militants for five months in 2017.

The blast in Marawi, capital of Lanao del Sur province, followed a series of military operations against local pro-Islamic State groups in the southern Philippines, the military chief said, including one on Sunday in Lanao del Sur that led to the killing of a leader of the Dawlah Islamiya-Maute group.

The Islamic State-linked Maute seized Marawi on May 2017, seeking to make it a Southeast Asian “wilayat” – or governorate – for Islamic State. In the ensuing five-month battle, Islamist fighters and Philippine forces killed more than a thousand people, including civilians.

Hamas or its counterparts are everywhere that any sizable Islamic colonial population has been embedded.

It’s not a coincidence that they targeted a Christian religious service. Much as it’s not a coincidence that on Oct 7, Hamas struck on a Jewish religious holiday.

ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The red-green alliance against the West by Alex Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky

Posted By on December 3rd, 2023

https://romirowsky.com/27373/red-green-alliance-against-west

The murderous Hamas attack on Israel can be described as a success only in a limited and horrific tactical sense: More Jews were murdered in a single day than at any time since the Holocaust. The surprise was achieved thanks to elaborate planning and lavish Iranian funding and to Israeli complacency on the part of the military and distracted political echelon. The price was immense and terrible.

But in a strategic sense, the attack was a failure and illustrates a truism of Middle Eastern history: The Palestinians, in this case Hamas, are their own worst enemies. Even their successes are, or will be, failures. Consider some of the unintended consequences of the Hamas attack. These range from local to regional to global effects.

To begin, Hamas has set back the Palestinian movement and destroyed Gaza. The Palestinian movement has long been characterized by two theoretically distinct but interrelated strands: Islamic rejection of Jews and a nationalist strand that played on contemporary concepts such as Third Worldism, liberation movements, and, most lately, decolonization. In practice, however, these were mutually reinforcing and in neither case contributed to the conception of a functioning nation-state. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas has run or can run a state.

The resurgent Islamic violence — the Oct. 7 raid was at one level a classic Muslim razzia of unconstrained violence, rape, and looting, in the tradition of Muhammad — proved again that Hamas, Islamic governance, and the Palestinian movement as a whole are addicted to violence. The reconfiguration of Gaza, using international aid money, into a gigantic base in which civilians existed only as human shields is another aspect of this failure. Add to this the complete collapse of Hamas on its own carefully prepared battlefield, which proved the ineptitude of its strategy, leadership, and field capabilities. The self-victimization of Gaza by Hamas, the intentional “martyring” of innocents along with terrorists, was a fundamental part of this plan. But the scale of destruction, apparently unanticipated, that has reduced northern Gaza to near-uninhabitable rubble proves the failure of that plan as well.

HISTORY Comments turned off

Isaiah Berlin and the Meaning of Life: Mervyn Bendle

Posted By on December 2nd, 2023

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2023/11/isaiah-berlin-and-the-meaning-of-life/

Excerpt:An amusing vignette about Churchill and  Isaiah Berlin, from a very long article on Isaiah Berlin.

What to do? As it turned out, the Second World War ensured the question was deferred while Isaiah Berlin spent the next five years working for the British Information Service and Foreign Office in Washington and elsewhere, building up a vast network of useful contacts and a reputation as an incisive researcher and commentator on political, diplomatic and economic issues.

So prominent did his reputation become that he was honored with an invitation to lunch at Downing Street with the Churchills, along with the Commander of the Imperial General Staff and other dignitaries. At the table, the Prime Minister eagerly sought out the views of his special guest on various complex political matters, including the likelihood of Roosevelt being re-elected for a fourth term, but the answers he received seemed not particularly well-informed. He then asked Mr Berlin what he felt was the most important thing he had ever written. “White Christmas,” was the reply. Churchill, perplexed, gave up and turned to someone else. It was only later that he was told that through a mix-up it was the composer Irving Berlin who had been invited to enjoy lunch and Churchill’s company. Ironically, when the story of “the Irving–Winston–Isaiah affair” got out, it further enhanced Isaiah’s reputation, and he found that even more doors in the corridors of power and influence were now open to him.

EDUCATION Comments turned off

University Quietly Abandons DEI Requirements, Free Speech Activists Celebrate Victory By Eric Lendrum

Posted By on December 2nd, 2023

https://amgreatness.com/2023/12/01/university-quietly-abandons-dei-requirements-free-speech-activists-celebrate-victory/

The University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass) ended an application requirement that forced potential employees to pledge their support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Fox News reports that the decision, which had previously brought criticism to the university, was celebrated as a “victory” for freedom of speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

“Public institutions like the University of Massachusetts Boston are bound by the First Amendment to make hiring decisions in a viewpoint-neutral manner,” said FIRE’s Program Officer Haley Gluhanich. “We’re glad the university eventually changed course. But maybe next time, it doesn’t need to take five months of advocacy.”

FIRE first discovered the existence of the requirement in June, where faculty applicants were ordered to submit statements expressing their “experience and commitment” to DEI. FIRE denounced these rules as a “clear violation of both prospective faculty’s academic freedom and the university’s obligation to uphold the First Amendment.

“UMass Boston tried dodging the issue for several months,” Gluhanich continued, noting that FIRE “recently discovered that the DEI requirements had finally been removed from the job listings we flagged and that newly posted job listings contained no similar requirements.”