Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Alan M. Dershowitz • January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
The decision by the Israeli government to make significant concessions to the Hamas kidnappers should never be called a "deal." It was an extortion.... The kidnapping was a crime. And the extortionate demand was an additional crime. When a terrorist group "negotiates" with a democracy, it always has the upper hand. The terrorists are not constrained by morality, law or truth. They can murder at will, rape at will, torture at will and threaten to do worse. The democracy, on the other hand, must comply with the rules of law and must listen to the pleas of the hostage families. Especially complicit, with blood on their hands, are supporters of Hamas on university campuses who chant for intifada and revolution. Also complicit are international organizations, such as the International Criminal Court, that treat Israel and Hamas as equals. [L]et us put the blame for ALL the deaths in Gaza where it belongs: on Hamas and the useful idiots and useless bigots who support murderous terrorists.
The decision by the Israeli government to make significant concessions to the Hamas kidnappers should never be called a "deal." It was an extortion. Would you call it a deal if somebody kidnapped your child and you "agreed" to pay ransom to get her back? Of course not. The kidnapping was a crime. And the extortionate demand was an additional crime. Pictured: A Hamas terrorist holds two of the many Israeli children that Hamas murdered, or abducted and brought as captives to the Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023. (Image source: Hamas/X [Twitter]) The decision by the Israeli government to make significant concessions to the Hamas kidnappers should never be called a "deal." It was an extortion. Would you call it a deal if somebody kidnapped your child and you "agreed" to pay ransom to get her back? Of course not. The kidnapping was a crime. And the extortionate demand was an additional crime. So the proper description of what occurred is that Israel, pressured by the United States, capitulated to the unlawful and extortionate demands of Hamas as the only way of saving the lives of kidnapped babies, mothers and other innocent, mostly civilian, hostages. This was not the result of a negotiation between equals. If an armed robber puts a gun to your head and says, "your money or your life," your decision to give him your money would not be described as a deal. Nor should the extorted arrangement agreed to by Israel be considered a deal. So let's stop using that term.
Continue Reading Article
by Daniel Greenfield • January 17, 2025 at 4:00 am
On January 2, for example, 189 trucks filled with aid entered Gaza. Only 147 trucks, however, were collected on the Gazan side, with another 800 trucks worth of aid waiting to be collected. Food has been piling up and rotting on the Gaza side because it's not being delivered by the UN. The United Nations claims that Israel is starving Gaza, when it's the UN that is actually stalling aid deliveries to save Hamas. Mercy Corps, for example, issued a statement blasting Israel for supposed "impediments to aid delivery" and demanded a crackdown on Israel. An NPR story, however, revealed that "some organizations have hired armed men in Gaza to protect their trucks, but most, including Mercy Corps, refuse to do this." There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The only crisis is that Islamic terrorists are losing a war that they started. International organizations have become an arm of Islamic terrorism, funding, employing and lobbying for Islamic terrorist organizations who are at war with the free world. Not only should we not fund the UN and other "aid groups" or provide them with tax-exempt status, we should sanction them for their financial and political relationships with Islamic terrorist organizations, and treat any money going to their operations in Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and other terror zones as a criminal act of providing material support to terrorists.
The United Nations claims that Israel is starving Gaza, when it's the UN that is actually stalling aid deliveries to save Hamas. Pictured: A line of trucks carrying humanitarian aid wait to cross into the Gaza Strip on November 11, 2024 at the Erez Crossing, in Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Every day, the UN, international organizations and the media claim that everyone in Gaza is starving to death because they have no food, and every day Israel's COGAT aid coordination agency lists exactly how many trucks filled with humanitarian aid have actually entered Gaza. On January 2, for example, 189 trucks filled with aid entered Gaza. Only 147 trucks, however, were collected on the Gazan side, with another 800 trucks worth of aid waiting to be collected. Food has been piling up and rotting on the Gaza side because it's not being delivered by the UN. Politicians, activists and the media have spent over a year perpetuating a myth that Israel is blocking food deliveries into Gaza, when there is actually more aid coming in than the aid groups complaining about Israel "blocking aid" can handle or be bothered to deliver to Gazans.
