#unrwa terrorist financing

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Even after being presented with picture evidence of UNRWA workers who are actually Hamas terrorists, the head of this benighted organisation is still pleading ignorance.

His version is that he is 'unable' to verify the identity of the worker (why?) and wasn't presented with any evidence by Israeli authorities (he was).

There's photographic evidence of a UNRWA base in Gaza where the server room has been deliberately connected to a Hamas terror tunnel underneath. Again, UNRWA claims complete ignorance.

The UN's Special Rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, Francesca Albanese, claims that they 'haven't received any evidence' that UNRWA workers were involved in the Hamas massacre, yet there is image evidence of social media posts by UNRWA workers celebrating the terrorist attack, and UNRWA fired at least 12 employees in response to Israel's evidence.

Underneath all of these protests of ignorance lies an important question: where did Hamas get the money from to build over 400 miles of terror tunnels?

The answer is twofold: sponsorship from Qatar and the Iranian terrorist regime, and the fraudulent 'humanitarian aid' that clueless foreigners are still clamouring for.

UNRWA and the UN have to keep claiming ignorance that Hamas was operating right under their noses for years because the alternative is admitting that they have allowed billions in taxpayers' money to flow straight into the pockets of a terrorist organisation.

Worse, the alternative is admitting that their special narrative that Gaza is the victim of Israel is completely untrue: that the Palestinian leadership is uninterested in negotiation and peace, and that numerous Palestinian civilians are supportive of, funding, and carrying out terrorism in the Gaza Strip.

This is further proven by the fact that the UNRWA has repeatedly been exposed for distributing books that call for the genocide of Jews. I suppose the head of UNRWA will also claim that he cannot verify this either, and 'hasn't seen any evidence'. But there's more than enough picture and book evidence, and the European Union has criticised UNRWA for this before.

It is an enormous victory that numerous countries have suspended their funding for UNRWA. Next is to stop funding altogether, and to banish UNRWA from the Gaza Strip. This organisation, which operates on a fictitious definition of refugee not applied to anyone else on earth, is a front for terrorist financing and money laundering. Any other organisation that even copied half of UNRWA's behaviour would have been shut down immediately.

SHUT DOWN UNRWA!

[some-israeli-guy]

With the talks of the hostage deal possibly being signed soon, I will feel a great relief when the hostages return, but I am also incredibly angry.

1000 terrorists. This is how many Israel will be freeing from prison in exchange for 33 hostages, not all of them living, in the first stage of the deal.

I am not saying we should let the hostages stay there, I don't want anyone thinking that. We should have released them a long time ago. But I am angry at everyone responsible for the deal taking this long and being this uneven (every deal is uneven when you release terrorists in exchange for civilians and babies).

All the social organizations who put demends of ending the war only on Israel. The world leaders calling for never ending aid to Gaza. The media releasing countless lies and libel about Israel, right out of the mouth of hamas. The UN that knowingly financed hamas through UNRWA and blamed Israel for the war. The Red Cross who ignored the hostages and tried to silence their families. Everyone who made it possible, and beneficial, for hamas to keep the war going.

Imagine if things went differently. When hamas attacked Israel, Israel stopped providing aid to Gaza. No food, no water, no medicine. The world called on hamas to release the hostages, all at once, unconditionally, to end the war. The war would have ended in a month. So much suffering wouldn't have happened due to the obsessive enabling and justification of terrorism.

But no, once again the world told Palestinians that they are special little darlings who can do no wrong and need face no consequences for anything. And now, again, Palestinians will see the destruction in Gaza as "Israeli aggression", instead of "what you get when you start wars". And the cycle will repeat.

[mariacallous]

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid drew gasps this month when he told the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly, “We are much closer to Israeli settlements being built in Gaza than hostages coming home from Gaza.” This is hardly news to anyone paying attention to Israeli governmental policy, but it introduced an unwanted chill into a conference that aimed to focus on “Jewish unity” and unspecified “support for Israel.”

Like other American Jews with strong connections to Israel, and dozens of friends and family members there, I have spent many a sleepless night worrying about the fate of the country, and furiously WhatsApping loved ones there to check on their safety. We may want to believe that Israeli leaders are trying to do what is best for their country and its residents. When we see news of yet another teenage soldier killed in Gaza or Lebanon, we want to believe that their sacrifice is not in vain but is making Israel safer.

But this is not a moment for surprise or for more rousing shows of vague “support for Israel.” It is a moment for anyone who cares about the future of the country and the people who live there to sound the alarm and wake each other up.

The settler movement has achieved a full takeover of the Israeli government, and they make no secret of their intentions: to resettle Gaza and officially annex the West Bank. Israeli leadership views the election of Donald Trump as clearing the path for this goal. Israel’s Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich said as much explicitly earlier this month. This past Sukkot, Likud members of Knesset took part in a conference on resettling Gaza held in a closed military zone meters from the strip, with the IDF protecting participants while pushing back hostage families who had come to protest.

High level Israeli officials have testified that Netanyahu has entirely abandoned the hostages and torpedoed any attempt to free them. Instead, he is continuing the war to advance his political survival and to allow for the reoccupation and resettlement of Gaza. One of his high level aides has been arrested on suspicion of passing information to a German newspaper, allegedly at the  prime minister’s behest, in order to sway public opinion against a hostage deal. Even former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, fired apparently for supporting such a deal, has said publicly that there is no reason for the war to continue and that Israel is on its way to military occupation of Gaza.

There is increasing evidence that the army is implementing the “Generals’ Plan,” which aims to displace all 300,000-400,000 residents of Northern Gaza by preventing any humanitarian assistance from entering, bombarding the territory, preventing residents from returning and re-establishing an Israeli military occupation, followed inevitably by resettlement.

Meanwhile, Gaza itself has become a humanitarian disaster. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed — yes, including militants and terrorists, but also including thousands of children and entire families. The U.N. estimates that women and children make up 70% of those killed. Large-scale hunger and disease will likely only grow worse if and when Israel implements its recently passed laws that would prevent UNRWA,  the main U.N. agency serving Palestinians, from operating there. In the West Bank, settlers carry out near daily violence against Palestinian villagers and farmers, with near complete impunity, often with the protection or assistance of the army.

The news that the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant (along with Hamas’s Mohammed Deif, who is likely dead) engendered the expected cheers from the global left and defensive outrage from the Jewish and Israeli establishment. But for anyone who cares about Israel’s future, these arrest warrants should be cause for deep sadness and alarm. It is a tragic moment when the prime minister of the Jewish state has sunk so low — and brought the country so low — that he can credibly be accused of war crimes, while simultaneously torpedoing any internal inquiry that could have staved off the ICC warrants.

