Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

09/08 Links Pt2: Terrorism’s Western Welcome; UN Sought to ‘Cover-Up’ UNRWA Staff’s Role in Oct 7 Attack; Portuguese artists pull out of Jerry Seinfeld-headlined festival

2026-09-09T01:33:42.262-04:00

From Ian:

Terrorism’s Western Welcome By Abe Greenwald

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A quarter-century ago, in September of 2001, the chief aim of jihadist terrorism in the West was to horrify free populations and intimidate their leaders into submitting to Islamist demands. Coercion was the blunt logic behind terrorism for decades, if not centuries. But over the past three years, jihadists have been furnished with a very different incentive to draw blood. Among a segment of the free world, terrorism no longer primarily horrifies but thrills and inspires. Acts of murderous violence, therefore, have also become a means of gaining support for jihad in certain enclaves in the West.

In America, terrorism now has the additional power to seduce. This is the single most dangerous development of the 21st century.

Terrorism has long been used as a rallying cry or recruitment tool in the Muslim world and in countries with no tradition of individual liberty or classical liberal thought. That it increasingly functions the same way in the West is the clearest sign that those traditions are in extremis among much of Gen Z and the entire activist class.

Within one day of Hamas’s October 7 massacre, organizations including National Students for Justice in Palestine, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Detroit IfNotNow, and others began not only rallying behind Hamas but incorporating the group’s imagery into their own promotional materials. They slapped the Hamas paraglider on their pamphlets, social media accounts, and protest posters. Supporters of jihad gathered at once in a slew of American cities, including New York, wrapped in keffiyehs and chanting genocidal slogans.

Were they horrified? Frightened? No, not this crowd. In the words of Cornell University associate professor Russell Rickford, October 7 “was exhilarating, it was energizing.” Naturally, this craze went on to overtake campus after campus, where terrorist slogans and imagery were as ubiquitous as tie-dyes at Woodstock.

“Globalize the intifada,” a blatant call to mass murder, became a staple of the public square.

Funding plummets for US nonprofit that funnels donations to anti-Israel groups

A US nonprofit that had served as a financial hub for leading anti-Israel activist groups has seen its funding plummet after a series of lawsuits and pressure from the federal government, according to tax filings posted last month.

The Westchester People’s Action Coalition Foundation, known as Wespac, is a low-profile, progressive nonprofit in Westchester County, north of New York City.

Wespac’s stated mission is to support “work toward peace, justice, and a sustainable environment.”

The group, founded in 1974, had served as a financial linchpin for some of the most prominent anti-Israel groups in the US, including National Students for Justice in Palestine, Within Our Lifetime and the Palestinian Youth Movement.

Wespac had handled donations to the groups through an arrangement called a fiscal sponsorship, in which a nonprofit collects donations on behalf of other groups that do not have nonprofit status themselves.

Its revenue had surged in recent years — from $139,901 in 2019-2020 to nearly $4 million in 2023-2024, including a spike after the start of the Gaza war, according to tax filings.

A majority of Wespac’s spending appeared to be for other groups. Its previous tax filing showed that its own expenses were $142,539, while reporting grants of over $1.7 million, including for “custodial responsibility for funds granted to various organizations.”

The group has only one paid employee who has a salary of $62,500.

Extremist anti-Israel activism after Hamas’s October 2023 invasion of Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza put a spotlight on Wespac’s involvement in the protest movement.

Motley crew of extremism
Groups affiliated with Wespac hailed the Hamas attack, hosted events that supported terror groups, and targeted cancer patients, museums, memorials, transportation hubs and holiday events.

Following disruptive protests by its affiliates, Wespac was sued in at least five courts across the US.

Republican members of Congress also put heavy pressure on Wespac, demanding investigations by the IRS and the New York attorney general’s office, alleging support for terrorism.

Federal law prohibits tax-exempt organizations from supporting terrorism.

Portuguese artists pull out of Jerry Seinfeld-headlined festival

Several Portuguese artists have dropped out of a comedy festival in Lisbon headlined by Jerry Seinfeld, citing their support for Palestinians and implying opposition to Seinfeld’s support for Israel.

At least six acts over recent days have canceled their appearances at the MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest, a new international comedy festival in the Portuguese capital. The event from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 has advertised that it will host Seinfeld’s first live appearance in Portugal.

Though none of the artists who withdrew mentioned Seinfeld by name, some hinted at a boycott against his pro-Israel views. The Jewish comedian has become one of Hollywood’s most prominent advocates for Israel since October 2023.

Actress and comedian Inês Aires Pereira announced on Instagram on Saturday that “one of the names” featured at the festival “persistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible,” adding, “We cannot relativize or normalize a genocide.”

The comedy duo Cebola Mol posted a graphic of themselves with a watermelon, widely recognized as a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians. “We will celebrate justice, freedom and joy with you on another occasion,” they said on Instagram.

The festival announced on Friday that performances by the groups Tributo Pop and Conjunto Cuca Monga were also canceled, but did not provide reasons. Two other acts, comedian Pedro Tochas and visual artist Vhils, shared their cancellations on Instagram without further details.

Seinfeld breaks decades of political avoidance
Seinfeld has aligned himself with Israel during its current conflict in Gaza, following decades of largely avoiding commenting on political issues. He visited Israel in December 2023 to meet with the families of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 of that year. Since then, he has attracted attention for a series of dismissive remarks toward pro-Palestinian advocates.

During an appearance last year at Duke University, Seinfeld compared pro-Palestinian activists with the Ku Klux Klan, saying, “The Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ OK, that’s honest.”

Representatives of Seinfeld and producers of the MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel, Palestine and the Middle East’s dark secrets | Simon Sebag Montefiore and Brendan O’Neill

Simon Sebag Montefiore – historian and author of The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East – is the latest guest on The Brendan O’Neill Show. Simon and Brendan discuss the historical rulers, revolutionaries and empires that are still shaping the Middle East, the past and present genocides and massacres we don’t talk about, and why Israel is not to blame for the region’s instability.

0:00 – Welcome: Simon Sebag Montefiore on The Cauldron
0:41 – Why write a 130-year history of the whole Middle East now
1:33 – Is this book a "hand grenade" in today's debate?
3:28 – Dispelling the "white settler colonialist" myth
9:42 – Turkey and Israel: two states born the same way
11:40 – India/Pakistan: the other parallel to Israel's creation
14:01 – The UN's catastrophic 1947 Partition Plan
16:26 – Israel's melting pot: Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews
18:24 – The myth of Ottoman "tolerance"
20:11 – Genocide and the fall of the Ottoman Empire
25:04 – Atatürk, the Levant mandates, and new nations
28:19 – 1948: "nowhere else to go"
30:50 – Ben-Gurion's panic and the desperate fight for survival
33:13 – Egypt, Jordan, and the invention of "the West Bank"
35:35 – The peace plans that could have avoided war
37:51 – Why history matters: progressivism as a "cult"
40:41 – Iran, Sudan, and the atrocities activists ignore
44:53 – Closing thoughts

Melanie Phillips Issues URGENT Warning: Western Civilization Is DYING

On this episode of Shoulder to Shoulder, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki and Pastor Doug Reed sit down with Melanie Phillips, British journalist, author, and columnist for The Times of London, for a conversation about the decline of the West, the rise of Islamism and antisemitism, and why Israel may hold the key to understanding the civilizational crisis facing the Western world.

Honest Reporting: How Did 9/11 Become Israel's Fault? Jim Meigs & Michael Shermer on Conspiracists' New Target

Twenty-five years after 9/11, the conspiracy theories are back — and they have a new villain.

In 2005, Popular Mechanics did what almost no newsroom would: it took the 9/11 truther claims seriously enough to test them one by one, and published what it found. The magazine's editor-in-chief, James B. Meigs, spent the next twenty years being accused of running the cover-up.

Today the same claims are circulating again, with one substitution. "The government did it" has become "Israel did it."

Ben Chertoff is joined by Meigs and by Michael Shermer — founder of Skeptic magazine, longtime Scientific American columnist, and author of Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational, Denying History, and Truth: What It Is, How to Find It, Why It Matters — for a long conversation about how the substitution happened and why it works.

They get into the machinery: proportionality bias, the idea that a huge event must have a huge cause. Anomaly hunting, and why a handful of loose threads feels more persuasive than a mountain of settled evidence. The Gish Gallop, and why a claim you can make in one sentence takes three thousand words to refute. And the part that should trouble everyone — how claims that originated with professional antisemites and Holocaust deniers ended up circulating among people who consider themselves liberal, progressive and open-minded.

Also: what happened to Tucker Carlson, why thermite and Building 7 will not die, how the goalposts moved from MIHOP to LIHOP, why the newest version routes everything through the Mossad, and what you actually say to a family member who believes this.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold Open & Introduction
3:52 What happened to Tucker Carlson
8:26 Thermite, Building 7, and the evidence that wasn't
11:57 Anomaly hunting
13:10 Proportionality bias and the Gish Gallop
16:10 The river they don't want you to see
18:08 Extraordinary claims, extraordinary evidence
23:09 The New York Times ad that started it
27:07 The Holocaust-denial playbook
29:19 When the left recycled antisemitic sources
32:25 Same techniques, different target
33:08 MIHOP, LIHOP, and moving the goalposts
41:03 The Mossad, Charlie Kirk, and Epstein
48:02 Fact-checking in the age of AI
1:05:09 When moral intuition beats evidence
1:14:18 How to talk to your family about this
1:27:07 What we understand now that we didn't

HonestReporting: "Israel Killed More Journalists Than Any Other Country" — Why That Number Is Wrong

You have heard the line: Israel has killed more journalists than any other country in the world. It comes, almost always, from one place — the Committee to Protect Journalists, the most-cited press freedom organization in the world.

This panel is the breakdown of how that number was built, and why it does not hold.

On June 25, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced it was reviewing its own database of journalists killed since October 7. The reason was not an outside investigation. It was that Hamas and Islamic Jihad had begun publishing obituaries for their own fighters — and some of those fighters were already on CPJ's list.

CPJ has since removed eight people for taking part in hostilities, and another seven for not meeting its own definition of a journalist. The review cost the organization a board member: Nika Soon-Shiong, publisher of Drop Site News, was ousted as the audit went forward.

The International Federation of Journalists quietly dropped eight terrorism-linked names from its own list and has still offered no explanation for why.

HonestReporting's research goes further than CPJ has been willing to: over half of the people on CPJ's October 7 War database are operatives or carry a documented affiliation with a terrorist organization.

Erin Molan moderates: how a press freedom organization ended up naming Israel the single greatest threat to journalists in the world, how so many combatants got counted as press, what it costs real journalists when the label is handed out this cheaply — and why almost no newsroom that ran the original story has gone back to correct it.

PANEL
• Salo Aizenberg — author and researcher; board member, HonestReporting
• Leslie Kajomovitz — 20+ years in international news
• Gabriel Epstein — Senior Policy Associate, Israel Policy Forum • Moderated by Erin Molan, journalist and broadcaster

CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold Open & Introduction
1:46 The CPJ Files
4:09 What the June 25 review quietly removed
5:51 Meet the panel
8:54 No mainstream outlet found this
12:00 Why this endangers real journalists
17:51 Who these people actually are
22:28 Hamas believed, Israel "unverified"
26:58 The three illusions
31:34 "Let the independent journalists in"
33:04 What happens to your family
36:53 Who is the CPJ?
39:04 What due diligence would have caught
42:48 A dangerous assignment, at home
45:36 The one thing to take away

EXCLUSIVE: UN Sought to ‘Cover-Up’ UNRWA Staff’s Role in Oct 7 Attack and Ties to Hamas by Undermining Internal Probe, US Watchdog Finds

The U.N. internal investigation into whether its own staff at the embattled United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) participated in Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre was hamstrung and ineffective from day one, according to an independent U.S. review of the U.N. probe, congressional communications, and Western diplomats who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon. The shoddy probe ultimately enabled the United Nations to claim that in 9 of the 19 cases under review, the evidence was "insufficient to support" staff involvement in the terror spree, a finding meant to exonerate the agency and discredit Israeli intelligence.

