RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jns.org/is-israel-taking-ramadan-restraint-too-far/

“Israel’s policy has always been, and always will be, to safeguard freedom of worship for all faiths,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday at the start of a special session with cabinet members and security chiefs to prepare for the imminent month-long Muslim holiday that begins this year on March 10-11. “This is what we have also done during Ramadan, and this is what we will do now.”

He went on: “We will do everything to safeguard freedom of worship on the Temple Mount, while appropriately taking into account security and safety needs, and will enable the Muslim public to mark the holiday.”

This was a reference to the location of the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a house of prayer that doubles as a base of violence. Because radical Islamists around the world have turned it into a dual symbol of victimhood at the hands of the “infidels” and victory over them, it is always an incendiary hotspot.
It is especially so during spikes in Palestinian terrorism and Ramadan, which usually go together. This is bad news for Muslims who treat the holiday—one of the Five Pillars of Islam—as a period for spiritual contemplation and self-discipline.
It’s far worse, however, for the Jews targeted by those who consider the 30 days of fasting and feasting an opportune time for waging jihad. Not that the latter need Ramadan or Al-Aqsa as an excuse.
Indeed, they’re just as happy to commit mass murder on Jewish and Christian holidays. Hamas’s genocidal Oct. 7 massacre on Simchat Torah and a Shabbat morning is only the most recent example.
But it was the casus belli of the current war in Gaza. Yes, Israel realized on that day five months ago that it had no choice but to destroy the terrorist organization that perpetrated the rape, immolation, decapitation, maiming, slaughter and abduction of hundreds of innocent men, women and children.

https://www.jns.org/palestinian-hate-crime-hoax/

Statistics show that antisemitism is on the rampage, while Islamophobia is minuscule. And that’s bad for the Palestinian cause.

The Vermont man charged with shooting three Palestinian-American college students on Nov. 25 was a defender of Hamas, The New York Times has belatedly acknowledged—and with it, the No. 1 example of an “anti-Palestinian hate crime” has completely crumbled.

For the past three months, the Times and other major news media have portrayed the incident in the city of Burlington as proof that Palestinians are victims of hate crimes in America. Whenever somebody points to the outsized number of recent antisemitic incidents, Arab advocates cite the Vermont shooting as evidence that Arabs and Muslims are just as much victims as the Jews.

It’s reached the point that when some universities announce they are forming a committee to investigate antisemitism, they also announce one to investigate Islamophobia—as Harvard recently did. Even the Biden administration, after unveiling its U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, then announced it is preparing a national strategy to counter Islamophobia, too.

But it turns out that Exhibit A of “anti-Palestinian hate” apparently was nothing of the sort.

As early as last December, local media in Vermont reported that the alleged shooter’s social-media accounts included pro-Hamas statements.

The major news media ignored this myth-busting news—until now. The New York Times Sunday Magazine, in its March 3 edition, included a long essay by Rozina Ali, formerly a Cairo-based journalist who now teaches adjunct at New York University. She is writing a book on “the recent history of Islamophobia in the United States.”

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-790620

While some advocates of a Palestinian state have been claiming that the state would be demilitarized, others are already making the case for building up a Palestinian army.

A feature in the Washington Post this week warned that the Palestinian Authority’s security forces are not yet big enough or powerful enough for the Palestinian state that the Biden Administration is now advocating. The PA forces are “underfunded and widely unpopular [and] ill-equipped to take on the massive responsibilities that their Western backers are envisioning.”
 
So what will the Palestine statehood crowd prescribe as the solution? Give them more funds and more weapons, of course. Build them into a full-fledged army, disguised as a “security force.”

The excuse will be that the PA needs the money and guns to fight terrorism. Everybody seems to have forgotten that the PA was supposed to have been fighting terrorism since it was created back in the 1990s by the Oslo Accords—but it never has done the job.

