VIDEO: Interview with one of the most effective and insightful counter-jihad activists left anywhere, Edwin Wagensveld thumbnail

VIDEO: Interview with one of the most effective and insightful counter-jihad activists left anywhere, Edwin Wagensveld

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By Vlad Tepes Blog

There is a lot to digest in this interview. Edwin is one of the most practical of the Counter jihad activists, rather deftly navigating the media traps created to destroy anyone who opposes the globalist weapon of choice for negating all Western peoples, culture and history. Namely the historical enemy of Western thought, Islam. Edwin manages to maintain equanimity despite the grotesque degree of selective or dialectical enforcement against him by state and media agents.

On top of all that, he was a genuine delight to speak with.

WATCH: Europe’s Last Stand: Inside Pegida Leader Edwin Wagensveld’s Battle Against Islamization (Exclusive Interview)

Please read the story details at RAIR Foundation.

I hope you all enjoy and leave your thoughts and comments below.

RELATED VIDEO: THOUGHTCRIME Ep. 38 — “Christ Is King” Anti-Semitic? Diddy Did It? Andrew Huberman Hitpiece?

EDITORS NOTE: This Vlad Tepes Blog column with video posted by Eeyore is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

THE TOXIC FRUIT OF REFORMED THEOLOGY: Theological Butchers Martin Luther thumbnail

THE TOXIC FRUIT OF REFORMED THEOLOGY: Theological Butchers Martin Luther

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By Kelleigh Nelson

“I have experienced His presence in the deepest hell that man can create. I have really tested the promises of the Bible, and believe me, you can count on them.” —Corrie Ten Boom

“But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” —  Isaiah 43:1

“True freedom requires the rule of law and justice, and a judicial system in which the rights of some are not secured by the denial of rights to others.” — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

For centuries, the Church, in conceit, arrogance and ignorance, has claimed that she alone was the true Israel, that she had replaced the ancient covenant people.  (They certainly didn’t claim to be Jewish during the Holocaust!)  The Church taught emphatically that the physical people of Israel were eternally rejected.  This belief is still in effect and is even growing, and it’s a lie from the very pit of hell.

The foundational Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3) establishes a biblical mandate for the world’s relationship with Israel and the Jewish people. We cannot and must not ignore it.

Psalm 105 has the answers to God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants and how long those promises are good.  The Lord says, “He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.  He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.’”  (Psalm 105:8-11)

The Scriptures speak of God’s covenant, the word He commanded, His oath which He confirmed as a decree forever, for a thousand generations, as an everlasting covenant.  The Lord is trying to make a point!

Not only did He promise to bless Abraham and make him into a great nation; not only did He promise to multiply his seed; not only did he promise to bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him; He also promised Abraham the land of Canaan, with clearly defined borders, as an everlasting inheritance to his natural descendants until this earth is no more!

The only time the New Testament speaks of the Jewish people being exiled to the nations is the same passage that speaks of this only being the case “until” at which point the exile would end and Jerusalem would be restored.  This is clear in Luke 21:24.  Then, when God would have mercy, His people would return and Jerusalem would be restored.

Here is what the great British preacher D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones had to say about the passage in Luke:

To me 1967, the year that the Jews occupied all of Jerusalem, was very crucial.  Luke 21:43 is one of the most significant prophetic verses: “Jerusalem,” it reads, shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”  It seems to me that that took place in 1967, something crucially important that had not occurred in 2,000 years.  Luke 21:43 is one fixed point.  But I am equally impressed by Romans 11 which speaks of a great spiritual return among the Jews before the end time.  While this seems to be developing, even something even more spectacular may be indicated.  We sometimes tend to foreshorten events, yet I have the feeling that we are in the period of the end…I think we are witnessing the breakdown of politics.  I think even the world is seeing that.  Civilization is collapsing.

As far as Luther and Calvin are concerned, I truly do not wish to print what these men wrote, what they preached, and what they taught to their congregants.  The filth spewed from their mouths and pens is a pernicious evil and was a blueprint for what happened during the Shoah.  Their words are such heresy that their wickedness disturbs the heart and soul.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was born in 1483 in Eisleben, Germany and died there in 1546.  He was a German priest, theologian, hymn writer, professor, Augustinian friar and member of the Augustinian Order.  (See Part Three for Augustine of Hippo.)

Before we get into Luther, I must once again remind readers that not all who attend these churches know of Luther’s past, of Augustinian Amillennialism, or are even aware of their own church doctrine.  Neither can all Catholic priests and Lutheran pastors be held accountable.  We have exemplary examples of Lutheran preachers who stood against Hitler’s genocide in both Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemöller.

French Cardinal Eugène Tisserant, Msgr. André Bouquin, as well as French diplomat Francois De Vial have been recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for their actions assisting and sheltering Jews in Rome and at the Vatican during World War II.

Jewish people are keenly aware of the virus of anti-Semitism, being the victims of it themselves throughout history.  But most Christians are blatantly ignorant of the history of anti-Semitism, especially in terms of the Church’s own tradition.

Edward H. Flannery, a Catholic priest and scholar of the Bible as well as of Church history, aptly summarizes this problem:

The vast majority of Christians, even well educated, are all but totally ignorant of what happened to Jews in history and of the culpable involvement of the Church.  They are ignorant of this because, excepting a few recent inclusions, the antisemitic record does not appear in Christian history books or social studies, and because Christians are not inclined to read histories of antisemitism.  Jews on the other hand are by and large acutely aware of this page of history if for no other reason than that it is so extensively and intimately intermingled with history of the Jews and Judaism.  It is little exaggeration to state that those pages of history Jews have committed to memory are the very ones that have been torn from Christian (and secular) history books.

Martin Luther in his early days naively imagined that the Jews, to whom he was attracted by his studies, would flock to the Church in his reformed version. When nothing of the sort happened, he denounced them in a set of pamphlets written in a vituperative fury. He had produced the early, favorable, “That Christ Was Born a Jew” in 1523, but after he turned on this so-called “damned, rejected race,” he wrote “Against the Sabbatarians” (1538) and “On the Jews and Their Lies” (1543).  The latter booklet was used by Hitler in Germany where the majority of the populace were Catholic or Lutheran.

I make absolutely no excuse for the man.

When Luther’s early treatise failed to bring Jewish people to Christ, his sympathies for them soured.  His obscene and blasphemous treatise contains some of the most violent language in the history of Jew hatred.

Luther frequently referred to the Jews as “idle and lazy,” “useless,” “impenitent, accursed people,” “consummate liars,” “boastful arrogant rascals,” “bloodhounds,” “murderers,” and the “vilest whores and rogues under the sun.”  He accused them of libels which have never been true; of poisoning wells, assassination, and ritual murder, branding them collectively as “venomous serpents and devil’s children.” He attacked “their accursed rabbis, who wantonly poison the minds of their poor youth and common man, to divert them from the truth,” arguing, “If I had not had the experiences with my papists, it would have seemed incredible to me that the earth should harbor such base people…for I never expected to encounter such hardened minds in any human breast, but only in that of the devil!”

Luther’s vilifications are monstrous indeed, but the worst was when he asked, “What shall we do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews?”  His answer was the foul and fomented filth used throughout the centuries against our Jewish brethren:

First, to set fire to their synagogues or school and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them.

Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed.  For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues.  Instead, they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies.  This will bring home to them the fact that they are not masters in our country, but that they are living in exile and in captivity.

Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings be taken from them.

Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life or limb.

Fifth, I advise safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews.  For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesmen, or the like.  Let them stay at home.

Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping.

Seventh, I recommend putting a flail, an axe, a hoe, a spade, into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow.

Luther has been described by the Encyclopaedia Judaica as “a second Haman.” (Reformation in Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 14, 21.)

It would have been far better for Martin Luther had he died three years earlier, before writing this accursed treatise.

Heinz Schreckenberg’s unique book, The Jews in Christian Art: An Illustrated History, has more than one thousand pictures testifying to the diabolical lengths to which the church was prepared to go in its denigration of the Jews.  Throughout Europe, on the stained-glass windows, frescoes, reliefs, and fixed furniture of the Catholic Church, and in its inflammatory literature, our Jewish brethren are denigrated with the most nauseating portrayals.  Originating in thirteenth century Germany, this obscene libel made its first appearance in three-dimensional form in churches and town halls and later was widely used to illustrate books and broadsheets.

Conclusion

What the Bible says about Jewish people and their relationship to Christians who believe on Messiah, is very telling.  We are to love God’s people and as Paul says three times in the first two chapters of Romans, “To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

It is said of Dr. J. Hudson Taylor, a lovely story and true, that he, as founder of the China Inland Mission, would send an offering on the first of every year to John Wilkinson, the founder of Mildmay Mission to the Jews in London.  With it would be a note reading, “This is the first gift that’s come in for the new year, and since the Scripture says, ‘to the Jew first,’ I’m sending it to you.”

Then Mr. Wilkinson would always write out a personal check and send it back to Mr. Taylor with just these words, “Also to the Gentiles.”

Next up, Calvin.

©2024. Kelleigh Nelson. All rights reserved.

Silence Speaks: A Good Friday Reflection On The Islamic State’s Persecution Of African Christians thumbnail

Silence Speaks: A Good Friday Reflection On The Islamic State’s Persecution Of African Christians

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By Middle East Media Research Institute

Africa | MEMRI Daily Brief No. 585

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10

Today, Christians the world over will commemorate Good Friday, the occasion of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. Everywhere the liturgies will be solemn and the faithful will grieve, but nowhere will more Christians mourn than in Africa, where the faith’s largest flock[1] is also one of its most persecuted.

There, the cry of Good Friday[2] will resonate with the weary voices of countless Christians who are silently suffering from violence, abuse, and persecution at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS). But, despite the cacophony of their cries, the world will – unfortunately – remain largely indifferent.

The world’s attention was last briefly fixated on the continent’s persecuted a decade ago, in February 2015. At the time, an ISIS video, entitled “A Message in Blood to the Nation of the Cross,” broadcast for all to witness the brutal and shocking beheading of 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians on a beach in Libya – It proved to be but a foreshadowing of the terrors to come.[3]

Other notorious attacks elsewhere by the Islamic State on Christians have generated even more fleeting attention:  the 2010 massacre in the Syriac Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad on All Saints ‘Eve, the twin suicide bombing of Coptic Orthodox churches in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt on Palm Sunday 2017, and five years ago, the ISIS attacks on three churches (two Catholic and the third Evangelical) on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka.  But nowhere has the ISIS frenzy against Christians been as bloody and as sustained as on the African continent.

ISIS fighters behead 21 Coptic Christians in Libya, February 15, 2015.

Today, global attention has waned while ISIS’s persecution of African Christians has not. In fact, violence against Christian believers has surged as ISIS expands its reach across the continent.

ISIS fighters now routinely reenact that harrowing scene on Libya’s beach in countries such as Nigeria, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Burkina Faso and Mali – and gleefully publicize the acts online – as part of a continent-wide campaign of terror designed both to intimidate and inspire violence.[4]

For those of us who daily monitor ISIS, the targeted violence against Christians that has accompanied the group’s expansion is unsurprising. Indeed, ISIS has long prioritized the persecution of Christians as being a crucial manhaj, or methodology, for projecting strength and driving recruitment,[5] and its supporters regularly boast of “breaking the crosses”[6] and “returning the Islamic conquests to Africa.”

ISIS fighters behead two Christians in Mozambique on March 17, 2024.

But what is also unsurprising is that Africa’s Christians remain resilient to this terror. Even after almost ten years of persecution – and the world’s deafening silence – The faithful are thriving on the continent as never before; in fact, African Christians now number over 718 million, the most of any continent.[7]

Cardinal Robert Sarah, a Guinean and Prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, perhaps offers an explanation. In an interview about his book, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise, Sarah noted:

“When I traveled to countries that were going through violent, profound crises, sufferings and tragic miseries […] I observed that silent prayer is the last treasure of those who have nothing left. Silence is the last trench where no one can enter, the one room in which to remain at peace, the place where suffering for a moment lays down its weapons. In suffering, let us hide ourselves in the fortress of prayer.”[8]

So today, on this day of silent remembrance, Christians will quietly reflect not only on the suffering of Jesus, but also on the continued suffering of his followers. And they should do so not in the silence of indifference practiced by the world, but in the silence of contemplative prayer practiced by Africa’s resilient faithful.

For as Cardinal Sarah writes: “The grace of Easter is a profound silence, an immense peace, and a pure taste in the soul. It is the taste of heaven, away from all disordered excitement.”[9]

ISIS fighters topple a cross in Mozambique in February 2024. The cross bears the Portuguese word “hope.”

