Monday, June 8, 2026
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The plot thickens

By
Michael Kuttner
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New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Chris Luxon, recently made worldwide headlines and got his five minutes of “fame” after accusing Israel’s Prime Minister of “losing the plot.”

His amateurish attempt at world diplomacy certainly qualified him for honorary membership in the “bash Bibi” gang. No doubt it will guarantee New Zealand an embrace from Albanese and Wong and all those nations lining up to ambush Israel at the UN General Assembly in September.

As far as being a contribution to defeating Hamas terror in Gaza and releasing the kidnapped hostages, it once again stands as a classic case of totally misguided and ignorant rhetoric.

It pleases all those Israel bashers represented in the NZ Parliament and the mindless mobs screaming their hateful invective.

It also prepares the ground and softens up the public for the inevitable recognition of a terror-supporting “Palestine.”

The signs and omens are clearly visible except to those who still think that the current delay in such recognition is really a genuine attempt to be balanced and unbiased.

As I have observed on more than one occasion, where Australia goes, New Zealand is bound to follow. A fake show of independent thinking may look good as far as the media is concerned, but at the end of the day, Wellington will fall into line with Canberra.

Once upon a time, antipodean statesmen stood on the side of democracy and the defence of liberty, freedom and the right of the Jewish People. The Anzacs fought to liberate Ottoman-occupied territory and enthusiastically supported the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in the entirety of their historic homeland.

They defended Mandated Palestine from Nazi Germany’s invasion and an inevitable extension of the “final solution.”

Both Governments voted for a Jewish and an Arab State in 1947. Their support was greeted with grateful thanks by the beleaguered Jews and scornfully rejected by all Arab and Islamic nations who vowed that only the eradication of Israel and Jews would be agreeable.

The NZ Labour PM, Peter Fraser and Australia’s Labour Party leader and Minister of External Affairs, Dr Herbert Evatt, were cognizant of the Jewish historical connection to the territory. They were determined to right a historical wrong.

What a contrast to today’s craven capitulators who spout revisionist slogans, endorse fake claims and believe every word spoken by transparently supportive facilitators of hate and incitement.

Australia’s Foreign Minister visited Israel post 7 October but declined to travel to the sites of the pogrom and view the stark evidence for herself. Presumably, her reluctance had everything to do with not wanting to be confused by the facts. This became evident subsequently as she continues to parrot patently false and delusory claims about Israel’s sins.

Not one New Zealand Cabinet Minister has bothered to visit Israel.

Even though the PM and Foreign Minister have been in the region, neither of them has shown the slightest inclination to come and learn about the realities on the ground. Instead, they pontificate from “down under” taking their misinformation no doubt from the biased civil servants at the Foreign Ministry and a media dripping with anti Israel reporting.

It is no surprise that a former hard-left Labour NZ Prime Minister, Helen Clark, who is an exalted member of the anti-Israel “elders” group, visited Rafah and returned home with the usual diatribe of half-truths. Accusing Israel of preventing aid trucks from crossing into Gaza, she omitted to point out that the Rafah crossing is controlled by Egypt. Never mind the truth – the lies have already sprouted their poisonous harvest.

My prediction is that NZ will announce its recognition of a fictitious “Palestine” at the UN General Assembly meeting in September.

What do I base my assumption on?

Winston Peters, the NZ Foreign Minister, declared that a decision would be made after careful consideration and after consulting several countries for their opinion and advice.

This sounds eminently sensible and distinctly more balanced than the knee-jerk Australian pandering to far-left ideologies.

Unfortunately, there is a major factor lurking in the undergrowth that points to where the final outcome will be headed.

Which countries will NZ consult in order to ascertain its course of action?

It appears that the countries to be consulted are Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The common denominator is that each and every one of them supports recognition of “Palestine” and delegitimises the Jewish State’s presence in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

Indonesia does not recognise Israel as a legitimate sovereign State.

Turkey has diplomatic relations, but its leader and Government hanker for the restoration of Ottoman hegemony and demonise Israel at every available opportunity.

Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel and bans any religion other than Islam.

The UAE is a member of the Abraham Accords and recognises Israel. It, however, believes that “Palestine’s” borders must be the 1948 lines with the eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital.

Egypt has a frigid peace with Israel and likewise demands its withdrawal to indefensible borders.