Continue Reading Article
by Gordon G. Chang • January 16, 2025 at 5:00 am
The law is clear: No third-party service provider, such as Google or Apple, may "distribute, maintain, or update" a "foreign adversary controlled application." The measure designates any app owned by ByteDance, such as TikTok, as such an app. Radio Free Asia reported in August 2020 that a Chinese People's Liberation Army intelligence unit, working out of China's Houston consulate, used big data to identify Americans likely to participate in Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests, and then created and sent them "tailor-made" videos on how to organize riots. Related reporting reveals the videos were TikToks. Fomenting violence in another country is considered an act of war. Moreover, in their Supreme Court brief, TikTok and ByteDance argue this: "No arm of the Chinese government has an ownership stake—directly or indirectly—in TikTok Inc. or ByteDance Ltd." .... the statement does not cover ownership by the Communist Party of China, which is separate from the Chinese government. Articles 7 and 14 of China's 2017 National Intelligence Law require an entity such as ByteDance to commit acts of espionage if so directed by authorities in China. Moreover, the statement ignores the Communist Party's demand that any entity in China, regardless of ownership, obey its dictates. Now, "TikTok refugees" are flocking to another Chinese app, "RedNote," known in China by the characters for "Little Red Book." RedNote, the most downloaded app in Apple's U.S. store, should be treated the same as TikTok.
The law is clear: No third-party service provider, such as Google or Apple, may "distribute, maintain, or update" a "foreign adversary controlled application." The measure designates any app owned by ByteDance, such as TikTok, as such an app. (Photo by Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)
The Washington Post on January 15 reported that President-elect Donald Trump is thinking of issuing an executive order suspending the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The law is often and incorrectly referred to as the "TikTok ban." Trump has no power to suspend the law by executive order. In any event, a delay in enforcement, even in accordance with the law's provisions, would be a grave mistake. TikTok, China's ByteDance Ltd. (TikTok's owner), and TikTok creators sought Supreme Court review of the decision in TikTok Inc. v. Garland, issued last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, upholding the constitutionality of the measure. The law is clear: No third-party service provider, such as Google or Apple, may "distribute, maintain, or update" a "foreign adversary controlled application." The measure designates any app owned by ByteDance, such as TikTok, as such an app.
Continue Reading Article
by Guy Millière • January 15, 2025 at 5:00 am
That the attacks are jihadist is rarely mentioned, or only briefly. Then everything gets forgotten until the next jihadist attack. In many American universities, tenured professors have openly supported radical Islam for years, described Hamas as a liberation movement, supported terrorism, shown their hatred of the United States and brainwashed students. Radical imams in many US mosques have incited their followers to hate and even murder Jews, and appear to be trying to legitimize jihad. Political Islam, support for Islamic terrorism and incitement to jihad -- Islamic holy war -- need to be squarely faced and defeated. It is hoped that the Trump administration will allow no place for jihad in the US or the West.
The jihadist attack in New Orleans on January 1, in which 14 people were murdered by an American convert to Islam, should come as no surprise. In many US universities, professors have openly supported radical Islam for years, described Hamas as a liberation movement, supported terrorism, shown their hatred of the US and brainwashed students. Radical imams in many US mosques have incited their followers to hate and even murder Jews, and appear to be trying to legitimize jihad. Pictured: Police investigators surround the truck used by the terrorist in New Orleans, on January 1, 2025. (Photo by Matthew Hinton/AFP via Getty Images)
The jihadist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on January 1, 2025, in which 14 people were murdered by an American who converted to Islam and became an Islamist, should come as no surprise. This was not the first time that a jihadist in the United States or Europe had attacked in "vehicular jihad." The Islamic State (ISIS) appears to have "encouraged" it in 2010. ISIS even recommended that to cause "maximum carnage," it be used preferably in "pedestrian only" sites. In the US, jihadist attacks, vehicular and other, include 9/11/2001, the Boston Marathon bombing, the Fort Hood slayings and the New Orleans attack (for more, see Appendix 1).