In early 2023, it seemed like the electoral ascendency of Israeli extremist parties, combined with the mass anti-government protests that rocked Israel, might shock mainstream American Jewry out of their usual uncritical support. A September 2023 protest against Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations drew thousands of Israeli expats and American Jews, including prominent rabbis and communal leaders. Even some legacy Jewish organizations, not accustomed to criticizing Israel, registered their disapproval of the attempted judicial overhaul.

The horrific massacres of Oct. 7 moved many American Jews back into the more familiar narrative of “Israel under attack.” The shocking willingness of some pro-Palestine activists to justify or deny Hamas’s atrocities and to dehumanize Israelis, coupled with a rise in violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, channeled communal energy into fighting antisemitism. And the real threat from Iran, including direct missile attacks as well as more than a year of rocket fire from Hezbollah before this week’s truce, has generated existential fear for Israel.

Mourning and fear must not distract us from the reality that the biggest existential threat to Israel, and indeed to Judaism itself, is coming from Israel’s governing coalition. Israel is not an object of worship or vehicle for Jewish identity. It is a real country with an increasingly authoritarian government committed to perpetual war and settlement. This is both a moral travesty and a danger to the state and to Judaism.

More than 50 years ago, the religious Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz warned, “A calf doesn’t necessarily need to be golden; it can also be a people, a land, or a state.” Jews wearing kippahs and tzitzit who ransack Palestinian villages, sometimes even violating the basic laws of Shabbat to do so, who recite Shema while burning down a mosque, or who build a sukkah in a Palestinian village or in the middle of Gaza, have replaced worship of God with worship of power and sovereignty. They would happily destroy the actual state of Israel in order to achieve their dangerous vision of Jewish control over the entire biblical land of Israel, no matter the human or political cost.

Three decades ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu famously accused the left of “forgetting what it means to be a Jew.” But it is Netanyahu and his allies who have forgotten the basic foundations of Judaism. These include pidyon shevuyim — redeeming captives — considered one of the most important commandments, and the most basic commitment of a Jewish state, not to abandon its own people.

Some American Jews believe that we have no right to comment on matters of Israeli security, or that any criticism of Israel fuels antisemitism. And yet, too much of the American Jewish community gives a pass to organizations that have supported Netanyahu’s drive toward autocracy and settlements, and even refused the pleas of hostage families to call for a deal that will end the war in Gaza and bring their loved ones home. American Jews must not stand by as Israel descends into authoritarianism and messianism which are doing irreversible, generational damage. Supporting Israel can no longer mean sporting flag pins, attending “unity” rallies, or trying to shut down any speech critical of Israel.

Rather, support for Israel and its people must mean standing with the Israelis desperately working to save their country from fanaticism, never-ending war and the settler agenda. Painful though it certainly is, supporting Israel today requires setting aside our disbelief that Israeli leaders could act with total disregard for the wellbeing of Israelis, let alone Palestinians. It means no longer giving Netanyahu and his ministers the endless benefit of the doubt.

American Jews can begin by sending our charitable dollars to the brave Israeli civil society organizations rather than to groups that explicitly or implicitly promote settlement and anti-democratic legislation. It means putting pressure on both the Netanyahu government and the U.S. administrations — outgoing and incoming — to end the war. We can demand that the U.S. follow its own laws and require Israel to adhere to the same guidelines for military aid that other countries do, including ensuring transparency in how aid is used. This includes enforcing the deadline for increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Such measures are not an abdication of the security of Israelis, but rather a means of pressuring Netanyahu to end the war and bring home the hostages, allowing Israel to move toward internal investigations and new elections. And we can insist that our communal organizations stop burying their heads in the sand and instead push back on the Israeli government’s dangerous agenda.

It’s time for American Jews to take a strong moral stance for human life and human rights. This would be the truest expression of support for Israel and Israelis, as well as Torah and Judaism.

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

We haven't just been played. We've been defrauded by the Palestinians, who have used highly distorted or outright fake stories about Israel to justify billions in "humanitarian aid" from the Westerners they're manipulating and deceiving, and which they then hand over to the bank accounts of terrorists.

And this is far from the first time that Palestinian "journalists" have turned out to be Hamas supporters and terror operatives. This is not the first time that Palestinian aid workers have been exposed for assisting Hamas. This is not the first time that news stories coming from the West Bank and Gaza have turned out to be fabrications. This is not the first time that a so-called "refugee camp" has been exposed as a hub for terrorism.

These facts have been proven time after time after time after time. Israel in particular has provided heaps of documentary evidence: pictures, videos, testimonies, and the like-- evidence that some international groups have had to accept, especially when it comes to Palestinian teachers at UNRWA distributing textbooks calling for genocide against the Jews.

This is why it is absolutely essential to remind the weak and the gullible among us of the intrinsic ties between the Palestinian terrorist movement and ideology and the civilian population. Unlike the hardened zealots who launder Palestinian lies as "journalism", we will use devastating facts and evidence to show that this "Palestinian cause" is a sham and a scam financed by our geopolitical enemies, the terror state of Iran and the terror sponsor, Qatar.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

After Iranian-financed-and-trained Hamas terrorists – together with Palestinian Authority and civilian Gazan terrorists – murdered, gang-raped, gouged, mutilated, dis-limbed, beheaded, burned and tortured over 1,200 Jewish Israeli babies, children, men and women (including dozens of Americans), wounded over 5,000 more and took another 250 more hostage on October 7th, President Biden correctly declared that Hamas’ atrocities were “pure, unadulterated evil.”

Yet now, the Biden/Blinken/shadow-Obama administration is deliberately siding with and defending pure, unadulterated evil. This is sinister. During Biden’s April 4, 2024 phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden threatened Israel and demanded an immediate Israeli ceasefire, aligning the U.S. with Arab terrorist Hamas’ demands. (On the same day, Hamas launched a series of rockets into Israel’s civilian areas. So how on earth can Biden be demanding an Israeli ceasefire?) Biden threatened surely hostile-to-Israel policy changes if Israel doesn’t accede to U.S. demands.

If Israel succumbs to Biden’s immediate ceasefire demand, this would leave the remaining hostages subject to Hamas’ continuing rape and torture indefinitely; leave Israel with no negotiating leverage or military options for obtaining the hostages’ release; and would enable Hamas to emerge victorious, regroup, rebuild, and murder and torture Israelis again and again and again in the future, as Hamas leaders have promised. Biden’s demand thus calls for Israel to lose the war against Arab terrorist organization Hamas, a proxy of our arch enemy, the evil terrorist Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Moreover, on the same day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken falsely, sickeningly and outrageously suggested that Israel is at risk of becoming indistinguishable from Hamas if Israel loses its reverence for protecting every human life – but ignored Israel’s real, extraordinary efforts and record of protecting Gazan civilians. As Colonel Richard Kemp, former British Commander in Afghanistan explained, Israel has the world’s most moral army and takes risks to protect civilians that no other army in the world has ever taken – while Hamas’ official policy is committing war crimes. Similarly, the Chair of West Point’s Modern War Institute, Major (ret.) John Spencer, and human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky noted that “accusing Israel of intentionally targeting civilians . . . is a malicious distortion of truth,” and that in fact “The IDF has gone to unprecedented lengths, not seen in the history of modern warfare, to abide by the laws of war and avoid harm to civilians, even when doing so puts the IDF’s own soldiers at risk.” Israel has the lowest ratio of civilian-to-combatant terrorist deaths in history.

