False expectations

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February 2, 2024

Justice when it applies to Israel and Jews has a completely different connotation to that applicable for the rest of the world.

This has been dramatically demonstrated in The Hague in recent days.

The indictment against Israel had nothing to do with justice and everything to do with a pre-ordained political agenda. As previously noted, the judges of the International Court of Justice are political appointments and therefore based on normal United Nations scenarios, Israel is deemed guilty even before the trial commenced.

Following the two days of advocacy and awaiting an interim decision many “experts” and commentators expressed an expectation that South Africa’s spurious allegations would be tossed out.

This was always a hopelessly naïve thinking adopted by individuals who thought that the lies and slanders recycled by Hamas’s surrogates in Pretoria would be kicked out of court. Anyone cognizant of the UN’s track record and the international community’s double standards could see what a sham was about to be enacted. Unfortunately, those infected with HHS otherwise known as “hyper hallucinatory syndrome” refused to see that “the Lord High Executioner” was waiting in the wings.

Some gullible commentators have waxed ecstatically that because the Court did not demand an immediate cessation of hostilities, Israel has scored a significant victory. In actual fact the Court’s decisions have given a green light to all those who promote the worst slanders against Israel.

In other words the copious amount of mud which South Africa and Hamas have thrown at Israel will, thanks to the ICJ ruling, now stick and be used to bludgeon it in every way possible. Today’s versions will be endlessly recycled just like the well poisoning and blood libel accusations of the Middle Ages.

As a result of the ICJ saying that “South Africa’s accusation of genocide has plausibility” the scene is set for casting Israel as a pariah nation with all the ramifications that this entails. By ruling that the lie of genocide may have some sort of validity, Hamas and its South African cheer leaders have achieved their major aim. Compelling Israel to submit a monthly report of “good behaviour” and proof of non genocidal activity immediately proves in the eyes of the haters that in fact something sinister is being covered up.

Despite the conclusive proof Israel’s representatives provided at The Hague that the real genocidal perpetrators are Hamas and their willing helpers, the Court minimized its significance. South Africa in its frenzy to stigmatize the Jewish State ignored the kidnapped hostages and the rockets launched at Israeli civilians over the years. It glossed over the music festival pogrom as though this was just a minor occurrence.

In one of its outlandish claims, South Africa asserted that by mentioning Amalek the Israeli Prime Minister was supporting genocidal intent towards Palestinians. Incredibly, the ICJ quoted this absurdity in the course of its interim judgment about genocide plausibility by Israel. Ironically, on the following Shabbat the Torah portion included the episode of the Amalekite unprovoked attack against the Israelites as they traversed the desert on the way to the Promised Land.

Yes, we are commanded to remember what the Amalekites did to our People and how the descendants of these Hebrew/Jew haters rise up in every generation to do the same. Defending ourselves against such types and ensuring that they cannot complete their genocidal ambitions is something that Israelis take seriously. Obviously the ICJ justices believe we should turn the other cheek and roll over.

The Court as constituted is a political creature of the UN. Its judges are appointed by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. Proof that judicial independence is not a requirement for the job is provided in this week’s statement issued by the Ugandan Government. The Ugandan judge was the only one on the 17 member panel to vote against all six measures ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. She was also only one of two judges to oppose the Court’s assertion that some Israeli actions may violate the Genocide Convention. (The other was Justice Barak of Israel).

The Ugandan Government has now denounced its country’s representative and said that her dissent does not represent the Government’s stance. It added that Uganda supported the position of the Non Aligned Movement on the conflict.

This reaction and response encapsulates exactly where this court is coming from. It also explains why it did not throw out South Africa’s spurious allegations and why the court will continue to threaten punitive sanctions in the future. Now that the genocide “plausibility” suggestion has been planted, the media frenzy targeting Israel’s supposed guilt is in full swing. It takes the heat off North Korea, Russia, China and Iran where real crimes against human rights are occurring.

It also sets the scene for protest groups in vacillating democracies to apply pressure against Israel. That is the poisonous outcome of this whole sordid exercise.

Meanwhile UNRWA finally finds itself in the hot seat.

Despite many years of warnings from NGO’s which have investigated the corruption of this UN appointed Arab Palestinian refugee agency, false expectations and denial of the truth have allowed it to literally get away with murder. Examples of hate inciting textbooks used in UNRWA schools and children’s summer camps where youngsters have been taught how to murder Jews have all been ignored and dismissed. Perpetuation of permanent refugee status and promises of returning to “occupied Palestine” together with kowtowing to terrorist groups were all ignored by the international community which continued to pour millions of dollars into bottomless pockets.

The 7 October massacre finally exposed UNRWA’s culpability in being a silent partner to the terror groups controlling Gaza.

The revelation that Gaza’s terror tunnels are larger than the whole London underground raises the inevitable question as to why UNRWA and other UN agencies working in Gaza did not blow the whistle at any stage. The tunnel networks obviously took years to construct and their development was enabled by the millions of international aid filched and diverted by Hamas and its allies. Answers will need to be provided from Israeli officials who must have known about this but who preferred instead to facilitate Qatari cash infusions which supposedly were going to buy peace.

Revelations that these terror tunnels exist beneath UNRWA schools, hospitals, mosques and private homes makes one wonder as to what UN employees heard, saw and approved. UNRWA, when asked this question they replied that they “had seen nothing.” This response of course is as inane as that of those people living near extermination camps, who after the war also “saw and knew nothing.” It is this blatant aura of denial which has characterized UNRWA and UN activities in Gaza for decades.

The 7 October massacre finally exposed the cynical cover ups. Israel has now provided donor nations with irrefutable proof of UNRWA employees’ participation in the murder, rape and kidnapping of Israeli civilians. Faced with this evidence donor nations have now suspended aid. Note the use of the word “suspension” because herein lies a convenient loop hole. What is needed is an independent investigation of UNRWA’a activities with a view to closing it down.

Instead, the UN and UNRWA itself intend to look into the matter which is as useful as getting a burglar to investigate his own misdemeanors. The predictable outcome will be offending bodies giving themselves a clean bill of health which in turn will give a green light for donor nations to resume the flow of dollars. All will be forgiven and whitewashed and it will be business as usual. Already the US Administration has announced that UNRWA’s “important work must continue.” Having restored funding after it was stopped by President Trump, the Biden Administration facilitated, directly and indirectly, the building of the Gaza terror infrastructure. Now, having temporarily suspended aid the US is in effect preparing the ground for its resumption again.

The farce of international double speak continues.

False expectations will no doubt once again prevail and the ground prepared for the next disaster unless Israel and the rapidly diminishing number of democracies finally take a determined moral stand.