Continue Reading Article
by Khaled Abu Toameh • January 14, 2025 at 5:00 am
"Among the Islamist terrorist organizations that Qatar and Al-Jazeera have supported over the years are the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hizbullah, the Al-Nusrah Front/ Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham, ISIS, Hamas, and even the Shiite Iranian proxies in Yemen, Ansar Allah (the Houthis)..." — MEMRI, May 6, 2024. "The Al-Jazeera TV network is an arm of the Qatari regime. It is owned by the government and carries out its foreign policy by means of indoctrination of the Arabic-speaking masses worldwide. Al-Jazeera, therefore, should not be discussed as a means of telecommunications, but instead as an unyielding and forceful political tool of Qatari foreign policy under the guise of a mass media network." — MEMRI, May 6, 2024. "Al-Jazeera was the prime power for toppling the secular authoritarian regime in Egypt, when Qatar, by means of Al-Jazeera, supported the Muslim Brotherhood in ousting then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Al-Jazeera, the single most significant platform for mainstreaming jihadi and Muslim Brotherhood ideology, was the power that accorded [Muslim Brotherhood member] Mohamed Morsi his victory [in Egypt's 2012 presidential election]." — MEMRI, May 6, 2024. Al-Jazeera's role in providing a platform for promoting extremist Islamist ideologies goes back decades: "The case of promoting Al-Qaeda is of particular interest.... Al-Jazeera's official role in the current Israel-Hamas war is nowhere more evident that its exclusive broadcast of Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif... at the very time that Hamas terrorists were carrying out their mega-terror attack in Israel... Deif declared the launch of 'Operation Al-Aqsa Flood' and incited all Palestinians to join the war, using all means in their possession – guns, knives, Molotov cocktails, and vehicles." — MEMRI, May 6, 2024. They [Israelis and Palestinians] have both come to the conclusion that Al-Jazeera's goal is to promote radical Islam and terrorism. It now remains to be seen whether the US and other countries will follow suit and stop the Qatari-owned TV station from supporting terrorism, poisoning the hearts and minds of millions worldwide, and ravaging global security.
The Israelis and Palestinians have both come to the conclusion that Al-Jazeera's goal is to promote radical Islam and terrorism. It now remains to be seen whether the US and other countries will follow suit and stop the Qatari-owned TV station from supporting terrorism, poisoning the hearts and minds of millions worldwide, and ravaging global security. Pictured: The headquarters of Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)
The Palestinians have finally discovered that Qatar's Al-Jazeera television network -- which has long been serving as a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and virtually all other Islamic terrorist groups -- is "broadcasting inciteful content, spreading misinformation, and interfering in internal Palestinian affairs, which [the Palestinian Authority Ministerial Committee] claimed stirred division and instability." On January 1, the Palestinian Authority (PA) announced the suspension of Al-Jazeera's broadcast operations in the West Bank, ordering the temporary suspension of work by all journalists, staff and associated channels affiliated with Al-Jazeera, adding: "The decision will remain in effect until the network resolves its legal status, which was deemed in violation of applicable laws and regulations in Palestine.
Continue Reading Article
by Nils A. Haug • January 13, 2025 at 5:00 am
To their enemies, the Jews cannot do anything right. They are hated when they are strong; they are hated when they are weak. They are hated when they are poor; they are hated when they are rich. They are hated when they win; they are hated when they lose. How this unfounded, blatantly anti-Semitic blaming of innocent Jews arose is difficult to fathom -- particularly as the traditional custodians and purveyors of Judeo-Christian moral-ethical precepts are, in fact, the Jews. It is their principles -- the Judeo-Christian values -- that underpin Western Civilization... Even after the unspeakable events in Israel of October 7, 2023, with the slaughter of more than 1,200 innocents, many onlookers held Israel and the Jews -- not Hamas and Iran -- primarily responsible for the horror.
Frequently, the small population of Jews are held responsible for geopolitical and other events far beyond their control. Last month, Russia's President Vladimir Putin accused "ethnic Jews" of "tearing apart Russian Orthodox Church." How this unfounded, blatantly anti-Semitic blaming of innocent Jews arose is difficult to fathom -- particularly as the traditional custodians and purveyors of Judeo-Christian moral-ethical precepts are, in fact, the Jews. Pictured: Putin speaks to the media at Igora ski resort in the Leningrad region on December 26, 2024. (Photo by Alexei Danichev/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Frequently, the small population of Jews are held responsible for geopolitical and other events far beyond their control. This month, two American "far-left" anti-Israel groups -- Code Pink and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), among others -- actually blamed Israel for the ongoing California wildfires. "When US taxes go to burning people alive in Gaza, we can't be surprised when those fires come home," Code Pink posted on Instagram. It was, in fact, Palestinians from Gaza who burned Israelis alive -- including infants -- that started the current conflict. If you do not want your people killed, do not start a war. Code Pink apparently receives a major portion of its funding from an American couple, Sri-Lankan-born Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans, based in Shanghai. "'Jewish Voice for Peace' is Neither," and appears to be a "false-flag" operation:
Continue Reading Article
by Alan M. Dershowitz • January 12, 2025 at 5:00 am
Israel agreed to Palestinian statehood in 1937-1938, 1947-1948, 1967, 2000-2001, and 2007. In each case, it was the Palestinian leadership that refused to agree to the two-state solution.... The Jews accepted the [1937] Peel partition plan, while the Arabs categorically rejected it, demanding that all of Palestine be placed under Arab control and that most of the Jewish population of Palestine be "transferred" — ethnically cleansed — out of the country... The Jewish leadership [in 1948] declared statehood in the area allocated to it by the UN. The Arab leadership responded by declaring a genocidal war against the new state of the Jewish people. They did not want a Palestinian state. And they wanted there to be no Jewish state. No one, therefore, should believe that it was Israel that has made the Palestinian people stateless. It was the Palestinians themselves... The current anti-Israel protesters in the West are not calling for a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel. They, like the failed Palestinian leadership, just wants to end Israel's existence. It is not going to happen. Until the Palestinians recognize this reality, they will be denying themselves any possibility of statehood.