The first Oslo Agreement, in 1993, stipulated that the Palestinian Arabs would have “a strong police force.” (Article VII) It didn’t say anything about the formation of an army. But the Palestinian Authority quickly exploited the opportunity. The original 12,000 man “security force” ballooned to 60,000—and the international community didn’t say a word. 

Then came Oslo II, in 1995, which spelled out more specifically that the PA security forces are obligated to “apprehend, investigate and prosecute perpetrators and all other persons directly or indirectly involved in acts of terrorism, violence and incitement.” (Annex I, Article II, 3-c). 

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20467/ramadan-jihad-killing

On March 5, Biden warned of potential problems without a ceasefire deal by Ramadan. “There’s got to be a ceasefire because Ramadan – if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous,” he told reporters in Washington.

Such statements are undoubtedly based on the extremely false assumption that Muslims do not engage in wars and armed conflicts during the month of fasting. In fact, the opposite is true. As the New York Times reported “It is widely believed that the rewards earned for noble acts are greater during Ramadan….”

Hamas… even published an article entitled, “Ramadan – The Month of Jihad, Fighting, and Victory over the Enemies.”

Throughout history, Muslims have taken advantage of Ramadan to wage war against their enemies. Five historic Islamic battles were fought in the month of Ramadan: Battle of Badr, Conquest of Mecca, Battle of Tabuk, Battle of Amin Jalut, and Battle of Hattin.

Those who believe that Hamas seeks a ceasefire ahead of Ramadan are deluding themselves. Those who are concerned about the sanctity of the holy month ought to listen to what the terrorists themselves are saying: Ramadan actually increases their desire for Jewish blood.

International mediators and world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, are hoping to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Iran-backed Hamas terror group before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which starts on March 10.

On March 5, Biden warned of potential problems without a ceasefire deal by Ramadan. “There’s got to be a ceasefire because Ramadan – if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous,” he told reporters in Washington.

Such statements are undoubtedly based on the extremely false assumption that Muslims do not engage in wars and armed conflicts during the month of fasting. In fact, the opposite is true. As the New York Times reported “It is widely believed that the rewards earned for noble acts are greater during Ramadan….”

https://www.jns.org/hamas-unrwa-sex-crimes-and-international-womens-day/

Israelis don’t need further proof of the atrocities committed on Oct. 7 by Hamas, and fellow Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah savages. Testimony from survivors and forensic pathologists abounds.
As if eyewitness accounts weren’t sufficient, there are hours of audio and video recordings from cellphone, GoPro and CCTV cameras, much of which was taped and filmed by ecstatic terrorists boasting of their barbaric accomplishments.

Sadly, however, aspersions abroad make every new sliver of evidence necessary. Not that the two reports released on Monday are likely to make a dent in massacre denial.

Indeed, historical revisionism, of the sort surrounding the Holocaust, is already rampant—a mere five months after the genocidal assault on the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip. Still, both disclosures were particularly worthy of note due to their timing: the approach of International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8. They were also unwittingly connected.

The first was the acknowledgment by the United Nations that sex crimes against women and girls were perpetrated on Oct. 7 by Hamas “and other armed groups.” This better-late-than-never realization was reached by a team of “technical experts,” led by Special Representative of the Secretary-General Pramila Patten, following a two-week mission to Israel last month.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/03/dont-fall-for-hamass-numbers-game/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_

Lloyd Austin’s recent gullibility about Hamas casualty figures lays bare the terrorist group’s goal: to use lies and propaganda to turn the world against Israel.

At a press conference in the early days of the Israel–Hamas conflict, President Joe Biden was asked about casualty numbers coming out of Gaza. He responded that he had “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.” The next day, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked the same question, and in turn explained, “We all know that the Gazan Ministry of Health is just a front for Hamas. It’s a — it’s run by Hamas, a terrorist organization. I’ve said it myself up here: We can’t take anything coming out of Hamas, including the so-called Ministry of Health, at face value.”