Weekly Commentary: President Biden Deputizes State Department To Engage In Lawfare Against Israel Without Needing A Court

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February 2, 2024

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Weekly Commentary: President Biden Deputizes State Department To Engage In Lawfare Against Israel Without Needing A CourtWeekly Commentary: President Biden Deputizes State Department To Engage In
Lawfare Against Israel Without Needing A Court
Dr. Aaron Lerner 1 February 2023

Just two days after CIA Director Burns, acting as America’s “honest broker”
in negotiations to free the hostages, made clear in his Foreign Affairs
article that America’s goal is for Israel to stop its operations in the Gaza
Strip while accepting Hezbollah’s continued strategic threat in the north we
now have President Biden issuing an Executive Order which appoints the State
Department as judge, jury, and executioner to act against Israelis.

The full text of the Executive Order follows below this commentary.

This order can be extended to apply to:

Knesset members as well as Israelis who run for the Knesset who advocate
policies which the Secretary of State believes to ” threaten the peace,
security, or stability of the West Bank”.

Soldiers, cops and judges engaged in directing, enacting, implementing,
enforcing, or failing to enforce policies that, according to the Secretary
of State, threaten the peace, security, or stability of the West Bank

Building contractors, residents, visitors, suppliers, etc. who in any way
act in a manner which constitutes implementing policies that, according to
the Secretary of State, threaten the peace, security, or stability of the
West Bank.

Any Israeli involved in implementing the court ordered demolition of a
terrorist’s home? [The term “civilian” is not defined in the order.]

Anyone who provides goods or services to or engages in commerce with to any
of the above.

A technical note: The Executive Order defines “terrorism” to be “an
activity that involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life,
property, or infrastructure and appears to be intended to intimidate or
coerce a civilian population. An honest Secretary of State would find
himself taking action against a hundred times as many Palestinians as
Israeli as this is the ratio between Palestinian and Israeli “terror”.

==================
FEBRUARY 01, 2024

Executive Order on Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace,
Security, and Stability in the West Bank

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 212(f) and section
215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and
8 U.S.C. 1185(a)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, find
that the situation in the West Bank – in particular high levels of extremist
settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property
destruction – has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious
threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza,
Israel, and the broader Middle East region. These actions undermine the
foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a
two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal
measures of security, prosperity, and freedom. They also undermine the
security of Israel and have the potential to lead to broader regional
destabilization across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel
and interests. For these reasons, these actions constitute an unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the
United States. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that
threat. Accordingly, I hereby order:

Section 1. All property and interests in property that are in the
United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or
hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person,
including any foreign branch, of the following persons are blocked and may
not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:

(a) any foreign person determined by the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:

(i) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly
or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, any of the following:

(A) actions – including directing, enacting, implementing,
enforcing, or failing to enforce policies – that threaten the peace,
security, or stability of the West Bank; or

(B) planning, ordering, otherwise directing, or
participating in any of the following actions affecting the West Bank:

(1) an act of violence or threat of violence targeting
civilians;

(2) efforts to place civilians in reasonable fear of
violence with the purpose or effect of necessitating a change of residence
to avoid such violence;

(3) property destruction; or

(4) seizure or dispossession of property by private
actors;

(ii) to be or have been a leader or official of:

(A) an entity, including any government entity, that has
engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, any of the activities
described in subsections (a) or (b) of this section related to the leader’s
or official’s tenure; or

(B) an entity whose property and interests in property are
blocked pursuant to this order as a result of activities relating to the
leader’s or official’s tenure;

(iii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided
financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to
or in support of, any person blocked pursuant to this order; or

(iv) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported
to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person blocked
pursuant to this order; or

(b) any foreign person determined by the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury:

(i) to have committed or have attempted to commit, to pose a
significant risk of committing, or to have participated in training to
commit acts of terrorism affecting the West Bank; or

(ii) to be a leader or official of an entity sanctioned pursuant
to subsection (b)(i) of this section.

Sec. 2. The prohibitions in section 1 of this order apply except to
the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or
licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any
contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the date of
this order.

Sec. 3. The prohibitions in section 1 of this order include:

(a) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or
services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and
interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; and

(b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or
services from any such person.

Sec. 4. (a) The unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into
the United States of noncitizens determined to meet one or more of the
criteria in section 1 of this order would be detrimental to the interests of
the United States, and the entry of such persons into the United States, as
immigrants or nonimmigrants, is hereby suspended, except when the Secretary
of State or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, determines
that the person’s entry would not be contrary to the interests of the United
States, including when the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland
Security, as appropriate, so determines, based on a recommendation of the
Attorney General, that the person’s entry would further important United
States law enforcement objectives.

(b) The Secretary of State shall implement this order as it applies to
visas pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of State, in consultation
with the Secretary of Homeland Security, may establish.

(c) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall implement this order as
it applies to the entry of noncitizens pursuant to such procedures as the
Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State,
may establish.

(d) Such persons shall be treated by this section in the same manner
as persons covered by section 1 of Proclamation 8693 of July 24, 2011
(Suspension of Entry of Aliens Subject to United Nations Security Council
Travel Bans and International Emergency Economic Powers Act Sanctions).

Sec. 5. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of
evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of
the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth
in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 6. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the types
of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)) by,
to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in
property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my
ability to deal with the national emergency declared in this order, and I
hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.

Sec. 7. For the purposes of this order:

(a) the term “entity” means a partnership, association, trust, joint
venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;

(b) the term “noncitizen” means any person who is not a citizen or
noncitizen national of the United States;

(c) the term “person” means an individual or entity;

(d) the term “United States person” means any United States citizen,
lawful permanent resident, entity organized under the laws of the United
States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign
branches), or any person in the United States; and

(e) the term “terrorism” means an activity that:

(i) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life,
property, or infrastructure; and

(ii) appears to be intended:

(A) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(B) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation
or coercion; or

(C) to affect the conduct of a government by mass
destruction, assassination, kidnapping, or hostage-taking.

Sec. 8. For those persons whose property and interests in property are
blocked or affected by this order who might have a constitutional presence
in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds
and other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures
to be taken pursuant to this order would render those measures ineffectual.
I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing
the national emergency declared in this order, there need be no prior notice
of a listing or determination made pursuant to this order.

Sec. 9. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, is authorized to take such actions, including the
promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to
the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this
order. The Secretary of the Treasury may, consistent with applicable law,
redelegate any of these functions within the Department of the Treasury.
All executive departments and agencies of the United States shall take all
appropriate measures within their authority to implement this order.

Sec. 10. Nothing in this order shall prohibit transactions for the
conduct of the official business of the Federal Government or the United
Nations (including its specialized agencies, programs, funds, and related
organizations) by employees, grantees, and contractors thereof.

Sec. 11. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, is authorized to submit recurring and final reports to
the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent
with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of
IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).

Sec. 12. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or
otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or
agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and
subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its
officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 1, 2024.
________________________________________
IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

UNWRA has been teaching Palestinian kids to hate and fight Israel for decades

By

David Bedein

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February 2, 2024

How did seemingly innocuous United Nations summer camps for thousands of Palestinian children jump to the forefront of the horrific war in the Middle East?