In 1937, the Jews accepted the partition plan of the Peel Commission, while the Arabs categorically rejected it, demanding that all of Palestine be placed under Arab control and that most of the Jewish population of Palestine be "transferred" — ethnically cleansed — out of the country. Pictured: Lord William Peel (right) and Sir Horace Rumbold (left) leave the British War Cemetery on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem in 1936, as part of their work on the Peel Commission. (Image source: Library of Congress)
One of the most pervasive myths of the Palestinian protest movement is that Israel has denied statehood to the Palestinian people. To the contrary, Israel agreed to Palestinian statehood in 1937-1938, 1947-1948, 1967, 2000-2001, and 2007. In each case, it was the Palestinian leadership that refused to agree to the two-state solution that would have created a Palestinian state, alongside a state for Jewish inhabitants. In 1937 – in the midst of the terrorist revolt inspired by Adolf Hitler's ally, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem – the British published the Palestine Royal Commission Report (also known as the Peel Commission Report).
Continue Reading Article
by Amir Taheri • January 12, 2025 at 4:00 am
Henry Kissinger took a walk up the garden path with his naïve understanding of détente that implied equivalence between the Soviet Union and the "Free World" led by the United States, and arguably helped prolong the life of the Evil Empire. [T]he question that Obama and Kerry didn't tackle was why the mullahs might want to build a bomb and that, if they did, what they might do with it. Here is what ["Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei] says: "The assumption that the country's problems can be solved through talks or even relations with America, is a manifest error. America has fundamental problems with the very nature of our regime.... In other words, they want us to become an ordinary country, something that a system created by Imam Khomeini can never be!" Accept Iran on its own terms, warts and all, and do not fall for the fetishistic diplomatic claptrap peddled by Obama, Malley and Kerry.
(Image source: iStock)
As they prepare to leave office, some members of the Biden administration are penning op-eds and making speeches to advise the incoming Trump team on a range of issues. The gist of their message is simple: Do what we tried to do but failed! One such issue is the perennial headache that Iran has caused eight US presidents over almost half a century. One outgoing official, Richard Nephew, who headed the Iran desk in the National Security Council, calls for "dialogue and negotiations" with the enthusiasm of a street urchin looking at a candy store's window. His enthusiasm has found an echo among the new presidential team in Tehran. Muhammad Reza Aref, who has self-upgraded to "Vice President" for President Masoud Pezeshkian, writes: "We are keen on dialogue and negotiations," and adds that diplomacy provides the key to all problems (He is an assistant to president as there is no vice-presidential post in the Khomeinist system.)
Continue Reading Article
by Majid Rafizadeh • January 11, 2025 at 5:00 am
Lest anyone think that this is a genuine attempt at diplomacy, it is not. Rather, it is a maneuver aimed at deceptively buying time, avoiding sanctions and deflecting impending actions of the Trump administration. Iran's regime is playing a game of manipulation, apparently hoping to mislead the world and stave off serious consequences -- namely losing their nuclear weapons program -- which, mind-bogglingly, it denies even having, as well as, more importantly, losing their jobs.... It is a tactic known by every four-year old and absolutely should not be taken at face value. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backed HTS, apparently now sees a neo-Ottoman Turkey finally replacing Iran as the aspiring hegemon in the region, with himself as sultan. The regime's goal is clear: buy time, reach a sweetheart deal similar to the one it was handed by the Obama administration, secure sanctions relief and opportunities to complete its nuclear weapons. Unless Iran is stopped, it will continue covertly to advance its nuclear weapons program – regardless, of course, of any agreements made. Will the incoming Trump administration let themselves be gamed and permit Iran to be capable of threatening the region again as soon as Trump's term is up? Iran's request for negotiations sadly seems part of a larger strategy to enable it to resume its reign of terror. The Trump administration must not allow it to succeed.... Make Persia Safe Again! -- for the Iranian people and for enduring global peace.
