#seth j. Frantzman

[eretzyisrael]

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Alan Zeitlin

In “The October 7 War: Israel’s Battle for Security in Gaza,”  Seth Frantzman doesn’t use hyperbole when he writes: “A country that went to sleep on Oct. 6 concerned with domestic controversies woke up the next day to an unprecedented war. It was a shock that shook the country to its core and left major questions about the future.”

Frantzman writes that as rockets flew overhead when he drove down to the border, his colleague Dr. Eric Mandel notified him that he saw corpses littering the streets. Some were Israeli civilians, and some were terrorists. The book is about the four months when he covered the war.

He notes that while more information will come out after official investigations are completed, there was an overconfidence by the heads of the Israeli military as well as politicians, who believed that by making sure money flowed to Hamas, the terrorist group would care about self-interest and not launch any major attack. He conveys the shock that many in the world sided with Hamas. “By attacking Israel,” he writes, “Hamas did not receive more condemnation and isolation globally; instead, it achieved more recognition and a spotlight.”

Frantzman takes you through the founding of Hamas, first through an election and then by murdering its opponents in the Fatah party. 

“At each point in history when Israel was about to achieve peace, Hamas would seek to sabotage the efforts via massive deadly attacks,” he writes of periods of past decades. “The same would occur in October 2023 when Hamas sought to derail normalization with Saudi Arabia and peace in the region.”

While Israel assassinated founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin in 2004, three years earlier it released Yahya Sinwar in the trade for kidnapped solider Gilad Shalit. Sinwar is the leader of Hamas, the Oct. 7 attack’s mastermind, and is still alive.  Frantzman writes that lessons have been learned. “Technology is not a substitute for strategy and tactics.”

Hamas did preparatory drills in plain sight during daylight hours so that Israel would be fooled into thinking the terrorist group was simply doing drills. Israel’s rationale was that the country defeated Hamas in 2002, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2021, so it could do it again if it had to.” But none of those included large-scale, surprise ground attacks. 

He notes that Knesset member Avigdor Liberman resigned as Defense Minister in 2018, sensing that the threat of Hamas was not taken seriously and that a paper he wrote explaining the possibility of a large-scale attack was largely ignored. The payments from Qatar that were believed to be for the purpose of de-incentivizing war were instead used to finance the terror tunnels, which were a key to the war. 

The plan, dubbed “walls of Jericho,” outlining almost exactly the October attack, was seen in April of 2002, but not acted upon. 

[girlactionfigure]

Amid news that one of the bomb makers behind the Bali bombing in 2002 that killed 202 has apologized, it made me think of something. Despite all the virtue signaling about how social media companies today are places of "trust and safety" and work against "misinformation"...I recall a time when there was a lot of extremist rhetoric and videos and photos shared on social media.

Even before that I remember being in University in March 2001 when the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddha carvings. You'd think that this important site would have been protected, but we were told in University that we have to be "understanding" of the Taliban.

Then I remember we had to be "understanding" about reports of beheadings, "honor killings," "acid attacks"...and "stonings"...we were supposed to understand something are just different in other places...in some places people get "lashings"...people get lashings for the "crime" of being raped, oddly. They get punished for not traveling with a "male guardian."

And travel sites about travel to Iran would explain how forcing people to cover their hair was a good thing.

It was a different time. We were told that people being charged with blasphemy...well it's just different over their and anyway the countries doing it are US allies...important partners in the "war on terror."

Literally...countries that were "partners" of the West were the ones putting people in prison for "blasphemy"...handing out death sentences for thought crimes...encouraging extremism in which minorities were regularly targeted...

What a strange time. And a lot of it was circulated on social media or broadcast even. I remember the images that were circulated of these brutal crimes, shocking beheadings, stonings, lashing...how strange that we had to be subjected to all that.

Now, in 2022, for some reason the constant reports of these kinds of crimes have been reduced. And I feel like the excuse factory that used to exist in the West, where no matter how genocidal the crime, like ISIS targeting minorities...we'd get some excuses about it....the factory has been reduced. But the enduring images we were once subjected to of these crimes remains. I remember they would be posted, sometimes with a. warning about being "explicit"...or "be wary to click on this link"....but some of these videos were openly distributed on social media and other platforms. You'd be scrolling along and see the most brutal things, usually by theocratic extremists targeting women and minorities. ISIS bragged about its crimes on social media, and at the time the horrors were shared. We should remember that a generation of people were subjected to this, made to feel numb, it was designed to legitimize it and make it seem normal...like "oh another person convicted for blasphemy, another stoning"...when it was not normal.