The UN Relief and Works Agency provides summer camps for children of more than 5 million descendants of Arab evacuees of the 1948 war who live in 59 temporary refugee camps established in the wake of Israel’s War of Independence, which dislodged half a million Arabs, intentionally or unintentionally.

UNRWA established an elaborate school system that enables any journalist worth his salt to understand what the agency is teaching the next generation of Palestinian youth — who are instructed that they must adhere to the right of return, even by force of arms, to homes and villages their grandparents or great-grandparents left after 1948, though their villages are now Jewish communities in Israel.

UNRWA policy stands in contrast to the UN High Commission for Refugees policy for the rest of the world, which assures the next generation it won’t suffer the indignities of refugee-camp life.

Kids at UNRWA summer camps pointing fake guns at child with Israeli flag on helmet — The UN Relief and Works Agency provides summer camps for children of more than 5 million descendants of Arab evacuees of the 1948 war.

As an independent journalist who wanted to communicate the Palestinian passion for war, I engaged Arab TV reporters to film summer camps in and around UNRWA schools in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Jerusalem for the last 15 years.

You can see the footage at www.cfnepr.com/205640/Movies.

What the UNRWA summer camps preach is hardly a message of peace and reconciliation.

Instead, Palestinian children learn the art of guerrilla warfare.

These summer camps, financed by 67 nations, including America, through UNRWA donations, show fully armed children learning the art of kidnapping, throwing explosives, hijacking vehicles and invading Jewish collective farms.

They demonstrate a shocking prelude to the Oct. 7 incursion into 24 Jewish communities, when young Arab attackers gleefully applied the violent exercises they learned in UNRWA summer camps.

The youths’ UNRWA summer-camp experiences reinforced the violence taught in the Palestinian Authority school curriculum.

Young boys in camouflage gear holding guns at UNRWA summer camp. — At the camps, Palestinian children learn the art of guerilla warfare.

At the camps, Palestinian children learn the art of guerilla warfare.
How did I get access to the textbooks?

To get the curriculum, I met with Yasser Arafat, founding chairman of the PA.

It’s hard for the Western mind to grasp how the PA leadership expresses pride for its lethal curriculum.

He readily authorized our news and research agency to review the PA school texts UNRWA uses.

We were granted access to more than 1,000 textbooks.

Girl in video saying "I want to fight against them [the Jews] and defeat them in war." — The camps demonstrate a shocking prelude to the Oct. 7 incursion into 24 Jewish communities.

For 25 years, our office has evaluated PA textbooks, engaging professional translators Israeli and American intelligence could not access, unless, of course, they chose to stop by for a cup of coffee at our office in Jerusalem.

Palestinian Authority-issued school books used in PA schools, including UNRWA schools, feature scores of maps labeling all of Israel “Palestine.”

They praise terrorists, such as Dalal Mughrabi, who took part in a 1978 attack that killed 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children.

Boy holding gun — The camps train children in the art of kidnapping, throwing explosives, hijacking vehicles and invading Jewish collective farms.

Thanks to online technology, you can peruse our translations of Palestinian Authority textbooks UNRWA uses via the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center’s online site.

Before Oct. 7, few people showed interest.

But by December, we had 7.2 million hits on our site: IsraelBehindtheNews.com.

Children at UNRWA summer camp holding fake weapons — Palestinian Authority-issued school books used in PA schools, including UNRWA schools, feature scores of maps labeling all of Israel “Palestine.”

Denial of reality, which defined Israel before Oct. 7, no longer exists.

The public, thanks to modern technology, can instantly view videos or read about the chilling truth being played out daily.

David Bedein is the director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.

David Bedein reveals who is against shutting UNWRA and it’s Israel

By

David Bedein

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February 1, 2024

PALESTINIAN-GAZA-UNRWA — A Palestinian man rides a vehicle in front of the logistics base of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on July 30, 2019. - An internal ethics report has alleged mismanagement and abuses of authority at the highest levels of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees even as the organisation faced an unprecedented crisis after US funding cuts.
Lacking natural resources, the Gaza Strip suffers from a chronic shortage of water, electricity and petrol. More than two-thirds of the population depends on humanitarian aid. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Revelations of UNRWA’s involvement in Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror came as no surprise for David Bedein, head of the Nahum Bedein Center for the Near East Policy Research. He’s been documenting the evil and antisemitism in UNWRA textbooks for decades. Now vindicated, Bedein told reporter Arieh O’Sullivan that despite some voices calling for the dismantlement of the UN Palestinian relief agency, it was the Israeli establishment who was against it.

Joint Subcommittee Hearing

By

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February 1, 2024

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

The Subcommi,ee on Oversight and Accountability and Subcommi,ee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations

Subject: “UNRWA Exposed: Examining the Agency’s Mission and Failures”

Dear Distinguished Subcommi,ee Members,

I would like to take this opportunity to submit a statement on behalf of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), a leading Jewish Global Human Rights Activist Organization. As a pediatrician with over three decades of clinical experience caring for children and young adults, the SWC’s first Children’s Advocate, and proud ci8zen of the State of New Jersey, as Chairman Chris Smith is aware, I was one of the first to have called out UNRWA for child abuse due to their educa8on that encourages young impressionable Pales8nian students to commit violent acts against Jews and encourages them to become martyrs. UNRWA has proven to be not only an Instrument of hate used by Hamas against Jews and Israel. It is also an instrument of hate against the civilized global community!

The 8me has come for all to realize that the United Na8ons Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA’s) mandate to provide services to now 5.9 million Palestinian “refugees” descended from the original 700,000

refugees of 1948 must come to an end. There is ample proof now that the barbaric terrorists of Hamas have co-opted UNRWA so that they are one and the same. Our US tax dollars should not be used to fund terrorist organizations that are the sworn enemy of the principles we hold dear: respect for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, in the West’s a,empt to assist the Palestinian people, that is exactly what we have been doing. If we want to help create the foundation for a peaceful and hopeful future for Israeli and Palestinian children, UNRWA must not be a part of that future.

UNRWA cleverly perpetuates the conflict that began following Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. It has done so successfully by uniquely bestowing refugee status on Pales8nians in perpetuity, by keeping the Palestinian people in overcrowded refugee camps for generations, by indoctrinating generation after generation of Palestinian children in a

belief that they are entitled to return to towns and villages of their ancestors that no longer exist in order to overtake Israel by sheer numbers if not by a violent overthrow, and by using the generous humanitarian aid provided over the years by Western Democracies to feather the nest of their terror state. Ironically, it is the very principles of Western civilization-personal and religious freedoms, tolerance, free elec8ons-that Hamas and likeminded terrorists seek to destroy.

The SWC has for years been providing evidence to a high up official in the office of the Secretary General of the United Na8ons of UNRWA’s blatant indoctrination of generations of Palestinian school children with the purpose of radicalizing impressionable minds to commit jihad and sacrifice their young lives in support of a radical genocidal Islamic ideology that has co-opted this UN organization. For nearly a decade I have made the claim that this cons8tutes “societal child abuse.” We warned that the curriculum they were subjected to in UNRWA schools was a war curriculum.