The U.S. probe, laid out in a previously unpublished December 2025 report by the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) independent inspector general, found that the U.N. officials placed such tight restrictions on their probe—set an impossibly high burden of proof—that the findings were ultimately useless. The American conclusions about the U.N. probe are privately leading Western donor countries to "reconsider future financial commitments" to UNRWA, which has come under increasing pressure to clean house after the USAID inspector general discovered more than 100 staffers served as Hamas combatants or participated in Oct. 7, according to one diplomat who spoke to the Free Beacon.

The "major deficiencies" in the U.N. internal probe—outlined in a report Congress requested from the USAID inspector general, a statutorily independent law enforcement entity separate from the largely defunct USAID—have also led powerful Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) to formally demand the United Nations explain what many observers increasingly see as a "cover-up."

The U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) originally investigated 19 UNRWA employees in 2024 and produced a report that concluded the evidence against nine of those individuals was "insufficient" to prove they participated in Oct. 7. The Free Beacon first exposed the findings of that "confidential" investigation in November 2025 and revealed that OIOS dismissed key Israeli intelligence, including intercepted audio recordings and cell phone data, that connected those UNRWA staffers to Hamas.

The USAID inspector general performed its own private review of the OIOS probe around the same time and reached an even more damning conclusion: that the United Nations set an impossibly high standard to determine Oct. 7 participation and then used that benchmark to dismiss the allegations against UNRWA staffers with provable ties to Hamas's military operations, according to a copy of the findings provided exclusively to the Free Beacon by Grassley's office.

"What's well known here in New York is that the U.N. OIOS' investigation was a complete cover-up," said one Western diplomat briefed on the findings. "They ignored the obvious, glaring linkages between UNRWA staff and Hamas. Their report gave the [U.N.] Secretary General cover to hide behind a so-called investigation and hope the world would move right along."

The USAID inspector general's review identified several "major deficiencies" with the OIOS probe, including its decision to wholly ignore whether any of the UNRWA staffers in question were card-carrying Hamas members. Rather, OIOS employed a narrow scope in which it only investigated direct participation in the Oct. 7 attacks. This self-imposed limitation actually made it more difficult to identify UNRWA staff who joined in Oct. 7 since the U.N cast aside credible intelligence that UNRWA staff moonlighted as Hamas operatives.

Arsen Ostrovsky: Penny Wong must stand up against United Nations’ Durban Strategy

For Australia, this presents a clear choice, with a strong bipartisan precedent. Australia has twice recognised that participation in the Durban process would be incompatible with its commitment to combating anti-Semitism and promoting genuine racial equality.

In 2011, the Labor government under prime minister Julia Gillard withdrew from the 10th anniversary Durban commemoration because of concerns over its treatment of Israel and anti-Semitism. A decade later, the Coalition government under prime minister Scott Morrison reached the same conclusion, withdrawing from the 20th anniversary commemoration in 2021. Australia was among 38 countries that refused to participate.

There is therefore something unusually valuable here: a bipartisan Australian principle. Successive governments of both political persuasions have recognised that when the Durban process becomes a vehicle for anti-Semitism and the singling out of Israel, Australia should not lend it legitimacy. There is no compelling reason for that principle to be abandoned in 2026. If anything, the case for maintaining it is stronger than ever.

That is particularly true given where Australia finds itself today, having just completed the public hearings of the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion.

For months, Australians have heard testimony about how anti-Semitism has become normalised, how dehumanising rhetoric, including against Zionism, can translate into intimidation and violence, and how institutions must respond to this prejudice in all its manifestations, before it becomes entrenched.

Against that backdrop, Australia cannot credibly confront anti-Semitism at home while lending its diplomatic legitimacy abroad to a process with such a documented history of anti-Semitism and Holocaust distortion. The message to Australian Jews would be deeply contradictory: that Jew-hatred is unacceptable when expressed on our streets, campuses or in our institutions, but somehow tolerable when repackaged in the language of international human rights abroad.

That is not a position Australia should adopt.

Our Government and Foreign Minister Penny Wong should therefore ensure that Australia does not lend its presence or diplomatic credibility to the UN’s upcoming 25th anniversary celebration of a Durban legacy so deeply tainted by anti-Semitism and Holocaust distortion, and so at odds with the Australian values of equality, tolerance and commitment to combating racism and discrimination.

Australia has twice before said no to Durban. Twenty-five years after the original conference, it should do so again and help consign its shameful legacy to the dustbin of history.

In my interview with Piers Morgan, I spoke about the UN’s hypocrisy.

As part of humanitarian efforts, we are allowing rubble to be cleared in certain areas. Now, UN officials are claiming that clearing the rubble will “destroy evidence.” Somehow, even this has been twisted by… pic.twitter.com/CCOpRdikl8
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) September 8, 2026

The Airman Iran Hunted for Two Days Speaks on 60 Minutes

The American airman who spent two days alone in the mountains of Iran after his fighter jet was shot down in April will give his first public account of the ordeal this weekend, in an interview that also brings together the senior commanders who ran the operation to bring him out.

CBS said Tuesday that Norah O'Donnell interviewed the officer for the season premiere of 60 Minutes, airing Sunday, September 13. He is identified only by his mission call sign, Dude 44 Bravo. The colonel describes ejecting from the aircraft, the injuries he sustained, how he evaded Iranian forces on the ground, and what he said to the commandos who finally reached him. O'Donnell also interviewed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, and Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command who served as operational commander of the war with Iran.

The aircraft was an F-15E Strike Eagle, shot down over southwestern Iran on Friday, April 3, the first crewed American warplane lost over the country in more than five weeks of fighting. Trump said afterward that it had been hit by a shoulder-fired heat-seeking missile. Days earlier, he had said publicly that American and Israeli operations had left Iran without functioning anti-aircraft equipment or radar.

Both crew members ejected and came down in different places. The pilot, call sign Dude 44 Alpha, was recovered by an HH-60W helicopter on Friday afternoon. Caine later told reporters the aircraft came under fire from what he described as everyone in Iran with a small arms weapon, and that a trailing helicopter took several hits, leaving a crew member with a minor injury.

The weapon systems officer was still on the ground. He hiked to a crevice high in the mountains and activated an emergency beacon. The Revolutionary Guard searched the area around the crash site, and Iranian officials publicly offered a reward of 60,000 dollars to locals who found him. Search parties formed in nearby villages. According to reporting in the New York Times at the time, American aircraft bombed convoys that moved toward where he was hiding.

He was reached in the early hours of Sunday, April 5, roughly 48 hours after the shootdown. Trump said the operation involved more than 170 American aircraft and around 200 troops, with assistance from the CIA. Special operations units including SEAL Team 6 and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment took part, working from a temporary forward site established inside Iran.

An American Air Force officer was shot down over Iran. Wounded and alone, with the enemy closing in, he spent 50 hours trying to survive as he waited for a rescue. For the first time, he tells his story. This Sunday on 60 Minutes. pic.twitter.com/ndxQ0hPbJK
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 8, 2026

IRGC confirms Iran attacked Jordanian US military base, two US vessels, eight tankers in Gulf

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Wednesday it attacked two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Gulf in response to what it called a US attack on five Iranian tankers, Iranian state media reported, citing a statement from the group.

The group said it attacked 10 ships attempting to cross what it described as a "prohibited and unsafe" area of the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier on Wednesday, the IRGC confirmed in a statement on Iranian media that it had attacked a US base in the eastern Jordanian city of Al Azraq with ballistic missiles in retaliation for earlier US attacks on Iranian oil tankers.

This came following reports of missiles being launched from 12 different cities across Iran in the heaviest barrage since the end of Operation Roaring Lion, Army Radio reported late Tuesday night, citing Iranian media.

At least 35 missiles were launched towards Jordan, according to Israeli news outlets, activating sirens in the country's US military base.

Jordan's state news agency, citing armed forces, reported that 20 ballistic missiles had been launched from Iranian territory, 18 of which were destroyed by Jordanian air defense systems.

Two missiles fell in unpopulated areas, and there were no casualties, the news agency cited Jordan's military as saying.

M/T Riesco sinks in the Gulf of Oman, Sept. 8, after being destroyed by CENTCOM forces in response to attempted IRGC attacks on a U.S. Navy warship. pic.twitter.com/EkmG8uyMT9
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) September 9, 2026

CENTCOM forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 8, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days. The U.S. warship successfully evaded the attempted Iranian attacks and… pic.twitter.com/Gi8a2tloN1
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) September 8, 2026

Yeah again, this is absolutely a war crime.

The Labour Government is silent.
The Mainstream Media is silent.
The UN is silent. https://t.co/sv3k2MPVB1
— Kosher (@koshercockney) September 8, 2026

Holy shit, take a look at this, this is over a US airbase.

The US Military cannot let this stand. https://t.co/FdRiFYrmUd
— Kosher (@koshercockney) September 8, 2026

Houthi attack on Saudi oil facilities wounds 73, some operations halted

Operations at some energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, were halted on Tuesday following attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis that wounded more than 70 people, Saudi authorities said.

Fires erupted at the sites, and several people were injured as firefighting and other emergency teams rushed to the scenes to contain the blazes and assess the damage, the Saudi energy ministry said.

“The concerned authorities are dealing with the repercussions of the attacks,” the ministry added.

“The needed measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the facilities and workers and the continuation of work according to the approved operational plans.”

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in an earlier statement that at least 73 people were injured in Houthi attacks on the southern cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran.

The coalition vowed to respond firmly to the latest outbreak of hostilities, saying the latest escalation on the de facto OPEC leader was “dangerous.”

“The coalition will take all necessary operational measures to deter this terrorist militia and resolutely confronts its hostile approach,” Royal Saudi Air Force Colonel Turki al-Malki said in a statement on X.

PMO denies that UAE warned Netanyahu about October 7 as Abu Dhabi refuses to comment

The Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday strongly denied the Haaretz report, which alleged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned by the United Arab Emirates about Hamas's October 7 attack, writing that the "press reports are false."

"No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7th. If there was any relevant information, it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries," the PMO stated.

The UAE Foreign Ministry also published a statement on the report, saying it refuses to comment on "speculation" about whether the two countries spoke. Notably, however, the UAE did not confirm or deny the Haaretz report.

"UAE and Israeli government entities have maintained open and direct lines of communication since the inception of the relationship more than five years ago. When necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated between the relevant entities."

UAE officials also indicated that, from their perspective, it is not their role to issue a denial in response to every media report published in Israel. The message conveyed was that the UAE does not interfere in Israeli elections and will not serve as the government’s “public relations office.”

The Prime Minister’s Office:

The press reports are false. No warning was given to the Prime Minister from the United Arab Emirates before October 7th. If there was any relevant information , it was passed through intelligence channels between the two countries.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 8, 2026

This is the entire point of these stories btw pointing to vague warning in order to deflect from those actually responsible for the atrocities and instead blame it on the victims.

Truly evil people.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) September 8, 2026

Israeli lawyer faces ethics complaint over expert opinion used to target IDF reservist in UK

A British-Israeli IDF soldier who was subjected to legal proceedings in the UK has filed a complaint with the Israel Bar Association’s Tel Aviv District Ethics Committee, asking it to investigate an Israeli lawyer who provided the prosecution’s expert opinion.

As The Jerusalem Post has previously reported, the UK organization the International Center of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) attempted to bring a private prosecution against a dual British-Israeli citizen (called Soldier A) who served in a reserve IDF unit after October 7, 2023.

The ICJP made the application for the summons of Soldier A on November 6, 2025, with the aim that he be charged under Section 4 of the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870.

Judge Paul Goldspring of Westminster Magistrates’ Court ultimately ruled on April 8, 2026, that ICJP’s application was “fundamentally misconceived in law,” as the FEA does not apply to dual nationals.

He also deemed ICJP’s antics “egregious” and “inexcusable” and ordered ICJP to pay costs to Soldier A.

Pomeranz provides Expert Witness Report to prosecution
In order to build the prosecution, ICJP reached out to Israeli attorney Michal Pomeranz to provide an Expert Witness Report, which she did on Oct 18, 2025, in her capacity as a member of the Israeli Bar.

Pomeranz was asked to provide testimony about the IDF, specifically to what extent those who agree to engage in service with the IDF can be inferred to have “enlisted in the [Israeli] military,” and whether the IDF (and therefore Israel) can be considered to be “at war.”