Seth J. Frantzman

[thefree-online]

Iran warship enters Red Sea as US Anfibs abandon it and US Aircraft Carrier Gerald Ford heads home

The USS Gerald Ford was mocked online for ‘fleeing’ Iran’s unstoppable hypersonic missile threat, while Iran’s Alborz warship entered the Red Sea.. . from thefreeonline info by SETH J. FRANTZMAN / Maritime-Executive / Al Mayadeen English / REUTERS JANUARY 1, 2024 Reports on December 31 that the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier is heading out of the Mediterranean is also raising eyebrows in Iran…

[andrewtheprophet]

Jordanian King warns of escalation and conflict outside the Temple Walls: Revelation 11

Jordanian King warns of escalation and conflict outside the Temple Walls: Revelation 11

Jordanian King Abdullah warns of escalation and conflict over Jerusalem -analysis Jordan’s warnings on the eve of Israel’s new government may be a preview of worse – or may be calculated to channel an existing narrative. By SETH J. FRANTZMAN Published: DECEMBER 29, 2022 21:00 Jordan’s King Abdullah II addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New…

[saxafimedianetwork]

@WhiteHouse said that @realDonaldTrump was awarding #LegionofMerit to Emir of #Kuwait who is an “unwavering friend & partner.” The US was also working with #Qatar regarding possible discussions with #Israel. Furthermore, Israel could pursue closer to #ties to #Somaliland

[berberanews]

SETH J FRANTZMAN: Israel waxay doonaysaa heshiis ay la gasho Somaliland

SETH J FRANTZMAN: Israel waxay doonaysaa heshiis ay la gasho Somaliland

Israel-(Berberanews)’Telefishan laga leeyahay Israel, oo lagu magacaabo Channel 12, ayaa sheegay Sabtidii July 9, 2022 in Madaxweynaha Somaliland Muse Bihi Abdi, uu u sheegay saraakiil sare oo Maraykan ah in uu soo dhawaynayo hadii Israel ay doonayso in ay cilaaqaad la yeelato Somaliland. Isla warkan ayaa waxa qoray maanta Times of Israel oo ah joornaal ka soo baxa Jerusalem. Bishii May, ayaa…

[thejewishlink]

Greek PM backs new NATO applicants as Turkey undermines alliance - analysis

Greek PM backs new NATO applicants as Turkey undermines alliance – analysis

Ankara’s far-right AKP Party has spent the last decade and a half undermining NATO in particular and democratic values in general. By SETH J. FRANTZMAN        Published: MAY 18, 2022   Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday following his meeting with US President Joe Biden on Monday. The important visit comes as Greco-American relations are…

[sagarparvizali]

Islamic Extremists, Sunni Extremists, Shiite Muslims, Islamic Revolution, Aa’Shooraa – [Reply to Seth J. Frantzman at Jerusalem Post]

Islamic Extremists, Sunni Extremists, Shiite Muslims, Islamic Revolution, Aa’Shooraa – [Reply to Seth J. Frantzman at Jerusalem Post]

In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy. Allaah [The Most High] said: [يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ – They want to extinguish Allaah’s Light with their mouths [i.e. the Qur’an, the pure Islamic monotheism and the guidance Allaah sent Muhammad with] but Allah will not allow except that His Light should be perfected even though the disbelievers…

[eretzyisrael]

Seth J. Frantzman

  · 

It increasingly feels like Hamas was created as a proxy against Israel, at least in part with active support of some in the international community. The extent of the Hamas tunnels and terrorist infrastructure in Gaza is so massive that there's no way this could have happened without active support of very powerful agendas globally.

For instance, Hamas sought to use almost every hospital in Gaza as a kind of strategic fortress, to operate near and around. If other militaries have bastions and redoubts and bases, for Hamas each hospital was a bastion.

Hamas also sought to exploit almost every school and international facility, for its terrorist uses, often tunneling under them or storing weapons in them. This happened not in war time, but rather over the last ten years when Israel wasn't operating in Gaza. What that means is that most of the terror infrastructure built in Gaza was built as internationals looked on. We hear their stories of "we didn't see it" or "we didn't know what was underneath our facility."

But none of this can be believed. The huge mountain of weapons found everywhere, the huge number of tunnels underneath every civilian area, under schools and universities, hospitals and UNRWA facilities, is so large and systematic that one can only conclude this organization was a proxy.

It's obvious to me that when peace was on the agenda that many groups in the world who wanted to find an organization to wage genocidal war against israel, sought to turn Gaza into a Hamas enclave to use it as a stepping stone for genocide. Their goal was to put this group on steroids and advise it how to turn Gaza into the most armed site in the world per capita. What that means is that it wasn't just "Sinwar" who was released in 2011 who did this...this was done with active support and collaboration of countries...of international organizations that advised Hamas on the laws of war and likely told them to put all their terror sites under schools, hospitals and int'l facilities...because this was how they could then charge Israel with "war crimes" for targeting these facilities.

For a lot of these organizations the war in 1948 never ended, they were displeased with the defeat in 1948 and their attempt to destroy Israel that year and they set about trying to use others to destroy Israel, first working with Egypt and Syria and then with Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

The amount of money and power that went into the Hamas infrastructure is the kind of thing that is used to build countries and cities, not terror groups. That means that Al Shabab or Boko Haram never had these kinds of resources. Hamas resources to build such extensive tunnels cost more than the budget of countries...which means countries are likely involved.

It's also why we see this huge lobby now to prevent Israel's operation in Rafah which is the last Hamas stronghold. It's also why more IDPs in Gaza were funneled toward Rafah by the groups that have worked with Hamas for years...this is their last massive human shield, 1.4 million people crowded into one area to protect the Hamas leadership and its 136 hostages.