All of them peddle the fake indigenous claims of Palestinian nationhood and revisionist versions of history.

Given these realities, one can imagine the advice that NZ will receive. It is therefore inevitable that, come September, NZ will fall into line and join those rewarding and facilitating terror. This whole charade is an exercise in transparent hypocrisy.

Abbas, the President for life of the corrupt PA, will likely take the opportunity to proclaim statehood unilaterally. His announcement will be met with rapturous enthusiasm and a standing ovation. He knows that he has already got it in the bag and this will be the ultimate seal of approval from dictators, tyrants and craven democrats alike.

It should be the perfect opportunity for Israel to make its own unilateral declarations, by formally annexing Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.

This brings us to the situation of Jewish Diaspora communal groups and spokespersons who continue to issue cringing calls for a two-state solution. Despite seeing after 7 October what such a solution would look like, they articulate this banality no doubt in the hope that by being politically correct, they will deflect the hate mobs. No such result will occur, but like the hopelessly befuddled and naïve hallucinatory left, it is better to pretend than face reality.

Criticising the timing but still advocating the establishment of yet another terror-supporting Islamic country in Israel’s heartland is a woefully losing strategy.

Do those communal groups in Australia and New Zealand, for example, who promote these declarations actually stop to think about the implications?

Do they not realise that all the major political parties’ platforms in both countries demand that Israel withdraw to the 1948 armistice lines? These non-borders were described by the late Abba Eban as “Auschwitz lines.” Eban was no far-right, hard-line Israeli politician but a fully paid-up member of the now defunct Labour Party. If he had applied for a visa to visit Australia today, he would have been banned for articulating such “inciting” language.

Other parties, such as the Greens and the NZ Maori Party, demand the destruction of Israel and the denial of any sort of Jewish sovereignty.

By acquiescing to a two-state solution, Diaspora groups are in effect signing on to the dissolution of Israel. There is no point in pleading that the solution must come after peace negotiations because the agenda and the outcome have already been set. All those dreaming that a corrupt, Jew hating entity will miraculously morph into a democratic and tolerant state are suffering from DRS (delusional reality syndrome).

Those peddling these hallucinations from the illusory safety of Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and elsewhere will not have to live with the consequences. If their wishes are fulfilled, Jerusalem will be divided, Jews will once again be banned from the Old City and holy sites, and terrorists will be within a stone’s throw of Ben Gurion airport.

That is what the UN demands, and given current realities, that is what Albanese and Luxon will vote for at the appropriate time.

Rejecting any Jewish sovereign legitimacy and inventing false history remain the aims of Abbas and his friends.

It is scandalous that the international community is enabling this to eventuate.

It is even more shameful that there are far too many who, by their silence or acquiescence, will allow it to happen.

That is really losing the plot.

Europe Palestinian-state mania poses troubling questions

By
David Bedein
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Israel Approves Massive Gaza City Operation as Netanyahu Sends Scathing Letter to Australian PM

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
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Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz has approved plans for Operation Gideon’s Chariot II to conquer Gaza City as Australia’s prime minister responds to sharp criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Gaza military operation will involve five Israel Defense Forces divisions, call-up of as many as 60,000 reserves. The initial phase has already begun. The IDF will be encouraging Gaza City residents to move south to safe zones.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded on Tuesday to a scathing letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The focus of the war of words is Australia’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state.

In a letter written on Sunday, Netanyahu told Albanese that calling for a Palestinian state pours “fuel on this antisemitic fire” and “rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas’s refusal to free the hostages”, and “emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.”

Netanyahu concluded, “It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement.” He also called Albanese a weak politician who had betrayed Israel.

Israeli leaders were further angered when Australia banned Knesset member Simcha Rothman from coming to Israel just hours before he was scheduled to speak there. Rothman has strongly supported an Israeli path to victory over Hamas and other terrorist entities. He is prohibited from entering Australia for three years.

Albanese and Netanyahu spoke after the prime minister’s letter, and Albanese brushed off the criticism.

The Australian leader noted, “What I say is that Israel, of course, increasingly, there is global concern because people want to see an end to the cycle of violence that we have seen for far too long. That is what Australians want to see as well.”

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles insists they are following the U.K., France, and Canada in recognizing a Palestinian state.