In the expert report, Pomeranz acknowledged that the ICJP intended to initiate a private prosecution for at least nine named British citizens who are known to have traveled to Israel to participate in reserve duties since 7 October 2023. As such, by providing the report, she was essentially aiding the prosecution in this attempt.

In the heart-wrenching days following October 7, few sights were as consoling as the scenes of Israelis scrambling to find their way home to serve. El Al filled all 279 seats on the Boeing 777, then took on roughly 30 more people beyond capacity; for the first time in more than… pic.twitter.com/Fy3JZN3s5n
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) September 8, 2026

Shin Bet says it foiled ‘significant’ terror network in West Bank, Jerusalem

More than 30 Palestinians were recently detained over their membership in a “significant and extensive” terror network based in the West Bank and Jerusalem area, the Shin Bet security service announced on Tuesday.

The network had been planning “attacks against Jews and security forces,” the Shin Bet said in a joint statement with the military and police.

Five Jerusalem residents who were members of the network were charged with “serious” security offenses, including “managing a terror organization, active membership in a terror organization, conspiracy and preparation to commit an act of terror involving murder under aggravated circumstances, weapons and property offenses for terror purposes, recruiting and attempting to recruit members to a terror organization,” and other offenses, the statement read.

Indictments against some of the West Bank Palestinians involved in the network were expected to be filed by army prosecutors in the coming days, while the investigation of others was still ongoing.

Two of the Jerusalemites, Sabih Abu Sabih and Rashid Rishk, were members of the Shabab al-Aqsa group, which is affiliated with Hamas, according to the security agency. Abu Sabih is the son of Mesbah Abu Sabih, who carried out a deadly shooting spree that killed two Israelis in Jerusalem in October 2016, and Rishk was released in January 2025 as part of a hostage deal with Hamas.

The other three Jerusalemites charged in the case were named as Muhammad Abu Sabih, Muhammad Azmi Bakri and Ahmad Azmi Bakri.

Ibrahim Mahamid: The “Murdered Journalist” Behind a Much Bigger Story

One of the most effective propaganda techniques is not inventing facts, but stripping them of context. Reduced real events to emotionally charged stories of “innocent Palestinian victims” and “Israeli perpetrators.” But what is omitted matters more than what is reported. A media worker becomes a “journalist killed by Israel.” A teenager becomes an “innocent Palestinian child.” An arrested Palestinian becomes an “innocent civilian detained by Israel.” The circumstances, evidence and reasons surrounding each event are pushed aside, leaving a narrative of “Israeli violence.”

On June 25, 2026, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) announced that it would conduct a full review of its database after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published dozens of obituaries identifying individuals listed by CPJ as journalists as combatants. CPJ said the review would be completed by the end of July. More than two months later, that review has yet to be released. Meanwhile, an examination of CPJ’s own list reveals that at least 91%, 193 individuals, have documented ties to terrorist organizations, including at least 100 identified combatants and five individuals identified as terrorists who participated in the October 7 invasion of Israel.

In Gaza, this pattern has become widely reported, but the narrative is not confined to Gaza. It extends into the West Bank as well. The case of Ibrahim Mahamid and his family in Tulkarm is particularly revealing because several of these narratives occurring within the same family. Ibrahim Muhammad Ali Mahamid, a 59-year-old journalist from the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem. Mahamid worked as a presenter and cameraman for Al-Salam TV, Al-Shaab TV and other local television channels.

On February 29, 2024, Palestinian authorities announced that Ibrahim Mahamid had died from wounds sustained five months earlier during an Israeli military operation in Nur Shams. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) included him in its list of journalists died from his wounds five months after “being injured by Israeli fire.” That is the story reported. But it is not the whole story.

Mahamid’s son, Taha Ibrahim Mohammad Mahameed, was killed in the same Nur Shams operation on October 19, 2023. Much of the international reporting presented Taha as an “innocent 15-year-old Palestinian boy murdered by Israeli forces.” There is, however, an important piece of evidence that received no attention. Hamas itself claimed Taha. A Hamas mourning announcement located by CAMERA described Taha as its “martyred hero” and confirmed he died in Nur Shams, east of Tulkarem, during the “confrontations” of the Al-Aqsa Flood campaign.

His father Ibrahim Mahamid was shot while trying to retrieve Taha. Ibrahim Mahamid wasn’t shot while covering the confrontation, or in an official journalistic capacity. According to reporting, Mahamid went toward his son after Taha had been shot and attempted to pull him to safety. He was then struck by Israeli gunfire in the abdomen and back.

The location is significant: Nur Shams refugee camp, on the eastern side of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank. This was not Gaza. It was the West Bank, during an Israeli counterterrorism operation in a refugee camp where Palestinian armed groups were actively operating. In the same camp, Israeli forces later uncovered an explosives laboratory containing dozens of improvised explosive devices, explosives materials, more than 30 weapons, and improvised rockets, evidence of the extensive terrorist infrastructure operating in Nur Shams.

The Mahamid family story does not end with Taha. Public Palestinian records document other sons engaged in terrorism. One of Ibrahim Mahamid sons, Ishaq Ibrahim Muhammad Ali Mahamid, was arrested by Israeli forces in June 2019. Palestinian prisoner sources report that an Israeli military court ultimately sentenced him to 22 months in prison; he was released in March 2021 after serving the sentence. Ishaq was subsequently arrested again in September 2023. Details of his 2023 arrest provides conflicting accounts, while some reports claim he was arrested in a check point, others claim he was arrested in his home.

A Woman Is Not Automatically an “Innocent Civilian”: Hamas’ Mu’in al-Arabeed’s Wife “Took Up Arms”

When reports emerged that Israel had captured Mu’in al-Arabeed on September 1st, 2026, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, much of the attention focused on the operation itself. But another part of the story deserves attention. According to Palestinian accounts, when Israeli special forces arrived to arrest al-Arabeed, his wife, Samah al-Khalidi, did not simply remain inside the house. Reports say she “took up arms” and joined the fighting in an attempt to prevent her husband’s arrest.

Al-Arabeed was arrested on September 1, 2026, in Gaza City in an operation involving Israeli special forces and the Shin Bet. It was reported that he was Hamas’s internal-security chief and that the operation was connected to his alleged role in concealing and transporting Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attack.

But Arabic reporting provides additional details. According to Al Jazeera Arabic, al-Arabeed had returned to a rented family home in the al-Katiba area of western Gaza City while his family prepared for his son’s wedding. A local witness described a gun battle at the house. Al-Arabeed was wounded but continued firing until he ran out of ammunition before being captured alive. His 47-year-old wife, Samah al-Khalidi, then took up a weapon and engaged with Israeli force, attempting to provide cover for her husband. The report describes her as fighting alongside her husband. Two of her sons were also seriously wounded while also taking part of the confrontation.

Samah al-Khalidi’s case matters because it illustrates a recurring problem in reporting on Palestinian casualties: the assumption that a woman who is killed must have been an innocent female civilian. While most women killed in war are civilians, being female does not always establish civilian status. But her case should raise a broader question: How many women killed during this war have been directly involved in the conflict? The answer should not be ideological. It should be factual and legal.

International humanitarian law does not define civilian status by sex. The relevant question is what the person was doing and, where applicable, whether the person was a member of an organized armed group with a continuous combat function. Civilians lose protection from direct attack for such time as they directly participate in hostilities. A woman carrying ammunition to a firing position can participate directly in hostilities. A woman transmitting tactical information for a specific attack can participate directly in hostilities. A woman firing a weapon at opposing forces obviously can.

The point is not that every woman killed in Gaza was a fighter. The point is that “woman” does not mean “civilian.”

Can't believe @FaudaOfficial spent so much money making a TV series when we can watch security footage for free. https://t.co/5ulfa09Koi
— The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) September 8, 2026

Palestinian Presidential Advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash: The Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas Use the Palestinian Cause Rather Than Serve It; Hamas Must Acknowledge the 2007 Coup, Apologize for the Stupid Mistake of October 7, Withdraw from Power, and Surrender Its Weapons to the PA pic.twitter.com/mJHwTvr7el
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) September 8, 2026

Hi Mehdi – good of you to unblock me on Twitter a month ago after blocking me 2 years ago for I don’t know what reason. If you recall, soon after dozens of my family members were killed in Gaza in Israeli airstrikes, I messaged you and asked for your help in elevating my voice… https://t.co/20mzpX3Yn1
— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) September 7, 2026

He’s educating you Mehdi. Show a little respect. https://t.co/uYrUyfEn9W
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) September 7, 2026

On Iranian State TV, American-Irish Activist Kenneth O’Keefe, Who Claims to Have Attacked Israeli Commandos Aboard the 2010 Mavi Marmara Gaza Flotilla, Volunteers to Join “Axis of Resistance” Attack to Destroy Israel; Adds, There Is a Jewish Plot to Take Over the United States pic.twitter.com/Wb99RzU8hR
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) September 8, 2026

How Did the Soccer Ball Become the Story?

What do you see first?

Probably not the destroyed building. Not the rubble. Not even the overturned furniture.

The soccer ball.

AFP photographer Mahmoud Zayyat has placed it prominently in the foreground, transforming what might otherwise be another photograph of a destroyed building into something much more evocative.

A soccer ball suggests normality. Children. Families. A home. Life interrupted.

There is nothing inherently wrong with photographing it. And there is no evidence that the ball was placed there for the camera.

But photography is about choices. Of all the debris left after the strike, this is the frame that was made and distributed.

There is also some important context.

The Israeli military warned residents before the strike and ordered the evacuation of the targeted building and its surroundings. Even AFP’s caption accompanying the photograph acknowledges that the strike “followed a warning from the Israeli military.”

The IDF said it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

Yet none of that is visible in the photograph.

In Istanbul 🇹🇷 there is a hairdressing salon named for the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Why don't @cenkuygur 🇹🇷 and his nephew Hasan Piker speak out against Turkey 🇹🇷 and it's embrace of anti-semitism???? pic.twitter.com/Sf8qkRbvto
— Rabbi Poupko (@RabbiPoupko) September 8, 2026

Never seen before footage of Gaza's monsters carrying out the horrors of October 7th.

They committed multiple crimes against humanity, violated every international convention, and hunted it down babies, women, and children.

It is not only that the people of Gaza voted for…
— Rabbi Poupko (@RabbiPoupko) September 8, 2026

The Brink: Dover Protests, Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes and Britain's Right – Daniel Finkelstein

In this episode of The Brink, Andrew and Jake are joined by Lord Daniel Finkelstein for a wide-ranging conversation about the rise of populism, the far right, and the growing threat of political extremism across Britain, Europe, and the United States.

Drawing on his own family's experience of Nazism and Stalinism, Finkelstein reflects on his confrontation with Nick Fuentes and the extraordinary antisemitic abuse that followed. He examines Tucker Carlson's role in bringing once-fringe ideas towards the mainstream, and why attacks on the historical understanding of the Second World War and the Holocaust have become increasingly important to parts of the American right.

Turning to Europe, the conversation explores the dramatic rise of Germany's AfD and the role immigration has played in fuelling populist politics. Finkelstein argues that mass migration was a serious political mistake and that governments must regain control, while warning that demonising people who are already British citizens risks making integration harder and pushing politics towards ethno-nationalism.

The discussion also turns to Reform UK, Restore, and the battle over the future of the British right. Finkelstein explains why he believes Nigel Farage has historically drawn an important line against the far right, criticises Matt Goodwin's rhetoric on migrants, and delivers a damning assessment of Robert Jenrick's defence of Reform activists after violence at the party's conference.

Finally, they examine the growing tolerance of political violence on both the left and right, the appeal of Vladimir Putin to populist movements, and whether Britain's frustration with immigration, bureaucracy, and political institutions could drive the country further towards the extremes.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:46 Confronting Nick Fuentes
07:44 Tucker Carlson & The New Right
15:51 The Rise Of Europe’s Populist Right
21:15 The Failure Of Mass Immigration
24:39 Matt Goodwin’s “Goat Herders” Comments
27:00 Immigration, Protest & Vigilantism
33:03 AfD, Reform & The Far Right
36:22 Farage, Reform & Ethno-Nationalism
39:29 Robert Jenrick & Political Violence

I have taken time to comment on this because I honestly can’t believe it.

A former Ireland defender, Kenny Cunningham, has expressed deep humanity on Israel/Palestine, of a kind that is sadly all too rare in the Irish public sphere.