AUTHOR

Matt Schierer

Matt Schierer is a research fellow at MEMRI JTTM Project.

EDITORS NOTE: This MEMRI column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

SOURCES:

[1] Gordonconwell.edu/blog/who-owns-global-christianity/, accessed on March 27, 2024.

[2] Medium.com/@archbishopofcanterbury/my-god-my-god-have-you-forsaken-me-reflections-on-good-friday-in-a-suffering-world-eb1531779771, accessed on March 27, 2024.

[3] See MEMRI JTTM report Islamic State (ISIS) Video Features Beheading Of 21 Copts In Libya, February 15, 2015.

[4] See MEMRI JTTM report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.

[5] See MEMRI JTTM report Slaughtering Christians – Islamic State Central Africa Province’s (ISCAP) Regular Tactic For Expansion, April 2, 2021.

[6] See MEMRI report ‘Breaking The Crosses’ And Other Ills, November 10, 2022.

[7] Gordonconwell.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/01/Status-of-Global-Christianity-2023.pdf, accessed on March 27, 2024.

[8] Catholicworldreport.com/2016/10/03/cardinal-robert-sarah-on-the-strength-of-silence-and-the-dictatorship-of-noise/, accessed on March 27, 2024.

[9] Sarah, Robert. The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. May 10, 2016.

Driven Ministry Center seeks to purchase a 2,000-acre ranch in Ocala, Florida to be called ‘Freedom Ranch’ thumbnail

Driven Ministry Center seeks to purchase a 2,000-acre ranch in Ocala, Florida to be called ‘Freedom Ranch’

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By Dr. Rich Swier

Michael Mastro, founder of Driven Ministry Center, as a kid growing up on a small farm in Ohio, the first big news story that he remembers was the May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State University which was located about one hour east of where we lived. Whether there is a direct correlation between that event and how our veterans have been treated since that time is a question for academics.

What is known is that on one night in January 2023, over 35,000 veterans – 31,000 men and 4,000 women – were homeless.

Research indicates that those who served in the late Vietnam – roughly 1970 – and post-Vietnam eras are at the greatest risk of becoming homeless but that veterans from more recent wars and conflicts are also affected. Veterans returning from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq often face invisible wounds of war, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, both of which correlate with homelessness.

Local and State governments are evicting veterans in favor of housing the eight million or so illegal aliens that have crossed our southern border.

Driven Ministry Center cannot and will not stand by and allow this to happen to our vets. But we need your help.

Driven Ministry Center intends, with God’s will, to purchase a 2000-acre ranch in the Ocala area to be called Freedom Ranch.

Driven Ministry Center will build a dormitory that will house up to one hundred veterans, male and female in two-person shared rooms. Two rooms will share a bathroom. The rooms will be strictly segregated by gender to protect everyone. Driven Ministry Center will have medical and dental clinics – all free – and for which we already have doctors, dentists and support staff lined up. However, not all veterans want to be housed in a building. Their PTSD makes it preferable to sleep outside. We will have a 200-acre campground with full shower and toilet facilities to protect and accommodate them.

Driven Ministry Center’s Freedom Ranch will be a fully functional horse and cattle ranch. It will include up to 100 head of cattle and 30 horses. Freedom Ranch will have a large garden, the objective of which is to provide as much fresh produce for the residents as possible. Freedom Ranch will not have an abattoir as that skill is more easily outsourced, along with the necessary veterinary and blacksmith services. With that exception, everyone will participate to the best of their ability. This could include cooking, cleaning, animal husbandry, gardening, maintaining the equipment or just plain being a helping hand.

There will of course be a Christian aspect to it, though open to all. This will be funded by God’s will with a foundation built by angels.

We need your help.

Driven Ministry Center, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit and donations are tax deductible.

We need your donations.

We ask that you act in a Biblical fashion.

Whether you can donate two coins as the poor widow did in Mark 12:42 or a much more grand some, ever bit will help.

Please make checks payable to Driven Ministry Center, Inc. In the memo write “Freedom Ranch.”

Checks may be mailed to Jeffrey Sanow, 9036 Unicorn Dr., Port Richey FL 34668.

ABOUT DRIVEN MINISTRY CENTER

Driven Ministry Center is a non-profit organization that ‘Changes America One Heart at a Time!’ via counseling  in a personal way that truly makes a difference.  As traveling evangelists we go where God leads us, spreading the ‘Good News’ that not only is the surety of eternal life in heaven available, which is very important; but the fact that God wants you to live here on earth blessed – enjoying health and wealth as your soul prospers.  (3 John 2)

©2024. All rights reserved.

Released Hostage Amit Soussana Recounts Horrors at Hands of Hamas Kidnappers: ‘I Was Forced to Commit Sexual Acts with a Gun Pointed at Me’ thumbnail

Released Hostage Amit Soussana Recounts Horrors at Hands of Hamas Kidnappers: ‘I Was Forced to Commit Sexual Acts with a Gun Pointed at Me’

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By The Geller Report

The Israeli girl in this video filmed of her kidnapping on Oct 7th has spoken out about the horrifying sexual assault she faced during Hamas captivity.

Trigger Warning: This story describes deeply disturbing events and testimonials in graphic detail.

By Jacob Laznik, Jerusalem Post, March 26, 2024:

Released Gaza hostage Amit Soussana gave her personal testimony of the sexual violence and physical abuse she endured in Hamas captivity in an eight-hour interview with The New York Times that was published on Tuesday. She is the first released hostage to give direct testimony of sexual atrocities committed by Hamas.

Soussana previously made headlines when a video surfaced of the moment of her capture, when she fought off seven Hamas terrorists before being brought to Gaza.

In the interview, Soussana recalled being held hostage in a child’s bedroom in Gaza with a chain attached to her left ankle. The Hamas terrorist in charge of guarding her, whom she named Muhammad, occasionally would sit beside her on the bed, lift her shirt, and grope her, she said.

Muhammad would constantly ask about her period, inquiring if she was bleeding, if she had washed herself since, and when it would end, she added.

Sometime around October 24, Muhammad forced her to commit a sex act on him, Soussana said.

On that morning, he unlocked the chain around her ankle so that she could wash herself in the bathtub, she said, adding that after she began, Muhammad returned with a pistol.

“He came toward me and shoved the gun at my forehead,” Soussana said.

Muhammad hit her repeatedly to force her to take her towel off. After she did, Muhammad groped her before continuing to hit her.

Afterward, he dragged her back to the child’s room at gunpoint. The room was covered in images of SpongeBob SquarePants, she said.

“Then, with the gun pointed at me, [he] forced me to commit a sexual act on him,” Soussana said. After it was over, Muhammad left the room to wash up and left Soussana naked in the dark.

When he returned, she said, he expressed remorse, telling her, “I’m bad. I’m bad. Please don’t tell Israel.”

Soussana also recounted her moral quandary of accepting food from her abuser.

“You can’t stand looking at him, but you have to,” she told the Times. “He’s the one who’s protecting you. He’s your guard. You’re there with him, and you know that at any moment it can happen again. You’re completely dependent on him.”

Soussana then discussed her second captor, Amir, after she was transferred to a different location. On the day that she arrived at the new apartment, the Hamas terrorists wrapped her head in a pink shirt, forced her onto the floor, handcuffed her, and beat her with the butt of a gun, she said.

Minutes after that, they suspended her “like a chicken on a stick, suspended between two couches.” She recalled that she felt that her hands would be dislocated due to the intensity of the pain.

While suspended, her new captors beat and kicked her, focusing on the soles of her feet while demanding information that she might have had about the enemy.

After that, she was untied and led to a new bedroom, where they told her she had 40 minutes to produce information or else they would kill her.

Reports of acts of sexual violence committed by Hamas have been told in second-hand accounts by women and girls who were freed in the hostage deal last November, but none have been as explicit as Soussana’s.

Many apologists have denied any reports of sexual violence committed by Hamas, saying if it took this long to bring the allegations to light, they could not be true. Sexual crimes do not always get reported, as the trauma suffered by the victims could take such a toll as to dissuade them from bringing the crimes to light, according to experts.

Many of the victims of Hamas’s sexual crimes either died in the October 7 massacre or are still held in captivity in Gaza.

Currently, there are still 19 women hostages or whose bodies are still held in Hamas captivity: Naama Levy, Shani Louk, Noa Argamani, Romi Gonen, Arbel Yehud, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Doron Steinbrecher, Maya Goren, Ofra Kedar, Inbar Haiman, Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa, Shiri Bibas, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Emily Damari, Amit Esther Buskila, and Judy Weinstein.

Read more.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Afghanistan: Taliban’s Supreme Leader says ‘We will flog women in public, we will stone them to death in public’ thumbnail

Afghanistan: Taliban’s Supreme Leader says ‘We will flog women in public, we will stone them to death in public’

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By Jihad Watch

Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s Supreme Leader in Afghanistan, says women will soon be stoned to death for adultery. ‘We will flog women in public, we will stone them to death in public,’ he said in an audio message broadcast on Afghan state television. pic.twitter.com/wiU7zDE24r

— John Simpson (@JohnSimpsonNews) March 25, 2024

Stoning adulterers is not “extremist”; it is Islamic law. The caliph Umar, one of Muhammad’s closest companions, supposedly even maintained that it was originally in the Qur’an:

‘Umar said, “I am afraid that after a long time has passed, people may say, “We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) in the Holy Book,” and consequently they may go astray by leaving an obligation that Allah has revealed. Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession.” Sufyan added, “I have memorized this narration in this way.” ‘Umar added, “Surely Allah’s Apostle carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him.” (Bukhari, vol. 8, bk. 82, no. 816)

“Allah’s Apostle” is, of course, Muhammad, who according to canonical ahadith did indeed carry out stonings. Here is the hadith in which he challenges the rabbis about stoning, and in which there is amidst the barbarism and brutality a final act of love and compassion:

The Jews came to Allah’s Apostle and told him that a man and a woman from amongst them had committed illegal sexual intercourse. Allah’s Apostle said to them, “What do you find in the Torah (old Testament) about the legal punishment of Ar-Rajm (stoning)?” They replied, (But) we announce their crime and lash them.” Abdullah bin Salam said, “You are telling a lie; Torah contains the order of Rajm.” They brought and opened the Torah and one of them solaced his hand on the Verse of Rajm and read the verses preceding and following it. Abdullah bin Salam said to him, “Lift your hand.” When he lifted his hand, the Verse of Rajm was written there. They said, “Muhammad has told the truth; the Torah has the Verse of Rajm. The Prophet then gave the order that both of them should be stoned to death. (‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar said, “I saw the man leaning over the woman to shelter her from the stones.” (Bukhari, vol. 4, bk. 56, no. 829)

Even the monkeys practiced stoning, according to another hadith:

During the pre-lslamic period of ignorance I saw a she-monkey surrounded by a number of monkeys. They were all stoning it, because it had committed illegal sexual intercourse. I too, stoned it along with them. (Bukhari, vol. 5, bk. 58, no. 188)

Muhammad’s example is, of course, normative for Islamic behavior: “Indeed in the messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for him who looks to Allah and the last day, and remembers Allah a great deal.” (Qur’an 33:21)

AUTHOR

ROBERT SPENCER

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Church Should Be About Worship, Not Entertainment thumbnail

Church Should Be About Worship, Not Entertainment

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By Jerry Newcombe, D. Min.

Last week an item on Fox News.com caught my attention. It was a “this day in history” article, commemorating the first rock music concert held, on March 21, 1952. It took place in Cleveland, and it ended in chaos. Glenn Gass, a professor emeritus from Indiana University, said, “Right from the start, it was seen as dangerous music. Kids loved it. Parents hated it. Great. What a way for rock ‘n’ roll to get its start.”

He adds that the event was “abandoned after approximately 30 minutes due to overcrowding and rioting after more than 20,000 revelers stormed the 9,950-seat venue.” Rioting? Over music?

I like to jog or go on bike rides early in the morning. I’ve noticed that when you pass a 7-11, early in the morning, some of them have opera music blaring on the outside. I once heard that they do that by design outside because it tends to discourage the criminal element from going inside or from them congregating outside.

But today there are many churches that utilize rock ‘n’ roll. For those who truly, sincerely worship the Lord by that means, well, I guess that’s a matter of taste.

Yet during Holy Week, we can wonder if it’s always reverent.

Now, the old saying goes, “Different strokes for different folks.” That would seem to generally apply to worship styles. I’m sure many have come back to church through the more modern music. Great.