He stated, “So we are very much within the mainstream of the international community, which has always supported a two-state solution, and in that context, what we want to see is, in this moment, dialogue between nations, and that’s why we regard this as a very disappointing and unjustified reaction.”

As these countries plan to recognize a Palestinian state, veteran journalist David Bedein, who has followed the Palestinian Authority for three decades, published a list of questions these nations should consider:

  • Will the planned Palestinian state abolish the Palestinian Charter, which mandates the destruction of Israel?
  • Will the planned Palestinian state revoke the law that guarantees salaries to anyone who murders a Jew? (the so-called Palestinian “pay to slay” policy)
  • Will the planned Palestinian state eliminate educational materials that glorify the murder of Jews?

Palestinian Media Watch reported on Tuesday that Fatah, the political arm of the Palestinian Authority, hosted a summer camp for young boys and girls with the goal to create a generation that will “continue the path of the martyrs and prisoners,” referring to terrorists who have killed Israelis and planned terror attacks.

Why are Al Jazeera Jihadists Being Sanctified as Heroic Journalists

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Terrorists are dressing up as journalists and being celebrated as heroes. That should terrify us. When people in the West can no longer tell the difference between a terrorist and a reporter, we are in dangerous territory. And when global media outlets themselves are the ones amplifying these terrorists as ‘truth-tellers’, the spiral we are entering threatens the very core of our society.

On 10 August 2025, Israel eliminated Hamas commander Anas Al-Sharif. According to the IDF, he was a paid terrorist operative, and the evidence presented included personnel rosters, training lists, phone directories, and salary documents. The IDF claimed Al-Sharif headed a Hamas terrorist cell involved in firing rockets at Israeli civilians. Yet Al-Sharif also wore the badge of ‘journalist’ at Al Jazeera, using his press jacket as a shield and his platform as a weapon to broadcast Hamas propaganda to the world.

After the strike, images surfaced showing Anas Al-Sharif happily socialising with Hamas leaders:

Al Jazeera terrorists

Instead of anger at this charade – the exploitation of journalism to cloak terror – we saw anger at Israel. Worse still, we saw the canonisation of men like Al-Sharif, lauded as martyrs of the press.

Of the six ‘journalists’ killed with Al-Sharif, every accessible profile (4/4) openly glorified the murder of Jews in religious terms.

This is the real issue: not who was killed, but how jihadists are being sanctified as journalists. In the same strike that targeted Al-Sharif, five other journalists were also killed. I searched for their social media profiles. What I found was not the voice of reporters, but the creed of jihadists – men who viewed the slaughter of Jews as a religious cause to glorify, not a crime to condemn.

I am about to present solid evidence that these men not only wanted to see Jews killed, but also saw the murder through religious eyes – as part of a holy war. If they were glorifying the murder of innocents using the Christian Bible as justification – no legacy media outlet in the world would describe them other than as dangerous religious fundamentalists. So why is it when a Muslim uses the Quran to justify and celebrate the death of innocent Jews, outlets such as The Guardian publish comment pieces gushing about how these jihadists are actually brave heroes?

1. Al Jazeera Terrorist Anas Al-Sharif

Anas Al-Sharif was a senior member of the Al Jazeera team in Gaza. In the image below are two posts captured from Al-Sharif’s Telegram channel. The first is a celebration of the slaughter on 7 October 2023. It was posted in mid-afternoon, by which time we had all seen the Hamas footage as they proudly livestreamed the atrocities. Al-Sharif praised the terrorists as heroes – openly referencing both the murder and the capture of hostages. He ends by praising God.

The second is a post from 27 January 2023 – shortly after a terrorist attack in Jerusalem that saw seven Israelis brutally murdered outside a synagogue. The post shows a bullet casing, with the cap shaped as the Dome of the Rock. Words from the Quran 17:5: ‘We sent against them our servants of great might and strength’ and ‘They ran over all of your land’ appear in the post. This is not just a cartoon celebrating ‘resistance’; it is jihadist propaganda, religiously justifying a brutal murder. The Quranic verse is historically used to describe God sending warriors to punish enemies and here it is applied to frame the murder of Jews as a sacred duty. 