From this U.S. administration’s outset, it has pursued policies deliberately designed to weaken, harm and endanger Israel and empower Iran and Iranian proxies bent on destroying Israel. Upon taking office, Biden immediately stopped enforcing maximum sanctions – and enabled Iran to advance from near-bankruptcy of $4 billion in reserves to $100 billion in reserves, rescuing Iran’s ability to fund its proxies Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli civilians and armed forces. Biden also immediately resumed funding UNRWA (which is full of Hamas terrorists, hides Hamas weapons and control centers, and teaches children to murder Jews); and resumed funding Palestinian Authority government functions (enabling the PA to continue its $400 million per year of pay-to-slay payments to Arab terrorists to murder Jews).

And virtually every person Biden appointed to an important post is hostile to Israel or Jews, or both.

In May 2021, when Hamas launched 4,500 rockets at Israel in 10 days, Biden demanded that Israel agree to an early ceasefire that enabled Hamas to regroup, rebuild and prepare for October 7th.

In October 2022, the administration pressured Israel to surrender 330 square miles of natural-gas-rich maritime territory to Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon, thereby enriching Iranian terror-proxy Hezbollah with billions of dollars, and weakening Israel. Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel in recent months have displaced some 80,000 Israelis.

Biden imposed a boycott on Israeli scientific and academic cooperation over the artificial “green line.” And the Biden administration initiated a Negev Forum that transformed the Abraham Accords from a Sunni-Israeli alliance against Iran into a Sunni-U.S. alliance against Israel. The entire basis of the Abraham Accords was to end the Palestinian Arab veto over Middle East peace; but Biden and Blinken reversed this.

During the past six months, the administration has intentionally ratcheted up harmful-to-Israel actions and anti-Israel propaganda. The administration released $26 billion to Iran – while Iran is financing Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s terror wars against Israel. The administration also repeatedly falsely accused Israel of not doing enough to protect Gazan civilians – despite Israel’s extraordinary record of protecting civilians while fighting vicious terrorists; demanded “pauses” and other forms of ceasefires; demanded that Israel cannot leave a buffer zone in Gaza to prevent future October 7ths; and tied legislation to aid Israel to unpopular unrelated legislation – which would prevent or hamper the aid to Israel from being enacted.

The administration also repeatedly betrayed Israel (and Israeli and American hostages) at the United Nations Security Council. On November 14, 2023 (the same day that 300,000 Jews demonstrated support for Israel in Washington, D.C.) the Biden administration enabled the passage of UNSC Resolution 2712 (2023) calling for days-long “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip.” On December 22, 2023, the Biden administration enabled passage of UNSC Resolution 2720 (2023), which helped Hamas obtain supplies to continue its war crimes and called for urgent measures towards stopping the destruction of the Hamas terrorist evil. And on March 25, 2024, the administration enabled passage of UNSC Resolution 2728 (2024) calling for an immediate ceasefire – without making the ceasefire conditional on releasing the hostages.

The administration also used the occasion of Israel fighting for its life to repeatedly demand that Palestinian terrorists must be rewarded with a Palestinian Arab terror state; and to try to undermine Israel’s binding legal rights to Judea/Samaria and Jerusalem. In February 2024, the administration falsely declared that Jews building homes in Judea/Samaria is illegal (reversing the “Pompeo Doctrine” which confirmed that Jewish communities in Judea/Samaria are legal). And on February 1, 2024, Biden issued an antisemitic executive order, accompanied by a coordinated State Department announcement, imposing sanctions on Jews in Judea/Samaria, while ignoring rampant Arab terrorism in and stemming from Judea/Samaria, incited by the Palestinian Authority’s Nazi-like “pay-to-slay” rewards to terrorists to murder Jews.

Biden also falsely condemned Israel for “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza and an “over the top campaign.” Such false charges are hardly the statements of a true friend and ally. And Biden/Blinken’s latest condemnation of Israel unintentionally killing members of a food convoy, when Biden/Blinken knows that these tragic mistakes happen in any war – including in America’s wars against Iraq and Afghanistan – again shows the U.S. attempting to weaken the U.S.-Israel alliance. 

In addition, Biden’s March 7, 2024 State of the Union address was the most hostile, anti-Israel SOTU address ever: Biden demanded a Palestinian state “solution” that imperils Israel’s very existence; overstated displaced Gazans and never mentioned the 200,000 Jews still displaced by Hezbollah’s bombardments in the north and Hamas’ destruction of southern Israeli communities; wrongly demanded that Israel must make protecting Gazan civilians Israel’s “first priority (not defeating Hamas and recovering the hostages); parroted Hamas’ unverified and surely false propaganda casualty numbers; falsely intimated that Israel is using humanitarian aid as a “bargaining chip” and isn’t “doing its part” – while completely ignoring that Hamas steals the massive humanitarian aid that Israel has facilitated into Gaza; spoke of working for an immediate ceasefire; and omitted Iran’s role in Gaza, Lebanon, and the October 7th massacre.

Unfortunately, the horrors listed above are only a partial list of the Biden/Blinken/Obama shadow administration’s deliberate acts to weaken Israel and strengthen the terrorists that are trying to destroy Israel. For instance, see more here, here and here.

It is deeply disturbing that our nation’s administration is intentionally siding with the forces of pure unadulterated evil against our human-rights-loving ally, the democratic Jewish State of Israel.

It is painful for us to say this, but all of the evidence indicates that the Biden/Blinken/Obama policies are not mere attempts at misguided appeasement, or the results of stupidity or ignorance or false hope. But, in fact, these anti-Israel policies are made with full understanding of their dangerous import. All the evidence indicates that this is a conscious attempt to weaken Israel, or worse.  

[girlactionfigure]

🔵 Tuesday - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

▪️TERROR - SHOOTING ATTACK - BEIT LID, SAMARIA.. 3 wounded, bullets through the windshield.

▪️BLUE ON BLUE - ISRAELIS RUNNING A CHECKPOINT.. overnight near Beit El, a vehicle arrived which did not hear the soldiers’ calls or stop for the checkpoint, as a result the soldiers fired at the vehicle. 3 injured, 1 serious.