Ultimately, only God knows the heart. But worship should not be for the sake of entertainment.

Whatever style of music chosen, reverence should be a key factor in worship.

George Washington learned much from a Christian-based book of 110 maxims filled with biblical wisdom. It is called The Rules of Civility. Rule #108 says, “When you Speak of God or his Attributes, let it be Seriously & with Reverence.” To Washington, God was to be revered.

For my series of Providence Forum documentaries on America’s Christian roots, in the episode on George Washington, author Dr. Cal Beisner, the president of the Cornwall Alliance, made this remark: “Washington built a lot of his life around the Rules of Civility. He wrote on each of these different rules and tried to measure up to them himself. And it was very, very clear, I think, that he wasn’t doing this just simply to look good in front of other people. He was doing this because he believed that this pleased God. And Washington was a man who feared the Lord, and lived in accordance with that.”

I admit I’m biased toward the classical. The highlight of the year in terms of church experiences for me is our annual performance of Handel’s Messiah. That piece is without parallel.

Meanwhile, the Christian church has in its repository one of the most beautiful treasure chests of worship. I refer to the old-fashioned hymnals. Many churches today have ditched the old hymnals and opt instead to have words projected on screens. What’s really bad is when they completely ditch the old hymns themselves. Like classical music, the work of hymn-writers such as Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley have stood the test of time.

Among some, there is perhaps a loss of reverence for God today. Yet if you read the Bible, you can’t help but feel the sense of God’s holiness.

Some evangelicals today are so mild on the reverence-to-God-front that it is as if they keep Jesus, their buddy, in their back pocket. They can pull Him out once in a while when they so desire.

But God is holy, holy, holy—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Worship styles may differ. But church shouldn’t be some sort of means of entertainment.

A couple of years ago, a Christian man escorted his Jewish friend (with Judeo-Christian values) who was running for Congress to our church and several other churches in South Florida.

The Christian man told me that he and the candidate had visited about 200 churches in the area, and that the traditional and often classical music we had in the worship service in our church was unique and a breath of fresh air. Wow—we even still have an organ.

During Holy Week, Christians celebrate with awe that God sent His only Son to suffer in a most brutal way and die as a sacrifice on behalf of sinners. Jesus went to hell for us, so we don’t have to. He rose again to seal the deal.

No wonder down through the ages, including our own with songs like “In Christ Alone” (a modern-day hymn, destined to be a classic), hundreds of millions sing His praises in a variety of ways.

All I’m saying is let it all be done in true reverence—not cavalierly. Not to entertain, but to sincerely worship.

©2024. Jerry Newcombe, D. Min. All rights reserved.

RELATED VIDEO: Tucker Carlson points out examples of the new legal code and motives of the current U.S. administration

Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine (PFLP), With Other Terror Groups, Are Among Key Organizers Of Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations In Germany thumbnail

Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine (PFLP), With Other Terror Groups, Are Among Key Organizers Of Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations In Germany

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By Middle East Media Research Institute

Palestinians | Special Dispatch No. 11232

Mass rallies have taken place in Germany, with thousands of people taking to the streets, in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks on October 7 and Israel’s military response. The ongoing large-scale pro-Palestinian rallies were planned to call for an immediate ceasefire and in support of Hamas. Berlin has been one of the main sites of the protests in Europe on this issue. The ideologies represented among the protesters include Islamist, far-left, and Turkish extreme-right. As of November 2, 2023, the Samidoun – Palestine Prisoner Solidarity Network, which Germany explicitly banned in November 2023 and which is the foreign affairs’ arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which the U.S.,[1] EU,[2] and Canada[3] have designated as a terrorist organization, served as the primary organizer of the many rallies and vigils held throughout Germany in support of the Palestinian cause and is known for its antisemitism and for its advocacy for Israel’s elimination. Germany’s Interior Ministry says that there are around 450 members of Hamas in the country.[4]

The Broader German Left And The Palestinian Struggle

The Palestinian struggle is exploited by mainstream leftist circles to pursue various goals, including: a communist revolution to replace neoliberalism and capitalism; opposition to anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism, social justice and human rights, solidarity with the oppressed, opposition to Zionism, and criticism of U.S. policy in the Middle East. All these objectives, they believe, align with the Palestinian situation.

Many large rallies across Germany are organized by leftist organizations, many of which maintain close ties to Samidoun. Some of these organizations are: “Global South United,” “Young Struggle,” “Revolutionäre Linke,” “Revolution Germany,” and “Arbeiterinnen Macht,” together with “Palästina Spricht,” “Palästina Kampagne,” “Jüdische Stimme,” and “Jewish Bund.” The presumption is that some of these groups convening mass protests on German streets are acting, in part, on behalf of Samidoun, whose banned activities may have been simply diverted to these other groups.

Major Leftist Organizations Facilitating Or Co-Ordinating Pro-Palestinian Protests

Left-wing engagement with pro-Palestinian solidarity marches demonstrates a convergence of political ideas, values, and assessments of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Highly vocal involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian issue has also become popular among many members of Gen Z. Leftist views on Israel and on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are generally heterogenous, ranging from nuanced support for a reasonable resolution, acknowledging the rights and aspirations of both Palestinian Arabs and Israelis, to vehemently rejecting Israel’s policies and even its very existence. Today, the latter appears to be dominant as the extremist perspective has become prevalent in both civil and political life. Leftist organizations, in particular, add significantly to the typically high protest turnout as an effective popular mobilization vehicle, reaching a broad spectrum of interest groups: country/region-specific, feminist, student, and LGBTQ entities. Each community expands its own following, creating an expansive network that transcends narrow interests and regions.

Israeli Flags Burned Outside Two Synagogues in Germany, as European Jews Fear New Violence Fueled by Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations | Jewish & Israel News https://t.co/1VGEQVWvpn https://t.co/YM5AghC3OU

— ((( Gianluigi ))) (@Gianlui91580067) May 13, 2021

Following are descriptions of groups that are the most prominent in organizing large-scale protests in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Global South United Collective: Decolonize Human Rights

“Global South United Collective” is an organization operating throughout Germany. Its activity is particularly centered in Berlin, operating under the umbrella of “Decolonize Human Rights: No Borders, Abolish Apartheid, Abolish Deportations, Stop the Genocide.” It stands “against all forms of oppression and colonial continuities,” calls for the breaking of silence on injustices, and encourages unity against major human rights violators.

The group asserts that Europe, despite its claims to democracy and human rights, has a dark legacy of perpetuating conflict, injustice, and oppression globally. Hence, the group explains, Europe’s actions have forced countless people to flee their homes in search of safety and opportunity – sometime in Europe. Once seeking refuge in Europe, the migrants experience unequal treatment and additional human rights violations, while the mainstream media too frequently overlooks attacks against marginalized communities, the group contends, encompassing “black, indigenous, and people of color, perpetuating a narrative that ignores the realities of systematic oppression.”[5] Global South United says that echoes of past atrocities continue to reverberate through these injustices.[6] The group posits that Germany obstructs humanitarian aid and tacitly supports atrocities, including genocide and ethnic cleansing. This entrenches Germany’s role in perpetuating oppression, and frustrates efforts to confront the German past. Global South United sees itself playing an important role in dismantling all forms of oppression, challenging structural racism which, the group alleges, is ingrained within German society.

Activities

Together with other groups, including “No Border Assembly,” Global South United launched a campaign calling for the boycott of the German multinational technology enterprises. The campaign “Boycott Siemens, Free Palestine” launched recently aims to shed light on the conglomerate making profits at the cost of human lives, the group alleges. The campaign slogan is: “From WWII to the EU borders to Palestine – no more complicity from Siemens, nor from other profiteers of genocide and border violence.” Global South United claims Siemens operates in occupied regions selling technology to dictatorships including Myanmar, the Western Sahara, and Iran. Interestingly, Iran’s proxy, Hamas, is not mentioned in the campaign, nor in the group’s alleged advocacy for the Palestinian people. Campaign-related protests aim to mobilize health care workers to “make a strong statement of solidarity, as well as [to issue] an indictment against complicity and war profiteering.”[7]

Other activist groups are also official supporters of the “Boycott Siemens” campaign.[8]

The “Boycott Siemens” rally was held at a frequent site of pro-Palestinian protests: the Hermann Platz in Berlin’s district of Neukölln-Kreuzberg.[9]

A “Boycott Siemens” vigil was held at the Siemens facility in Berlin. A Palestinian flag waved above signs reading: “[Siemens] guilty of genocide, apartheid, border violence, climate crisis, weapons production!”

Protests organized by Global South United are usually organized under the pretext of holding Israel liable for alleged genocide while holding Germany “once again” complicit in genocide, misappropriating the Holocaust. In some cases, exploiting or trivializing the Holocaust can lead to legal prosecution in Germany.

Global South United posted one of its many protest flyers held under the umbrella of “Israel Is Guilty – Germany Complicit.” Several symbols at the protests are forbidden in theory – however, enforcement of the law is rare.

A mass protest, organized under the banner of Global South United and affiliated groups, was held at the central train station (Hauptbahnhof) in Berlin, with loud chants, many Palestinian flags and some participants wearing keffiyehs.

A mass protest co-organized by Global South United was held in front of the headquarters of the media company Axel Springer. Protesters accused the enterprise of being “Zionist Propaganda.” The protest was primarily organized to oppose a Jerusalem Post conference held in Berlin. The protesters also accused the German media of criminalizing pro-Palestinian voices and sought to bring attention to the more than 120 journalists “murdered by Israel since October,” states the group, in Israel’s war against Hamas.

Protesters in front of the Axel Springer headquarters in Berlin.[10]

At a recent protest co-organized by Global South United with a group called the “Egyptian Diaspora Resists,” held in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin, participants called for the Egyptian borders to open to Palestinians.

A member of Global South United spoke at the demonstration. The speaker claimed that 460,000 people had been wounded and 26,000 people had been killed in Gaza “by the genocidal settler colonial state of Israel. The genocide continues against the Palestinian people and by closing the Rafah crossing, Egypt is not just complicit in the killing and suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, but Egypt is a part in the crime.” The man, speaking in Arabic, urged those assembled to remember the stories of those allegedly massacred by Israel and to never forget and never forgive. He said: “Resistance provides us with meaning […] No borders are going to stop [the resistance] and no walls, from Palestine to Congo, to Sudan, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Iran and Kurdistan – one fight against colonialism, imperialism, fascism, and dictatorship.” Moreover, the speaker demanded that all Palestinian prisoners be released, and called for the end to the so-called “colonial genocidal settler state of Israel.”

An activist from Global South United speaks at a protest held in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin.[11]

Young Struggle

The “Young Struggle” (YS) ideologically aligns itself with the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLCP), a designated terror organization in Turkey. YS serves as an umbrella organization for MLCP youth groups. The youth wing, “Komünist Gençlik Örgütü/KGÖ” (Turkish, “Communist Youth Organization”) fields organizations across Europe, established by entities from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Britain. In Germany, YS is predominately active in major cities, including Berlin, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Duisburg, Cologne, Hamburg, Kiel, Mannheim, Hildesheim, and Ulm, among several major university cities. The organization’s activism is focused on what they call the “revolutionary struggle,” drawing distinct parallels with militant groups such as the German Red Army Faction (RAF). YS relies heavily on an extensive network throughout the left-wing activism landscape, hence its ability to mobilize young people for its proclaimed cause. YS politicizes youth while raising awareness of injustices and societal disparities; it advocates for active collective resistance. Its activism primarily focuses on anti-repression, anti-capitalism, women’s struggles, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, and pro-internationalism.[12] Among the organization’s flagship causes are the “Palestinian struggle for liberation,” as well as the “Kurdish liberation cause.”[13] On its webpage, YS regularly publishes extensive articles and opinion pieces.

Activities

After the October 7 attack on Israel, Young Struggle issued a lengthy statement on October 10, defining the Hamas massacre as a “prison break of the Palestinian people.” The statement alludes to October 7, when the “Palestinian National Liberation Movement” staged an operation organized by 14 factions, releasing Palestinian militants to return home in what many termed as a “prison raid.” YS criticized the mainstream media in Germany, as well as generally leftist Turkish and Kurdish outlets, for assuming a narrative in which innocent people were killed by Hamas terrorists, while Israel was described as the “democratic heart of the Middle East.” YS sees itself as the “critical voice emerging from the anti-imperialist youth” that criticizes the reactionary aspects of the revolt, while also denouncing a spectrum of the left that supports reactionary forces rather than emphasizing revolutionary and progressive ones.