‘I think it would be a good thing to see… https://t.co/yhzrv66CYT pic.twitter.com/wCoz9f5sn5
— Rachel Moiselle (@RachelMoiselle) September 8, 2026

‘Israel Should Be Attacked’: UCLA To Host 9/11 Symposium Featuring Terror Apologists

On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the University of California, Los Angeles, will host a symposium with speakers who have described counterterrorism as "racist," called for Israel to be attacked, and glorified the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The symposium, "25 Years After 9/11: Reimagining Freedom, Justice, and Security," will also include multiple professors who have called for abolishing the police and a defense attorney for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

"Counterterrorism serves as a kind of racist gravy train," one panelist, Yale Law School's Aslı Ü. Bâli, argued in a 2020 essay. "Without addressing the revenue streams tied to counterterrorism at home and abroad, there can be no meaningful way to defund the police."

Beginning on Sept. 10, the two-day event will feature avowed supporters of political violence on a day meant to commemorate the victims of it. The opening panel, which invites "participants to imagine futures beyond … militarization," will include the executive director of California's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Hussam Ayloush, who in November 2023 said that "Israel should be attacked" and compared the Jewish state to Nazi Germany. Another panel will include the University of Minnesota's Amna Akbar, who described Luigi Mangione's murder of Brian Thompson as a "spectacular act of protest."

"Calls to 'Free Luigi' on the streets and inside jails express solidarity not just with one man, but against the catastrophic realities of capitalism, where necessities like health care, food, and housing are financialized commodities that few can truly afford," Akbar wrote in a January 2025 essay. "This is the system UnitedHealthcare stands for and profits from. This is the system that Mangione (allegedly) took aim at."

Another speaker, UC Irvine's Melanie Partow, serves on the defense team for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The symposium does not feature any current or former prosecutor of the Guantanamo Bay detainees who planned and perpetrated the 9/11 attacks.

Michigan rabbis issue ‘nonnegotiable’ demands for El-Sayed, state Democrats to earn their votes

Liberal Michigan rabbis and other Jewish leaders are calling on the Democratic Party to agree to a list of “nonnegotiable” principles about Jewish safety and Israel as the party’s US Senate candidate in the state, Abdul El-Sayed, seeks to make inroads with Jewish voters.

The campaign, backed by a progressive Zionist group, comes as a different subset of Michigan Jewish leaders are urging their community to reject El-Sayed outright and instead vote for his Republican opponent, former US representative Mike Rogers.

“I think he has the potential to be an amazing, visionary leader in the state of Michigan and in this country,” Rabbi Josh Whinston, who heads the Reform Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor and has met privately with El-Sayed, said Monday about the Democratic candidate during a press conference. “But his vision needs to be more inclusive.”

Whinston was one of more than a dozen Jewish clergy who signed “Nonnegotiable Michigan,” the open letter. It does not directly address El-Sayed by name but outlines five principles its signers say “leaders who want our votes” must demonstrate.

The letter lists five “nonnegotiables”:
“Jewish safety — including for Zionist Jews — in Michigan and across America”;
“Our right to define our own Jewish identities”;
“Jewish sovereignty in Israel”;
“Welcoming our full participation in American political life”; and
“An affirmative vision for a better future in the Middle East.”

The “Nonegotiable” campaign is backed by Zioness Action Fund, a registered 501(c)4 associated with the advocacy group Zioness, which bills itself as “Unabashedly progressive. Unapologetically Zionist.” Past Zioness actions have put pressure on progressive spaces to become more welcoming of Zionism as the progressive movement has sharply turned against Israel.

The initial signatories number 16, most of whom are Reform and Conservative rabbis and cantors serving congregations in the state. The initiative was spearheaded by Whinston and Rabbi Aaron Starr, of the Conservative Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, a Detroit suburb. Starr is also president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis.

‘America Is Going Down’: Imam's Extremist Video Rant Is Played Before El-Sayed's Speech at Notorious Islamic Convention

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's speech at a controversial Islamic convention in Detroit this weekend was sandwiched between a video montage featuring a firebrand imam declaring that "America is going down" and a speech from another cleric who said members of Congress who voted for an antisemitism bill were "guilty of treason."

The embarrassing spectacle on Saturday underscored the awkwardness of El-Sayed participating in a conference featuring a rogues' gallery of Islamic extremists including 9/11 truthers and a Holocaust-denier.

The Islamic Society of North America kicked off day two of its annual confab on Saturday with a montage of clips from various convention speakers, including imam Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

"I am ashamed of what America has become," Wahhaj says in the undated clip. "Look at the newspaper every day, how America is going down."

The montage also showed a clip of El-Sayed lamenting his experiences in the wake of the 9/11 attacks as a "kid with a funny name and an olive complexion." And it ended with a graphic that included an infamous photo of El-Sayed fist-bumping Hasan Piker, the left-wing influencer who declared that "America deserved 9/11."

El-Sayed delivered his scheduled remarks minutes later and gave a standard campaign stump speech that focused on cost-of-living issues, as well as his experiences as a Muslim in America.

"Muslim Americans, they want to tell us that we don't belong. They want to tell us that this country's not ours, that because of our names or how we pray that we are somehow less than," said El-Sayed.

He was followed by Zaid Shakir, a prominent New Jersey cleric, and Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks.

Shakir, who once asserted that "Zionist forces" were behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, railed against the U.S. government over its support for Jews and Israel, singling out a congressional vote to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of "anti-Semitism."

"When the United States Congress passes laws on behalf of a genocidal, rapacious, nefarious foreign country to deny us the freedom of speech … that is a domestic enemy of the Constitution of the United States," Shakir declared. "And as such, they are guilty of treason."

El-Sayed appeared at the convention, held six days before the 25th anniversary of 9/11, despite calls to drop out over its links to 9/11 conspiracy theorists and Holocaust deniers.

"Abdul — stop platforming 9/11 and Holocaust deniers and withdraw from this conference immediately," Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers said on Friday, citing Washington Free Beacon reports about the convention. Yasir Qadhi, a Texas-based imam who spoke on several panels at the convention, has called the Holocaust a "hoax."

‘Against Human Nature’: Abdul El-Sayed’s Imam Rails Against Homosexuality and Jews Teaching Islam, Tells Muslims It’s An ‘Obligation’ to Vote for El-Sayed in November to ‘Change the Society’

The imam at the mosque that Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed frequently attends has railed against homosexuality, arguing that it is "against human nature," and complained that all too often, Jews are teaching Islam in American universities, introducing "confusion" and "suspicion" to young minds.

Abdelhamid Algizawi serves as the imam at the Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor, the mosque where El-Sayed frequently prays. Three days after El-Sayed eked out a one-point victory over Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary, on August 7, Algizawi described the win as a "very big victory for the Muslims, Hamdillah, and for the Ummah, and for the Islamic nation."

"Right now, the community has to change their minds, this is an obligation," Algizawi said in a video captured by the Middle East Media Research Institute. "When we have a Muslim Senator or a Muslim, you know, in office, any office or any post for the Muslim, this can work for goodness, this can change the society." He said it is incumbent on Muslims to cast their ballots for El-Sayed in November and recounted with dismay last month that his own daughter said she wouldn’t vote for a Muslim "running for Senate" because "he’s working against women."

Unlike Jews and some Christians, most Muslims do not formally join a mosque in order to attend prayer services there, and many pray at several different mosques. But El-Sayed typically prays at the MCA of Ann Arbor, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Algizawi’s sermons are littered with inflammatory remarks about gays and homosexuality, bemoaning its prevalence in America and arguing that it is incumbent upon Muslims to reject it because "it cannot bring stability to life" and "people cannot give children from this relationship. You understand?"

"Here in America—in America, there is, you know, it became a fashion these days: homosexuality and LGBTQ and something like that becomes a fashion everywhere. And even this has reached the Muslim community, and people ask what the [sic] Islamic stand on that … Islam as a religion refuse," Algizawi said in 2022 remarks at a Sacramento-area Islamic center. "Why? Because there is purposes for marriage … This relationship cannot bring stability to your life … We are looking for children when we get married. People cannot give children from this relationship. You understand?"

He continued: "So this is against human nature, by the way. Also, Muslims cannot compromise their religion. We cannot say: ‘Hey, because I am a Muslim, I'm American, we are living in America, we have…’ No, we cannot compromise our religion."

Macklemore has thoughts on the Middle East. Can’t wait to hear Chumbawumba’s thoughts on possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait. pic.twitter.com/SS0pNaMInI
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 8, 2026

“Thinking Out Loud” singer @EdSheeran didn’t just give @Macklemore a microphone. He gave him a stadium and an audience.

After turning two New Jersey opening sets into one-sided anti-Israel protests, Macklemore still has seven dates left on the tour. Later this year, @FINNEAS,… pic.twitter.com/GR5sqkoYoX
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 8, 2026

Pink calls out Macklemore over pro-Palestine stunt at concert as rapper breaks silence amid calls for him to be axed from Ed Sheeran's tour

Pink weighed in on Macklemore's recent controversy, amid calls from fans for the rapper to be removed from Ed Sheeran's tour over his pro-Palestine remarks on stage.

The 43-year-old musician was the opening act for Sheeran's Loop tour on Friday and Saturday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he voiced support for Palestinians and criticized Israel.

Pink, 47, reposted an Instagram Story from StopAntisemitism this weekend, which slammed Macklemore's performance and demanded an apology to the concertgoers.

'Awful - Jewish fans bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran sing last night in NJ, not to be ambushed by Macklemore's anti-Israel propaganda,' the caption on the original post read.

'Instead, Macklemore walked onstage in a keffiyeh, shouted “Free Palestine,” accused Israel of a false “genocide,” and turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state. Concert goers are owed apologies and refunds.'

In response, Macklemore appeared to double down on his comments on Monday, as he posted a clip of his speech from MetLife with the caption, 'Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.'

Eve Barlow: Being Jewish is Punk

For what feels like eons, the Jewish people have despaired that there are too few Jews with real and massive influence who have risen to the occasion for our people. For a moment, Pink has. No doubt, she is experiencing waves of vile hatred. I would not tell her to ignore the hate, nor the inevitable betrayals by people she’d never imagine would walk. It’s unlike anything we have ever seen before in our lifetimes. I would tell her, however, that her people are right behind her. An entire people who have a proud nation; a nation that deserves to survive.

I would tell her that when Queen Esther went to the King of Persia (approximately 483 BC) to warn him about Haman’s plot to kill all the Jews, she did not know if she would make it out alive. Persian law stated that anyone who entered the inner court uninvited by the King would be put to death. But Queen Esther answered the call, not knowing what awaited her afterwards. Not knowing what price she would have to pay. “If I perish, I perish,” she said. We are currently in that unknown. We don’t know what happens when we make the choice to speak, but there is no other choice.

I too had the choice once upon a time. I remember a non-Jewish singer in a “queer” band I used to write about texting me, after she told me that Zionism was racism, and she disagreed with everything I said: “You still have a choice”. What kind of a choice? A choice to deny my own humanity? A choice to swallow my heritage? A choice to diminish my soul? What choice? And for what? To continue to perform friendship with people who measured their purity against my very existence? I guess had I chosen differently my life would be as I once dreamed it. I’d still be building it with my favorite person. I’d probably be on my third book. I’d still be writing for New York Magazine and the Guardian. I’d be side of stage at Glastonbury watching bands I’d written about for over a decade finally headline. I’d be on cloud fucking nine. But I made a choice.

I chose to lead. I chose to keep the Jewish story going. I chose to defy our erasure. I chose to fight the people and the ideas that sought to silence me. My choice had consequences, but the consequences of not choosing that are infinitely worse. For a start: the culture, as we knew it, and as I wrote about it, fell off the very last edge, and is presently drowning at the bottom of a very deep and dark ocean of conspiratorial insanity.

Being Jewish is punk, and it’s always been punk. We are the counterculture. I’ve argued for years that Jews are inherently swimming against the tide. We have spent thousands of years withstanding conversion, expulsion, etc. We value discussion and deep critical thought. We are not a binary people. In many ways, this desire to expel Jews from public life correlates with a desire to shut down discussion; to banish any debate about fixed ideals. It is being pursued by propagandists of movements that rely upon total eradication of questions or debates. Ergo, no Jews allowed.