2. Al Jazeera Terrorist-Supporter Mohammed Qreiqeh

Mohammed Qreiqeh was an Al Jazeera correspondent. In the image below, we can see Mohammed Qreiqeh posted an open celebration of 7 October, describing the images of slaughter as ‘heartwarming scenes’, and referring to the terrorists of Hamas as ‘heroes’. Following the brutal terrorist attack in which seven Israelis were murdered outside a synagogue on 27 January 2023, he posted joyous messages praising the murders as good for the Palestinian people. A third example is a celebratory post from 20 June 2023 after Hamas terrorists murdered four Israelis outside a petrol station. One of the Hamas terrorists, Muhannad Shahada, is explicitly mentioned in the post and referred to as a ‘hero’.

3. Freelance Terrorist-Supporter Mohammad al-Khaldi

Mohammad al-Khaldi was one of the two non-Al Jazeera employees killed. He was listed as a freelancer. In the image below we can see four celebratory posts. Like most Palestinian jihadists online, al-Khaldi posted public glorification of the attack on 27 January 2023 – celebrating the ‘youth’ that carried it out. This was far from his only celebration over the death of Jews:

On 29 March 2022, after five Israelis were murdered in a terror attack in Bnei Brak, al-Khaldi referred to the five ‘dogs’ or ‘lepers’ who were swallowed up.

He celebrated the terror attack on 22 March 2022 during which four Israelis were stabbed to death. In his post, he referred to the ‘Lion of Be’er Sheva’. He calls it a ‘super hat-trick’ because four people were murdered.

On 7 April 2022, three Israelis were murdered in a terrorist attack in a Tel Aviv bar. In Arab culture, distributing sweets marks a celebration. Here, al-Khaldi posted that they need to be careful or ‘we’ll get diabetes’, which was a grotesque way of celebrating successive deadly terror attacks.

4. Al Jazeera Terrorist-Supporter Ibrahim Zaher

Ibrahim Zaher was an Al Jazeera cameraman. On social media Zaher is known informally as Abu Karim. On 27 January 2023 following the terrorist attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue Zaher posted a religious message in celebration. The untranslated hashtag reads ‘Jerusalem.’ The text is a direct quotation from the Quran, Surah At-Tawbah (9:14). Zaher is framing the attack as a form of divine retribution or satisfaction for Muslims. In several other posts, Zaher celebrated the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel in 2021, invoking Quranic text that explicitly refers to the Israelis as ‘devils’ being struck down by divinely guided missiles.

Four out of Four

Six people were killed in the strike near al-Shifa Hospital. I could not find a social-media footprint for Mohammed Noufal, and the Facebook account for Moamen Aliwa is set to private. Of the four accessible profiles found, all four celebrated the murder of innocent Jews in explicitly religious-jihadist terms. This pattern is consistent with earlier research showing that many self-styled ‘journalists’ in Gaza promote jihadist ideology.

Rotten from the Top

Al Jazeera terror ties are not new. The al-Dahdouh clan is Islamic Jihad royalty. The group held annual ceremonies honouring the dozens of ‘martrys’ the clan has given to the cause. Wael al-Dahdouh (who spent time in jail himself for violent activity during the intifada) – is Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief. His uncles, cousins, brother, nephews, and his own son (according to the IDF) were all targeted as Islamic Jihad operatives. No small fry either – his uncle Khaled al-Dahdouh was Islamic Jihad’s top military commander when he was killed.

This is taken from a message in which Wael al-Dahdouh publicly thanked Islamic Jihad for its support, following the loss of a nephew who belonged to the terrorist group:

Al Jazeera must have been aware of the Islamic Jihad ties when they first employed him.

The Unifying Cause

What unites Al-Sharif, Qreiqeh, al-Khaldi, and Zaher is not journalism but jihad. Each glorified the killing of Jews as divine or heroic. These are not slips or lapses but a worldview in which murder is celebrated, not condemned.

The greater tragedy is that global media institutions, instead of exposing this, too often elevate it. By describing such men as ‘brave reporters’ or ‘truth-tellers,’ the media launders terrorist propaganda as journalism. And when the line between terrorist and journalist is erased, it is not only the Jews who are endangered – everyone is.

It is time to call this what it is. People who openly cite the Quran to justify the murder of Jews are not journalists. Outlets such as Al Jazeera that give cover to these jihadist propagandists should be shunned by responsible Western media. This is not journalism – it is dangerous propaganda in a press jacket. The sooner Western newsrooms stop laundering Hamas propaganda as ‘news’ – the safer we will all be.