Tragically, our fears were played out on October 7, 2023. It is no surprise that many of the perpetrators of Hamas atrocities had been indoctrinated in UNRWA schools. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, The Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Ac8on for the SWC and the current chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, just a few weeks ago spoke directly with Secretary of State Blinken about what should be done about UNRWA going forward.

UNRWA is one of the largest employers of Gazans, second only to Hamas itself. “According to Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), “All the workers of UNRWA in the Gaza Strip—something like 13,000—all of them are approved by Hamas.”” h,ps://www.jns.org/terrorists-deeply embedded-within-unrwa-staff/ Moreover, UNRWA is mandated in its charter to implement the policies of the local government, which in the case of Gaza is Hamas. Thus, UNRWA serves at the pleasure of this extremist Islamist terror organization.

Now it is 8me to acknowledge reality. In Gaza, UNRWA is Hamas and Hamas is UNRWA. Since Oct. 7, we have the proof. UNRWA employees are either members of Hamas or are family and friends of Hamas members as these are coveted jobs. UNRWA schools, hospitals, medical clinics, and facilities are part of the Hamas terror infrastructure. UNRWA employees participated in Hamas atrocities. UNRWA aid meant for civilians is under the control of Hamas terrorists and either stolen by these terrorists or sold for profit to the suffering Palestinian people. Just exposed by UN-Watch, three thousand UNRWA employees celebrated the murder of Jews on Oct. 7 on Telegram.

h,ps://www.thefp.com/p/the-united-na8ons-terrorism-teachers

It is appalling that UNRWA employees participated in perpetrating the most unspeakable crimes against the Jewish people since the

Holocaust. En8re families living on peaceful kibbutzim butchered in their beds, babies decapitated, young girls and women gang raped, and their bodies mu8lated, people burned alive beyond recogni8on, hundreds of young people slaughtered at a music fes8val, Israelis and foreigners alike from infants to octogenarians taken hostage, tortured and abused in the most brutal condi8ons to this day, day 116 of hell.

Hamas is not only the sworn enemy of Israel. Their jihad starts with Israel but does not end with Israel. MEMRI did a report demonstrating this using Hamas’s own words:

“Hamas – the acronym for the movement’s full name, the Islamic Resistance Movement, in Arabic – is a Sunni Islamist terror organization that is part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Its goal is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in all of Palestine, “from the river to the sea,” by means of uncompromising jihad. This campaign is regarded as part of the Muslims’ ongoing jihad against the Jews that will continue until the Judgement Day and will end with the annihilation of the Jews…

Hamas also defines itself as part of the Islamic resistance movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of a worldwide Islamic caliphate…

–The liberation of Palestine is a prelude to the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate. Rome will be conquered by Islam as Constantinople was once conquered, and then the rest of the world will be overtaken, including America and Eastern Europe.” https://www.memri.org/reports/ideology-hamas-–- its-own-words

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz this past weekend stated that Israel demands the leadership of UNRWA be dismissed, and in Gaza’s rebuilding, be replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development .https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-783945

We at SWC agree. UNRWA must be dissolved. Not one more cent of United States Tax Dollars should be given to this terror enabling UN agency. Third and fourth generation Palestinians must wake up to the harsh reality that they are not refugees, and instead should be given the

tools to make a better life for themselves and their families, not at the expense of their Israeli neighbors who too deserve a better future. Assistance to Palestinians going forward must be provided by humanitarian organizations that will work to improve conditions on the ground for Palestinians rather than using the billions of dollars given to them over the years to build a terror state. Their children must be educated in schools dedicated to tolerance and peaceful coexistence with their Israeli neighbors, their schools must be rid of teachers supportive of terrorist organizations, and the current curriculum must be replaced with one that does not indoctrinate children into a culture of jihad and martyrdom such as used in the UAE.

We make these recommendations not only for the sake of future generations of Israeli and Palestinian children, but for the prevention of this hateful ideology spreading to our own shores.

Respectfully Submitted,

Deborah Soffen MD

Child Advocate

Simon Wiesenthal Center

dsoffen@wiesenthal.com

UNRWA school students in East Jerusalem say ‘stabbing Jews brings respect for Palestinians’

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January 31, 2024

“I am ready to carry out a suicide attack” is what a student at a UNRWA school in East Jerusalem says to the camera, in a video filmed in 2022 by the Bedein Center for Near East Policy Research. Another student says that “we have to fight the Jews to prove that we are stronger than them.” Watch the inciteful words of the students.

The students are recorded saying that “stabbing and trampling Jews brings respect to the Palestinians,” “I am ready to carry out a suicide attack,” and “we are taught that the Jews kill our children. I will stab and run over them.” One of the students says that “we are taught that Al-Aqsa and all of Palestine is ours,” and another shares that “we are taught that the Jews are terrorists.”

David Bedein, director of the research institute that has been dealing with UNRWA and the Palestinians since 1987, notes: “In the textbooks of UNRWA students in the Shuafat refugee camp, there are pictures praising murderers who committed terrorist acts and killed many Israelis used as role models.”

תיעוד מאמצעי הלחימה שאיתרו לוחמי חטיבת כפיר בשק של אונר"א

Following publication of the video, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem and the chairman of the United party, Aryeh King, contacted the chairman of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), Ifat Ovadia-Luski. The UNRWA school in question was established on land owned by JNF, and King demanded that the school be vacated. In an appeal to Luski, he wrote that the expectation was that the area would be used for the benefit of the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, but in reality the UNRWA school was established “where, according to the evidence, they teach hatred of Jews and incite against the State of Israel.”

JNF stated in response that “in accordance with the Israel Land Authority law and in accordance with the agreement between the state and the JNF, the Israel Land Authority manages JNF lands. Any information regarding the owners and/or encroachers of the land and how their treatment should be addressed to the Israel Land Authority.”

About 119,000 students study in the Arab education system in East Jerusalem: 45,040 in official educational institutions, 58,080 in unofficial, recognized institutions and 15,380 students in institutions that operate without a license, which are not funded or supervised by the state (about 13% of East Jerusalem students).

תיעודים מהקומה הממולכדת בגן ילדים של אונר"א והשמדת המטענים במחנה נור א-שמס

On Tuesday, the Knesset held a joint discussion with the Education Committee and the Committee of Children’s Rights to mark the International Day of Education, in which the lawmakers spoke about antisemitic content taught in the Palestinian education system. It was decided that there would be strict supervision in educational institutions in East Jerusalem.

“It’s crazy that the 11th and 12th grades are given textbooks with antisemitic content and incitement against the state,” he said. The members of the committees called for the removal of antisemitic content from Palestinian education plans and sharply criticized the United Nations and UNESCO “for not doing anything against the Palestinian education industry that teaches jihad, the demonization of Jews and Israelis, and delegitimization of the State of Israel.”