▪️ROCKET BARRAGE (20) HIT KIRYAT SHMONA.. multiple strikes, factory - fire started, houses hit.

▪️COUNTER-FIRE.. Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon's Houla, Kafr Kila, and Bani Haiyyan. The IDF also shelled areas near Blida, Deir Mismas, and Rmeish with artillery to "remove threats.”

▪️TARGETED ATTACK PATTERN.. Throughout yesterday, the IDF attacked numerous times from the air, with each attack resulting in at least 3-5 deaths.

▪️BIDEN ON MIDDLE EAST.. "I received a request from the Saudis - they are ready to fully recognize Israel if we provide them with defense guarantees and allow them to establish a civilian nuclear facility"

▪️THEY MISSED? The Houthis carried out an extensive series of attacks yesterday in the Red Sea against the Israeli-owned MT Bentley ship, but there were no casualties and no damage was caused.

▪️IDF EXERCISE - “NORTHERN COASTAL STRIP”.. a military exercise will be held in the area of ​​the northern coastal strip. During the exercise, the active movement of vessels and security forces will be felt in the area.

▪️TRUMP’S VP PICK J.D. VANCE ON GAZA WAR.. "Joe Biden made it difficult for Israel to win. First of all you want to end the war, and after that - you want to promote peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Biden did the reverse.”

▪️ECONOMY.. Governor of the Bank of Israel to meet with PM and Min. Finance, recommends raising the VAT tax to cover war costs.

▪️ECONOMY - INFLATION.. The June index rose by 0.1%, the annual inflation - 2.9% (a slight increase from 2.8% last month); Apartment prices continue to rise at 3.4% year over year.

▪️UNRWA BEING SQUEEZED.. Trying to raise $1.21 billion emergency budget for Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, only 16% was received. And a final goal - $415.4 million dollars as a budget for the emergency plan for Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, only 15% was achieved.

▪️SOUTHERN COMMAND RE-OPENS NEAR-GAZA AREAS.. In accordance with the assessment of the situation, the commander of the Southern Command signed an order to change the policy of the closed military area in several areas in the Gaza Envelope and in agricultural areas.

⭕ HEZBOLLAH ROCKET BARRAGE overnight at: Kiryat Shmona, Margaliot, Manara, Metulla, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval, Ma'ayan Baruch, Tel Hai, Beit Hillel, HaGoshrim.

INFILTRATION ALERT - EILAT

Fear of terrorist infiltration in the Eilat area. The police have put on alert and are sending many forces to the area of ​​the city at this time, among other things with helicopters.

The police are currently handling the incident from end to end, with all of their special units under the command of Southern District Commander Amir Cohen.

Entrances and exits from the city may be closed.

[armeniaitn]

Letters to the Editor: August 5, 2020: Propagandizing for the enemy

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/politics/letters-to-the-editor-august-5-2020-propagandizing-for-the-enemy-43229-04-08-2020/