Head of The Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network Nasser Mashni, Has A Criminal History & Family Connections To Hamas

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
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Nasser Mashni, Head of the Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network, APAN, Which Supports The Palestinian Action Group, Has Family Connections to Hamas Terrorists and a Criminal History .

1948 – Shaher Hussein El-Mashni father of Nasser Mashni fought with the terrorist forces of al-Husseini, murdering Jews & opposing the existence of Israel https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/shaher-hussein-el-mashni-abu-nasse

1960s – inspired by Yasser Arafat, Shaher Hussein El-Mashni formed the Australian Fatah movement, active in Palestinian National Council & PLO
 
1969 – Nasser Mashni was born and named after Gamal Abdel Nasser Egypt’s president who led the six day war against Israel.


1991 – Nasser Mashni chased a child in Dandenong VIC, *beat him with a wooden axe handle, shoved him into the boot of his car and drove him to an abandoned paddock where he threatened to break his legs. Mr Mashni received 23 months in prison after pleading guilty.

2007 – Shaher Hussein El-Mashni who died in Australia was eulogised by President Mahmoud Abbas & then Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.


2022 – Nasser Mashni opposed the Australian government’s listing of Hamas as a terrorist group

2025 – Nasser Mashni President of APAN refuses to accept the State of Israel and calls for it’s destruction. He then marches with flags of Hamas. He and Josh Lees in various radio interviews refuse to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Nasser also recorded celebrating Oct 7 attacks.

 
Screenshot 2025-08-19 at 13.22.43.png*Screenshot 2025-08-20 at 12.57.15.png

IMG_2979.jpeg

Qatargate: Qatar paid $10 million to ex-security officials, Netanyahu associates

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
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Qatar paid an estimated $10 million to senior Israeli security veterans, former Mossad officials and associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to figures cited by law enforcement authorities in the “Qatargate” investigation.

The findings, reported by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, are based on money-tracking by police and the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority. The payments allegedly spanned two and a half years, beginning in 2022 and continuing until October 2024, in exchange for various services.
At the center of the probe is “Lighthouse,” a multimillion-dollar influence campaign launched in late 2021, ahead of the Qatar World Cup. Its stated goal was to reshape Qatar’s global image—particularly within Jewish communities—by portraying it as a peace-seeking state rather than a supporter of terror. The campaign included the use of avatars and virtual influencers on social media.
According to investigators, Qatar funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars each month into the project, transferring funds through a British company and then into an Israeli firm run by ex-security officials. Among those questioned was retired IDF Maj. Gen. Yoav “Poly” Mordechai, a former senior defense and Mossad figure.
Payments also went to employees of Coyos, a tech provider, and to “Perception,” a PR firm owned by Netanyahu adviser Israel Einhorn. Another Netanyahu aide, Jonatan Urich, worked under the firm. Investigators say Perception received $45,000 a month for Lighthouse for roughly two years.
Urich took in about 40% of that—roughly $18,000 a month, equivalent to 59,000 to 72,000 shekels, depending on the dollar exchange rate—even during the Gaza war, until the project was frozen in late 2024.
A second, smaller campaign under scrutiny involved lobbyist Jay Footlik, who promoted Qatar’s image in Israel. That initiative, with a much smaller budget, included hiring a government-relations consultant and spokesperson. According to investigators, Eli Feldstein was paid about 40,000 shekels a month while serving as Netanyahu’s spokesman.
Feldstein has claimed he was directed by Urich and Einhorn and that the payments were meant as temporary compensation for his work at the Prime Minister’s Office. Urich has denied that version, insisting Lighthouse was the only project he was involved in.

Strategies Iranians Use to Trick Westerners into Accepting What They Want

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

The threat posed by the Iranian regime is far from over. Iranian leaders have mastered the art of patience, procrastination, and opportunism – waiting for the right moment to strike. Although weakened, the regime is not mortally wounded. As long as it remains in power, the West, Israel, and moderate Arab allies remain in danger.

Iran’s leadership consistently probes and tests its adversaries, convinced that time and persistence will eventually deliver victory. The way Iranian and Western leaders understand negotiations reflects this difference in worldview.

Negotiations: Two Different Worlds

For Westerners, negotiations are about compromise and achieving win-win outcomes. Each side gains something, and both leave the table stronger. For Iranians, negotiations occur only after one side has already won. The winner dictates the terms; the loser must submit.