On Friday and Saturday, UNRWA faced an uproar when nine contributing countries decided to freeze funding that was intended for the organization despite the commissioner-general’s announcement of an investigation into the allegations that some of the agency’s employees were involved in the murderous terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, and of the termination of employment of some of those employees.

The Education Ministry released a statement regarding the issue. “The school operates without a license, in violation of the law. The enforcement division of the ministry has begun investigating the matter, and intends to involve investigative bodies and other authorities if necessary. The ministry is working to strengthen the supervision of the education system in East Jerusalem, to reduce the number of students in recognized unofficial settings and to increase the number of students in formal education, according to the Israeli curriculum. In light of this policy, the proportion of students in schools that operate without a license in East Jerusalem has decreased from 58% in 1990 to only 13% at the end of 2022,” according to the ministry.

UNRWA:s politik efter kriget.

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January 29, 2024

Den schweiziske diplomaten Phillipe Lazzarini, chef för FN:s hjälp- och arbetsbyrå kommer nu att möta en ström av påtryckningar från givarnationer att genomföra en genomgripande politisk förändring i ljuset av kriget.

Detta berör särskilt UNRWA:s skolor, som under de senaste 25 åren har använt den palestinska myndighetens läroplan för att indoktrinera palestinska arabiska barn att expandera hela Palestina och erövra det med vapenmakt, ett mål som knappast är lämpligt för en FN-organ.

Detta är grundprinciper som UNRWA-kommissionären måste hantera:

UNRWA:s läroböcker överensstämmer inte med FN:s värderingar om fredlig försoning. Byrån har återinfört en ny skolbok som innehåller hyllning av Dalal el Mugrabi – vars terrorgrupp kapade en buss och mördade 38 passagerare, inklusive 13 barn – texter och bild presenteras som en förebild för UNRWAs elever. I den nya boken porträtterar texten Dalal i full skräckskrud, följt av en lektionsplan som presenterar hennes livshistoria för hyllning och efterlikning.

*Kommissarien bör konfiskera sådana läroböcker.

UNRWA avtal är användning av den palestinska myndighetens skolböcker i Judéen, Samaria, Jerusalem och Gaza. Som alla FN-organ är det meningen att UNRWA ska driva skolor baserade på FN:s slogan “Peace Begins Here”. PA-utbildning driver dock skolor baserade på ideologin från Palestine Liberation Organization: Conquest of Palestine (Erövring av Palestina) med vapenmakt.

*Kommissionären måste säga upp avtalet mellan UNRWA och den palestinska myndigheten.

UNRWA:s skolor är prydda med affischer och väggmålningar av “martyrer” som dött medan de mördade judar.

*UNRWA-kommissionären kan beordra borttagning av alla våldsamma sådana bilder i UNRWAs lokaler.

El Kutla ungdoms och fritidsklubbar i UNRWA:s skolor inspirerar eleverna med mantrat om den väpnade kampen från ung ålder.

*UNRWA-kommissionären bör beordra El Kutla-klubbarna att upphöra med all sådan våldsam hets.

Militärparader pågår frekvent i UNRWA:s lokaler.

*kommissionären kan beordra ett slut på militärparader i alla UNRWAs anläggningar.

Hamas terrorgrupper presenterar och rekommenderar kandidater för att finnas i UNRWA som lärare och fackföreningsledare. FN definierar Hamas som en terroristorganisation.

*UNRWA kommissionären bör ställa kravet att alla personer i UNRWA som anställts genom en “Hamas-rekommendation eller har terror avlöning” ska stängas av från lönelistan.

Nakba-händelser är schemalagda i UNRWA varje 15 maj, dagen då PLO sörjer arabiska arméernas nederlag efter att dessa invaderade Israel 1948. Vid dessa möten uppmanas til våldsamt störtande av den judiska staten.

*UNRWA-kommissionären bör utfärda ett direktiv om att UNRWA avstår från varje deltagande och uppmaning till våld vid Nakba-ceremonierna i UNRWA:s anläggningar.

Den populära Gazas sångaren Mohammad Assaf, som påstår sig vara “UNRWAs ungdoms ambassadör”, piskar upp folkmassor till våld.

*UNRWA-kommissionären bör utfärda ett policy uttalande om att byrån tar avstånd från Assaf och hans budskap.

Händelser och ceremonier för att minnas och hedra araber som dött i samaband med terrorattacker pågår kontinuerligt i UNRWA:s skolor.

*UNRWA-kommissionären bör kräva att UNRWA ställer in sådana event.

Den ekonomiska insynen och systemet där donationsflödet till UNRWA från givarna är nästan omöjlig . 1,6 miljarder dollar kommer otransparent som bidrag till UNRWA från 67 nationer och 32 icke-statliga organisationer, där även kontanta medel. Möjligheten till stöld där bidrag överförs till terrorgrupper eller humanitära medel säljs på den öppna marknaden är idag maximal.

*Det är dags för UNRWA:s kommissionär att begära ett stopp för kontanta betalningar samt insyn så att alla medel och utrustning används enbart för humanitära behov.

Idag pågår export av UNRWAs skolböcker. Med hjälp av givarländernas diplomatiska bidrag exporterar UNRWA idag skolböcker som uppmuntrar “rätten att återvända” och ersätta Israel med “Palestina”.

*UNRWA-kommissionären bör begära ett stopp för detta.

Förvirring av UNRWA:s finansiella situation. Vid inget tillfälle har UNRWA någonsin specificerat hur man använder sin budget.

*kommissionären bör kräva omedelbar offentliggörande och en redovisning av alla utgifter.

Icke-erkännande av Israel på kartan. UNRWA distribuerar världskartor och regionala kartor som har utplånat Israel och ersatt alla israeliska platser med arabiska namn. Bör Israel, som är en FN-medlem med gott anseende, inte få förekomma på en karta som utfärdats av ett FN-organ?

*UNRWA-kommissionären kan nu göra det till sin sak att se till att alla kartor sanningsenligt visar alla medlemmar i FN, inklusive lsrael.

14 . Sommarläger med vapenträning. Under de senaste tjugo åren har tusentals UNRWA-elever i åldrarna 9-16 deltagit och tränats i sommarläger som innehåller vapenträning med autentiska vapen. Detta strider mot FN-resolutioner där barns hälsa och välbefinnande skall skyddas.

*UNRWA-kommissionären bör starkt agera för att stävja vapenträning av barnsoldater.

UNRWA:s skolor används som arsenaler för vapen, ammunition,missiler och tunnelingångar, vilket bevittnats och avslöjats under tiden det kriget pågått.

*Det är dags för en inspektion av alla UNRWA-anläggningar, även dessa i UNRWAs skolor i Betlehem och Jerusalem, vilka inte övervakas av IDF.

“Rätten att återvända” bör inte vara det enda alternativet för UNRWA-invånares framtid.

*Organisationen bör tillhandahålla ett UNRWA emigrationscenter, för att hjälpa invånares att flytta från UNRWA och starta sina liv på nytt.