YS viewed October 7 as a “popular revolt by the Palestinian resistance movement.” The violence perpetrated by what they call the “oppressed” Palestinians in conjoined as well as with “revolutionary activities in Turkey and Kurdistan.” The civilian casualties are dismissed: “If we reject the validity and legitimacy of any movement or people who have made civilian sacrifices for their liberation and compare them with their oppressors, we will be absolutely incapable of action.”[14]

YS also justified the attack, saying: “Palestinians have neither the capacity nor the motivation to carry out a slaughter of Palestine’s Jewish people. However, the invasion of Gaza, the attacks on the long-demolished migrant camps, the detention of Palestinians in the media and by leading Israeli politicians, and the decade-long surveillance of Israeli soldiers all contribute to an objectively increased risk of mass murder in the Gaza Strip, though the numbers will not be in the hundreds.”[15]

Further, YS claimed the kibbutzim residents are not ordinary civilians, but rather “assault troops” backed by the IDF that are allegedly accelerating the “colonization of Palestine.” YS states that each kibbutz represents a “devastated Palestinian village and hundreds of murdered and displaced Palestinians.”[16]

The importance of resistance is emphasized in the German context, where there is some incitement against migrants; Arabs are sometimes portrayed as those importing antisemitism, and people YS considers “revolutionaries” are imprisoned. To combat perceived injustices on German land, unilateral support is essential in “freedom for Palestine and all oppressed peoples, from the river to the sea.”

The statement “The Al-Aqsa Flood – The Prison Break Of The Palestinian People,” as published on the YS web site.

YS and Samidoun have maintained close ties as a result of their joint participation in, and organization of, rallies and protests marches. In the wake of Samidoun’s monitoring by German law enforcement, which intensified in the spring of 2023, Samidoun issued a statement titled: “Statement of Young Struggle: Solidarity with Samidoun!” on May 18. On Nakba Day, Samidoun praised “our comrades [of] ‘Young Struggle’ for their continuous work against imperialism […].”[17] Immediately after Germany’s interior minister disclosed Samidoun’s involvement, YS uploaded a graphic captioned “Solidarity with Samidoun!” and “No ban can stop us!” A photo of the Samidoun rally reads: “In the fight for a just peace and justice for the Palestinian people, Samidoun has remained steadfast in recent weeks, despite all the repression, smear campaigns, and attacks.” YS, it appears, shall continue to stand with them. [18]

YS post on Instagram expressing solidarity with Samidoun.

YS members further participate in pro-Palestinian vigils, frequently held at the campuses of German universities such as the Berlin-based Freie Universität (FU), which serves as a hotspot of activities which include anti-Zionist and antisemitic rhetoric. One action included the occupation of an FU auditorium where students called for the end of the alleged “genocide” against the Gazans. YS published a statement following the dismantlement of the auditorium siege by the police, in which it claimed that “Solidarity with Palestine is no crime!”[19]

“Solidarity With Palestine Is No Crime!” post shared on Instagram by YS.

On January 31, YS held its own pro-Palestinian protest at the FU by occupying an auditorium for an extended period of time “with around 50 people since Tuesday, 9:30,” as reported by the university’s newspaper “Furios.” The occupiers demand that Germany cease all alleged imperialist actions, including “warmongering” aims, while also demanding the revision of an FU civil clause. [20] The demand calls for the university to cease from investing in arms businesses, and withdraw from research and initiatives involving Israel, and allocate funding solely to civilian research projects. The occupation attempted to disrupt university life in a way reminiscent of left-wing protests of past decades. Previous flyer campaigns had failed to achieve their aims, according to Furios, which also stated that YS had meticulously planned the occupation of the auditorium in advance, perhaps as early as December. “Roles were delegated and recorded, logistics were evaluated, and teams were formed for each stage of the action,” Furios reported. Furthermore, campaigners reportedly submitted an open letter to the FU Executive Board, listing their demands.

YS occupation of the FU auditorium end of January. Two activists can be seen giving a Powerpoint presentation embedded by: the flag of Rojava, which is used by Syrian Kurds; the YPG militia flag; the YS flag; and the Palestinian flag. Two banners are mounted on the wall with the inscriptions: “Youth Against War And Crisis” and “Overthrow Imperialism, New Turning Point – Stop The War!“[21]

A placard with the words: “Free Palestine From German Guilt” was hoisted at a YS protest in front of the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall) located in Berlin-Mitte.

At the beginning of November, Young Struggle co-organized a large-scale demonstration in the heart of Berlin, near the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall). Activists displayed several flags, including the Palestinian, YS, KGÖ, and MLCP. Activists wearing keffiyehs chanted “From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” climbed on a Neptune Fountain statue situated near the City Hall, and hung Palestinian flags from the TV Tower.[22]

Leipzig’s YS branch shared photos and videos from their protest in Berlin in November, with activists climbing onto the Neptune Fountain statute; in the background, the TV tower can be seen.

A YS spokesman, shared a video of his speech on his Instagram account. The speech was titled: “Free Palestine – Fight the Apartheid State: The Palestine’s Freedom Movement Will Triumph!” In the video, Glenn discussed Palestinian suffering since the Nakba (Israel’s founding and displacement of approximately 700,000 Arabs) from the Palestinian perspective, using words like “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing.” He cited Al Jazeera news reporting during his address.

EDITORS NOTE: This MEMRI column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

SOURCES:

 [1] State.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations, October 8, 1997.

[2] Eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:165:0072:0074:EN:PDF, June 26, 2012.

[3] Publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx, accessed March 26, 2024.

[4] Dw.com/en/why-germany-banned-hamas-and-pro-palestinian-group-samidoun/a-67546361, November 24, 2023; Verfassungsschutz.de

[5] Radar.squat.net

[6] Radar.squat.net

[7] Picuki.com

[8] Picuki.com

[9] Picuki.com

[12] Young-struggle.org

[13] Verfassungsschutz.de

[14] Young-struggle.org

[15] Young-struggle.org

[16] Young-struggle.org

[17] Samidoun.net

[20] Furios-campus.de

[21] Furios-campus.de

[22] Scontent.cdninstagram.com

COLUMBIA & CORNELL: The Impact Of Pro-Hamas Educators thumbnail

COLUMBIA & CORNELL: The Impact Of Pro-Hamas Educators

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By Canary Mission

Antisemitism at Cornell and Columbia universities has escalated following the October 7th Hamas massacre to the point where both schools are now the subject of federal investigations and lawsuits filed by Jewish students.

The role played by professors in fomenting this hate cannot be understated. Professors openly express anti-Israel sentiments and support terror groups like Hamas.

Their academic positions lend credibility to these views, which has led to the normalization of antisemitic on these once-esteemed campuses.

SEE CAMPAIGN

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“We are able to take what we learn in the classroom about decolonial theories … and put these theories into practice in real time,” says Columbia SJP activist Safiya O’Brien, who was featured in an Al Jazeera video.

WATCH to find out what “real-time” decolonization means.

“We are able to take what we learn in the classroom about decolonial theories…and put these theories into practice in real time,” says @ColumbiaSJP activist Safiya O’Brien, who was featured in an @ajplus video. What exactly is “real time” when it comes to decolonization? WATCH pic.twitter.com/ooE0RKilsQ

— Canary Mission (@canarymission) March 22, 2024

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“It’s crossed such a line into physical violence.” Listen to University of California Berkeley’s Jewish students describe what it’s like to be Jewish at Berkeley these days. Shocking testimony about a PUBLIC university in America.

“It’s crossed such a line into physical violence.” Listen to @UCBerkeley‘s Jewish students describe what it’s like to be Jewish at Berkeley these days. Shocking testimony about a PUBLIC university in America. https://t.co/bL7AwpqA0K

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Katya Castell, a counselor at NYC’s Discovery Mental Health Counseling, posted an image that read: “Anti-Semitism: ‘Ideology that is implied to keep the Palestinian in subjugation and to keep the world silent about what is happening to Palestinians.’”

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Katya Castell, a counselor at NYC’s Discovery Mental Health Counseling, posted an image that read: “Anti-Semitism: ‘Ideology that is implied to keep the Palestinian in subjugation and to keep the world silent about what is happening to Palestinians.’” https://t.co/ZdFF1gTQ5u pic.twitter.com/2f3PAwKNag

— Canary Mission (@canarymission) March 20, 2024

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Christianity Is Exclusive — And Inclusive!

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By Family Research Council

A study by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research published in late 2022 offered a startling finding: nearly 60% of professing evangelical Protestants believe Jesus is but one of a number of ways to God. A similar 2021 survey by Probe Ministries documented a similar percentage.

This is more than troubling — it is a rejection, whether from ignorance or outright rebellion to God’s Word, of the New Testament’s teaching about the person and work of Jesus Christ. “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” said Jesus. “No one comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6). The apostle Peter confirmed his Master’s claim: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). In addition to such explicit passages, the whole text of the New Testament asserts that Jesus of Nazareth, fully God and fully man, took into Himself the penalty of eternal death deserved by all of us. That’s comprehensive in both time and scope, and by definition excludes all other supposed pathways to God.

These things compose a single claim: That there are no other means of obtaining a relationship with God and eternal life apart from placing your trust in Christ alone for forgiveness and reconciliation with our Creator. And in making this claim, Christianity is accused of being narrow, unfair, and arrogant. There are so many other faiths, and so many good people now and throughout history who have never heard of Jesus; how can Christianity tell every other religion it is false and every other spiritual code it is inadequate?

These are hard questions. Not to admit this is not to be honest. Yet the Bible also tells us that God is both loving and just, and Jesus commanded His followers to go throughout the earth and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). This, then, is the foundational calling of all who have come to know Him.

The God of the Bible has provided but one way to be born physically and, in the same way, only one way to be born spiritually. He is the One Who makes and redeems; the way of knowing Him is a matter of His choice, not ours.

The uniqueness of Jesus and His plan of salvation are not the Bible’s only exclusivities. Christianity also claims that marriage is exclusive: one man and one woman in a life-long, covenantal relationship (see, for example, Proverbs 2:14) and the only place where sexual intimacy is honored by God. In our era, one characterized by every manner of sexual dysfunction and promiscuity, this understanding of human sexuality is profoundly counter-cultural. It is also an understanding of unity, complementarity, and life-affirming relationship imbued with beauty, goodness, and truth.

These things mirror the character of God Himself. He is a God of exclusivity. He told the people of Israel, “See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me” (Deuteronomy 32:39). He declares to Isaiah, “I am Yahweh, and there is no other, besides me there is no God” (45:5).

In our time, these scriptural claims are discomfiting. How much simpler and less contentious to affirm religion as palliative, a means of coping with stress and molding one’s preferred deity into the form most comfortable to the molder. And how distasteful to assert that there is but one true God and one means of entering His presence, that new birth through which the imponderable purity of His Son is imputed to those who repent and place their hope in Him alone.

These perceptions are appealing but have an immutable disadvantage: They are false, wrong, and turn us in the direction of everlasting punishment. This is because of the gospel’s unmitigated inclusivity.

Yes, you read that correctly. The good news of Jesus is inclusive, open to all who come to Him and receive Him by faith. We read in Revelation 7:9 that in heaven, followers of Christ will be part of “a great multitude that no one can number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” Eternal redemption is open to all, not some spiritual elite or mysteriously initiated handful.

Jesus is alive: This is the simple and universe-shaking truth of the resurrection, that always-glorious day we will celebrate this coming Sunday. The way to know God is exclusively through Him, and that way is accessible to all, including you and me. Come meet Him today.

AUTHOR

Rob Schwarzwalder

Rob Schwarzwalder, Ph.D., is Senior Lecturer in Regent University’s Honors College.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Christ Is King and Every Knee Shall Bend thumbnail

Christ Is King and Every Knee Shall Bend

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By Family Research Council

Almost since the beginning of recorded history, men have sought power: Caesars and shahs, kings and sultans, princes and khans, presidents and prime ministers, emperors and generals. Kingdoms and empires, dynasties and nations have risen and fallen, memorialized in poems and art and the annals of history. Some dominated entire generations, others sprawled across centuries. Only one has stood the test of time, covering every continent and thriving over 2,000 years: Christianity.