The Iranian regime's goal is clear: buy time, reach a sweetheart deal similar to the one it was handed by the Obama administration, secure sanctions relief and opportunities to complete its nuclear weapons. Pictured: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh look on as a Jihad missile is displayed at a parade in Tehran on September 21, 2024. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
The Iranian regime has made a sudden and calculated move to engage in talks about nuclear weapons. The UK, France, and Germany have announced that negotiations will begin on January 13. Lest anyone think that this is a genuine attempt at diplomacy, it is not. Rather, it is a maneuver aimed at deceptively buying time, avoiding sanctions and deflecting impending actions of the Trump administration. Iran's regime is playing a game of manipulation, apparently hoping to mislead the world and stave off serious consequences -- namely losing their nuclear weapons program -- which, mind-bogglingly, it denies even having, as well as, more importantly, losing their jobs. Their move is not an expression of good will or "putting out feelers" -- it is anything but. It is a tactic known by every four-year old and absolutely should not be taken at face value.
Continue Reading Article
by Drieu Godefridi • January 10, 2025 at 5:00 am
What is important is the solidarity being forged between the major US social media platforms and the incoming US administration in support of real freedom of expression. The new US administration will not tolerate levying fines of tens of billions of dollars on major US technology companies by an EU that is drifting towards authoritarianism and is at the same time more dependent than ever on American power. It would be in Europe's lasting interest to prepare for the return of free and unfettered expression.
The European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) obliges US social media platforms to take a whole arsenal of preventive and repressive measures, basically to prevent the sharing of information that displeases the European Commission. The new US administration will not tolerate levying fines of tens of billions of dollars on major US technology companies by a European Union that is drifting towards authoritarianism and is at the same time more dependent than ever on American power. (Image source: iStock/Getty Images)
Anyone wishing to gauge the extent of the European Union's regulatory drift will need to read Articles 34 and 35 of the Digital Services Act (DSA). Given their length it is impossible to quote them in full here, so here is an extract: DSA Article 34, "Risk assessment":
Continue Reading Article
by Lawrence Kadish • January 9, 2025 at 4:00 pm
Unfortunately, what President Joe Biden has done in the final days of his single term is to turn a most prestigious national award into a gratuitous partisan medal of loyalty. Pictured: Hillary Clinton receives the Medal of Freedom from Biden at the White House, on January 4, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponi/AFP via Getty Images)
A recent decision by the outgoing 46th President of the United States to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to 19 Americans for what the White House describes as "good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world". Unfortunately, what President Joe Biden has done in the final days of his single term is to turn a most prestigious national award into a gratuitous partisan medal of loyalty. Consider: Biden presented the award to George Soros, a longtime Democratic Party donor and sponsor of district attorneys who appear to aid and abet criminal behavior by refusing to prosecute it rather than protecting law-abiding citizens. Soros also wrote, "The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States." (The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror, 2006, p.16)
Continue Reading Article
by Bassam Tawil • January 9, 2025 at 5:00 am
"[M]edia freedoms" have never existed under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. For many years, the two parties have been imposing restrictions on Palestinian journalists, including a ban on criticizing PA and Hamas leaders. Palestinian journalists and activists who dared to speak out against the PA or Hamas found themselves incarcerated, and sometimes dead. The silence of the international community and the so-called "pro-Palestinian" activists on the university campuses in the US and across the West has only encouraged the PA to dismiss launching an investigation into the killing of al-Sabbagh. By turning a blind eye to violations committed by Palestinians against their own people, the international community, which appears to be solely obsessed with Israel, is displaying its hypocrisy, double standards and bigotry. Instead of helping the Palestinians, it is doing them a great, massive, gigantic disservice.