Avtalet mellan USA och UNRWA, som undertecknades den 14 juli 2021, var ett av de mest positiva och konstruktiva initiativen för USA:s utrikespolitik i Mellanöstern

https://israelbehindthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Analysis-The– US-UNRWA-Accord-reached-on-July-14th-2021-1.pdf

För första gången ställde en stor givarnation villkor för att finansiera UNRWA. Dessa obligatoriska villkor var sådana att UNRWA bara kunde få tillgång till de hundratals miljoner amerikanska biståndsdollar efter att UNRWA tagit bort äroplanen med krigsutbildning.

I augusti 2021 frågade vår nyhets- och forskningsbyrå UNRWA:s taleskvinna om UNRWA skulle ändra läroplanen i ljuset av avtalet mellan USA och UNRWA.

“Absolut inte”, sa UNRWA:s talesperson.

Som ett resultat verkställdes USA-UNRWA-avtalet, till lagens bokstav. Eftersom UNRWA inte ändrade sin läroplan, kom inte ett öre av tilldelat amerikanskt bistånd till UNRWA under dessa två åren.

Detta avtal mellan USA och UNRWA upprätthölls enligt lagen.

Förra veckan blev jag inbjuden att vittna om avtalet mellan USA och UNRWA i Knessets parlamentariska kommitté för säkerhet och utrikesfrågor.

Efter att jag avslutat vittnesmålet om avtalet, vilket innebar att UNRWA inte skulle få tillgång till amerikanska medel förrän UNRWA gjort en förändring i UNRWA:s kursplan, kom en representant från det israeliska utrikesdepartementet som motsatte sig min försäkran. Denne informerade Knesset-ledamöter om att den amerikanska kongressen hade informerat om att USA inte längre kommer att följa USA-UNRWAs avtal.

Med andra ord kommer USA nu att tillåta att medel åter flödar till UNRWA, utan några begränsningar.

En ny era av UNRWA-indoktrinering med rätten att återvända via väpnad kamp kommer nu att bli följden.

*Skribenten David Bedein är chef för Israel Resource News Agency vid Center for Near East Policy Research, beläget vid Beit Agron Center i Jerusalem. Han har tillhandahållit praktisk nyhetsbevakning av UNRWA”” sedan december 1987, assisterad av ett team av judiska och arabiska journalister. som producerande 24 kortfilmer inspelade på plats, tillsammans med två böcker, GENESIS OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY och UNRWA; VÄGSPÄRR TILL FRED, tillsammans med hundratals nyhetsartiklar.

Alert: Egyptian blanket denial that smuggling tunnels exist from Sinai into Gaza Strip undermines any program hinging on Egyptian security cooperation

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January 27, 2024

Alert: Egyptian blanket denial that smuggling tunnels exist from Sinai into
Gaza Strip undermines any program hinging on Egyptian security cooperation.
Dr. Aaron Lerner, 22 January 2023

With some Gazans spending a fortune today to leave the Gaza Strip via
smuggling tunnels to Egypt, we have the Egyptian Government claiming that
“any smuggling operation is impossible.”

Take a look at this article published last October by NPR

+++
The ragged border crossing that could become Gaza’s lifeline
NPR OCTOBER 16, 20231:52 PM ET

HTTPS://WWW.NPR.ORG/2023/10/16/1206107279/THE-RAGGED-BORDER-CROSSING-THAT-COULD-BECOME-GAZAS-LIFELINE

…Rafah has long been a magnet for smugglers, who dug tunnels under the border, with some of entrance and exit points emerging inside homes on both sides of the border.

In quiet times, smugglers have brought in cigarettes and other goods to avoid taxes. In more recent years, Hamas used the tunnels to amass an arsenal of weapons, including some of those used in the surprise Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that killed more than 1,400 Israelis…
+++

So any plan spending billions of dollars building a wall on the Egyptian
side is a farce from the start since we already see that the Egyptians are
not going to be serious about the operation of the barrier.

Egypt goes another step.

While Israel has generously allowed Egypt to flood the Sinai with troops and
military equipment in numbers magnitudes greater than the treaty sets since
Egypt faces a security emergency, we have Egypt threatening the Jewish state
if it temporarily increases its forces on the border in a move that would
not come close to the size of the Egyptian forces which are in excess of the
treaty.

And this would indeed be a temporary extra Israeli force since once the
“civil works project” is carried out to block smuggling the force required
to maintain it would not be a violation of the agreement.

Any third party with eyes in their heads who wants a serious solution of the
situation in the Gaza Strip should be working now behind the scenes to make
sure that Mr. Rashwan’s remarks reported below do not reflect what Egypt
actually will do should Israel decide to take the security of the Gaza Strip
seriously.
+++
Egypt: Israeli lies regarding alleged smuggling arms along borders lead to
serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli ties
BY Egypt Today staff
Mon, 22 Jan 2024 – 09:09 GMT
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/129927/Egypt-Israeli-lies-regarding-all
eged-smuggling-arms-along-borders-lead

CAIRO – 22 January 2024: Diaa Rashwan, head of the State Information Service
(SIS) announced that recent remarks by Israeli officials, and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu about alleged smuggling operations of weapons,
explosives, ammunition, and their components, into the Gaza Strip from
Egyptian territory through alleged tunnels are lies and groundless.

“These Israeli claims and lies aim to create a “legitimacy” through which it
seeks to occupy the Philadelphia Axis (also known as the Salah al-Din Axis,
which refers to a strip of land along the border between Egypt and the Gaza
Strip) by violating the security agreements and protocols signed between
Israel and Egypt. So, we strongly confirm that any Israeli move in this
direction will lead to a serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations,”
Rashwan said in a statement on Monday.

“This Egyptian red line joins the previous one, which Egypt has repeatedly
declared, which is the categorical rejection of forcibly or voluntarily
displacing our Palestinian brothers to Sinai. This line Israel will not be
allowed to pass,” he added.

He said that the world knows about the tremendous efforts exerted by Egypt
over the past 10 years to get rid of tunnels along Egypt’s borders with
Palestinian Gaza and Israel, to achieve security and stability in Sinai and
enhance security on the border between Egyptian Rafah and the Gaza Strip.
Egypt had suffered greatly from these tunnels during the fierce
confrontation with terrorist groups in Sinai after the overthrow of the
Brotherhood regime in June 2013 until 2020. These tunnels had represented a
means for smuggling fighters and weapons to Sinai to carry out terrorist
operations that claimed the lives of more than 3,000 martyrs from the army,
police, and civilians, and more than 13,000 injured.

Rashwan clarified Egypt had gotten rid of these tunnels by creating a
5-kilometer-long buffer zone from the Egyptian city of Rafah to the border
with Gaza, besides destroying more than 1,500 tunnels.

Rashwan added that Egypt has set up three barriers between Sinai and
Palestinian Rafah by expanding the zone to 14 kilometers and building a
concrete 6-meter-high wall above the ground and a 6-meter-deep barrier under
the ground. So, any smuggling operation is impossible, neither above ground
nor underground.