Over the weekend, this well-chronicled historical fact became a subject of discontent and dispute for the armchair philosophers and amateur pundits of social media — many of them self-professed conservatives and even Christians. According to these self-appointed arbiters of theological, historical, and social truth, the admission “Christ is King” is clearly a hateful, anti-Semitic slur. That is to say, claiming that the Messiah foretold by centuries of Jewish prophets, born to a humble Jewish carpenter and his wife, who illuminated and fulfilled the Jewish Scriptures, could be the King of the world is … hateful towards Jews. Luckily for Christians, nearly two millennia ago, a Jew famous for prosecuting and executing Christians actually addressed this argument:

“Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

The chief argument against “Christ is King” is that the proclamation of the fact is offensive to those of the Jewish faith, and thus anti-Semitic, a slur against a race of persons. As for the racial component of this argument, Christianity necessarily holds that God does not create anything evil — evil is, rather, an absence or a perversion of good in something — and, since every person is not only made by God but is in fact made in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:27), no human can be created evil.

It is for this reason that Christianity has, from the beginning, served as the driving force of civilization. It was St. Patrick, himself sold as a slave in his boyhood, who first condemned the slave trade, some 1,400 years before the American Civil War was fought. It was St. Remigius of Reims who, after the fall of Rome, baptized Franks, Goths, Galls, and Celts, giving those who the Romans derided as “barbarians” a new name, “brother in Christ.” It was Christian missionaries who brought the gospel to Africa, Asia, and South America, establishing peace in regions which had previously been dominated by tribal and racial wars, often culminating in slavery and human sacrifice.

History baldly contradicts the argument that Christianity condemns any particular race, but especially the Jewish race. Christ Himself was ethnically Jewish, and his earthly father, Joseph, was descended from the line of the great King David, as affirmed by the Gospels of both Luke and Matthew. Declaring then that a humble carpenter’s son of the Jewish race is, in fact, the King of the entire world hardly seems to be a means of deriding the Jewish race. The first Christians were Jewish fishermen, so devoted to Christ and the gospel that, with the exception of John the Evangelist, they all willingly died for their faith. The first act of the apostles was to evangelize the Jews, to welcome thousands into the church, to call their own people to recognize the kingship of Christ.

By its very nature, Christianity demonstrably rebuffs the claim that Christ’s kingship — and its proclamation — is somehow an instrument of violence, hatred, or oppression towards any people, but especially the Jews. The fact that some vocal pundits and influencers have attempted to affix the phrase with their racially-charged messages does not alter or mitigate the truth that Christ is King, and it does not warrant the broad effort to suppress proclaiming Christ’s Kingship regardless of intent. Instead, the real case against “Christ is King” is a theological one.

Christ did not come to end the Mosaic covenant, but to fulfill it. He Himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). In other words, He came that He might be the continuation of that covenant: not its death, but its fruition. The prophets of old predicted that a Messiah would come to save the world from its sins and eternal damnation. Christ is that Messiah. There is no longer the promise of a Messiah, there is not some other savior waiting in the wings like an understudy. This does not abolish the Mosaic covenant, but continues it, rather as a young boy maturing into a man does not kill the boy, but fulfills the promise of his youth. There is not now, though, the same boy running about playing while the grown man works and weds and raises his own children. Just so, there are not two extant covenants: an old one and a new one. Rather, the old covenant was made to mature into Christ, who is Himself the new covenant, just as the boy was made to mature into the man.

This point is an important one to understand, for if Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection were merely offering an alternative covenant to the Mosaic covenant, then what would be the point? If the Mosaic law were sufficient for one to attain Heaven and eternal salvation, perfect and beatific communion with God, then God becoming man, taking on the form of a mere creature, suffering an excruciating and ignominious death, and then conquering the grave would be rather superfluous.

Very well, but what if the Mosaic covenant was for the Jews and the new covenant established in Christ is for the Gentiles? Then Christ’s ministry, carried out entirely within the Jewish community, would have been fruitless. Christ was not born in Rome, fulfilling prophesies written hundreds of years before in Jupiter’s temples. He was not born in Athens, claiming to be the son of Kronos. He was not raised studying the sacred texts of the Persians or the Babylonians. He was born in Bethlehem to a Jewish carpenter whose royal lineage would mean nothing to a Gentile, He grew up studying the Jewish Scriptures, and He called Himself the Son of God. But He was rejected by those who, for centuries, awaited His coming.

Christ Himself acknowledges this throughout the gospels. In one instance, He tells a parable to the Pharisees and Jewish priests and leaders, of a landowner who leases his vineyard to tenants and sends numerous servants to ask them for his vintage. After the tenants beat and kill the servants and messengers, the vineyard owner sends his son. When he arrives, Christ says, “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him” (Matthew 21:33-39).

Christ rarely explained His parables to anyone other than the Apostles, but He did explain this one to the Pharisees and priests:

“Did you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit” (Matthew 21:42-43).

Matthew records, “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them” (Matthew 21:45). Christ also knew the thoughts of the Pharisees and priests (Luke 5:22-23), which makes His summary of the tenants’ thoughts all the more damning. He knew, of course, that He would be rejected, and He knew why. Christ did not reject the Jews and God did not replace them with Christians. Rather, Christ brought the promise of the Mosaic covenant to fruition through His life, death, and resurrection, calling His chosen people to enter into the covenant which He Himself is.

The conclusion this argument against “Christ is King” reaches is, essentially, that Christ is not King. If He were King, of course, then there would be no harm in declaring Him thus — but if He is not, then boldly and proudly proclaiming His Kingship would be a sort of spiritual colonization of those who do not call Him a King, especially the Jews, since Christ claimed to be the Messiah their Scriptures prophesied. Instead, if this argument is accepted, Christ is relegated to merely one king among many. In short, the argument’s conclusion is that there are multiple avenues to what Christ offers: eternal salvation. Christians, of course, recognize that this is patently false.

Once again, Christ Himself declares, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father” (John 14:6-7). There is no other way, there is no other savior, there is no one else whose blood might wash away sin and whose life might conquer death itself. As St. John Chrysostom asks, “Could I produce a witness more trustworthy than the Son of God?” The campaign against Christ’s Kingship is nothing short of an overture to pantheism, an effort to declare that Christ is not only not King, but is not the way or the truth or the life.

Atheism is given pride of place among the social, political, and academic elites of the West: the declaration “God is dead” is met with smiles or applause and is ingratiated into Western nomenclature. The violent religion of Islam is endorsed and promulgated, with even those whom Muslims would deride as “infidels” serving as some of Islam’s most ardent evangelists. Judaism used to be more vigorously defended, with any critique of the religion instantly labeled racism and anti-Semitism. But the Kingship of Christ is denied, spurned, and rejected. The only One who truly is the way, the truth, and the life is silenced, as He was silenced upon a cross nearly 2,000 years ago.

Christians have a responsibility, a solemn commission, to proclaim that Christ is King. It is not anti-Semitic, it is not a slur, it is not a “dialectical trap,” as some have called it. It is a crucial tenet of the Christian faith. Our King commanded us not to shirk and shrink from name-calling, but to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), reminding us that the world will hate us for declaring that Christ is King, just as it first hated Christ our King (John 15:18-19).

Over the centuries, Christian martyrs have faced far worse than criticism, accusations of racism, and social ostracization in their efforts to preach the gospel and expand Christ’s kingdom. Let us not cower before the self-negating arguments of pantheism nor allow any smear to keep us from courageously proclaiming that truth in which both Heaven and earth rejoice: Christ is King.

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

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Churchill and Easter

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By Matthys van Raalten

Human beings play games. Some play nice games, others play games to get powerful or to destroy.

But without Winston Churchill, there would be no games anymore to be played on planet Earth.

Let’s talk about war. Let’s talk about World War II.

In the years 1939 till 1945, the whole world was almost drawn into darkness.

We owe it to Churchill that today we are alive and live in peace.

Churchill remained the steadfast leader, even when all the odds were against England.

His greatness was also in his humility: he was always close to the common soldier, the common man.

He encouraged his soldiers, he encouraged the common people.

But he was also a genius in the Art of War.

Modern historians want to ignore him. Modern historians want to criticize him for his bombardments of German cities, or for not bombing Auschwitz.

These jealous souls all fail to realize that great leaders have great shadows.

This Easter, I propose to light a candle for Churchill.

Jesus Christ gave birth to our civilization. Winston Churchill grasped it out of the claws of the German devil.

©2024. Matthys van Raalten. All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: The World of Churchill Collectables: Easter Greeting Card

As Israel Eyes Last Hamas Stronghold, Experts Urge Biden to Support Netanyahu thumbnail

As Israel Eyes Last Hamas Stronghold, Experts Urge Biden to Support Netanyahu

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By Family Research Council

Over the weekend, the Biden administration ratcheted up its rhetoric against Israel’s fight against the terrorist group Hamas, as Vice President Kamala Harris declared that there could be “consequences” for Israel if it invades the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, which remains the last major stronghold of Hamas. Experts and lawmakers say that despite the difficult situation in Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees are encamped, the U.S. must support Israel’s military efforts to rid Gaza of Hamas in the wake of the terrorist group’s October 7 atrocities.

As opposition to Israel has grown within some segments of the Democratic Party’s voter base, prominent Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have vocalized an increasingly hard-edged position against Israel in recent weeks, with Schumer calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down on March 14. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued the drumbeat last week, saying that a failed U.S.-led U.N. resolution calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas was meant to create “a sense of urgency.”

But dissent from within the Democratic ranks on the party’s stance against Israel appears to be growing. On Sunday, Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) responded unequivocally to Vice President Harris’s remarks that a Rafah invasion would be a “huge mistake” and that the Biden administration would not rule out consequences against Israel if it moved forward. “Hard disagree,” Fetterman wrote on X. “Israel has the right to prosecute Hamas to surrender or to be eliminated. Hamas owns every innocent death for their cowardice hiding behind Palestinian lives.”

Last Friday, Lela Gilbert, a senior fellow for International Religious Freedom at Family Research Council who spent 10 years living in Israel, joined “Washington Watch” to discuss the current status of Israel’s war against Hamas and the Biden administration’s response to it.

“I think that what we’re looking at is a war during an election year and how our American policy may shift about a little more than usual [due to] trying to satisfy everybody with our decisions,” she observed. “… I think … our American president and his administration [are] try[ing] to get it over with as quickly as possible as we get closer to the election.”

Gilbert further argued that the events of October 7 must be the central issue guiding American policy, despite a legacy media and Democratic Party that wants to move on from it. “[W]e have to remember what happened on October 7th, which was the absolute genocide, the most brutal killing of Israeli women, children, babies. It was unbelievably bad. That’s not in front of people anymore. What’s in front of them now is the continuing efforts of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to clean Hamas out of Gaza.”

Reports over the weekend indicated that those efforts are continuing apace, as the IDF said Saturday that it had “killed more than 170 gunmen and captured 800 terror suspects during its ongoing operation against Hamas at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.”

What remains to be seen is how a potential invasion of Rafah would unfold. “We have no way to defeat Hamas without getting into Rafah and eliminating the battalions that are left there,” Netanyahu made clear last week. But with 1.4 million Palestinians currently packing the city, with thousands sheltering in refugee camps, it will likely be difficult for Israel to avoid significant casualties during a hypothetical invasion. Because of this, the Biden administration has urged Israel to come up with a “credible” plan to evacuate civilians.

However, tensions between the administration and Israel appeared to escalate even further on Monday as Netanyahu “canceled a planned trip to Washington by his top aides to discuss plans for an offensive” in Rafah due to the U.S.’s failure to block a China and Russia-backed U.N. resolution that “called for a ceasefire without conditioning it on the release of hostages.”

Gilbert, who also serves as a fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, acknowledged the difficulties with a hypothetical invasion of Rafah but also emphasized the danger of Hamas.

“[M]any of the people that are stranded in the cities that are being looked at now are definitely going to be sidelined and sometimes injured and maybe some killed, so we have to be compassionate about that,” she noted. “But on the other hand … I hope that America has the presence of mind to see that there’s no reason to protect Hamas, period. It’s doing nothing for the good people in Gaza, the ordinary citizens. It’s not good for anyone. … I think we should support every effort to clean house in these cities and get rid of as much of Hamas as possible.”

Gilbert concluded, “Israel has to be careful about being blatantly offensive, but I think right now Netanyahu has been down this road before. I trust him to make wise decisions and to do what he can to protect the Israeli people from another Hamas attack.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

U.S. Supreme Court Gives Hamas-Linked CAIR a 9-0 Thumbs-Up thumbnail

U.S. Supreme Court Gives Hamas-Linked CAIR a 9-0 Thumbs-Up

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By Jihad Watch

The Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) files many lawsuits, but actually wins comparatively few. So when it does receive a favorable decision, its operatives crow about it loudly. In the latest example, CAIR is calling a 9-0 Supreme Court ruling in its favor a “historic milestone for American Muslims.”