Fast forward to February 29, when Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had no such qualms, parroting before Congress Hamas’s claim that “over 25,000” women and children have perished in Gaza. A few short hours later, the Pentagon walked back the secretary’s claim. Why? Because nobody has any idea — any honest idea — how many Gazans have died in the war that began with Hamas’s October 7 attack.

The only sources of data about casualties in Gaza are Hamas-controlled organizations. And despite a demonstrable record of manipulation designed to exaggerate the deaths of women and children (and minimize the numbers of men — the targets of Israeli military action), these numbers have become the data of record, used without qualification by the United Nations, its specialized agencies, the media, and, pace Joe Biden, one of the U.S. government’s highest officials.

As early as October, after false claims that 471 were killed by an alleged Israeli attack on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Hamas’s credibility should have been shot. The “attack” turned out to be a misfired missile launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad that damaged an area adjacent to the hospital, and most experts concluded that deaths totaled half that number or even fewer. But doubts about Hamas’s honesty soon dissipated, and much of the press returned to an uncritical repetition of Palestinian statistics.

There can be little doubt that many thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have perished. The IDF says that 12,000 Hamas terrorists have been killed — and presumably most, if not all, of these casualties are men. As a proportional matter, if 12,000 men have been killed, it is possible that roughly the same number of women (who are approximately 50 percent of the Gazan population), and almost as many children under 18 (47 percent of the overall population), have also died.

On the other hand, this is not the bombing of Dresden or the carpet-bombing of Vietnam. House-to-house fighting is generally aimed at minimizing civilian casualties, and the IDF has until recently conducted much of its campaign with air support for troops on the ground. Thus, we should assume that a proportional death toll in Gaza of men, women, and children is unlikely. However, Hamas’s penchant for c0-locating their operations with mosques, schools, and hospitals means higher risks for Palestinians who are young, elderly, or infirm.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/03/does-kamala-harris-know-the-administration-needs-an-israeli-victory/?utm_source=recirc-

Her equivocating remarks over the weekend left reason to wonder about the coherence of the White House’s strategy.

The Biden administration’s hopelessly confused approach to navigating the domestic politics of Israel’s defensive war against Hamas was reflected in Vice President Kamala Harris’s equally confused remarks on the subject over the weekend. In a speech that touched on the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, Harris tried to please all sides of the issue — and succeeded only in irritating all parties equally.

In calling for an “immediate ceasefire,” Harris first put the onus on Hamas. “There is a deal on the table,” she observed. “Hamas needs to agree to that deal.” That outcome would allow the reunification of “the hostages with their families” and “provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza,” Harris noted. Fair enough. But following this throat-clearing exercise, Harris devoted the remainder of her speech to castigating Israel over its conduct of the war that erupted with the October 7 massacre. In the process, the vice president strongly suggested the true obstacle to peace was not the terrorist entity that inaugurated this war but its victim.

“People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane, and our common humanity compels us to act,” Harris said of the horrors that prevail in Gaza today. “The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.” She went on to imply that the humanitarian disaster unfolding in formerly Hamas-controlled territory is an outgrowth of Israeli cruelty. To mitigate the disaster, Israel must “open new border crossings,” “restore basic services” to and “promote order in Gaza,” and avoid imposing any “unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid.”

To hear Harris tell it, you could be forgiven for believing (as, surely, most of her unwitting constituents do) that Israel has gone to great lengths to deprive Gazans of access to humanitarian relief. In fact, Israel negotiated an agreement with Egypt as early as October 18 to allow the transit of humanitarian-aid convoys through the Rafah crossing — and that agreement has been in effect since October 21. Additionally, Israel reopened the Karem Shalom crossing into Gaza directly from Israeli territory in mid December, and properly inspected aid has flown uninterrupted through that checkpoint since late last year, despite “threats of sniper fire, anti-tank missile shooting, among other threats to civilian life.” Since the outset of hostilities, the Israeli government maintains that 14,545 trucks have delivered 267,970 tons of humanitarian aid to Gazans.