“Egypt has full sovereignty over its land, and has complete control over its
entire northeastern borders, whether with the Gaza Strip or with Israel,” he
said.

“Surprisingly, Israel speaks in this undocumented way about the allegations
of arms smuggling from Egypt to Gaza, while it [Israel] is the country that
has military control over the Strip and possesses the most modern and
accurate means of reconnaissance and monitoring; and its forces,
settlements, and naval forces surround the small strip on three sides and
sends accusations to Egypt without any further evidence.”

Israeli claims that smuggling operations are carried out through trucks
carrying aid and goods to the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side of the Rafah
border crossing is an empty and ridiculous statement, because any truck
entering the Gaza Strip from this crossing must first pass through the
Israeli-run Kerem Abu Salem crossing, for inspection. Meanwhile, the
recipients of this aid are the Palestinian Red Crescent and United Nations
relief organizations such as UNRWA, which adds further evidence of the
Israeli lies, Rashwan said.

He said that the true aim of Israel’s claims is to justify its continuation
of the collective punishment, killing, and starvation of more than 2 million
Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip, which it [Israel] has practiced for 17
years.

“The Israeli government must conduct serious investigations inside its army,
state agencies, and sectors of society, to search for those truly involved
in smuggling weapons to Gaza, from inside, for the purpose of profit,” he
said.

“Egypt was the initiative and agreed with Israel, in 2005 and 2021, to
increase the size of the border guard forces and capabilities in this border
region in order to secure the northeastern strategic border, out of respect
for the peace treaty with Israel, and so that the latter does not take any
unilateral step on its part,” he added.

Many of the weapons currently inside the Gaza Strip are the result of
smuggling from Israel like M16 rifles and types of RPGs, as well as dual-use
materials in the military manufacturing of the military wings in the Gaza
Strip. It is sufficient to review what the Israeli media publishes about the
investigations taking place with members of the Israeli army, on the
background of the disappearance of weapons or their sale in the West Bank,
and from there they are sent to the Gaza Strip, he said.

“Speaking of the West Bank, can Israeli officials, who are spreading lies
against Egypt, explain the source of the large quantities of weapons,
ammunition and explosives spread in various areas of the West Bank,
according to their official statements, in light of the full control of the
occupation army over it, and that it does not have any kind of border with
Egypt? Then, they will only find the same people involved, from their army,
state agencies, and sectors of society, in smuggling weapons into the Gaza
Strip for the purpose of profit,” he continued.

The information shows that most of the heavy weapons smuggling operations
into the Gaza Strip take place across the Mediterranean Sea, where its
shores with Gaza are completely controlled by the Israeli naval and air
forces. This indicates the same people involved in Israel, from its army,
its state agencies, and sectors of society, in weapons smuggling to Gaza for
the purpose of profit, Rashwan clarified.

It is worth noting Israeli army revealed, during the current war, especially
the video ones, about the seizure of many weapons, missiles, and explosives
manufacturing workshops inside the tunnels in Gaza, which means that there
is a high possibility that a large part of the armament of Hamas and the
Palestinian factions will be manufactured locally and not through smuggling,
said Rashwan.

“The Israeli allegations and lies are a continuation of Israel’s policy of
escape due to its successive failures in achieving its declared goals for
the war on Gaza. It [Israel] is looking for someone responsible outside of
its area for these failures, as it also did the same thing recently by
accusing Egypt at the International Court of Justice of being the one
preventing and obstructing Humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, despite
its full knowledge that Egypt did not close the Rafah crossing on its part,
even for a single moment,” he said.

“The arbitrary policies of successive Israeli governments have eliminated
any prospects for a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue and
encouraged the separation of the Gaza Strip under the leadership of Hamas
from the Palestinian Authority, including turning a blind eye to the funding
it receives and the stifling siege of the Strip,” he continued.

“These policies, for more than a decade and a half, are part of Netanyahu’s
strategy to deepen the Palestinian division and ensure the separation of
Gaza from the West Bank to weaken the Palestinian Authority, and to have the
justification to refuse to enter into any negotiations on a two-state
solution,” Rashwa added.

“Egypt’s full support and solidarity with the Palestinian cause is certain
and realistic without the slightest doubt, and is in line with Egypt’s
official statute of supporting the rights of the Palestinian people in their
independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the borders of June
4, 1967,” he said.

“Egypt’s popular and official solidarity and support for the Palestinian
cause does not conflict with securing our borders and preventing smuggling
to and from it. Supporting the Palestinian cause has many political ways
that bear fruit until the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights,
which Egypt has done publicly since the beginning of the recent crisis, and
before that all the time in support of the brotherly Palestinian people,” he
continued.

“No doubt that such [Israeli] false allegations do not serve the positive
Egyptian efforts made to resolve the crisis in Gaza, which has affected the
entire region and made it ripe for expanding the circle of conflict, the
matter that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi warned against repeatedly,”
Rashwan said.

“In conclusion, these false allegations do not serve the peace treaty that
Egypt respects. Egypt demands that the Israeli side to show its respect for
it also, and to stop making statements that would strain bilateral relations
in light of the current inflammatory conditions,” he added.

“Egypt calls on everyone who talks about failure in protecting borders to
stop making these allegations because it [Egypt] has a strong army capable
of protecting its borders with all efficiency and discipline. Egypt will
continue its natural positive role to solve all the problems of the region,
and these false allegations will not succeed in dissuading Egypt from
carrying out its internal, regional and international responsibilities,” he
said.
________________________________________
IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

Thoughts on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

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January 27, 2024

Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg , son of survivors of AUSCHWITZ

Holocaust survivor: ‘Hamas atrocities many times worse than the Nazis.’
90-year-old Miriam Schlisser lived through the Holocaust and the years preceding it, but the emotional turmoil she has experienced since Oct. 7 has brought her to difficult conclusions.

Please do not call this horrible war a Holocaust.

I have stories from survivors in my many books describing similar atrocities as those done by Hamas.

However, the ramification of this war is the same as the Holocaust.

Many will seek all their lives for survivors not knowing they are dead or alive.

Numerous families lost children to these barbarians and in some cases will have to remarry, just like in the Holocaust. My father’s first wife was murdered together with two children.

Like survivors of this war PTSD will be rampant as it is in the Holocaust community.

I have a son, his wife and their two babies in Jerusalem. My oldest grandson is learning in a yeshiva in Israel. I have a nephew and cousins living in Israel, some of which have been called up to go to war. I feel your pain, brothers and sisters, can send you a hug and offer prayers. I basically do not sleep as I am writing articles in media around the world. I just came back from Israel and attended the funeral of over 40. Israeli soldiers. I just met my newfound cousins discovered through DNA.

The horrors of Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps will soon be lost to living memory. But the recent rise in antisemitsm and the current war in ISRAEL underlines the need never to forget.