However, a simple reading of the Supreme Court’s decision in Federal Bureau of Investigation et al. v. Fikre, or of any of the many media reports on that decision, show that CAIR is overstating the victory.

See, for example, “Supreme Court Says ‘No Fly List’ Suit Can Proceed Against FBI, for Now”, by Jimmy Hoover, Law.com, March 19, 2024. In essence, the court ruled:

Yonas Fikre, a U.S. citizen from Sudan, can—for now—pursue his claim that the FBI violated his constitutional right to due process when it placed him on the list roughly eight years ago. He says the placement left him stranded abroad for four years and led to his torture in the United Arab Emirates.

The Government had tried to have Mr. Fikre’s case dismissed as moot, since the FBI had already removed Fikre from the No-Fly list, and as a result, there was no more damage to him. However, the Supreme Court did not accept this reasoning. From FBI vs Fikre:

In May 2016, the government notified Mr. Fikre that he had been removed from the No Fly List and sought dismissal of his suit in district court, arguing that its administrative action had rendered the case moot.”

Mootness is defined in Maniar v. Mayorkas, Civil Action 19-3826 (EGS), 36 (D.D.C. Mar. 30, 2023), as

[a] change in factual circumstances[,] . . . such as when the plaintiff receives the relief sought.

Additionally,

the party urging mootness bears a heavy burden.

However, in the present case, according to FBI vs. Fikre:

The government has failed to demonstrate that this case is moot.

Were the rule more forgiving, a defendant [FBI] might suspend its challenged conduct after being sued, win dismissal, and later pick up where it left off; it might even repeat “this cycle” as necessary until it achieves all of its allegedly “unlawful ends.” Already, 568 U. S., at 91. A live case or controversy cannot be so easily disguised, and a federal court’s constitutional authority cannot be so readily manipulated. To show that a case is truly moot, a defendant must prove “‘no reasonable expectation’” remains that it will “return to [its] old ways.”

The government had failed to meet its burden because the declaration did not disclose the conduct that landed Mr. Fikre on the No Fly List and did not ensure that he would not be placed back on the list for engaging in the same or similar conduct in the future.

Again, the court’s ruling means Fikre’s suit against the FBI can continue. But as Justice Gorsuch says in the court’s decision:

This case comes to us in a preliminary posture, framed only by uncontested factual allegations and a terse declaration. As the case unfolds, the complaint’s allegations will be tested rather than taken as true, and different facts may emerge that may call for a different conclusion.

CAIR’s very well-established pattern of overstating the results of court decisions in its favor really should be more widely discussed.

  • When Judge Anthony Trenga ruled in CAIR’s favor, saying that the terror watch list was unconstitutional, CAIR hailed this as the greatest legal decision the history of the country. Indeed, CAIR’s victory was widely reported in the mainstream media. However, when the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded Judge Trenga’s decision, sending the case back with instructions to rule properly, there was little word from CAIR on that.
  • More recently, CAIR was very proud of a favorable ruling in the case A & R Engineering and Testing, Incorporated vs. John Scott, Attorney General of Texas. But CAIR minimized the fact that the judge’s ruling applied to just this one case, and only to the plaintiff, Rasmy Hassouna.
  • In the article “Why a Texas Court Ruling on Israel Boycott Was No Victory for CAIR” by Erielle Davidson, which appeared in The Algemeiner on February 4, 2022, there is this statement: “But CAIR is patently wrong in its legal analysis, rendering the recent victory lap is nothing short of bizarre. While the opinion does deem a fraction of the language in the Texas law unconstitutional, the opinion itself explicitly asserts that most of the language in the Texas statute — including the central element prohibiting economic boycotts of Israel — is constitutional.”

CAIR is, among other things, a public relations firm with itself as its biggest client. As a result, any event which is favorable to the organization and its goals is exaggerated out of all proportion, while incidents that do not fit a favorable narrative are whitewashed, hushed up, or simply ignored completely.

Although the FBI is certainly no friend of Jihad Watch, and the terror watch list may be a necessary evil, it does have value. Already, the DHS has stopped at least 160 people on the watch list from entering the U.S.’s porous border. Additionally, Project Veritas has reported that many of the Afghan refugees on the terror watch list are roaming free in the U.S.

As Justice Gorusch wrote in the court’s decision:

The government does not generally disclose the full reasoning for why people are placed on the list, and the Justice Department expressed concerns that allowing cases such as Fikre’s to move forward would needlessly force the government to reveal its sometimes-classified explanations.

Of course, the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations appears to have absolutely no regard for the national security of the United States of America.

AUTHOR

LARRY ESTAVAN

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

ISRAELI Elections: Why now is not the time! thumbnail

ISRAELI Elections: Why now is not the time!

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By Dr. Martin Sherman

When Israeli voters next go to the polls, over what led to the grim events of Oct. 7, their choices must not be driven by uninformed rumor, ill-informed speculation, and misinformed emotion.

The campaign [Breaking Dawn] has reinstated Israel’s deterrence and initiative – Yair Lapid – Ynet, Aug. 8, 2023—barely a year before the massacre of October 7.

In the days preceding the surprise attack, senior figures in the IDF told the political leadership that Hamas was deterred…The deadly attack, which the terror organizations in the Strip launched, came after senior IDF officers informed the political leaders over the last fortnight that Hamas was deterred – Ynet, on the day of the October 7 massacre.

Every time an election rolls along in Israel, it is widely dubbed as “crucial”, “historic” “fateful” and so on and so forth.

However, the next election, which inevitably will be held under the baleful shadow of the October 7 barbarism, will undoubtedly be all of these and more. Indeed, how these appalling events are processed and dealt with will, in large measure, determine the resilience of Israeli society well into the future.

The core question.

It is for this reason that, when Israeli voters go to the polls, they be as fully informed as possible as to what led to the grim events of October 7, and not be driven by uninformed rumor, ill-informed speculation, and misinformed emotion. After all, if blame is to be apportioned fairly, and culpability assigned equitably, this ought to be based on what actually transpired and not on biased assumptions and skewed presumptions.

For, the voters’ verdict should not be solely the undiscerning expression of vengeful vindictiveness. After all, the decision as to who ought to be elected, and who ejected, should be made not merely to replace the incumbent government. Rather it should be made to enhance it with those deemed not only untainted by the October debacle, but endowed with the necessary acumen and aptitude to run the affairs of the nation more astutely than their predecessors.

This, of course, will be the core question that the next election must address. But to address it intelligently and effectively, voters will need reliable information that will provide them with a fact-based gauge to determine which–if any—of the candidates for office would have behaved substantially differently from the sitting incumbents on October 7. After all, nearly all the realistic alternatives to the current coalition members were deeply enmeshed in the fatally flawed “conception” that was at the root of the October 7 fiasco—no less so than most of the current coalition.

“Hamas do not want war…”

Voters will have to weigh three factors in arriving at their decision:

  1. What information was available to decision-makers immediately prior to October 7?
  2. Who, if any of the potential candidates to replace the sitting coalition, warned of the impending danger of a wide-scale invasion by Hamas?
  3. Were the incumbent decision-makers provided in a timely manner, with the pertinent information to allow them to take appropriate action to contend with the emerging threat—and if not, why not?

With regard to the first of these—the available information—clearly, it is unrealistic to expect the political leadership to be responsible for the collection and operational evaluation of intelligence. For this, they must necessarily rely on the operational organs of the defense establishment. On this matter, there was virtually wall-to-wall consensus among security circles that Hamas was not planning large-scale armed aggression against Israel. Indeed, over recent years, this assessment was virtually immutable. Thus. as early as 2019, at a gathering at Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center, then-Head of Military Intelligence, Tamir Hayman, stated that Hamas “was very deterred from initiating war, and had a desire to stay on a course of accommodation. They do not want war at all.”

“Israeli initiative & deterrence restored…”

Four years later, in September 2022—barely a year prior to October 7—the current IDF Intelligence Head, Maj-Gen Aharon Haliva echoed almost identical sentiments: “I predict that the calm following Operation Guardian of the Walls will last for five years…and I still stand behind that forecast. In Gaza–along with the use of force and substantial deterrence of Hamas—I discern that the processes promoted by Israel of economic stabilization, allowing Gazan workers into Israel and enhancing the living standards have the potential to bring long-term calm.”

But it was not only the military that made such grossly inaccurate assessments. They were also made by political figures, who are likely to be major contenders for office in any new election and candidates to replace the October 7 coalition. Thus, former interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid—today leader of the Opposition—smugly proclaimed at the end of the three-day Operation Breaking Dawn (September 2022), conducted solely against Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)—as the prevailing assumption was that Hamas has a vested interest in preserving stability and improving living standards: “In Operation Breaking Dawn, Israel reclaimed the initiative. It restored Israel’s deterrence. All our goals were achieved.”

Qatari funding “an Israeli interest”

The then-Defense Minister—and the person, who the polls predict has the best chance of replacing Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister—Benny Gantz, enumerated the achievements attained by Operation Breaking Dawn “1. Removing the imminent threat from Gaza; 2. Maintaining our freedom of action in all arenas; 3. Maintaining deterrence, while sending a clear message to our enemies in each of the arenas: Israel is determined to maintain its sovereignty and protect its citizens.” 

Even the much-maligned practice of transferring millions of Qatari dollars to Hamas was approved by the IDF High Command. For instance, the current media favorite, former IDF Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot declared that Qatari funding helped maintain stability and was in fact “an Israeli interest that helped promote the economy in Gaza”

This was not a random slip of the tongue on Eisenkot’s part. Indeed, elsewhere he articulated precisely the same position when he asserted that the Qatari millions that are funneled into Gaza are for “administrative financing and that this is done to benefit both our interests “

Clearly then, the belief that Hamas was not spoiling for a large-scale offensive and that its major focus was on the economic conditions was widely held in military, intelligence, and political circles well outside the bounds of the Netanyahu-led coalition.

Beyond intelligence failures…

However, beyond the failures that led to the gruesome tragedy of October 7, there is another troubling concern that increasingly emerges as evermore information comes to light. Ongoing media coverage and investigative reporting reveal an accumulation of errors, misjudgments, dereliction, neglect, arrogance, and shoddiness that strain the bounds of credulence that all this could be the result of unintended misfortune.

Indeed, the failure of intelligence besides, what is perhaps even more difficult to understand are the operational omissions including, but not only, in the hours immediately before and after the dawn attack, as well as the often lethargic and haphazard response in the initial hours—once the assault was ongoing.

The list is bewildering in both its length and its scope:

Civilian first-response squads in border communities had their weapons—particularly long-barreled firearms—confiscated; intelligence monitoring of Hamas was curtailed; the three reconnaissance air balloons, all of which were inoperative, were left unrepaired; the “See-Shoot” RWS (Remote Weapons System) were left vulnerable to drone attacks; electronic surveillance systems were inoperative; warnings by junior officers and NCOs that a significant operation by Hamas was imminent, were dismissed/denigrated by senior officers; documents detailing Hamas’s operational intentions that fell into the IDF’s hands were not taken seriously—despite the existence of corroborating evidence…

Killing and looting unchecked

No less perplexing and perturbing were the following:

Reports by IDF look-out posts of suspicious Hamas movements prior to the October 7 atrocities went unheeded; warnings—on the night of the attack—that Hamas forces were advancing towards the fence, were ignored; a pre-dawn meeting of the IDF and the ISA officials estimated that Hamas was about to attack border communities, but this appraisal was not conveyed to the brigade command, or to the police tasked with securing the dance festival a few kilometers from the border; the IDF forces along the border were not reinforced—and were overwhelmed by the Hamas attackers; in numerous locations, the usual dawn patrols were not conducted; immediately prior to the attack, IDF forces were ordered to redeploy away from the border fence; IDF forces were not dispatched to where the fence was breached by a bulldozer, which appeared to have operated un-harassed; none of the points of penetration appear to have been shelled or blockaded; a second wave of terrorists crossed into Israel unhindered; not a single para-glider used by the invaders was shot down; the traffic routes to and from Gaza remained open until the afternoon, allowing killing and looting to go unchecked; there was no pursuit of the hostage abductors—either on foot or in vehicles; a battalion of intervention forces was delayed for hours as the key to their armory could not be found; for long hours the air force (apart from two attack helicopters) was absent from the action.