I know some progressives read this newsletter. Let me ask you: what purpose is your purity currently serving? And are you aware of who the “puritans” were historically? Do you know that puritanical thought led to the Salem witch trials? If their ghosts could speak… If most Jews aren’t allowed to be in the conversation then how do you know what’s true about us? Whose “lived experience” are you hearing? “But Eve, Zionism is racism.” What if I tell you it’s not. What if I tell you it could have prevented six million dead in the Holocaust. Once you get rid of all us Jews, how will your masters measure your purity?

Why can’t Jews be fully Jewish and still be considered good?

Pink chose the right thing. She chose truth. She chose to expose hate. She chose to shine a light in the dark. Ultimately, she chose freedom and she chose life. Silence is a choice. Conformity is a choice. Speaking is a choice. Jewish survival has always depended on people choosing to continue.

I’ve just noticed, it’s Pink’s birthday today.

In Hebrew we say: עד מאה ועשרים. It means - may you live until 120.

Boy George brands Paloma Faith 'as political as a soggy tuna sandwich' as he takes aim at former The Voice co-star and 'spineless' Ed Sheeran over Macklemore Free Palestine row

Boy George has weighed in on Macklemore's 'Free Palestine' row, calling out 'spineless' Ed Sheeran and criticising Paloma Faith for voicing her support for the rapper.

Macklemore is facing a boycott petition to remove him from Sheeran's tour after he called out 'Free Palestine' onstage over the weekend.

The 43-year-old rapper was the opening act for Sheeran's Loop tour on Friday and Saturday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and made his political message during his show.

Sheeran, 35, is yet to comment on the incident, but Paloma Faith, 45, has reposted a clip of Macklemore's on stage message, adding the caption: 'My hero.'

Boy George, 65, who starred with Faith as a judge on The Voice ten years ago, has criticised Macklemore and his celebrity supporters on X.

'On the subject of @macklemore it's important to note that slogans such as 'Free Palestine' offer the appearance of moral courage without requiring much political knowledge', George, who in July released a pro-Israel reggae song, wrote on Monday.

'@edsheeran clearly has no spine and as for @Palomafaith and her stupid virtuous squealing of delight about Mackle-bore when she is about as political as a soggy tuna sandwich. The whole thing makes me queasy.'

I wonder what Michael Gudinski would have thought about Sheeran not making any comment about Macklemore? Sheeran was a friend of Gudinski and sang at his State funeral. Show some balls Ed!
— 🇦🇺 Jan Molby (@AyalTusia) September 7, 2026

Macklemore accused of blatant hypocrisy after anti-Israel tirade — as secrets about his home revealed

The rapper, famous for bragging about “popping tags” on his famed “Thrift Shop” tune, is living on stolen native lands after he hijacked the spotlight at an Ed Sheeran concert with an anti-Israel rant.

Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, proudly called to “Free Palestine” and accused Israel of committing genocide at a New Jersey Meadowlands show last week.

“I wanted to stand up here on stages across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” the Grammy-winning rapper said as he wore a keffiyeh draped over his shoulders.

While he made the statements, his multimillion-dollar Seattle abode sat on stolen Native American land.

Haggerty owns a three-bedroom, 2.25-bathroom home in Seattle’s North Capitol Hill neighborhood and has lived there for more than a decade.

The North Capitol Hill neighborhood, like the rest of Seattle, is part of historic ancestral lands of native people.

“We acknowledge that the city of Seattle and its greenspaces are on stolen Coast Salish land, specifically the ancestral land of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Stillaguamish, and Muckleshoot People,” a land acknowledgement from the Green Seattle Partnership says.

“We recognize the stewardship of Seattle’s greenspaces by the Coast Salish people since time immemorial, the disruption of this work by colonization, and now endeavor to continue this work,” it added.

The artist has acknowledged his role in owning a home on stolen land. He’s also known for doing land acknowledgements before his concerts.

“I’m from Seattle, Washington, occupied Duwamish territory,” he said in a May 2024 LANDBACK FOR THE PEOPLE podcast episode.

The artist spouted an anti-Israel sentiment during his recent show with Sheeran in New Jersey, and the Israeli-American Council started a petition Sunday calling for Sheeran to drop the “Thrift Shop” singer from the remainder of his tour, accusing the rapper of spreading antisemitic propaganda.

The rapper also performed his song, “Hind’s Hall,” a reference to the pro-Palestine protests at the Columbia University campus, while images from Gaza were played on giant screens.

What is Macklemore ACTUALLY fighting for... pic.twitter.com/drU69560F2
— Ami Kozak (@amiKozak) September 8, 2026

Call for US rapper to be banned from Australia

There are calls for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to ban American rapper Brother Ali from Australia over concerns his lyrics “justify” terrorism and could incite violence.

I’m starting to think Tucker books his guests by scrolling X until he finds someone whose entire personality is hating Jews.

This is his latest find, now introduced to millions of viewers.

Our vice president is proud to call Tucker his friend.

Go ahead and read his tweets: https://t.co/tuUa5PcH7d pic.twitter.com/xXU8iq5NvS
— Yehuda Teitelbaum (@chalavyishmael) September 8, 2026

We don't call the Palestine lobby the KKKK for nothing.

The Keffiyeh KKK is the most racist group in American politics. https://t.co/P4fE5IHj8L
— Rabbi Poupko (@RabbiPoupko) September 7, 2026

Javier @BardemAntarctic is a disgusting person, who keeps promoting lies and sharing posts with utter antisemitic framing

There are so many levels of dishonesty here. Let’s put aside the fact that there was no genocide and the more we know about it, the more “it was genocide”… pic.twitter.com/4wpT1IlSSA
— Michael Elgort (@just_whatever) September 8, 2026

Update: Mohsen Mahdawi will no longer be participating in this event on the eve of 9/11. https://t.co/g49VJdngeY
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) September 9, 2026

That Philly bookstore hosting Mahmoud Khalil at a CAIR-sponsored event? It’s owned by Nadia Alawa.

Her New Hampshire-based charity, NuDay, pleaded guilty to 3 federal violations tied to 100+ Syria-bound shipments falsely listed for Turkey.

Sentence: 5 years of probation and a… https://t.co/y6AZ0AJGD5 pic.twitter.com/GaARMQiqH2
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) September 8, 2026

Stop us if you've heard this one before, but a journalist is refusing to acknowledge the concept that Palestinians have agency.

David Pratt, an editor at the Scottish news outlet @heraldscotland, has suggested that Israel is goading the Palestinians into a Third Intifada.… pic.twitter.com/9obvtyz07a
— CAMERA (@CAMERA4Truth) September 8, 2026

.@GuardianUS @SmithInAmerica article about the graphic novel 'The Book of Genocides', by Dana Mashoian Walrat, notes that the author accuses Israel of genocide.

However, it also unintentionally shows how the word genocide has been cheapened and weaponised for ideological ends in… pic.twitter.com/wIWLIMOWbx
— CAMERA UK (@CAMERAorgUK) September 8, 2026

Get me some of that famine survivor shawarma too pic.twitter.com/4eU0ydSbHt
— GAZAWOOD - The Pallywood Saga - Official (@GAZAWOOD2) September 7, 2026

Can you get a meal in Gaza for $5?

He went out to check, and yes. He got a sandwich. Wait, no—two sandwiches, toasted.
It’s about two-thirds cheaper than in Israel.

Conclusion?
Better to buy food in Gaza than in Israel. pic.twitter.com/XtcOvvwDPF
— GAZAWOOD - The Pallywood Saga - Official (@GAZAWOOD2) September 8, 2026

⚠️JUST IN: Queer transgender man allegedly called for a Greek tavern to be blown up after it hosted a communal Jewish Sabbath event

“Blow it up” was the disturbing comment allegedly posted by Lachie McKenzie on the Facebook page of a Melbourne Greek tavern. The venue had hosted… pic.twitter.com/pZ2iYU2otG
— Kofy Time (@kofy_time) September 8, 2026

Wait, they made this change in 2021. Does anyone know why they are announcing it now again? https://t.co/rDTQuI72JE
— Rachel Moiselle (@RachelMoiselle) September 8, 2026

‘Fauda’ composer channels October 7 trauma into new season’s searing soundtrack

From its storyline to its searing soundtrack, season five of “Fauda” is indelibly shaped by the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel.

The music, composed by Gilad Benamram and featuring vocalist Marina Maximilian, reflects the past three traumatic years, with track names such as “Like a Dream,” “Pray,” “Dance Again,” “Ten Seven,” “I Will Wait for You” and “Never Forget.”

The new season, which premiered worldwide on Netflix on Tuesday, was rewritten by creators Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz after the massacre and ensuing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Inevitably, it was influenced by what the writers, cast and crew experienced.

Later episodes were based directly on the events of October 7, 2023, during which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel and slaughtered some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped 251 to the Gaza Strip.

Benamram, who has scored all five seasons of “Fauda,” told The Times of Israel that he was aware that he was composing the new music in a world irrevocably shaped by the massacre.

“I already knew what I was writing for; I was on set, and we were writing specifically about the trauma, the anger, the sadness, all of those feelings that began on that day through the present,” said Benamram, who has also scored other shows, including 2022’s “Suspicion” for Apple TV+.

The current season premiered in Israel on the Yes network on May 18 and was the most-watched in the network’s history.

Actor Idan Amedi, who appeared in the show’s second, third and fourth seasons, and was slated to appear in the original version of Season 5, was seriously injured in an explosion while serving in the Combat Engineering Corps reserves in Gaza in January 2024.

Amedi has recovered, but doesn’t appear in the new season.

A longtime “Fauda” crew member, Matan Meir, was killed by a blast from a booby-trapped tunnel shaft next to a mosque in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, in December 2023, while serving in the IDF reserves.

The season’s first episode was dedicated to Meir.

Most of the revised run is set two years after October 7, dealing with life after the trauma and shock of the Hamas attack.

Tel Aviv shares the global top 3 for AI startups alongside SF & London. A true testament to the resilience & grit of our local builders! pic.twitter.com/vbX9Dvp5uw
— Tel Aviv (@TelAviv) September 7, 2026

A promoter fabricated a quote, so Malkovich had a real reason to pull out. But the quote was that he felt solidarity with human beings under attack, and the online abuse he got over those words was real. His team saw it and made a call.

I don't know what it's like to be John… https://t.co/iToH8dgV98
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) September 8, 2026

In case you didn't know, Jack Kirby was the co-creator of Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Black Panther, Iron Man, X-men, and many other superheroes.
He was also Jewish. pic.twitter.com/K3QuyQUhL4
— Uri Kurlianchik (@VerminusM) September 8, 2026

Call me Back Podcast: The Ascendent Journey of The High Holidays - with Rachel Goldberg-Polin

What if Yom Kippur isn’t the peak of the Jewish holiday season, but the beginning of something more joyful?

The Jewish holidays of Tishrei take us on a journey from judgement and reflection to vulnerability, gratitude and ultimately joy. Dan and Rachel Goldberg-Polin continue their annual exploration of the Jewish calendar and look at what Sukkot and Simchat Torah teach us about what really matters. They also reflect on what it means to hold onto that joy when Simchat Torah is now forever intertwined with October 7.

In this episode:
Rosh Hashanah and the call to reflection
Yom Kippur and the work of teshuva
Why do Sukkot and Simchat Torah get overlooked?
What the sukkah teaches us about what really matters
Why Sukkot is the “time of our happiness”
From Shemini Atzeret to the joy of Simchat Torah
Holding joy and grief together after October 7

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026)

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

09/08 Links Pt1: When Every Jew in the World Is a ‘Settler’; Miliband invoked his 60 relatives murdered in the Holocaust, then announced sanctions on Israel

2026-09-09T00:42:52.854-04:00

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: When Every Jew in the World Is a ‘Settler’

Andy Burnham has decided to begin his term as prime minister by fundamentally reshaping Britain’s relationship with Israel. For the worse.

Burnham is trying to prevent any further exodus of anti-Zionist politicians from his ruling but floundering Labour Party. Keir Starmer, his predecessor, came into office on a massive electoral wave, which he promptly squandered. To get out of the hole Starmer left London in, Burnham has picked up a shovel and begun to dig: He is simply doubling down on Starmerism.