Four years after the liberation of the largest Nazi extermination camp, on 27 January 1945, the German philosopher Theodor Adorno observed: “To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.” He came to revise that view, along with its implication that a kind of silence was perhaps the only possible response to the horror of the Holocaust. Later, he wrote that “perennial suffering has as much right to expression as a tortured man to scream” The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides . NEVER GIVE UP SEARCHING.

Fatal Amnesia

By

Michael Kuttner

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January 27, 2024

There are many contagious diseases to which humanity can succumb.

One of the most lethal, which has devastating consequences, is the deliberate erasure of past disasters, often combined with an obsessive urge to endlessly repeat the same mistakes. There seems to be no cure for this common condition.

One would think that having once been infected by this malady, some sort of immunity against future attacks might be available.

Unfortunately, this is not the case, and therefore, the affliction returns with increased morbidity. Many Jews seem to be particularly prone to suffering from these symptoms, and no matter how many times they catch it, they still do not learn how to avoid it in the future.

Current events demonstrate that we ignore this phenomenon at our peril.

On 27 January, many countries observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Ironically, designated by the United Nations General Assembly as a worldwide day of remembrance it has become an event where duplicitous rhetoric and political pontifications are the order of the day. I mention ironically because it is this same UN General Assembly which for 365 days of the year demonstrates its true intentions by condemning and slandering the world’s only Jewish State.

On one day in the year, tears are shed and pledges of “never again” are articulated by a minority of UN members. For the immoral majority, it is business as usual. This means that Iran continues to work with its willing partners to erase the Jewish nation from the map. On the very day set aside by the UN to remember the genocide against the Jewish People, there are UN members doing everything possible to complete the job.

The worst aspect is that this inconvenient fact is ignored by all the tear-shedders. What is even worse is that Jewish attendees at the various ceremonies do not rise up and voice their disgust at this gross display of hypocrisy and fake sympathy.

This year’s gatherings promise to be even more excruciating than usual.

With South Africa’s smearing of Israel at the International Court of Justice, the ground has been prepared to brand it as a pariah nation. Ireland is the latest country prepared to join The Hague hate festival, while others are still thinking about whether to jump on the bandwagon

Given the publicity already spread in the media, it does not take a genius to work out that this year’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day will be an ideal opportunity to tar Israel with the genocide slander.

Watch out for spokespersons to hijack this annual event and turn it into an anti-Israel/Zionist diatribe. There will be moral equivalences between what the Germans and their willing partners did to the Jews and what Israelis are doing to “peace-loving” Gaza citizens. The latter, according to conventional political wisdom, are, after all, only yearning for a Palestinian State that will live in peace, harmony, tolerance and democracy with its Jewish neighbours.

Those who parrot this absurd mantra remain oblivious to the real agenda. Like the politicians before them (pre-World War 2), those spouting this nonsense do not want to be bothered with realities. Pre-1939, it was a refusal to acknowledge and do something about the Nazi genocidal plan of extermination. Today, it is politicians so blinkered that they refuse to face up to the real agenda of the Iranian-financed and logistically supported terror groups on Israel’s doorstep.

The brainwashing taking place has already had a malign influence on far too many.

There are reports of schools in the UK and elsewhere dropping lessons on the Holocaust “because it may cause hurt and anguish to other minority groups.” What this really means is that those responsible do not want to upset jihadist followers, woke advocates and hardcore anti-Israel protesters in case these types engage in violent physical activities against them.

It will be interesting to see how many commemoration gatherings are cancelled or closed to the public this year. How many political invitees will send their regrets? Who will find it impossible to resist the irresistible urge to tie the murder of six million Jews and millions of other “non-desirables” with the current conflict?

It is a scandalous situation when some ceremonies need to be held in secret because of a threat to Jews. Have we reverted to converso days when Jews in Spain and Portugal were forced to observe their communal observances clandestinely?

The EU is threatening unspecified consequences if Israel continues to resist the idea of establishing another terror State in its midst. The New Zealand Foreign Minister is “deeply concerned” over the Israel Government’s opposition to a two-state solution. Australia’s Foreign Minister, who declined to see the aftermath of Palestinian Arab “peace” gestures for herself during her recent visit, still thinks that gifting them an independent State is a must.

What none of these “experts” and the rest of the UN want to acknowledge is a simple truth. The reason there is no such country is as a result of Arab rejection of the idea since at least 1937. Those who today call themselves “Palestinians” have invented a revisionist history which among other things denies any historical Jewish connection and legitimacy and promotes vile hate. Groups such as Honest Reporting, JNS, PMW, CAMERA and Gatestone Institute (among others) testify to this on a daily basis.

Despite all the available evidence, the Biden Administration, with UN support, continues to demand that Israel sign its own death warrant. Israel is assured that international guarantees will be in place, which will ensure that the jihadists of Fatah/ PA/PLO/Hamas/Hezbollah/ Houthis and Iran cannot launch another 7 October massacre.

If nothing else, the horrific experiences of the pre-Shoah years and subsequent betrayals have impressed on Jewish consciousnesses the inability, in fact, the deliberate ineffectiveness of international promises of safety.

The rest of the world may prefer to forget how it has abandoned helpless Jews to their collective fate but a majority of Israelis certainly have not. Apart from those who prefer to self-flagellate and deny their own history, every other Jewish Israeli knows only too well where worthless guarantees lead.

As the mindless millennials and progressive woke folk are currently demonstrating, there is no safety for Jews anywhere. In the mantra of today’s mobs, there is only one guilty party. It is the Jewish State which, by its very existence, is a sin against humanity and a threat to world peace. By association, Jews worldwide are also tainted with the crime of actually supporting such a sinful State.

In order to expiate its criminality, Israel is now expected to sign its own death warrant and lend a hand to its own grisly fate. Any collateral damage suffered, such as hostages and terror victims are as a result of its having the chutzpah to re-establish sovereignty in its ancient homeland.

The rest of the world may be more than willing to swallow a fake narrative whereby Islamic conquerors are now designated as “indigenous.” Most Jewish Israelis, however, are not prepared to once again become the scapegoats of cynical hypocrisy.

It is, therefore, extremely important, given all the current absurdities, to ensure that this year’s International Holocaust Remembrance observances do not descend into a frenzy of frenetic revisionism and amnesia. Kowtowing to the latest version of political correctness will not earn any plaudits.

Enough already of meek Jewish compliance with doublespeak and an Orwellian orgy of obfuscation.

Israel Behind the News

False expectations

Weekly Commentary: President Biden Deputizes State Department To Engage In Lawfare Against Israel Without Needing A Court

UNWRA has been teaching Palestinian kids to hate and fight Israel for decades

David Bedein reveals who is against shutting UNWRA and it’s Israel

Joint Subcommittee Hearing

UNRWA school students in East Jerusalem say ‘stabbing Jews brings respect for Palestinians’

UNRWA:s politik efter kriget.

Alert: Egyptian blanket denial that smuggling tunnels exist from Sinai into Gaza Strip undermines any program hinging on Egyptian security cooperation

Thoughts on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Fatal Amnesia

Column from the Director