A baleful mist gathers

What is so inconceivable about the events of October 7th is, that for hours, Israel conducted itself as if it were a country, devoid of any intelligence capabilities, with only minimal deployable military forces—both infantry and armor, and—apart from two helicopters—without an operational air force. How are Israelis to account for this appalling and tragic fiasco? And how is such an account to be reflected in a future vote on the composition of a new Israeli leadership?

Given the gory specter of the October 7th slaughter, a baleful mist is beginning to gather around the furor over the gruesome tragedy, and the accompanying clamor for elections. With it, a new and sinister aspect is beginning to intrude ominously into the public debate, enveloping the effort to make sense of what transpired.

These are the startling rumors—now gaining currency—that the was some kind of purposeful complicity between certain Israelis and Hamas, which went tragically beyond their envisioned scope. Admittedly, for most Israelis—myself included—such claims seem wildly far-fetched. But then who could imagine, until recently, the behavior of some individuals who held the highest positions in the land during the 2023 protests against a proposed judicial reform bill—passed by a democratically elected government? Who could imagine a former prime minister calling on foreign countries—including the US—to boycott Israel, with all the attendant security implications?

Who could have envisaged ex-defense ministers, IDF chiefs-of-staff, heads of Mossad, and commanders of the air force condoning refusal to perform reserve duty in the IDF? Who could conceive of a man who served as prime minister, defense minister, and IDF chief-of-staff, speculating (despite a jovial and unpersuasive retraction) that his path to regaining the premiership would be paved with corpses of Jews, slain in a possible civil war?

Moronic or Malevolent?

However, no matter how far-fetched such “conspiracy theories” may seem to many, it is precisely those who are targets of these “theories” who have themselves to blame for the emerging maelstrom. After all, it was the leadership of the pre-October anti-reform demonstrations, who repeatedly threatened that, by September, Netanyahu would “have no intelligence and no military.” After all, that is what they called for—and that is precisely what transpired!!

So, if what one threatens does, in fact, happen, it is hardly surprising that many will see in that outcome a purposeful fulfillment of the threat.

Of course, in the absence of definitive diagnosis as to the cause of the calamity, imbecility is usually as plausible an explanation as iniquity. Accordingly, while the trauma of October 7 has understandably unleashed a clamor for fresh elections, it is essential that voters have adequate information at their disposal to make an informed and intelligent choice.

To hold elections now would be perilously premature. Indeed, it runs the risk of insufficient knowledge resulting in rewarding those who behaved with malevolent—albeit miscalculated—design; while unjustly—at least partially—punishing those who were victims of that malevolence.

Accordingly, while the post-October clamor for election is eminently understandable, to conduct them now would be a grave error. After all, much of what should be voted on is still shrouded by dense clouds of uncertainty as to who knew what and when—and who did not.

©2024. Dr. Martin Sherman. All rights reserved.

The Triumph Of The Blood Libel thumbnail

The Triumph Of The Blood Libel

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By Center For Security Policy

According to Canada’s La Presse, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a vampire, and he is poised to suck the life out of the Palestinians in Rafah, Hamas’s final outpost in southern Gaza. The publication that was once a paper of record in Canada ran a political cartoon on March 20 portraying Netanyahu as a vampire, with a huge hooked nose, pointy ears and claws for fingers, dressed in Dracula’s overcoat while standing on the deck of a pirate ship.

The caption, written in blood-dripping red letters, read: “Nosfenyahou: En Route Vers Rafah.” Nosferatu, the Romanian word for vampire, was the title of a proto-Nazi German silent horror film from 1922 chock-full of anti-Semitic poison. The film, which became something of a cult flick, featured a vampire with a long Jewish nose. He arrived at an idyllic German town with a box full of plague-carrying rats that he released on the innocent villagers as he plotted to suck his realtor’s blood.

La Presse’s cartoon didn’t leave any room for imagination. It wasn’t making a political or military argument against Israel’s planned ground operation in Rafah. Its goal wasn’t to persuade anyone of anything.

The Netanyahu-the-vampire cartoon asserted simply that Netanyahu is a Jewish bloodsucker and, more broadly, the Jewish state—and Jews worldwide—must be vigorously opposed by all right-thinking people who don’t want Jewish vampires to kill them.

As the paper no doubt anticipated, the cartoon provoked an outcry from Canadian Jews and some politicians. And after a few hours, the newspaper took it off its website and apologized. Anyone who thinks that means that the good guys won misses the point of the move. The Jewish outcry and pile-on by politicians and media coverage proved the point. Jews are evil and control everything, even what a private paper can publish. Like Nosferatu in its day, the cartoon will become a piece of folklore, additional proof that the Jews are the enemy of humanity.

In other words, the cartoon was a blood libel.

We’re seeing lots and lots of it these days. And so, it is worth recalling what a blood libel is.

In its original form, of course, the libel was specifically about blood. About 1,000 years ago, Christians in England began accusing Jews of performing ritual murders of Christian children to use their blood to bake Passover matzahs.

The accusation was inherently insane. Jewish law prohibits murder. It prohibits cannibalism. It prohibits child sacrifice. It prohibits eating food with blood. But none of that mattered. Like the cartoon in La Presse, the blood libel didn’t seek to persuade anyone. It presumed that its target audiences already hated Jews or had a latent tendency to hate Jews, which the blood libel aimed to unleash. The purpose of the blood libel was to scapegoat the Jews and to incite target audiences from London to Damascus to act on that hatred. Over the millennium, hundreds of thousands of Jews were massacred in Europe and the Islamic world in response to blood libels.

Since the original blood libel, other ones have appeared. Whether Jews are accused of spreading plague, poisoning wells, controlling the banking system, the media, corrupting young people or spearheading a world Communist revolution, the common denominators in all of the accusations are the same.

Read more.

Originally published by JNS

AUTHOR

Caroline Glick

Caroline B. Glick is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Security Policy. She is a senior columnist at Israel Hayom and the author of The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, (Crown Forum, 2014). From 1994 to 1996, she served as a core member of Israel’s negotiating team with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

RELATED ARTICLE: U.N. Called to Respond to Sharia Violence against Women

EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Khamenei: U.S. is ‘left with no option but to withdraw from the region’ in changed ‘world order’ after Oct. 7 thumbnail

Khamenei: U.S. is ‘left with no option but to withdraw from the region’ in changed ‘world order’ after Oct. 7

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By Jihad Watch

Many factors have combined recently to magnify the strength of Iran and its proxies — from Obama’s disastrous nuclear deal that only benefited Iran to the Islamic Republic’s current alliances with China and Russia, as well as its continuing to be underestimated and misunderstood by the West.  The Iranian regime has been emboldened for years. The West’s tendency to ignore or discount this has given Iran an opportunity to become a key player in the global order, while America under Biden declines. As the Ayatollah Khamenei put it in a recent statement:

The United States’ long-standing ambition to dominate the region has been undermined by the resilience of the Axis of Resistance. The United States is now left with no option but to withdraw from the region.

A recent article in the Jerusalem Post discusses how the Middle East, and global politics, has changed since October 7. “Iran’s Khamanei [sic] using Gaza war as step to change world order,” by Seth J. Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, March 24, 2024:

Iran’s Supreme Leader believes the US is in decline in its influence in the Middle East. According to a statement last week, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed that the current war against Israel, which Iran launched using proxies in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack, has “disrupted” the US goals in the region.

The October 7 attack can be read as a turning point in the world order, in which Iran, Russia, Turkey, China, and others see the attack as a major shift that is taking place and seek to exploit it to achieve their goals.

Both the current weak administration governing America and the October 7 attacks have greatly contributed to a “turning point” in the world order.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani has also threatened that “that the resistance front has yet to exhibit the maximum of its capabilities in terms of military and deterrent power”. Qaani’s reference to the “resistance” includes Hamas, jihadists in  “Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and other places.” Embedded in Qaani’s threat is that the West has seen nothing yet.

Khamenei believes that the US has lost all influence in the region, and that it “is now left with no option but to withdraw” altogether. With Joe Biden in the White House, Khamenei isn’t far off regarding America’s loss of influence. And as for withdrawing from the region, America isn’t adequately standing up for Israel nor even against its own enemies, so it has a weak presence.

The rising world powers increasingly appear to be Russia, China, and even possibly Iran — that is, America’s foremost enemies. Recently, Russia and China managed to broker a safe passage deal with the highly underestimated and Iran-supported Houthis, who now have the Red Sea under siege and have expanded their activities to begin interfering with ships that are heading to the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s Southern tip. Biden’s Red Sea Coalition continues to struggle ineffectively against the Houthis, as the Yemen-based group has an adverse impact upon Western economic stability. Recently, Hamas and Houthi top dogs met to discuss “expanding their confrontations” with Israel.

Iran has also become a formidable presence within the powerful BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and its influence is growing. According to NASDAQ, discussions about the potential impact of a new BRICS currency are now going on, “with experts debating” this new currency’s “potential to challenge” the dominance of the American dollar. Should this happen, America’s decline would accelerate, since economic clout defines global influence and power. The American dollar is the world’s principal reserve currency for global trade. Simply put: its purchasing power is so influential that when when the American dollar appreciates, other world currencies depreciate. China is now trying to lessen global reliance on the American dollar, which would also be a major victory for Iran. Last year, China was Iran’s main trade partner. According to an Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration report in May, Iran’s trade with BRICS member states between March 21, 2022 and Feb. 19, 2023 was worth $34.98 billion USD, “which excludes crude oil exports.”

Iran’s growth has been rapid in BRICS. Last August, Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi discussed Iran’s future membership in BRICS. A similar meeting took place in November; it included dignitaries from Iran and Russia, who discussed Iran’s “active role” in BRICS. Less than two months later, at the turn of the new year, Iran officially joined the China-led BRICS economic organization.

Whether or not America and the West have accepted the fact, America (deemed the “Great Satan” by Iran) and Israel (the “Little Satan”) are currently in a limited war with Iran, which is now likely in possession of nuclear bombs, and which has powerful friends.

The Jerusalem Post states that “the war in Gaza was the first shot by Iran and other countries in a major war for the future of the world order.” One can also see the increase in popularity of the pro-Hamas lobby, which is operating without restraint in America, Canada and other Western nations.

While enemies of America, Canada, Europe and Britain advance politically and economically, America and the West continue to decline under the irresponsible and weak leadership of globalist regimes, while being simultaneously invaded by multitudes of migrants, due to reckless open-door immigration polices. The globalist regimes has never indicated that they care about the fact that most of the migrants do not hold Western values.

Khamenei is correct in stating that “the United States’ long-standing ambition to dominate the region has been undermined by the resilience of the Axis of Resistance.” But whether America under Biden will fully abandon Israel and leave the region altogether, as Khamenei predicts, is another question. As stated earlier, America, in fact, is already increasingly useless to Israel as it issues threats against its traditional ally, while virtually exonerating Hamas’ use of human shields and Egypt’s blocking of Gazan refugees (except those refugees whom Egypt could bribe). The tight relationship between the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations, not to mention the China-brokered rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, are no less sobering as indicators of the nature of the new world order that has begun emerging since October 7.

AUTHOR

CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

WATCH: Hostage Families Raise Awareness at Jerusalem Purim Parade as Oct. 7th survivors harassed by UK airport staff thumbnail

WATCH: Hostage Families Raise Awareness at Jerusalem Purim Parade as Oct. 7th survivors harassed by UK airport staff

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By NEWSRAEL Telling the Israeli Story

Although Purim is a holiday associated with joy, this year, the occasion was shrouded in solemnity as 134 Israeli hostages are still held in Gaza.

Before the war, Jerusalem planned to have its first Purim parade in 42 years.

After October 7th, parade planners decided to go ahead with the event, but to give special emphasis to hostage families raising awareness about Israeli captives.

WATCH: Hostage Families Raise Awareness at Jerusalem Purim Parade

Report: Oct. 7th survivors harassed by UK airport staff

“This is another shocking incident where UK government employees target Jews and discriminate against them because they oppose Israel’s actions in defending itself in Gaza,” says local Jewish leader

Two Israeli brothers who survived the Oct. 7th Nova Festival massacre were reportedly harassed by staff at a British airport, who told the men they needed additional screening to ensure they wouldn’t “do what they’re doing in Gaza” in the UK.

Border Force officers immediately began harassing the men after they produced Israeli passports upon landing in Manchester Airport, according to a letter about the incident from the watchdog group Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region (JRCGM).

The pair explained to the officers that they had traveled to the UK to speak about their personal story of survival during the massacre, and had been invited by a non-profit organization raising money for October 7th survivors.

They were then detained and questioned, with their entry to the UK delayed by more than two hours.