And the first order of business is to institute a boycott of Jewish towns and businesses in Judea and Samaria.

That’s going to cost Palestinians jobs, but the Gaza Left is unconcerned with actual living, breathing Palestinians. Burnham too, apparently.

Why is Burnham instituting discriminatory policies against Jews while making Palestinian lives harder? Because he has been convinced by the “settler violence” narrative.

Now, violence orchestrated by a few dozen extremist Jews has risen. But by the most recent annual statistics we have, that violence still does not reach the number of attacks originating in Judea and Samaria by Palestinians against Jews.

Still, violence moving in the wrong direction is a problem. And there are two ways that Israel’s allies have sought to address it. The first is the approach taken by President Trump. Along with Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the administration’s team has real credibility with the Israeli prime minister and the segment of the Israeli population most affected by, and implicated in, disorder in Judea and Samaria.

The result: Recently Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the removal of several illegal settler outposts, and the IDF dismissed a soldier who prayed with settlers who besieged an Arab home, despite it being election season, a time when Benjamin Netanyahu is usually more hesitant to anger the right wing.

The Trump team won Israel’s trust and got some concessions.

The other strategy, the one pursued by Burnham, France, Canada, and other Western countries, was the opposite: reduce cooperation, reduce trust, and remove all possible diplomatic influence over the Israelis.

The results: Israel closed the British consulate in Jerusalem and removed Britons from West Bank Palestinian military training and from the Gaza postwar coordination team.

The removal of the consulate in Jerusalem is overdue. The UK uses it as a diplomatic post for Palestinians but keeps its Israeli embassy in Tel Aviv. The UK is now free to move its Palestinian consulate into the state of Palestine that it recognized.

The other result of all this will, of course, be increased anti-Semitism. If you want to understand why Jews are uncomfortable with the suddenly ubiquitous “settler violence” narrative, it’s not only because it paints all Jewish life beyond the armistice line as illegitimate.

Miliband invoked his 60 relatives murdered in the Holocaust, then announced sanctions on Israel

Miliband cites personal family history as he bans trade with West Bank

The tone of the speech shifted sharply as Miliband turned to Gaza and the West Bank.

He said he felt “a deep sense of shame” over Palestinian suffering during the past three years and described events in Gaza as a stain on the conscience of the international community.

In the West Bank, Miliband accused violent settlers of carrying out ethnic cleansing in some Palestinian communities and said the British government believed Israeli authorities had too often failed to prevent forced displacement. He formally declared that Britain considered Israel’s occupation of the West Bank unlawful.

Miliband announced that Britain would ban imports from Israeli settlements, prohibit advertising for settlement property in the UK and impose sanctions on companies and individuals involved in financing, construction, infrastructure and other activity supporting settlement expansion. The legislation is expected to take effect within six to nine months.

He stressed that the measures targeted settlements rather than Israel within the Green Line and said Britain would continue what he described as important trade with Israel. He also said he opposed the broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Turning to Gaza, Miliband said there was growing evidence that war crimes may have been committed and backed international legal proceedings examining Israeli conduct. He stopped short of determining that genocide had occurred, saying Britain would await the conclusions of competent courts.

Full speech: Ed Miliband says entire occupation unlawful, slams ‘settler terrorists’ and Israeli government that indulges them

British foreign secretary stresses his own Jewish heritage as he expresses ‘shame’ over what has unfolded in Palestine, alleges ‘ethnic cleansing,’ bans dealings with settlements

Ed Miliband: The 'proud British Jew' who turned his back on Britain's Jews

British Jews can now expect an extra wave of antisemitic acts in the name of the illegal ethnic-cleansing occupation that Britain said Israel is, and it would be effectively in line with government policy.

Perhaps the most egregious element of Miliband's heroic announcement on Tuesday was the sheer oxymoronic hypocrisy at its nexus.

He declared the Israeli settlements across the Green Line to be illegal, despite the fact that successive peace efforts, from Oslo to Camp David and beyond, have envisaged a final agreement in which this area would remain under Israeli sovereignty.

He said the sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel, without acknowledging that he has given further incentive for the demonization of the Jewish State on a very public stage.

A British Jew investing in property in a Jewish neighborhood of east Jerusalem may now face restrictions, yet Britain does not impose comparable restrictions on British citizens buying property in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.

Miliband argued that holding Jewish people responsible for the actions of the Israeli Government is antisemitism, while simultaneously penalizing them for the actions of a small number of settlers who commit violent acts in a country they may have never been to.

Sanctions will affect Jews in Britain
And why some may say the sanctions won't tangibly affect British Jews: they will.

British Jewish businesses that supply kosher wine to hundreds of families shouldn't have to worry about losing half of their inventory.

People who - rightly so - wish to make Aliyah due to rising antisemitism shouldn't have to fear attending a real estate event that advertises houses in Maale Adumim.

And the other implications: what about the those who obtained a degree at Ariel University; will it be invalid? Can Yeshivat Gush Etzion advertise to British Jewish schoolboys?

Can a Jewish artist in the Jewish quarter of the Old City have their work stocked in a UK store?

These are not questions that British Jews should have to ask their government on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.

In the words of the Chief Rabbi, it "is truly a dark day for British Jews."

Not especially because of the sanctions - the success of their implementation and enforcement is yet to be seen - but because the government did a Machiavellian display of canvassing Jewish opinion and seemingly taking on board their concerns, only to completely and flagrantly ignore them, and then some.

And, funnily enough, these measures may incentivize the very extremism they seek to target.

If, God forbid, another terrorist attack targets British Jews, the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary will undoubtedly stand before the cameras, condemn antisemitism as 'un-British and an attack on British values,' and assure the Jewish community that Jews must never be held responsible for the actions of Israel.

They will be right.

But governments cannot simultaneously tell Jews that they are not responsible for Israel while adopting rhetoric that helps activists collapse the distinction between the two.

And Miliband cannot have it both ways: he cannot invoke his identity as a proud British Jew while fueling the very same fire that seeks Jewish destruction.

JPost Editorial: Playing politics with security: Jerusalem must review UK privileges amidst sanctions

Intel cooperation usually not publicly visible, but entirely vital
For years, the British public knew almost nothing about the operation. An Intelligence and Security Committee report finally disclosed details in 2025, describing Hezbollah’s stockpile as a contingency for a possible future attack.

Such cooperation is rarely visible precisely because intelligence relationships are supposed to remain quiet.

Tuesday supplied another reminder of why the partnership matters. On the same day Britain announced its measures against settlements, it introduced tougher sanctions against Iran, expanding financial, trade, and aviation restrictions designed to constrain Tehran’s nuclear program and hostile activities.

Iran threatens Israel directly. It has also plotted against dissidents and Jewish targets on European soil, supported Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations, and repeatedly challenged Western interests.

Britain and Israel therefore have genuine strategic interests in common even when their governments disagree sharply.

UK should feel consequences of its decisions
Israel should respond to the settlement ban. Diplomatic relations require reciprocity, and London cannot assume that it will absorb each new punitive measure without consequence. Jerusalem can review discretionary British access and privileges, reconsider aspects of diplomatic cooperation and make clear that partnership works in both directions.

Calls to dismantle intelligence cooperation, however, would be a mistake.

The information exchanged between British and Israeli agencies does not belong to Ed Miliband, Benjamin Netanyahu, or any particular government. It exists to prevent terrorist attacks, disrupt Iranian operations, and protect citizens.

There is also a message here for London.

Britain cannot continually narrow its political relationship with Israel while assuming that the most valuable elements of the strategic relationship exist on autopilot. Allies can disagree, sometimes bitterly. They also have to recognize what they stand to lose when disagreement becomes a systematic downgrading of the relationship.

Britain has chosen a “reset.” It should make certain that, in trying to punish Israel over the West Bank, it does not weaken an alliance that has helped keep British citizens safe.

Melanie Phillips: An ally no longer

Miliband’s core claim is that the “settlements” are illegal and the “occupation” of these disputed territories is unlawful. This is ignorant, false and absurd.

These areas of Judea and Samaria were part of ancient Israel. The world body that preceded the UN designated them, along with Gaza, for settlement by the Jews alone to restore the Jewish homeland — because the Jews are the only people for whom the holy land was ever their national kingdom.

Customary international law holds that the boundaries of a colonial territory form the boundaries of the state that may subsequently emerge from it. Judea and Samaria were part of Mandatory Palestine from which the State of Israel emerged. To claim that the Jews have unlawfully occupied or have settled illegally in their own land is therefore ridiculous.

It’s the British government that’s actually demanding the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their land and punishing Israel for not bowing to this demand.

The government continually claims that the “settlements” are destroying the possibility of a state of Palestine and thus thwarting the “two-state solution”. Why? Why can’t there be Jews living in a state of Palestine?

And if the government really thinks that only a state of Palestine can end the Middle East impasse, why doesn’t it sanction the Palestinian Authority? The PA has made a Palestine state an unconscionable proposition for any civilised person to propose, because it continues to pay large “pay-for-slay” rewards to the families of terrorists who murder Jews and teaches Palestinian Arab children that murdering Jews is their highest calling.

Why doesn’t Miliband “as a proud British Jew” who says he is “unwavering” in his support for Israel care about any of that? Why does he want instead to punish the Palestinian Arabs’ Jewish victims?

Why is he, as a “proud British Jew” who is “unwavering” in his support for Israel ,demanding the ethnic cleansing of Jews to create a state for people committed to a genocidal agenda which would have Jerusalem, Ben Gurion airport and the whole of central Israel at their mercy?

The benighted UK government is reportedly spinning all this to the Trump administration as “largely symbolic” and with no material impact on the UK’s wider relationship with Israel on trade or security.

Oh really? Britain is heavily dependent on Israeli intelligence which is essential for its own security. In their list of retaliatory measures against Britain, the Israelis haven’t mentioned the option of withholding that intelligence provision from its most treacherous ally.

But as I said this evening on GB News (click on the arrow below to watch the interview), there’s no coming back from this for the UK under this government. Britain is Israel’s ally no longer. It has become an enemy of the Jewish people, a threat to the west and a menace to civilisation.

An ally no longer; Britain's unhinged war against Israel

Jake Wallis Simons: Symbolic sanctions to appease ‘muppet’ backbenchers threaten a real-world crisis for Britain

You know those trade sanctions that Ed Miliband is about to slap on Israel? Well, last night, according to Bloomberg, British diplomats were quietly telling the Americans something rather different: that the measures are largely symbolic, and that nothing of substance will change in our trade or security relationship with Jerusalem.

That tells you everything you need to know about this government: contradictory messages to different people on the same day. This isn’t about running the country responsibly, in the national interest; it is about managing optics, appeasing its own backbenchers and wavering progressive voters on the one hand, and managing the demands of reality on the other.

This is all part of the “comprehensive reset” with Israel that the foreign secretary promised parliament last month. According to a Labour MP – who spoke to the Telegraph anonymously – these measures were intended to reassure “muppet” backbenchers who were “freaked out” by email campaigns from Gaza activists and the Greens threatening to steal their seats.

Meanwhile, we now know that a diplomatic operation has been running behind closed doors to reassure the White House that the reset is purely cosmetic, amid fears in Downing Street that this could be Andy Burnham’s first serious Trumpian crisis. The prime minister reportedly telephoned the president on Monday afternoon in a desperate attempt to soften the blow. Good luck with that.

However, with Keir Starmer’s old seat of Holborn and St Pancras facing a by-election soon, in which the Greens will pull out all the stops, the danger is real. The government may be sitting on a working majority of 166, but if that seat falls away from Labour, it will be widely seen as writing on the wall, and morale in the party will plummet.

Yet the left aren’t stupid. If our relationship with Israel carries on as before, they will be even more enraged than they are at the moment. Officials have privately conceded that traders may be able to re-label goods to get round the restrictions. Does anybody think that this practice will escape the gimlet eye of Britain’s increasing number of antisemites?

A gesture, in other words, is only symbolic in the hands of the person making it. Everybody else is entitled to take it seriously; the government’s failure to grasp this, and to understand the magnitude of the potential fallout, is confirmation that we are indeed ruled by muppets.

EXCLUSIVE: Miliband: Why I rejected UK Jewish leaders’ pleas over Israel sanctions

Ed Miliband has firmly rejected allegations that he is putting the security of British Jews at risk with his announcement of tough new sanctions against Israel.