Letters to the Editor: August 5, 2020: Propagandizing for the enemy

Propagandizing for the enemyWith the headline “Netanyahu: Annexation is still on the agenda” (August 4), the reporters are apparently still buying into our enemies’ propaganda line – if not stating an outright lie!It’s also laughable, as the article starts by quoting the prime minister himself saying that Israel may still apply sovereignty.It has been pointed out by many columnists in The Jerusalem Post that the term “annexation” is a misnomer. The proper term is “applying sovereignty” or applying Israeli law to the areas mentioned in the Trump peace plan.So why does the Post continue to mislead the entire world by putting the word “annexation” in the headline?The article itself mentions the terms applying sovereignty or law no fewer than nine times. Nowhere is the word “annexation” mentioned – except when quoting the French foreign minister.AVRAHAM FRIEDMAN Ganei Modi’in PHYLLIS HECHT Hashmonaim The Trump and Netanyahu monstersIn “Callous inhumanity” (August 4), Heather Stone manages to cramp into her short article demonizing US President Donald Trump words and slurs including: he is callous, inhumane, inept, narcissistic, ruthless, prostrated himself, enables hate, emboldens violence, depraved indifference, doesn’t value the lives of civilians, soldiers or schoolchildren and more. Guess what? The writer is the Chair of Democrats Abroad – Israel. Does she really believe that this type of “political hate journalism” will influence anybody to change their voting preferences to Democratic? Rather the opposite. The article is hysterical, largely unsubstantiated and says nothing about real issues of concern, such as the Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren approach to Israel and the takeover of the Democratic Party by the radical anti-Israeli left wing. YIGAL HOROWITZ Beersheba Regarding Ehud Olmert’s latest article (“Police vs. the citizens,” (July 31), my previous letters regarding Olmert’s “yellow journalism” have not been published, but enough is enough! What kind of excuse for commentary is “until Netanyahu leaves and with him his delusional wife and deranged son!” This is not journalism, it is simply dirty revenge. I do not remember anyone attacking Olmert’s family using such words during his terms in office. While Olmert evidently hopes that Netanyahu will soon disappear into the depths of the sea or some other place, we might recall that Maasiyahu Prison served well enough for Olmert. The author of this letter was never the prime minister of Israel, but has also never been imprisoned for any criminal offence.PROF. KENNETH KOSLOWE Petah Tikva I rubbed my eyes three times before re-reading “Yair Netanyahu given tweeting restraining order” (August 3). I had to make sure that my eyes were not deceiving me.To censure a son for defending his father would, in normal circumstances, be ridiculous, but here, when the man is being constantly vilified, cursed, slandered, witch-hunted and judged guilty before trial, it is unforgivable.Let your readers (and the honorable judge of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court) put themselves in the position of young Netanyahu, watching every day and all hours of the day and night how a mob led by mobsters (protest leaders Gonen Ben Itzhak, Yishai Hadas and Haim Shadmi) screams through the streets of our capital city, unable to digest the fact that their philosophies (nay – their motives) do not represent the majority of our citizens, as shown decisively in all the elections of the last 30 years. Unable to defeat the older Netanyahu by fair means, they have descended to the foul means of incitement to riot. What would you do, if not stand up to defend your father? Well, if you would not, then you are all either lying to yourselves, or just plain degenerate.You may not agree with or even condone his coarseness of tongue and forthright manner of reacting, but just think how hurt this young man is seeing the father whom he has venerated for so many years and felt pride in his tremendous achievements for the benefit of the people of Israel and the unprecedented upswing of diplomatic prestige in the international sphere that he orchestrated – seeing him torn to pieces by our “unbiased” media and unfettered mobsters.LAURENCE BECKER Jerusalem Could someone please explain to me (and to other bewildered people) why the government allows demonstrations of tens of thousands, where social distancing is a bad joke, and we can only have 20 or so people at my son’s wedding at the end of the month? What is the logic behind this rule?Perhaps we should call it a demonstration, (but for love and happiness). Then we will get a permit for the 300 we wanted to have.And it won’t be violent.BATYA BERLINGER Jerusalem Inclusion confusion“US Jews opposing Israeli policy must be included in Jewish unity talks” (August 2), comes from the extreme Left, as indicated by its use of the anti-Israel pro-Palestinian loaded terminology such as “occupation.” Writer Ilan Bloch claims “millions” of American Jews who are “deeply engaged with Israel see its actions as going against the essence of Judaism itself.”Really? Does the writer have any solid evidence to support these wild assertions? Deeply engaged? Really?Are these “millions” really knowledgeable about Judaism? How many of the alleged “millions” had anything remotely resembling a Jewish education?There were so many untruths and distortions in the article that discredit it, but the basic point the author seems to be making is, “You may disagree with us profoundly but please don’t ignore us or forget us.”To which the only reasonable answer can be, “So don’t try to impose your outdated irrelevant political and fundamentally non-Jewish secular positions and beliefs on us.”DR. JOSEPH BERGER Netanya Disengaged and enragedRegarding “Disengagement was ‘absolute mistake” says mission commander” (July 31), the anniversary of the expulsion of the Jews from the 21 communities comprising Gush Katif on Tisha Be’av 2005) seems to bring out chest-thumpers who confess their wrongdoing. Contrite retired generals (like Gershon HaCohen featured in this article), politicians and policy makers join the ever-growing list of those who admit their folly, their fateful and fraught mistakes that led to the forceful disgorging of 8,500 law-abiding civilians.Indeed, prime minister Ariel Sharon and his government (including then foreign affairs and finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu) all bear shame for supporting and executing what was arguably the greatest tragedy in modern Israeli history. In fact, it was an orchestrated and stinking maneuver featuring Likud and their cynical coalition partners, assisted by a gleeful Supreme Court.How does a catastrophe like that occur? Where are the checks and balances crucial to democracy?But beyond skewed governmental decisions, where were the common sense and basic decency that dictate that the innocent get support and protection, while the terrorists get a good thrashing?Personally, I’ve had enough of the hand-wringing politicians and leaders who, like clockwork, annually cry “Peccavi.”Israel deserves better. We must make our leaders take responsibility for their actions, through mandated accountability and transparency. To the point, laws need to be put into place, a Freedom of Information Act that gives ordinary citizens the right to pry open – unhindered and in a timely manner – government archives. Existing, empty laws that shield corrupt leaders under one pretense or another are less than worthless.Enough of the chest-thumpers. It’s time for public action.ZEV BAR EITAN Nof Ayalon UNReal UNRWA remarksRegarding “New UNRWA head to ‘Post’: No glorifying terrorists in our schools” (July 30), who does Phillippe Lazzarini, the incoming commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) think he is fooling? UNRWA schools are using PA textbooks. Even if a teacher doesn’t praise people like Dalal Mughrabi (who was involved in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in Israel that killed 38 Israelis, 13 of them children) in the classroom, what is to stop the students from reading about them on their own?And if UNRWA obeys UN protocols, why has UNRWA abetted Arab nations in maintaining apartheid in the Middle East? I refer, of course, to the differentiation between people claiming descent from Arabs who fled Palestine generations ago and people who don’t make that claim. Members of the former group have been sitting in refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza and the so-called West Bank for several generations. Although living among people with whom they share language, religion and ethnicity, they have not been given citizenship in the Arab countries and they will not be given citizenship in any (actual) Palestinian state that the leaders of the PA and/or Hamas may ever deign to establish.TOBY F. BLOCK Atlanta Accentuate the positiveIn “A Different Country” (August 3), Herb Keinon presents a positive side of our state of affairs. As a mother and grandmother of young men who have served in special military units, I was especially touched by the mention of the reservists celebrating the weddings of their two comrades. I was reminded of the wedding of our son 26 years ago who had served in the first “Duvdevan” unit. Dancing enthusiastically with him in a large circle were his army buddies. One could feel the closeness and love emanating from the group. Our son was the only one who had a kipah on his head. Till this day, the former soldiers of that unit have kept in contact with each other and never miss an opportunity to meet on momentous family occasions. How heartwarming it is to see the love between people who rise above their differences of faith, status, political affiliation and find a way to express respect and affection for each other. The media would do well to focus on another reality in Israel that is not permeated with overwhelming hate. TZILA RABINOWITZ Jerusalem So sayeth SethRegarding “Seth Rogen: Herzog misrepresented our conversation” (August 4), Seth Rogen should know that the more he says the worse he makes it. Now is the time to shut up. Like many other “liberal” Hollywood Democratic Jews, learning to say his lines does not give him any special knowledge or abilities in any other field, including Israel. To say that Israelis often joke about Israel doesn’t cut it either. In the pre-PC days, famous Jewish comedian Henny Youngman used to joke about his wife: “Take my wife – please” or “My wife said, ‘For our anniversary I want to go somewhere I’ve never been before.’ I said, “Try the kitchen.” That’s comedy – but if someone tries saying it about my wife, suddenly it’s not funny.Consequently, if Rogen, the player of many “stoner” roles, wants to redeem himself, then he should follow the example of both his parents and work unknown in a kibbutz in Israel for a few years – and then come and talk. But we all know that ain’t gonna happen.DAVID SMITH Ra’anana Arguing for ArmeniaAs a grandson to survivors of the Armenian Genocide, I read Herb Keinon’s piece (“How can Israel navigate the divide between Azerbaijan and Armenia?” July 30) with great interest. Keinon tries to explain Israel’s current dilemma in dealing with two allies who are in conflict through the lens of realpolitik, but what he fails to point out is that this goes beyond politics. Armenians and Jews share a common history sadly defined by persecution and genocide. That’s why it’s so surprising that Israel feels that it needs to be neutral while Azerbaijan tries to finish through their unprovoked aggression what Turkey tried to do to Armenia more than 100 years ago. Then again, it’s also incredible that Israel has yet to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Foreign relations and human rights should not be mutually exclusive. This shouldn’t be too complicated for Israel. They can stand with Armenia, a country and people that have been victims of oppression and who promote democracy, or be aligned with a country ruled by an authoritarian and be on the wrong side of history. Political expediency should play no role in this debate. Of all countries, Israel should know that all too well, given that it was founded in the wake of genocide. The choice is really simple. STEPHAN PECHDIMALDJI San Ramon, CA On targetRegarding “Iron Dome intercepts Gaza rocket fired towards southern Israel” (August 4), the Gazans have now fired nearly a hundred rockets at Israeli civilians so far this year (an average of one every other day) and thousands since 2000 – more than the total number of rockets the Nazis shot at Britain in all of World War II.Thank God for Iron Dome; the only damage this time was to vehicles from the shrapnel, but the Gazans still have thousands of missiles pointed at us and Hezbollah has even more. It amazes me that this ongoing evil war crime gets virtually no mention in the world press and no condemnation from civilized countries or from the UN.May God and/or the IDF continue to protect us – especially in light of the fact that “Israelis near borders still don’t have access to shelters” (August 4) – and punish the evildoers.I. COHEN Sderot Read original article here.