When asked why they were subject to such strict screening, the officers replied that they “had to make sure that you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over here.”

In a video which captured part of the incident, the officers are seen speaking in an “aggressive, unnecessary and demeaning tone” towards the Israelis, the JRCGM wrote.

Officers can be heard scolding the brothers, telling them to “keep quiet, look at me, are you clear with that? We are the bosses, not you” in the clip.

“This is another shocking incident where UK government employees target Jews and discriminate against them because they oppose Israel’s actions in defending itself in Gaza,” said North West Friends of Israel co-chair Raphi Bloom in a media statement.

“In this case it was a border control officer and last week it was nurses at one of Manchester’s largest hospital. Jews are increasingly scared to identify themselves in public places.

“The UK government has promised to act on extremism and Jew hate but so far these are empty words. These civil servants needs to be sacked and the police investigate them for antisemitism immediately.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly posted on his X account that the incident would be investigated.

REPORT: Female hostage was kept as domestic slave

Nineteen-year-old Liri Albag cleaned houses and subsisted on food scraps.

At least one Israeli hostage was kept as a domestic slave rather than being thrown immediately into a Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

Nineteen-year-old Liri Albag was forcibly taken from her kibbutz, Nahal Oz, when some 3,000 terrorists invaded some two dozen agricultural villages, towns, and a dance rave, brutally murdered 1,200 and kidnapped 253 people, sparking the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Her family has not seen or heard from her since, they told the British daily in an interview.

They did reveal for the first time that some of the 86 Israeli hostages who were released in November in exchange for a week-long ceasefire and over 240 Palestinian security prisoners had told them that they had seen and talked to her.

They told the Albags that Liri had been forced to clean toilets for a family and cook food that she was forbidden to eat. She subsisted on scraps, and was permitted to take her first shower only after 37 days.

She was not alone, at least for the first few days. The family had also held four other teens from the kibbutz – Naama Levy, Daniela Gilboa, Karina Ariev and Agam Berger.

The family received confirmation from the army, Albag’s mother, Shira, said, as soldiers had found the room in which they had been imprisoned. They found traces of blood in the room and identified the young women through their DNA.

The IDF released a photo of the room to the Daily Mail, and Shira’s reaction had first been a positive one.

“At first when I saw it, I was happy because she was in a child’s room,” Shira said. “There were kids’ clothes in the cupboard and it gave me a little relief that she wasn’t in a scary place.”

“But then,” she continued, “I understood that she is with a family – they kidnapped her, not Hamas. It’s the equivalent of me keeping someone else’s children locked in my house.”

Over a thousand civilians followed the Hamas fighters into Israel on October 7 in a second wave of murdering, kidnapping and pillaging the border communities.

The released women saw Albag only after she had been transferred to their location, and if her conditions were bad in the civilian home, they only got worse under direct Hamas control.

“She was in a tunnel at that time, 40 meters under the ground, with no air, sunlight, a lot of humidity, no toilet, no water,” Shira noted. “She was drinking salt water from the sea and not much food. That was 112 days ago. From then, we have heard nothing.”

The interview took place on the holiday of Purim, which celebrates the miraculous rescue some 2,000 years ago of the Jewish people from a Persian vizier who had wanted to eradicate the nation from the half of the world that his king controlled.

Almog’s sister, Shay, said that history was trying to repeat itself.

“It is the same today,” she said. “Hamas wanted to kill us all on October 7.”

The family is hoping against hope that the latest hostage negotiations will bear fruit and they will be able to greet Liri at home in their personal, post- Purim miracle.

RELATED ARTICLE: A U.S.—UN Betrayal of Israel

EDITORS NOTE: These Newsrael columns are republished with permission. All rights reserved.

Biden’s Top Intel Agency Prohibits Terms Such as ‘Jihadist’ and ‘Radical Islamists’ As Jihadist Terrorists Pour Across the Border in Biden’s Invasion thumbnail

Biden’s Top Intel Agency Prohibits Terms Such as ‘Jihadist’ and ‘Radical Islamists’ As Jihadist Terrorists Pour Across the Border in Biden’s Invasion

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By The Geller Report

Sharia as US policy. Under Islamic law, it is prohibited to criticize or insult Islam.

A jihad terror attack is coming.

The  Biden regime’s concern is not the protection and the defense of the American people, it’s protecting  the most brutal ideology on the face of the earth.

Kurt Schlichter writes,

“It happened in Israel, and it happened in Moscow, and it’s going to happen here in America – again, and exponentially worse. The jihadis’ merciless war against the West – the Muslim fanatics are not so finicky as we are about our distinctions between the Jewish state, Russia, and us, the Great Satan – did not end when the regime media started covering other things. We may have fled Afghanistan and Libya and largely pulled out of Iraq, but that war is still going on. It’s going to go on until we decisively win it. But unfortunately, our ruling class refuses to decisively win it. In fact, our ruling class actively undermines attempts to win it. And it refuses to prepare for what’s coming.

Our ruling class refuses to acknowledge this and refuses to act. Instead, it actively subverts attempts to stop the jihad. It won’t shut our border. It opposes Israel’s plan to go in to the last infestation of Hamas and blow up its tunnel complexes. It won’t work effectively with the Russians to fight jihadis even though we share that enemy despite our other conflicts…… 

Read more.

Top intel agency’s DEI newsletter states that terms such as ‘Jihadist’ and ‘Radical Islamists’ must be avoided

By Spencer Lindquist • Mar 21, 2024, DailyWire.com:

The below story is the second part of a series on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s DEI newsletter, “The Dive.” You can read part one, “Biden’s Top Intelligence Agency Says Crossdressing Makes Man ‘Better Intelligence Officer,’ Internal Docs Show,” here.

An internal newsletter sent by diversity, equity, and inclusion officials in the Biden administration’s top intelligence agency warns personnel not to use “problematic phrases” when discussing Islamic terrorism and foreign adversaries such as China, an internal document obtained by The Daily Wire reveals.

The unclassified newsletter from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, called “The Dive” and exclusively obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by The Daily Wire, argues in its cover story that the intelligence community needs to focus on “changing terminology related to counterterrorism,” because “words matter.”

“This article is about one of our goals: disentangling Islam from words and phrases used to discuss terrorism and extremist violence,” writes the author of the article, whose name was redacted from the document released to The Daily Wire. The article declares that it’s trying to remove “certain phrases to identify international terrorism threats that are hurtful to Muslim-Americans.”

“Some of the problematic phrases include, but are not limited to: ‘Salafi-Jihadist,’ ‘Jihadist,’ ‘Islamic-Extremist,’ ‘Sunni/Shia-Extremism,’ and ‘Radical Islamists.’”

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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Gallant in the US: Israel has no moral right to stop the war in Gaza pic.twitter.com/2UAMCHqKLs

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) March 25, 2024

EDITOR NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Is the White House Playing Political Games with Israel’s Soldiers and Hostages? thumbnail

Is the White House Playing Political Games with Israel’s Soldiers and Hostages?

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By Family Research Council

After having lived in Israel for more than 10 years?” until 2017?” I suppose my emotional reaction to worrisome news from the Jewish State is a little more intense than some other Americans’ might be. My first response to reports of violence and death ?” wars and rumors of wars ?” is to immediately contact some half a dozen very well-informed Israeli friends to find out what’s really going on. Of course, what I primarily want to know is how serious are the reports? And what’s happening to them and their neighborhoods? Are their families alright?

But another question is always, “So … what are you hearing?”

My visit to Israel in August 2023 gave me a chance to happily celebrate life with my friends and their loved ones, and to catch up and enjoy face-to-face conversations. As always, there were the inevitable political questions, but mostly updates on our sons, daughters, grandchildren, and mutual friends. Concerns about potential conflicts are always relevant, but during those warm summer get-togethers, there was little talk of that.

However, just weeks after my return to the U.S., October 7, 2023 happened.

Early news broadcasts on that terrible morning were heart-stopping: some 1,300 Israeli women, men, children, and infants had been savagely tortured, gang-raped, mutilated, burned alive, and otherwise slaughtered by Hamas terrorists. The published accounts were physically sickening, and increasingly detailed subsequent news reports were horrifying. Videos of vicious abuses briefly appeared online, confirming the worst, most violent acts. Meanwhile, 253 hostages had been kidnapped. This assault included an attack on the Nova music festival in the same area adjacent to the Israeli-Gaza border. There Hamas terrorists killed more than 360 people and took as many as 40 hostages, many ?” if not most of whom ?” were viciously subjected to sexual violence.

In the days that followed, there was silence from my friends, nor did I comment on what I was learning from international reports. Rather than typical “bad news,” it felt like a terrible sickness had struck us all speechless. There were no words.

After the deadly offensive, the current chairman of Hamas’s “political bureau” and senior political leader of Hamas, had plenty to say. Ismail Haniyeh declared, “Today, the enemy has had a political, military, intelligence, security and moral defeat inflicted upon it, and we shall crown it, with the grace of God, with a crushing defeat that will expel it from our lands, our holy city of al Quds, our al Aqsa Mosque, and the release of our prisoners from the jails of the Zionist occupation.”

Of course, the next thing we knew was that Israel had declared all-out war against the Hamas terror group. A price had to be paid for the terrorists’ diabolical attacks, and rescues had to be attempted to return the remaining hundreds of captured innocents ?” many of whom have still not been freed. The Israeli response has been unsurprisingly fierce and violent.

Meanwhile, October, November, December, January, February passed. Now, in March of 2024, some of the hostages have been released, but another 130 are still held captive, and there are reports that around 30 victims are likely dead.

Shortly after October 7, Israel declared war on Hamas, and the world continues to watch the IDF’s determined efforts to decimate Hamas’s murderers and to destroy the terror group’s military infrastructure. These efforts also target Hamas’s maze of tunnels, along with caches of weaponry and stashes of cash in international currencies, hidden away in kindergartens, schools, hospitals, and family homes.

When Israel’s military launched its response to Hamas’s October 7 violence, the Biden administration was appropriately agreeable. President Joe Biden and his team expressed sympathy to the shattered survivors and the Israeli public’s horrified state of mind. It was, after all, the most violent attack on the country since the founding of Israel in 1948.

Today, however, that initially warm response has chilled. The more Israel’s military response succeeds in destroying the Hamas infrastructure in Gaza and its thousands of fighters ?” most of whom have been intentionally situated in residential areas, hospitals, schools, and mosques ?” the higher the human death toll has risen, including women and children. At the same time, of course, there is the agonizingly slow process of moving through the maze of tunnels that hide, not only remaining hostages, but also Hamas terrorist leaders and their minions.

Despite Joe Biden’s initial empathy for Israel, along with my Israeli friends, I am increasingly shocked by the ever-increasing arrogance of America’s leadership. Most amazing is their outrageous attempts to use this conflict to manipulate U.S. voters in the upcoming presidential election. There are two dangerous battles going on in Israel simultaneously ?” one against Hamas, but also continuous attacks by Hezbollah are striking Israel’s northern border. These parallel onslaughts are both funded and advised by Iran’s “Death to Israel” regime.

Yet today, in the midst of this significant international conflict, it seems that President Biden and his political allies, including Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), are making efforts to overthrow the elected prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, by calling for new elections. This is happening during the most violent war that has taken place in Israel since its founding. Are these activities an attempt to influence Muslim voters in key states during America’s upcoming election? Sadly, that seems to be true.

Such political manipulation reflects shocking disrespect and disregard for Israel’s security and autonomy as a nation. It also insults the intelligence of those of us that recognize very well ?” in fact, more clearly than ever ?” those who wholeheartedly support the best interests of both the United States and Israel and those who do not. Painful as the Gaza conflict continues to be, alongside rumors of impending war at the Lebanon border, these betrayals of trust by the Biden administration will become increasing exposed as the U.S. approaches the presidential election on November 5.

Our responsibility as Christian believers is also becoming clearer now than ever: In the coming months, some actions are essential for those of us who love America and also support the State of Israel. We need to vigilantly watch, fervently pray, speak the truth, and stand with our allies and friends in Israel. They, their elected leaders, and their military men and women need our support today and every day ?” perhaps more than ever before.

AUTHOR

Lela Gilbert

Lela Gilbert is Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom at Family Research Council and Fellow at Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom. She lived in Israel for over ten years, and is the author of “Saturday People, Sunday People: Israel through the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner.”

POST ON X:

Trump in an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom: “Only a madman or a fool would not have reacted to the October 7 attack the way Israel did” pic.twitter.com/pjd3AJoKLc

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) March 25, 2024

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

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