Thus, when Iranians see Western leaders eager to negotiate before achieving decisive victory, they interpret it as weakness – an admission of lacking the will or ability to impose terms. From their perspective, there is no such thing as a win-win outcome. The formula is simple: I win; you lose.

This mindset shapes how Iranians interpret events like the Iran-Israel-U.S. 12-day war. From their perspective, Israel and the U.S. lacked the resolve or ability to destroy the regime – therefore, Iran chalked up a victory.

Agreements as Tools, Not Commitments

Iranians treat signed agreements as temporary tools, not binding commitments. They may sign documents “to accommodate” others but rarely intend to honor them. Agreements are stepping-stones toward ultimate victory, not mutual compromises.

In Iranian political culture, comprom ise is humiliation – a fate worse than death. An Iranian once admitted the closest cultural term to “compromise” is tanazzol – which more accurately means “to let oneself be degraded.” While Arabs may directly blame adversaries for wrongdoing, Iranians prefer subtlety – maneuvering opponents into surrender while making them believe they are still in control.

Cultural Subtlety and Manipulation

Iranians often present themselves as gracious and empathetic, mastering the art of sincerity to disarm Westerners. They use this understanding to maneuver others into conceding ground. This subtle strategy extends to propaganda, often expressed through political cartoons or media satire, reinforcing Iran’s self-image as the victor.

Example 1: The Hostage Crisis (1979)

A cartoon depicted American hostages being shoved into a car trunk. One hostage smiles, saying, “Wow, you cannot imagine how much I have been dreaming my whole life about having the opportunity to go for a ride in the trunk of your car.” For Iranians, this mocked America’s humiliation while the hostage pretended to maintain dignity.

Example 2: The 2015 Nuclear Accord Negotiations

Iranian media caricatured U.S. leaders John Kerry and Barack Obama during the talks. Kerry’s broken leg was exaggerated with larger crutches, symbolizing weakness. Obama’s skin was darkened to highlight “defects” as the U.S. gave in. The Iranian message: America submits, Iran dictates.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with crutches during a round of negotiations with Iran. (Wikimedia)

The Only Language Iran Respects: Power

Iranian leaders fear only strength and the credible willingness to use it. While Israel and the U.S. performed impressively during the 12-day war, Iran views time as its ally. It bides its time, expecting the West to lose interest and retreat. If that happens, Iran could reemerge with nuclear weapons and resources to threaten the U.S., Israel, and Sunni Arab allies.

The Path Forward

The West must recognize this cultural and strategic gap. The only sustainable solution is to support the Iranian people in freeing themselves from their regime. Otherwise, Iran’s long game could eventually topple its three greatest enemies: the U.S. and the West, Israel, and the Sunni Arab world. What sounds unimaginable to us is entirely plausible to them.

Understand the Bible as Never Before

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
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Essential Questions not Being Asked of Nations that will Recognize a Planned Palestinian State

By
David Bedein
-

Currently, there are a number of essential questions not being asked of nations that will recognize a planned Palestinian State.

Journalists should pose these questions to the foreign ministers of the UK, France, Norway, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

  • Will the planned Palestinian state abolish the Palestinian Charter, which mandates the destruction of Israel?
  • Will the planned Palestinian state revoke the law that guarantees salaries to anyone who murders a Jew?
  • Will the planned Palestinian state remove texts that glorify those who murder kill Jews?
  • Will the planned Palestinian state eliminate educational materials that glorify the murder of Jews?
  • In the maps of the planned Palestinian state, will the State of Israel appear alongside it?
  • Will the planned Palestinian state cancel the slogan of the “Right of Return through armed struggle”?
  • Will the planned Palestinian state indeed abide by the Palestine State Constitution based on Koranic Sharia Law?

 

CONTEXT

In 2003, the Vatican Ambassador to the Holy Land, Archbishop Msgr. Pietro Sambi, known as the Papal Nuncio, warned a US Congressional delegation that the new Palestinian State constitution, funded by USAID, provided no juridical status whatsoever for any religion other than Islam in the emerging Palestinian Arab entity.

I covered that briefing at the time for the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon and for FrontPage Magazine.

At that briefing, the Papal Nuncio expressed his concern to visiting US lawmakers that the PA had adopted Sharia Islamic law, based on the model of the Sharia from Koranic edicts as practiced in Iran or in Saudi Arabia.

