Gaza
May 6, 2024 — John Hinderaker
After a long delay, apparently caused at least in part by opposition from the Biden Administration, Israel has finally begun to attack the Hamas stronghold of Rafah. The move on Rafah was, or should have been, inevitable: Israel can only win the war if it crushes Hamas, and it can’t do that without attacking the terrorist organization’s final redoubt. To me, it seemed that the delay in going into Rafah
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April 9, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The IDF has released video of the highlights of its interrogation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman Tariq Salami Otha Abu Shoulf. As IDF Lt. Col. (reserve) Peter Lerner puts it, “In his interrogation he reveals in simple terms how they organize the mass manipulation of the media.” As we have all seen over the years, it’s not too difficult. The terrorists and their allies have had it worked out for
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April 7, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Very discouraging news out of Israel today that the IDF is pulling its forces out of southern Gaza, supposedly to “rest, regroup, and re-supply” after four months of hard fighting. Let us hope this is true, but one can’t help but suspect that this move may be in response to demands from the Biden Administration that will inevitably lead to a permanent cease-fire which will amount to a Hamas victory,
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April 6, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Earlier this week, an Israeli air strike inadvertently killed seven aid workers in Gaza. The strike was a mistake for which at least two Israeli army officers have been cashiered. It was the occasion for world-wide calumny, including a demand by Joe Biden that the Israelis go along with Hamas’s demand for a cease-fie, i.e., a Hamas victory. But tragedies happen in a war zone–even this one, where Israel has
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April 4, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Via InstaPundit, the Wall of Anti-Semitism at Harvard: Remember when Jews at Harvard had to bring in their menorah every night at Hanukkah because the school couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t be vandalized? This “apartheid wall” is on display now at Harvard yard, complete with quotes from terrorists, guarded 24/7 by school security. pic.twitter.com/IBAS0RmmxL — Yael Bar tur 🎗️ (@yaelbt) April 3, 2024 I can’t vouch for what she says about
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March 31, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Let’s hope so. Kill-the-Jews protesters broke into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York last night, chanting “Free Palestine” and the like, and disrupting an Easter mass. They were hauled out after a couple of minutes: The protesters carried a sign that said “Silence is Violence.” That is dumb, of course. Speech isn’t violence, let alone silence. Still, they might have a point in this sense: the Left’s silence about the
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March 30, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Some teachers are fine as individuals, but when you put them in a group, the result is disaster. In America, teachers’ unions are the most malign influence on our public life, and on our children. And they aren’t any better in Great Britain. The London Times headlines: “Teaching union is accused of hostility to Jews.” The UK’s largest teaching union has been accused of being hostile to Jewish teachers after
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March 29, 2024 — John Hinderaker
From Foreign Policy magazine comes a breathtakingly obtuse article by Jon Hoffman of the Cato Institute. The article’s title, “Israel Is a Strategic Liability for the United States,” only hints at the venom that Hoffman directs at Israel. The piece is a lengthy denunciation of the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel and of Israel’s conduct of the war against Gaza, which–astonishingly–never once mentions Hamas’s October 7 massacres,
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March 22, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
On March 20, the Sacramento City Council passed Resolution 2024, which: Calls for an immediate and permanent bilateral ceasefire to urgently end the current violence; a true and effective bilateral ceasefire must include four key simultaneous elements. (1) Hamas must cease all military operations directed against Israel, (2) the immediate unconditional release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, (3) Israel must stop the bombing and
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March 21, 2024 — John Hinderaker
We are often told, by Joe Biden and his minions among others, that Hamas doesn’t really represent Gaza. Hamas is a murderous, terrorist organization, but Gazans are innocent, put-upon civilians. For example: That is the party line, but those who saw video footage of delirious crowds of Gazans celebrating as Israeli captives and bodies were paraded through Gaza’s cities wondered how innocent those civilians actually are. These poll data, from
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March 3, 2024 — John Hinderaker
That is what Joe Biden demanded of the Israelis, Hamas and representatives of Qatar and Egypt who are trying to broker a cease-fire agreement. As though he were the party in interest. The Telegraph interprets Biden’s motives: Mr Biden is under major pressure from voters over the US alliance with Israel, and the president was punished at the ballot box by protesting young Democrats in the primaries last week. So
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March 2, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday President Biden announced the imminent airdrop of humanitarian assistance into Gaza (Biden to the contrary notwithstanding, not Ukraine). The Times of Israel covers the announcement here. White House National Security Advisor John Kirby was asked a good question about it at a press briefing that followed the announcement. He was asked how the administration will prevent Hamas from seizing the supplies that it intends to airdrop into Gaza. Kirby
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March 1, 2024 — Scott Johnson
President Biden announced today that the United States will airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza in the coming days. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to those of us who have been following the line traced by the Biden administration, but this may strike some as a bridge too far. The mission will purportedly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but all sentient observers understand that the it will
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February 16, 2024 — John Hinderaker
The Wall Street Journal has a long article about the Biden administration’s efforts to stop Israel from winning a decisive victory over Gaza: The looming Israeli military plans to invade Rafah have exacerbated tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the Biden administration, which has grown increasingly frustrated with its attempts to rein in Israel’s military campaign. The consequences of the distrust between President Biden and Netanyahu, who
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January 26, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Many of us have observed the collaboration of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) — that’s its full name — with Hamas in Gaza. It’s not hard to discern. Now it appears that UNRWA employees actually participated in the massacres of October 7. Jewish Insider editor Josh Kraushaar posts the breaking news on X. I’m sure it comes as a great
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January 1, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Ever since Israel began to retaliate against Gaza’s infamous attacks of October 7, the “international community” has been wringing its hands over the danger to innocent civilians in Gaza. But few have asked the question, how many innocent civilians are there in Gaza? Are there any? Mia Schem is an Israeli who was held captive in Gaza for 54 days, and released as part of last month’s prisoner exchange. This
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December 28, 2023 — John Hinderaker
I am generally contemptuous of the New York Times, but it deserves credit for this article on the violence against Israeli women and girls that was perpetrated by Gaza on October 7. The article is long and chilling. Organized gang rape, mutilation and murder were obviously features of the Gazans’ strategy. The evidence described by the Times is sickening; I credit a left-wing outlet for being willing to describe unflinchingly
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