[omgstupendousbouquetbasement]

UN Envoy to Mideast Warns of War Between Israel, Hamas

The U.N. envoy to the Mideast said Monday that the recent ceasefire between Gaza's Hamas rulers and Israel was the "last chance" to prevent an all-out conflict. A Qatari envoy arrived the same day in the Palestinian enclave with cash to help cement the truce, which halted the worst round of fighting between the two sides in years. After a spate of violence killed 25 Palestinians, including 15 civilians, as well as four Israeli civilians earlier this month, Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. diplomat, said he hopes all parties see that "the risk of war remains imminent." Mladenov, inaugurating a solar power plant for a Gaza hospital, said the parties must "consolidate the understandings" of the cease-fire. He said "the next escalation is going to be probably the last one" before the sides descend into a full-fledged war. The latest bout of fighting was the worst since a deadly and destructive war between Israel and Hamas in 2014. It ended with a cease-fire brokered by Egypt and helped by the U.N. and Qatar. The most recent ceasefire deal promises to let fuel and humanitarian aid into Gaza, as well as ease the movement of people from the blockaded territory. Among its terms is a program to create jobs for thousands of graduates. Unemployment in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the militant Hamas group seized power 12 years ago, is over 50 percent. Qatari envoy Mohammed al-Emadi arrived in Gaza with a $30 million cash infusion meant for tens of thousands of needy families as part of the cease-fire understandings. Hours later, beneficiaries lined up outside post offices to cash the $100 checks. Mohammed Abu Eida, 30, stood in the queue, a pair of crutches propping him up as he recovers from an injury. "We want them to lift the siege so we can work. I have rent for my home and I'm married and have a daughter; what is $100? It's insufficient." The oil-rich Persian Gulf country stepped up its financial support to Gaza last year in order to defuse tensions that have mounted and, in several cases, erupted into cross-border fighting, after Hamas launched weekly protests along the Gaza-Israel perimeter fence. Qatar had previously provided millions of dollars for Hamas government salaries, but, after Israeli protestations over funds going to the militant group, the money now goes to relief operations. Since 2012, Qatar has financed over $750 million in housing, infrastructure projects and relief operations in the Gaza Strip. Though Doha doesn't pay directly to Hamas, which the United States and the European Union classify as a terrorist organization, the cash infusions relieve Hamas from having to fund such vital projects. Last week, Qatar pledged another payment of $480 million to the Palestinians, but this time shifted most of it - $300 million - to Hamas' rival in the West Bank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party-run Palestinian Authority. This support for Abbas's government, which is also engulfed in a severe financial crisis, situates Qatar as a welcome broker in both Gaza and Ramallah for reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas. Meanwhile, the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, has warned that food supplies for more than half of Gaza's population "will be severely challenged" if the agency doesn't get at least $60m in additional funding by June. UNRWA said that it provides food - among other services like education and health care - to more than 1 million Palestinians in Gaza, including some 620,000 of "those who cannot cover their basic food needs and who have to survive on U.S. $1.6 per day." from Blogger http://bit.ly/2WJDtJR via IFTTT

[beardedmrbean]

They've been there since 1978 with the mission of confirming hezbolalala's demilitarization, after over 45 years they haven't managed to do anything about any of the things in their mandate at all.

I have a feeling that these guys have a lot in common with the unrwa folks in gaza that were/are also members of hamass.

Israel is doing a far better job at the demilitarization bit, maybe the UN should just give the IDF the funding so something will actually get done.

Except that would undermine the UN's efforts at financing terrorist groups in the middle east, so they're not likely to do that.

IDF is directly attacking UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

[islamicvoice-blog]

$38 billion US defense aid to Israel goes into force

New post https://is.gd/eiQyP4

A 2016 military aid package between the U.S. and Israel has gone into force, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

The deal, signed under the Obama administration, will provide Israel $38 billion in U.S. military financing from 2019 to 2028.

“As we enter the new fiscal year, the 10-year period of the $38 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the United States and Israel in 2016 begins,” State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a written statement.

“Under the terms of the MOU, the United States will set funding for Israel at levels of $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million for cooperative programs for missile defense over each of the next 10 years.”

The implementation of the MOU reflects “the enduring and unshakable commitment of the President, this Administration, and the American people to Israel’s security,” she said.

Mentioning escalating regional threats, she said terrorist groups sponsored first and foremost by Iran are seeking to attack not only Israel but also American interests.

“Israel is also threatened by the reckless proliferation of destabilizing weapons systems into the region that increase the possibility of an escalated conflict in an already dangerous and volatile theater.”

“The United States unconditionally affirms Israel’s right to self-defense, and this MOU is a concrete demonstration of our commitment to Israel’s capacity to defend itself with a qualitative military edge over all potential regional adversaries,” she added.

Palestinian agency cut off

As more U.S. military aid heads to Israel, the U.S. recently stopped funding the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees.

Turkey has blasted the decision, saying last month: “The decision of the United States will affect the lives of over 5 million Palestinians in a negative way.

The U.S. was once the UNRWA’s largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually — about a quarter of its overall budget.

Established in 1949, the UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

– Anadolu

[citizentruth-blog]

US Cuts More Than $200 Million in Aid to Palestine, What is the Impact? - MIDDLE EAST

New Post has been published on https://citizentruth.org/us-cuts-more-than-200-million-in-aid-to-palestine-what-is-the-impact/

US Cuts More Than $200 Million in Aid to Palestine, What is the Impact?

On Friday the U.S. State Department announced that Washington would cut more than $200 million in aid to Palestine. A senior official in the State Department said that the funds which were initially planned for projects in the Gaza and the West Bank would be used for “other high priority projects elsewhere.”

The State Department cited the presence of Hamas as the reason behind the aid cut. The U.S. and Israel have branded Hamas a terrorist group.

“For far too long, Gaza has lurched from crisis to crisis, sustained by emergency appeals and one-time caravans of aid, without dealing with the root cause: Hamas leadership is holding the Palestinians of Gaza captive. This problem must be recognized and resolved or we will witness yet another disastrous cycle,” White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and other top administration officials wrote last month in The Washington Post.