Article (5) of the official Palestinian State Constitution reads as follows: Arabic and Islam are the official Palestinian language and religion. Christianity and all other monotheistic religions shall be equally revered and respected.

In other words, as Archbishop Sambi noted, other religions such as Christianity, not to mention Judaism, were denied any juridical status under the Palestinian State Constitution.

The status of Islam as the official religion of any future Palestinian Arab entity is also expressed in Article (7) of the official Palestinian State Constitution, which states that:

The principles of Islamic Sharia are a major source for legislation. Civil and religious matters of the followers of monotheistic religions shall be organized in accordance with their religious teachings and denominations within the framework of law, while preserving the unity and independence of the Palestinian people.

The Palestine constitution translation and analysis can be accessed at:

Home

Islamic nations which have adopted the Sharia law have mandated the absolute supremacy of Muslims over non-Muslims as matter of law.

What worried the Archbishop was that Christian churches and all Christian schools would be placed under the arbitrary authority of Islamic Fundamental Law, which allows nothing more than tolerance of other religions, at best.

USAID financed the creation of the PA State Constitution, which meant the imposition of the Islamic Law throughout the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.

A research study released by the Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs entitled, The Beleagured Christians, noted that in Egypt, Muslim – but not Christian – schools receive state funding. “It is nearly impossible to restore or build new churches. … Christians are frequently ostracized or insulted in public, and laws prohibit Muslim conversions to Christianity.”

In other words, USAID fostered an Islamic totalitarian state of Palestine, devoid of religious freedom and human rights.

Yet that is the Palestinian State that nations of the world clamor to recognize.

The Use of WAFA By the Palestinian Leadership to Set the Stage for Terror

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

The Palestinian News & Information Agency (WAFA), initially established by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), acts as the official Palestinian state-run news service.

WAFA has persistently fostered a media system that encourages and legitimizes violence and incitement against Israel. To illustrate the actions of WAFA, the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) examined every publication of WAFA classified as “Latest news” on its English-language website during July 2025.

Each item was examined for language, content, and context. The study found that 99.9% of WAFA’s English-language coverage related to Israel was explicitly negative, spreading false and dangerous narratives. Of the 622 articles published that month, only 12 were neutral, and the majority of these did not concern Israel, instead focusing on weather conditions. None of these 12 non-Israel-related articles covered Palestinian achievements, industry, successes, coexistence efforts, or peace initiatives.

WAFA’s incessant campaign of demonization, dehumanization, and delegitimization of Israel exposes the sobering reality, not merely of bias, but of how mass media has been weaponized to poison public sentiment regarding Israel. By distorting facts and excluding context from their content, WAFA entrenches a baseless narrative rooted in falsehood. The recurring use of inflammatory words, such as “genocide,” “massacre,” and “war crimes,” is intentional and strategic incitement.

As psychologist Albert Bandura explains in his article Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication (2001),1 “repeated exposure to messages that demonize or dehumanize a particular individual, type of individual, group or thing, can lead to a moral disengagement in which violence becomes legitimate.”1 He adds that audience’s responses are intensified by content that “morally justifies injurious conduct, blames and dehumanizes victims, displaces or diffuses personal responsibility, and sanitizes destructive consequences”.1 WAFA’s content demonstrates this framework, functioning as a vessel to desecrate Israel’s international moral standing by absolving Hamas of any blame for the conditions in Gaza.

This media strategy goes deeper than an effort to sway public opinion gently; it aims to dominate the narrative by flooding the media with nonstop false information disguised as truth. In Christopher Till’s “Propaganda through ‘reflexive control’ and the mediated construction of reality,”2 he explains, “the goal is not necessarily to convince, but to dominate the information space and drown out competing narratives.” The result of this type of content is a violent culture in which society’s grasp of reality is warped by propaganda to the extent that “actions that might otherwise be unthinkable become normalized.”

The Incitement Architecture

WAFA’s headlines like “Palestinian girl martyred by Israeli army gunfire in northern Gaza” (July 9, 2025) and “Israel continues genocide, forcibly displaces Gazans” (July 10, 2025) rely on the continual use of martyrdom ideology, twisted moral framing, and the rejection of any military context. In place of a story balanced with context and perspective, these articles are presented entirely around emotionally provocative storylines, framing Israel as the vicious murderer of children.