I'm not saying the whole world is somehow invested in keeping Hamas in Gaza, but a portion of the world is invested in this agenda. Hamas is their proxy. The proxy to fight Israel. Part of the reason Israel is not at peace is because of this.

The addiction to Hamas is also clear from the fact that the organization itself and its leaders like Sinwar-Haniyeh etc are not that interesting unto themselves. It's clear that a lot more expertise and thought went into the Hamas empire of terror than just Sinwar and Haniyeh.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Seth J. Frantzman

In retrospect, it’s important to look at UNRWA as an organization that was created to thwart the establishment of Israel. The UN approved the Partition Plan for British Mandate Palestine in 1947. Israel declared independence in 1948.

UNRWA was then established and took a significant portion of the Palestinian population under its wing, effectively becoming a state within a state.

Because Egypt and Jordan had taken over the areas of the Arab state that were supposed to be established based on the Partition Plan, UNRWA stepped in as a kind of state in the making for Palestinians. Most people don’t view UNRWA as a proto-state, but in essence, that is what it has become.

UNRWA camps served as the foundation for the majority of Palestinian political – and, later, militant and terrorist – activities. Schools and refugee camps organized spaces for the groups that emerged, ranging from Fatah to the PFLP to Hamas.

For instance, Hamas gained power partly through areas in Gaza, such as Khan Yunis, from which killed leader Yahya Sinwar hailed. Many other refugee camps also became known as bases of various groups and gunmen.

UNRWA would prefer not to take responsibility for the fact that its camps became the main organizing ground for gunmen and terrorism. In fact, the rejection of Israel’s existence comes primarily from the UNRWA camps.

What that means is that the UNRWA state or empire was organized to destroy Israel and use the refugees as the main engine of this destruction. For decades, the number of refugees has grown, and their political aspirations have shifted from supporting two states to supporting one state. October 7 was an outgrowth of this shift.

The concept of UNRWA is to keep Palestinians dependent, living in refugee camps generation after generation, while using its young men as foot soldiers to fight Israel.Winding down the camps and having the people live normal lives and believe in two states and peace could have potentially resulted in peace. However, the UNRWA mandate was never to embrace peace, two states, and coexistence.

One can draw a direct line from the end of the Second World War and the end of the Holocaust to the establishment of the State of Israel and the creation of UNRWA as a weapon in the hands of the international community to try to undermine Israel and use refugees as proxies against Israel.

This line is clear because the UN played a key role in the Partition Plan.  The UN then undermined its own plan by creating UNRWA, which served to perpetuate the conflict.Each succeeding generation has taken up the baton from the UNRWA camps and launched wars against Israel. The first war occurred in the 1950s, when Egypt used “infiltrators” and fedayeen (guerrillas) against Israel.

Then there was the Jordanian Civil War, aka Black September, in the 1970s. The war then moved to Lebanon, where Palestinians upended the Lebanese system, leading to Israel’s invasion in 1982.

Then the movement moved via Tunisia back to Gaza and the West Bank and laid the groundwork for the First Intifada. When the Oslo peace deal emerged, Hamas emerged to upend it.

Since the 1990s, the UNRWA camps have not embraced two states or peace but have instead continued to embrace extremism, thereby becoming a hotbed for radicalism.The road to October 7 was paved from there. In Gaza, when Hamas took over, UNRWA didn’t oppose Hamas but was available to partner with it.

Now, Gaza has been destroyed in another war because of UNRWA’s unwillingness to end this conflict and stop using refugees as a tool against Israel.

[girlactionfigure]

They bomb a theatre full of people sheltering, a maternity hospital, bread lines, they purposely target civilian apartments. Moscow’s war on Ukraine is a massive illegal war crime against humanity genocidal attack on the peaceful and innocent.

Seth J. Frantzman

[gozer123]

Ignoring rocket fire, most foreign media focus on Israel’s airstrikes

Ignoring rocket fire, most foreign media focus on Israel’s airstrikes

The most anti-Israel coverage, unsurprisingly, is in the Iranian and Turkish media. Iran and Turkey both support Hamas. By SETH J. FRANTZMAN MAY 11, 2021 17:10     Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in a site of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, in the west of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 11, 2021. (photo credit: ABED RAHIM…

[andrewtheprophet]

Russia Kills Another Obama-Biden-Iran Nuclear Deal

Russia Kills Another Obama-Biden-Iran Nuclear Deal

Is Russia happy it sabotaged a new US-Iran deal? – analysis Having oversold Washington and angered the Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, Moscow realizes it has no more “in” with the West. By SETH J. FRANTZMAN Published: DECEMBER 4, 2022 16:50 Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Yerevan, Armenia, November 23,…

[saxafimedianetwork]

Why Israel Should Care About Somaliland

With the changes in the #geopolitical context of the #region, knitting together #Israel, the #UAE, #Greece, #Cyprus and #Egypt in a #network of shared #interests, #Somaliland could be an important country. #IsraelUAE @musebiihi @somalilandmfa

(more…)