The announcement came while Palestine’s leaders were in a disagreement with the White House due to the former’s effort to boycott peace plans following President Donald Trump’s policy to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Tension has been increasing since the U.S. relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last May.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the biggest obstacles in a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. The latter has claimed East Jerusalem as the future capital of Palestine, while the Jewish state said that Israel and Jerusalem are inseparable.

It is Not the First Time That Washington Has Frozen Funds to Palestine

Last January, the U.S. withheld aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) worth $65 million. The UNRWA and Palestine warned the aid cut could worsen the situation in the Gaza Strip, which has been under a blockade since 2007 imposed by Israel and Egypt. The blockade aims to restrict the activities of Hamas leaders.

“This decision takes into account the challenges the international community faces in providing assistance in Gaza, where Hamas control endangers the lives of Gaza’s citizens and degrades an already dire humanitarian and economic situation,” the State Department official stated.

National Security Adviser John Bolton said this week that the UNRWA is a failed mechanism that violates an international law standard about the status of a refugee.

UNRWA was set up in 1949 after the first Arab-Israel war and has provided aid to around five million Palestinian refugees. The body also runs 711 schools attended by 526,000 refugee kids in the Palestinian territories and neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Jordan.

The Impact of Aid Cut to Palestine

The cut in the U.S. aid will leave people in Gaza working for aid projects jobless. Many Palestinians will also no longer be able to buy food that is commonly bought using U.S.-financed vouchers.

“Everything we needed for the home they gave us. May God bless them,” Manal Fasih, a Palestinian woman said.

Jordan warned that the fund shortage faced by the UNRWA could have a devastating impact on the lives of millions of refugees in the region. According to UNRWA data, Jordan hosts more than 2 million registered Palestine refugees.

Before the announcement of the U.S. aid cut, a senior official at the U.N. urged international donors to boost aid for the Gaza Strip, warning that medicine and food supplies in the area have run out quickly

Rosemary DiCarlo, U.N. Deputy Secretary for Political Affairs, expressed her concerns over recent clashes when HAMAS launched a missile targeting Israel and Israel’s military attacked Palestinians’ protesters.

Last week she urged countries to not hold desperately needed humanitarian supplies “hostage to political and security developments.”

She told the U.N. Security Council that funding for emergency fuel to keep 250 hospitals, water and sanitation facilities operating at minimum levels in Gaza had run out. She also expressed concern over “the dangerously short supply of essential medicines, with 40 percent of essential drugs completely depleted.”

Reactions

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, expressed his anger at the State Department announcement and accused the Trump administration of using the aid cut to intimidate Palestinians.

“The rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale,” said Ashrawi in a statement. “There is no glory in constantly bullying and punishing a people under occupation. The US administration has already demonstrated meanness of spirit in its collusion with the Israeli occupation and its theft of land and resources; now it is exercising economic meanness by punishing the Palestinian victims of this occupation.”

U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy also slammed Trump’s policy.

“Inhabitants of Gaza are already suffering severe hardships under the tyranny of Hamas and border restrictions imposed by Israel. It is the Palestinian people, virtual prisoners in an increasingly volatile conflict, who will most directly suffer the consequences of this callous and ill-advised attempt to respond to Israel’s security concerns,” Leahy said.

Israel Enacts Controversial Nation-State Bill, Critics Call it Racist

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Godspeed.

One of the few good events that has happened since October 7 is that Israel has thoroughly exposed UNRWA for the embezzlement and terrorist-financing outfit that it is.

Israel has thoroughly exposed UNRWA's employees for being collaborators and/or agents with Palestinian terrorist organisations.

Ayelet Samerano's son, Jonathan Samerano, was murdered by an UNRWA employee on October 7. This fact should have provoked outrage worldwide; instead, the United Nations stood by UNRWA, despite receiving devastating pictorial evidence that UNRWA's headquarters were directly connected to a Hamas terror tunnel. That alone should have prompted a massive international investigation into where international donations (tax-payer's money) was going.

Instead, several in the international community only briefly paused donations to UNRWA, with several countries now recommencing financing despite no real accountability from the organisation.

Hopefully, these families, which experienced horrors that most have never seen before, will shed further light on the complicity and criminality of UNRWA. This benighted organisation must be shut down and expelled from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The October 7th victims have filed a massive lawsuit against Unwra!! Let's go!! I hope that it will be defunded ASAP!

[positivedevelopment]

Weekly Roundup July 16 to 22

July 18th marked Mandela Day and what would have been the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela. 

Take Action! Inspire Change! Click HERE

________________________________________________________________

Building resilience: how UNRWA psychosocial support counselors help children recover from conflict

“UNRWA is committed to providing quality, inclusive education to all Palestine refugee children. Providing psychosocial support is a key element of its education provision in all UNRWA schools, but psychosocial support becomes even more important in times of emergency and it is a crucial part of the UNRWA Education in Emergencies programme. Psychosocial support (PSS) counsellors are now in place in all UNRWA school in Syria to promote positive coping mechanisms amongst the children and help build the resilience of children and the broader Palestine refugee community.”

Artist captures war as seen by children - toys included

"[McCarty] uses art-therapy drawings and interviews with the children to depict their accounts using toys.”

“I harness that to tell their stories and give it to an audience that normally maybe wouldn’t look,” said McCarty.

[Above] A drawing by an Iraqi child shows two siblings fleeing next to a dismembered body, next to a photo rendition in the old city of Mosul, Iraq, in this handout obtained by Reuters on July 9, 2018. REUTERS/Brian McCarty/Handout via Reuters

________________________________________________________________

Taiwan’s ivory ban to enter into force in 2020

“Taiwan's Forestry Bureau said on July 13 that the ban on the sale of ivory will enter into force in 2020, in a measure to protect African elephants, who are illegally hunted for their tusks, reported CNA. From January 1 2020, all ivory products will no longer be legally bought and sold, in-line with similar international bans.”

How Saving Rhinos Can Cut Poverty—and Even Terrorists’ Funds

“Poachers killed more than half of Africa's elephants in the past decade to profit from Asia's high demand for ivory. Wildlife trafficking has grown into one of the most lucrative global criminal activities, rivaling drug and arms smuggling. It has helped finance terrorist organizations such as al-Shabab and the Lord's Resistance Army.”

- Linking human development to conservation

- Reducing demand for poachers' products

- Myopic development is a threat

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Seth Mandel

Rebuilding Gaza, which ultimately will be done once this war is at an end, will take money. A good plan for postwar Gaza will have no trouble finding investors among the Gulf states, but there’s an easy way to raise money while also ending Hamas’s reign of terror in the enclave: Sell Hamas for parts.