The foreign secretary also revealed he disregarded pleas from Jewish communal leaders, including Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the Board of Deputies, and the Jewish Leadership Council, not to announce West Bank trade sanctions, after deciding that “a strategy of passivity in the face of what is happening is not a strategy”.

In an exclusive interview with Jewish News in his office in central London on Tuesday afternoon, the Jewish former Labour Party leader rejected allegations that he was putting the security of British Jews at risk . “I don’t accept that,” Miliband said. “Any person who targets British Jews because of the actions of the Israeli government is an antisemite in my view. That’s very, very important, and I couldn’t have said it more plainly. Indeed, I think that view is shared across the House of Commons, and I believe we all have a responsibility to protect British Jews as a government, as a society. I say that loudly and clearly.”

He added: “I don’t think anyone should be conflating these two sets of questions. There are British Jews going about their lives, there are the actions of the Israeli government, and then there is our relationship with Israel. I want a strong and flourishing relationship with Israel.”

Miliband strongly disputed claims that sanctions could now jeopardise the right of Jews, including those from the UK, to pray in the Old City, part of East Jerusalem. “They’re not going to be. I can absolutely assure you of that. There’s no inhibition on the right to pray, people to visit the Old City, people to visit relatives and so on. I really want to give that reassurance to you, readers and viewers.”

He added: “It’s so important to distinguish between our view of green line Israel—an absolutely central part of a two-state solution—and our view of the occupation.

“Once you take the view that the occupation is unlawful, I do believe that you then have to look at your economic relationships as we would with any territory where we thought that there was unlawfulness.”

Miliband confirmed that the British government had concluded, in line with the July 2024 advisory opinion published by the International Court of Justice, not just that the occupation of the West Bank was “illegal” but also that it was “unlawful.”

Sweeping sanctions include an import ban on goods and services from the territories and a stricter block on weapons exports linked to the occupation. Critics said the move “does nothing to advance peace, risks harming Jewish life in Britain, and damages the UK’s relationship with a vital ally.”

Asked directly if he had decided to ignore the advice of many of the main Jewish organisations in this country, Miliband responded: “Well, there are different views in the Jewish community, truthfully, about what we should do if you talk to people from Yachad and other organisations.”

He added: “I think there’s a diversity of viewpoints, but I accept what you say about the Board of Deputies and the JLC and the Chief Rabbi, all of whom are people and organisations I deeply respect. I think all of us are committed to the two-state solution. All of us, I think, are appalled by the tragedy that has unfolded in the region. I think all of us are appalled by the Hamas attack of 7 October and I hope we’re all appalled by what we’ve also seen in Gaza and the death and destruction in Gaza. I think our disagreement is what should be done.

‘A dark day for Britain’s Jews’: Chief Rabbi Mirvis responds to West Bank sanctions

Chief Rabbi Mirvis has responded to the UK’s announcement of sanctions on the West Bank by describing today as “truly a dark day for Britain’s Jews”, and accusing the government of having “chosen to ignore the deep concerns expressed by so many of us.”

The measures, announced today by the Foreign Secretary in Parliament, will see the UK, alongside 11 other countries institute a ban on goods from Judea and Samaria. Ed Miliband’s speech to the House of Commons made the accusation that “ethnic cleansing” was being carried out in the West Bank by “terrorists” with Israeli government backing, and that the Israeli government had committed “war crimes” in Gaza.

Chief Rabbi Mirvis described the measures announced as amounting to “little more than political flag bearing for mendacious anti-Israel rhetoric and those who harbour a dangerous obsession with the Jewish State. These measures will succeed only in bolstering the very extremism they seek to target.

“On the eve of Rosh Hashanah and at a time when our community is more vulnerable than ever to the wave of extremism that has been building over recent years, these sanctions do nothing to advance the cause of peace. Nor do they make anyone safer – quite the contrary.

“Gesture politics of this kind feeds into an increasingly hostile discourse about Israel, and the cumulative effect of such punitive policies is to further embolden those, at home and abroad, who use hatred as a weapon against Jews.”

This is truly a dark day for British Jews.

Today our Government has chosen to ignore the deep concerns expressed by so many of us.

The measures announced amount to little more than political flag bearing for mendacious anti-Israel rhetoric and those who harbour a dangerous…
— Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis (@chiefrabbi) September 8, 2026

UK sanctions on Judea and Samaria ‘shameful,’ ‘not helpful,’ Danon says

The “so-called sanctions” that British foreign secretary Ed Miliband announced on Tuesday banning products from Judea and Samaria are “shameful” and “not helpful,” Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters at U.N. headquarters on Tuesday.

“We’re an independent country, a sovereign country,” Danon said at the press briefing in Turtle Bay. “If someone thinks that diplomacy is being played by applying sanctions or trying to bend our arm, we will take action as well.”

The envoy told reporters that he “met with the U.K. ambassador when she came in.”

“Don’t expect to dictate your ideas on us,” he told her. “You know, the British Mandate of Palestine is over.”

Miliband told Parliament on Tuesday that the United Kingdom would ban imports from Israeli “settlements,” impose more sanctions on “extremist settlers who have supported or incited acts of violence against Palestinian communities” and target companies and people involved in “settlement expansion.”

The United Kingdom plans to ban advertising “illegal settlements” in the United Kingdom and restrict exports of goods that it says “materially contribute to the occupation,” Miliband said.

“Settler terrorism is rampant,” Miliband said. “The U.N. reports an average of six violent settler attacks against Palestinians per day this year, the highest on record.”

“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank perpetrated by settler terrorists,” he said. “All too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.”

Danon told JNS that he rejects the term “settler violence” and said that those carrying out attacks against Palestinians in Judea and Samaria should be treated as criminals rather than terrorists.

“I don’t think it is terrorism, because I don’t think it’s organized,” he said. “You don’t see ideology or budget.”

The Israeli envoy compared what he called “so-called settler violence” with Hamas, which he said has a “chain of command” and “goals.”

“We’re talking about a few thousand gangsters who commit sporadic activities,” he said, referring to Israelis who commit violence against Arabs in the region. “All the ones should be arrested, and that’s it.”

Danon told JNS that when he was a child, members of an “organized” Jewish terrorist organization “were all arrested and put in jail.”

Since the Labour Party came to power in the UK, the British government has adopted a firm anti-Israel stance.

It has now imposed sanctions on Israel, even as the Palestinian Authority continues to pay terrorists in Judea and Samaria!

Domestic political calculations in Britain… pic.twitter.com/UQKfZ2cte8
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) September 9, 2026

‘Morally distorted': Israel hits back after British sanctions on Judea, Samaria

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar declared “countermeasures” against the United Kingdom following Tuesday’s announcement by his British counterpart, Ed Miliband, that the U.K. would ban products from Judea and Samaria.

“The accusations made today by the Foreign Secretary of the Labour government in the British Parliament were outrageous lies,” Sa’ar said.

“A boycott of goods from Judea and Samaria is a despicable practice that harms hard-working, law-abiding citizens. The Labour Government has decided to employ this practice of boycotts and BDS only against the Jewish state.”

The measures Sa’ar imposed include closing the British Consulate in Jerusalem; removing British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center, an organization established to coordinate stabilization and relief efforts in the aftermath of the Gaza war and headquartered in Israel; terminating British training of Palestinian Authority forces in Judea and Samaria; and denying entry to Israel to 12 British elected representatives and other British nationals involved in antisemitic or anti-Israel activity. (Among them is former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn)

UK Foreign Secretary Miliband had told the British Parliament on Tuesday, “The government believes the unlawfulness of the occupation should be reflected in the economic relationship we choose to have with the occupied territories.” The ban will come into effect within six months.

Describing the British move as “morally distorted,” Sa’ar called Labour’s actions “blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and in its electoral process ... [a] completely unacceptable attempt by a foreign government to exert external influence in the midst of an election campaign.”

Kemi Badenoch: Labour’s anti-Israel obsession shows it hasn’t changed since Jeremy Corbyn was leader

As British Jews prepare to celebrate the Jewish new year they face a chilling reality – the Labour government looks set to announce what effectively amounts to a boycott of the world's only Jewish state.

For any observer of British politics, the normalisation of antisemitism has been one of the most disturbing trends in recent years. Gone are the days when antisemitism was pushed underground or confined to only the extremist fringes of our national debate.

Britain’s Jewish communities are in a state of perpetual anxiety. Fences surround their schools, synagogues and cultural institutions to protect them from those who wish to do them harm.

Once again, British Jews find themselves warning their own government that its relentless demonisation of the world’s only Jewish state risks fanning the flames of antisemitism here at home.

For years, Labour has insisted that the party has changed since Jeremy Corbyn. They tell Britain’s Jewish community that the poison which flourished under his leadership has been confronted. They hold meetings, issue statements, and promise that antisemitism will never again be tolerated.

Yet their actions tell a different story.

What has been revealed this week beyond any doubt is that while Corbyn may have lost the Labour leadership, he very much did win the argument inside the party.

For all Labour claim to have rooted out antisemitism internally, the degree of anti-Israel hatred means that Labour’s approach to many of these issues is Corbyn in all but name.

Under Keir Starmer, the government suspended arms export licences, halted trade negotiations, restored funding to UNRWA and changed Britain’s approach to the International Criminal Court. It recognised a Palestinian state while Israeli hostages remained in captivity.

But this was not enough for Andy Burnham. In one of his first interventions as an MP, he said he was sorry that Labour “got it wrong” on Gaza. According to him, they should have gone harder.

Now, his government is escalating its campaign against Israel, throwing British interests under the bus to win back Islamist and far left activist votes.

Any decision to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank will become a de facto boycott on Israel given the difficulty any British business will face separating “legitimate” and “illegitimate” activities. It will inflame protests and violence against businesses that trade with Israel.

This matters because antisemitism does not exist in a vacuum.

The government itself has acknowledged that hatred of Israel has been at the heart of some of the antisemitism we have witnessed since October 7. Ministers therefore cannot simultaneously recognise that connection and behave as though the relentless demonisation and singling out of Israel has no effect on the atmosphere in Britain.

Labour says it wants to reassure Jewish families. So why does its politics so often validate the activists and Islamists whose demonisation of Israel is rooted in one thing: the rejection of a Jewish presence in the land of Israel?

Labour says foreign policy should advance peace. So why are decisions being driven by pressure from its own left flank over who can take the hardest line against Israel?

Labour says national security comes first. So why is it prepared to jeopardise one of Britain's most important security relationships and damage our international standing with the United States?

My Shadow Foreign Secretary, Tom Tugendhat, understands this better than most. As a former security minister and soldier, he knows that foreign policy is not an undergraduate debating society. Israel is an important intelligence partner. Israeli intelligence has helped British authorities prevent terrorist attacks and protect British lives.

A British Prime Minister's first responsibility is the safety of the British people.

Remember when Europe recognized a Palestinian state, and it expedited the end of the war, the return of the hostages, and the emergence of a moderate Palestinian leadership? Neither do I. Yet the lesson the new British foreign secretary Ed Miliband took from that diplomatic dud… pic.twitter.com/yzfXbtcbDK
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) September 8, 2026

Sanctions on Israel from the UK - or any other nation - will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation, and a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.

Sanctions are not a solution – dialogue is. I say… pic.twitter.com/ZKjLENRQtG
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) September 8, 2026

We reject outright the outrageous lies and actions of the British Labour Government.

The message to every government that harms us is clear: you will lose your influence and relevance in the region. pic.twitter.com/iIZkxh4AqN
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 8, 2026

Read the full statement below: ⬇️

Today, with the agreement of Prime Minister Netanyahu, I decided on a series of Israeli countermeasures in response to the series of new sanctions announced today by the British Foreign Secretary of the Labour Government and following a series…
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 8, 2026

Great conversation this evening with UK Opposition Leader @KemiBadenoch and Shadow Foreign Secretary @TomTugendhat.

I thanked them for their firm opposition to the hostile Labour Government’s announcement today and its series of anti-Israel policies since taking office.