The family of a Palestinian female journalist has accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces of killing their daughter in Jenin Refugee Camp. "Media freedoms" have never existed under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. For many years, the two parties have imposed restrictions on Palestinian journalists, including a ban on criticizing PA and Hamas leaders. Pictured: Palestinian Authority security forces in Jenin Refugee Camp on December 17, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images)
The family of a Palestinian female journalist has accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces of killing their daughter in Jenin Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank. Shatha al-Sabbagh, 22, was reportedly shot in the head by a PA sniper on December 29, 2024, as she walked out of her home. PA officials have denied the allegation and claimed that al-Sabbagh was killed by gunmen in the camp. Anwar Rajab, spokesperson for the PA security forces, condemned the killing as a "despicable crime" and claimed that PA security forces were not present in the area. Rajab accused "outlaws" in the camp of shooting the journalist and vowed to pursue the "murderers."
Continue Reading Article
by Lawrence Kadish • January 9, 2025 at 4:00 am
Pictured: President-elect Donald J. Trump speaks at a press conference in the Mar-a-Lago Club on January 7, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Why is it that people are always calling for someone to think "outside the box," then when someone does, say, "Aaaak! He thought outside the box!" In that view, President-elect Donald J. Trump has already committed (at least) three heresies: Buy Greenland, stop China from controlling the Panama Canal and deepen America's affiliation with Canada. All three ideas are neither crazy nor even new. President Harry S. Truman looked at acquiring Greenland in 1946. Thomas Jefferson, after the Louisiana Purchase, proposed buying Cuba – just think how the Cubans would be prospering now, politically and economically, if that deal had gone through. Those acquisitions didn't take place but in 1917, the US did acquire Denmark's Virgin Islands for $25 million. As historian Stephen Press writes,
Continue Reading Article
by Lawrence Kadish • January 8, 2025 at 5:00 am
President-elect Donald J. Trump has warned that unless the hostages being held by Hamas are released by January 20, the day of his inauguration, "all hell will break out." Why is Trump's statement, "there will be all hell to pay," not, by itself, the negotiation? Why is the US degrading its prestige by even trying to negotiate with terrorists? Pictured: Trump speaks, against a backdrop of pictures victims of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, in Doral, Florida on October 7, 2024. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
President-elect Donald J. Trump has warned that unless the hostages being held by Hamas are released by January 20, the day of his inauguration, "all hell will break out." Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is already in Doha, Qatar, negotiating. Not very astonishingly, the negotiations keep breaking down.... The question arises: why is Witkoff in Qatar negotiating? Negotiating for what? How many dead hostages for how many live Palestinian terrorists now in Israeli prisons?
Continue Reading Article
by Alan M. Dershowitz • January 7, 2025 at 5:00 am
Pope Francis has joined the chorus of blood libelers who have accused Israel of genocide, writing: "According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide." This indictment is totally false as a matter of fact, law and morality. The Vatican knows what genocide is. It perfected this crime against humanity during the Crusades, the Inquisition and the priest-inspired pogroms that led to the Holocaust. The reality is that Israel has killed far fewer civilians in relation to combatants than any nation in history while fighting comparable urban wars, especially where Hamas combatants hide among civilians, precisely in order to induce Israel to kill as many civilians as possible. By accepting Palestinianism and supporting the Hamas narrative, he is siding with the enemies of Christianity, the enemies of Judaism and the enemies of decency. I will not curse Pope Francis; the bible has already done so: "Now the LORD had said unto Abram.... And I will make of thee a great nation.... And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee."
In an act that flies in the face of the Christian Bible, the Vatican recently featured a nativity scene which laid the baby Jesus on a keffiyeh, thus accepting the false Palestinian narrative that Jesus was a Palestinian and not a Jew. Pictured: Pope Francis looks at the "Nativity of Bethlehem 2024" at St Peter's Square in the Vatican on December 7, 2024. (Photo by Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)
Since the end of World War II, the Vatican has tried hard to make up for its centuries of attacks on the Jewish people, including the Crusades, the Inquisition, priest-incited pogroms, and theological claims that the Jews killed Jesus. The Vatican's complicity in genocide during World War II took the form of Pope Pius XII's refusal to create a "crisis of conscience" among German Catholics by forbidding them from participating in the mass murder of Jews. Since the death of Pope Pius XII, the Vatican has tried hard to make up for its sordid history. Pope Paul VI led the way by repudiating the allegation of collective Jewish guilt for deicide, with Pope John Paul II speaking of the Jewish faith as the ancestor of the Christian religion. In 1993, the Vatican, after too many years of silence, finally recognized the State of Israel, and over time, the relationships between the Vatican and the nation-state of the Jewish people improved.
Continue Reading Article
|