The problem has never been that Gaza is poor; it’s that Gazans are poor. Now that Hamas is on its knees, hold it upside down and shake out its pockets. Hamas was always flush with cash and that money has to go somewhere. It might as well help fix what Hamas used that money to break in the first place.

When was the last time we had a good old-fashioned terrorist fire sale, anyway?

In the spirit of our president’s favorite subject, let’s start with real estate. Hamza Elhassan Mohamed Khair was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in October 2023 for his role as a Hamas financier through his Sudan- and Spain-based development and investment companies. The same is true for Hamas’s “covertly held assets in Algeria-based Sidar Company and UAE-based Itqan Real Estate JSC, both of which appeared to operate as legitimate businesses, but in practice, were controlled by Hamas and transferred money to the group,” Treasury noted in 2022.

Turkey-based developer Trend GYO was also sanctioned for managing “a key component of Hamas’s global asset holdings which had previously been estimated to be worth over $500 million.” Hamas held the majority of that company’s capital and had planned to distribute shares to senior Hamas figures. Surely that can be put to better use.

As several terrorism-finance experts testified after the Oct. 7 attacks, cash fronts posing as Islamic charities are a source of income for these groups. Hamas also reportedly had a practice of sending credit cards to its allies and agents outside Gaza; how much of that is still floating around? Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have gotten into the crypto game as well, and drug smuggling has long been a method used by terrorist groups to raise money in the West.

Of course, simply governing the Gaza Strip is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. As NBC reported, “In addition to levying taxes on Gaza’s businesses and residents, Hamas imposes unofficial fees on smuggled goods and other activity, for a combined income of up to $450 million per year.” Getting Hamas off the border crossings will stop the siphoning-off of local wealth that ought to stay put instead of finding its way into the pockets of terrorists.

As the Atlantic Council points out, there are also gaps in the anti-Hamas alliance that can be closed. Not all allied countries have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, and that’s especially true in the Gulf. At this point, no one should be doing business with the remnants of Hamas.

Since the Oct. 7 attacks, other avenues of drying up Hamas’s cash flow have emerged. Last year, about 100 Israelis sued UNRWA, the UN agency that works with Hamas in Gaza, over the money it provided to the enclave. Several current and former officials “are accused of knowing that Hamas siphoned off more than $1 billion from the agency to pay for, among other things, tunneling equipment and weapons that aided its attack on Israel on Oct. 7,” according to the New York Times.

It shouldn’t be difficult to starve Hamas of cash now. And in the process, we can learn a lot about how to more effectively get money to its proper destination in the Gaza Strip.

[girlactionfigure]

🟪 Thursday - events from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( We occasionally get bitten by autocorrect, yesterday Nes Harim was changed to New Harim. )

▪️MK THREATENS A TERRORIST.. MK Zvi Sukkot accidentally discovered during a visit to the Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem that the terrorist who carried out the attack in Givat Assaf in which a soldier was murdered was there for treatment.  He arrived at the terrorist's room and yelled at him: "We will make sure that the State of Israel kills you. We will pass a law that will execute you.”

▪️CALL FOR FUNERAL ATTENDEES.. “*I wanted to tell you about Geri Gideon Henghal*  A heroic soldier who worked very hard to get where he was. Struggled a lot to be a warrior. He had a lot of difficulty with the Hebrew language but he didn't give up. And succeeded! Yesterday he fell at the Givat Assaf intersection. Israeli citizens,  I urge you to come and pay your last respects to him. He deserves it.  The funeral will take place today at 15:00 at Mount Herzl.

▪️IRAN BELIEVES.. An Iranian source: The Iranian missile attack in April was not really intercepted as described in the media.  Most of the missiles that were launched simply fell on the way and did not even reach the territory of Israel.  A month ago, several test launches of surface-to-surface missiles were carried out after undergoing upgrades/repairs.

▪️US FORCES WITHDRAWING.. US Secretary of Defense ordered the USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier battle group to leave the area. The destroyer USS Russell will also leave the area.

▪️NATIONAL BUDGET (1).. the Minister of Finance will propose to close five unnecessary government offices and propose that each of the coalition parties choose one of its ministries to close.

▪️NATIONAL BUDGET (2).. Finance Minister Smotrich presented the state budget for 2025. The budget will include NIS 160 billion for the war's security expenses, NIS 44 billion for civilian needs, and NIS 20 billion for reconstruction. In order to finance the budget, the Minister of Finance announced a series of measures, including cuts in government offices budgets, freezing Bituach Leumi benefits (pension, disability and poor) and raising the income tax.

▪️REAL OR FEAR MONGERING?  An official in southern Syria warns: "The Houthis are on their way to the Golan border, there are terror tunnels from Jordan."

▪️SWITZERLAND & UNRWA.. Swiss Parliament decided to stop funding UNRWA.

♦️TARGETED ELIMINATION - LEBANON.. 2 eliminated on a motorcycle in south Lebanon.

♦️TARGETED ELIMINATION - SAMARIA.. 3 eliminated in a strike overnight in Tulkarm on a car.  3 terrorists, at least some of whom are classified as senior, were successfully eliminated.

♦️SYRIA - COMMANDO RAID?  (Enemy reports - reliability is questionable but via multiple channels) during the unusual attack in the area of ​​Sayaf (מציאף, Masyaf), commando forces landed from helicopters and operated in the area. The forces operated in the area at the same time as heavy attacks that prevented access to the area.  Syria TV: Israeli helicopters landed forces in the area of ​​Mezaif with heavy air cover and captured 2 Iranians. 

( This is very far north in Syria, it would be surprising for Israel helicopters to operate that far into Syria. )

❗️INFILTRATION ALERT last night - Avnei Hefetz.. (Israeli town across the Green Line, near Tulkarm) infiltration alert, residents instructed to lock themselves indoors after a breach discovered in the fence.  Alert squad activated.

⭕ HEZBOLLAH ROCKET BARRAGE yesterday, over 100 rockets fired at northern towns yesterday.

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

This is HUGE.

This is DEVASTATING.

UNRWA must surely be shut down.

Oh, and don't forget that Ismail Haniyeh used to teach for UNRWA too! The murderer of Israeli man Jonathan Samerano on October 7 was an UNRWA worker, who stuffed Samerano's body into an UNRWA van (this is on security footage).

UNRWA is a money laundering, embezzling, and terrorist financing front masquerading as a humanitarian aid organisation. Any regular business implicated in even one tenth of this would have been crawling with the Feds ages ago.

There is no personal responsibility or accountability at the United Nations.

Found today -- Notice that Sinwar's bodyguard - Hani Zourab - is an UNWRA teacher from -- Ramallah -- with an Egyptian passport. UNWRA !!!! The UN (UNWRA) is in league with Hamas, and the UN should be defunded.