These strategies emulate the storytelling techniques used by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and even international organizations like UNRWA. Much like UNRWA drastically overstates refugee numbers and inserts anti-Israel narratives into school textbooks, WAFA functions as a direct mouthpiece for the PA’s smear campaign, supplying an already radicalized society with a daily dose of anti-Israel content directed not only at the Palestinian society but also at international audiences.

WAFA’s international editions in English and French are especially concerning. They are not intended for domestic Palestinian viewing, but for the Western world, specifically lawmakers, journalists, and human-rights activists who are already positioned to view Israel through the lens of “settler-colonialism,” “apartheid,” and “genocide,” agenda-driven buzzwords used in the media.

Manufacturing the Genocide Narrative

Each week, WAFA publishes an article with an updated “death toll,” with no reliable evidence for their statistics. Published by WAFA on July 24, 2025, the headline, “Gaza death toll surges to 58,895 amid ongoing Israeli genocide,” not only references unconfirmed death tolls from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, but also repeats the blood libel of “Israeli genocide,” as though it were a universally accepted fact. They do not include an attribution to this claim, sources, or a balanced counter-argument. There is no mention of the October 7, 2023, massacre, nor the thousands of rockets fired at Israeli civilians since that day. Rather, the reader is encouraged to conclude that Israel is arbitrarily murdering tens of thousands of civilians in a deliberate act of ethnic cleansing.

The omission of nuance is not an editorial error; rather, it is deliberate. This communication style intends to oversimplify a war against a genocidal terror force into a storyline of oppressive aggressor versus powerless victim. While Israel responds to a deadly massacre with military operations against terror infrastructure, WAFA’s reports erase the existence of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and their embedded rocket launchers, tunnels, and command centers within civilian areas.

What WAFA Doesn’t Say

Although WAFA operates as an official Palestinian news agency, they do not platform any coverage that reflects the full spectrum of Palestinian society. Nowhere on its site is there reporting on Palestinian innovation, cultural achievements, or peace efforts. There is no discussion of Palestinian entrepreneurs, civil society efforts, or any initiative aimed at coexistence with Israel. WAFA never criticizes the PA, and never mentions the rampant corruption of the Palestinian leadership. WAFA’s negligence of these stories is not by chance. The refusal to feature articles about Palestinian success or aspirations for peace reflects WAFA’s goal to ensure that its readers are only exposed to an uninterrupted flow of injustice, victimhood, and rage.

July 2025 as a Microcosm of PA Messaging

The current study focused on July 2025, but an extended analysis of Palestinian leadership messaging through WAFA tells the same story: constant brainwashing.

While explicit calls for violence are rarely found on WAFA, the messaging that it does convey – dehumanization of Jews, delegitimization of Israel, and Palestinian victimhood – creates an unyielding environment of hatred and incitement.

In practice, WAFA’s constant brainwashing prepares the ground for direct calls for terror and violence. While a call for violence in a regularly law-abiding society is mostly ignored and vilified, a call for violence and terror against a specific group of people that is predicated on a constant diet of hatred of that people and their country, as Till explained, normalizes “actions that might otherwise be unthinkable.”

The main goal of the Palestinian leadership through WAFA is to present constant indoctrination, laying the groundwork for direct calls for violence.

While detractors may claim that WAFA’s influence over the hearts and minds of the Palestinian people is limited, the point misses the main focus of the study conducted by the JCFA, which did not seek to quantify WAFA’s influence over the Palestinian people or international audiences. Instead, the goal of the study was to examine positive messaging by the PA and its leadership. And the conclusion is crystal clear: In 99% of its publications, the PA decided to present a message of demonization, delegitimization, and the dehumanization of Israelis and Jews, alongside a message of perpetual victimization, absent of any, let alone substantial and necessary, context.

FAQ
What is the primary communication strategy used by WAFA?
How frequently does the agency present Israel in a negative light?
Why is the agency’s international output significant?
What topics are deliberately excluded from the agency’s coverage?
What is the intended effect of this type of media output?

* * *

Notes

  1. Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory of mass communication. Media Psychology, 3, 265–299.↩︎
  2. Till, C. (2020). Propaganda through ‘reflexive control’ and the mediated construction of reality. New Media & Society, 23(6), 1362-1378.↩︎
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