I… pic.twitter.com/MhtHZt5w7A
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 8, 2026

Ed Miliband says everything outside the Green Line of Israel is illegal and will be sanctioned. So does that mean a British Jew cannot buy or rent a home in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem? That’s outside the Green Line. This whole thing is a farce. pic.twitter.com/vFqG2qdQyf
— Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) September 8, 2026

A powerful moment by @TomTugendhat

- Labour’s recognition of a “Palestinian State” was UNLAWFUL due the Montevideo Convention 1933

- Labour ministers actually stated themselves that this would harm hundreds of Palestinian jobs as well as Israelis.

- Cause sectarian division… pic.twitter.com/LMrOD9SHqm
— Kosher (@koshercockney) September 8, 2026

Wow.@TomTugendhat challenged Milliband with an EXTREMELY important question.

Since Labour recognised a Palestinian State

What happens if Hamas are voted in, in November, and the UK will have to partner with Hamas Ambassadors visiting the UK under diplomatic immunity?… pic.twitter.com/GXw9UUp1l0
— Kosher (@koshercockney) September 8, 2026

The same Great Britain which, in 1939, wouldn’t let European Jews into the Land of Israel and so doomed them to death in the Holocaust, is now prohibiting the entry of Jewish products from the Land of Israel into Britain. Israel must respond forcefully to this antisemitic boycott…
— Michael Oren (@DrMichaelOren) September 8, 2026

You invoke international law as though those words end the discussion. They begin it.
What rule requires this particular ban? How has Britain applied that rule elsewhere? And what happens when British demands collide with American law?
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 8, 2026

"We are calling out the occupation of #Palestine as unlawful."

Somewhere, in diplomatic heaven, Lord Caradon is turning over in his grave.

He was the wise and creative #British diplomat who was a chief architect of UNSCR 242, which authorized #Israel to retain territories… https://t.co/tdBX2BBq1A
— Robert Satloff (@robsatloff) September 8, 2026

I call on the U.K. to apply international law as it has declared it to the building of settlements in the West Bank. London knows its not illegal, and here are the reciepts from N.Cyprus and W.Sahara. pic.twitter.com/4FIbIV2ZwP
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) September 8, 2026

Today @Ed_Miliband spoke with particular indignation of advertising in the UK for real estate in settlements! Yep, @ITV aired ads for villas in occupied northern Cyprus; ads appear on London public transport, and UK buyers invest in supporting settlement construction. Do… pic.twitter.com/1ImBPOGjI3
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) September 8, 2026

Few days ago Corey Gil Shuster from @AskProjectYT has asked Palestinians in the West Bank if they are ready for a two state solution and/or to make peace with Israel. You can guess the answers

The original video is twice as long, and I recommend everyone to watch it on YouTube…… https://t.co/dbLmMW1rDe pic.twitter.com/xMQLNli9f8
— Michael Elgort (@just_whatever) September 8, 2026

As Billionaires Flee U.K., British Government Picks a Fight With Israel

Talent and capital are fleeing Britain so fast that the Labour Government is announcing sanctions against Israel.

Rokos Capital founder Chris Rokos, reportedly the third-largest taxpayer in the U.K., is leaving Britain for Greece, Bloomberg News reported. Other billionaires who have left the U.K. recently amid government plans for tax increases include Lakshmi Mittal, Sharvin Bharti Mittal, Guillaume Pousaz, Nassef Sawiris, John Fredricksen, and Michael Platt.

Platt, who left for Switzerland and the UAE, declared, "the UK is no longer a serious contender as a jurisdiction in which to do business."

Fredericksen, who decamped to Cyprus and the UAE., said, "Britain has gone to hell."

The bond market views British long-term debt as increasingly risky, sending long-term government borrowing costs soaring to the highest levels since 1998, nearly 6 percent for the 30-year gilt.

The news about Rokos means that four of the five originally London-based founders of the asset management firm Brevan Howard will have left. The firm was named for Jean-Philippe Blochet, Rokos, James Vernon, Trifon Natsis, and Alan Howard. Howard and Blochet moved to Geneva, and Natsis reportedly relocated to Abu Dhabi.

Instead of focusing on stanching what Bloomberg describes as a "wealth exodus," British politicians are pretending as if their country is still a colonial power in territories it took over from the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The British foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, rolled out a series of new sanctions, including a ban on British arms sales and "other exports that materially contribute to the occupation." Miliband also announced "an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories," while making clear that he defined "the occupation as a whole"—by which he means allowing Jews to live in Jerusalem and its suburbs—as "unlawful." He also promised, "We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion."

Our response to the government's announcement of an import ban on goods from Israeli settlements. pic.twitter.com/tWAkO5l3hc
— Jewish Leadership Council (@JLC_uk) September 8, 2026

I don’t think the Jewish Labour Movement has criticised the Labour Party since Corbyn went - until now.
Even they see this move, happening now, just a few weeks before an Israeli election, as suspect and more about British internal politics than anything else. https://t.co/ClryhRZLPd
— Nicole Lampert (@nicolelampert) September 8, 2026

"This is an irrational action... if the UK is really interested in dealing with issues they feel like are wrong, where are the sanctions against North Korea, China, Russia?" US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who has accused the UK government and Ed Miliband of 'Jew hate ',… pic.twitter.com/0uemHzN6LG
— Natasha Hausdorff (@HausdorffMedia) September 8, 2026

BREAKING 🔴

That’s both Florida and Arkansas now looking at cutting ties over this.

Around 40 US States reportedly have this law in place.

Burnham, Miliband and the Labour Party truly have fucked it. pic.twitter.com/yJaFiHhfkn
— Kosher (@koshercockney) September 8, 2026

Eugene Kontorovich: GB TV appearance and UK Sanctions on Israel

I explain the monstrousness and hypocrisy of the Burnham government's proposals against Israel.

Why Britain's sanctions on Israel are contemptible. pic.twitter.com/kWzQiI0rdM
— Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) September 8, 2026

So it’s an entirely performative action that will just increase more antisemitic attacks against British Jews.

Labour has thrown British Jews to the wolves to appease the Muslim vote. https://t.co/ZFrjZzvvJB
— Kosher (@koshercockney) September 8, 2026

Despite all the hubub, the UK government has not introduced any actual boycott measures today (though they did expand "settler sanctions"). Instead, it said it do so in take 6-9 months. So why all the drama today? Labour needs to beat the Greens in a by-election in a 23% Muslim…
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) September 8, 2026

The British government loves to attack Israel, and then goes to sleep peacefully at night thanks to the Mossad. In 2015, Israel saved countless lives from a massive Hezbollah attack in London. This is just one of the countless attacks prevented thanks to Mossad. If Britain… https://t.co/mjjez9lnGS
— Leslie Kajomovitz (@kikas6652) September 8, 2026

Pompous, ahistorical colonial BULLSHIT being sold to the British population.

The @bbcnews history lesson of the day:

“Judea and Samaria” is just “how the Israeli government refers to the West Bank.”

Maybe try picking up a bible - you know-nothing anti-Jewish bastards! pic.twitter.com/LqQaOLzYWy
— David Collier (@mishtal) September 8, 2026

.@kajakallas Do you believe that UNRWA's use of your €4 billion of EU humanitarian assistance to hire jihadi murderers to run schools for Palestinian children is a violation of international law? Asking for a friend. https://t.co/8VcEkybtqO pic.twitter.com/lHDOZQl3Bo
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 8, 2026

There should be a global ban on Qatar for sheltering Hamas and all the other terror groups that found a home on Qatari soil. https://t.co/d5Fw3GK7tD
— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) September 8, 2026

Time to revive my suggestions from 2025, @gidonsaar.

The response from Israel against the UK's attack on Jewish sovereignty didn't go far enough. Here are some areas of trade Israel should consider stopping with the UK, and every other country who takes similar actions. https://t.co/S3pujsqPhm
— Leslie Kajomovitz (@kikas6652) September 8, 2026

Oh? https://t.co/numZUnP0ML pic.twitter.com/xBrZEuqEGQ
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) September 8, 2026

Sadiq Khan presides over a burning hatred pit. A city repeatedly defiled by racist hate marches for terrorists, for years now. His response? "La dee da!" He is no one to talk about "peace". He is very Real Labour. "Look away, say nothing."

"Death to America! Death to Israel!" https://t.co/JmpSTzPIXL pic.twitter.com/6IxsIDPuH0
— habibi (@habibi_uk) September 8, 2026

You should have been banned a long time ago, as this shameful video demonstrates all too clearly. https://t.co/qy4wC6325J pic.twitter.com/tVn1H1Xda6
— Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) September 8, 2026

The last time Jeremy Corbyn visited Israel, it was to meet Hamas.

Genuinely staggering he wasn't the subject of an entry ban until now.

My report for i24NEWS in 2018: pic.twitter.com/dwDLeyaHTb
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) September 8, 2026

August 1, 2026

Palestinians: Before Israel what country was here? pic.twitter.com/s6M01oXEQL
— The Ask Project by Corey Gil Shuster (@AskProjectYT) September 8, 2026

🎦 NEW VIDEO: Palestinians: After you have a state in the 1967 borders, will you keep resisting for the rest? pic.twitter.com/b9Rebr8qwC
— The Ask Project by Corey Gil Shuster (@AskProjectYT) September 3, 2026

July 22, 2026

Israelis: For true peace would you give Gaza to Egypt and the West Bank to Jordan? pic.twitter.com/s1YZxbbL1A
— The Ask Project by Corey Gil Shuster (@AskProjectYT) September 6, 2026

July 25, 2026

Arab Israelis: Do you feel safe in Israel? pic.twitter.com/uxGdGG9VOv
— The Ask Project by Corey Gil Shuster (@AskProjectYT) September 7, 2026

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026)

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

Here's a moderate Arabic writer for Al Jazeera. He's a terrorist supporting liar.

2026-09-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Al Jazeera has an opinion piece by Omar Fares, the president of the Social and Cultural Association of Palestinians in Poland:

For years I have been subjected to attacks from circles associated with the so-called "hasbara" and from defenders of the Zionist project. Recently, these attacks have noticeably increased. Some try to portray me as a hate-driven individual, while for decades I have been speaking about a completely different issue: the rights of the Palestinian people, the occupation, displacement, the Nakba, and the political responsibility for the suffering of civilians.

Therefore, I will answer you directly.

You who call your activity "hasbara" and present it as a kind of "Israeli public diplomacy," you should ask yourselves: Why are an increasing number of people around the world rejecting this narrative without scrutiny?

No media campaign can replace the facts forever. Propaganda may try to change how reality is described, but it cannot make reality disappear.

So Fares is saying that he is not a hate filled individual, he cares about the truth that Zionists are spreading, and (later on) he says he is not an antisemite.

OK, let's check his previous op-eds.

In late July, he wrote a tribute to Kōzō Okamoto, the surviving member of the Japanese Red Army cell that massacred 25 people at Lod Airport in 1972.

Here's how he described the event:

Lod Airport operation: When the world shook the occupying entity

On the morning of that fateful day, Kozo Okamoto and his two companions (Osama and Adnan) set out to carry out a daring operation at Lod Airport (now known as Ben Gurion Airport). The operation was a response to the Zionist massacres against the Palestinian people, especially the Munich Airport massacre that preceded it, in which Palestinian athletes were killed.

The three men entered the airport carrying suitcases that concealed their weapons. Upon reaching the passenger terminal, they opened fire indiscriminately and threw hand grenades, killing 24 people and wounding dozens.

...On the day of his passing, the hearts of millions stopped beating. But physical death did not end his presence; rather, it transformed him into an eternal symbol, a star shining in the sky of international struggle.
...Kozo Okamoto was not just a fighter, but a philosopher of struggle and a humanitarian par excellence. He believed that the liberation of humankind from injustice was the ultimate goal, and that oppressed peoples everywhere should unite against imperialism, Zionism, and tyranny.

He's right about one thing: it was indiscriminate shooting and grenades.

But this "humanitarian" murdered 26 innocent civilians. 17 of those killed were Christian pilgrims from Puerto Rico.

The Meir Amit Center says that he has posted antisemitism on his Facebook page, too.

And there was no "Munich airport massacre" of Palestinian athletes. He is referring to the Munich Olympics massacre that occurred after the Lod massacre, not after.

Fares is twisting the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre into an attack on Palestinian athletes by Zionists!

So we have established that Fares is a liar who revises history and who openly supports terror..

This is a Palestinian "moderate" being syndicated by Al Jazeera, which also cannot be trusted to do basic fact checks in what it publishes.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026)

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)