Feds secretly knew for years Joe Biden met with son’s Chinese partners on official trip - John Solomon and Steven Richards

 

by John Solomon and Steven Richards

Hunter Biden wrote his father was so enamored with China's communist leader "they almost kissed," new evidence shows

 

Federal agents gathered evidence during the 2016 election that Hunter Biden had used access to his father on an official government trip to Beijing aboard Air Force Two to connect prospective Chinese business partners with then-Vice President Joe Biden, according to a massive cache of documents recently turned over to Congress and obtained by Just the News.

"They got to meet Dad. All very good. Talk later,” Hunter Biden wrote in a December 2013 email confirming how he connected his Chinese associates with his father in a Beijing hotel after the vice president had met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The younger Biden also bragged in his emails that his father was so enamored with China's communist leader that "I think they are in love with each other," the emails showed.

"They all most kissed on departure,” Hunter Biden wrote in one of the emails seized by federal agents.

The previously nonpublic communications were among 3.3 million pages of emails, bank records, and corporate memos that FBI, IRS, and Securities and Exchange Commission agents collected in 2015 and 2016 with subpoenas during a criminal investigation into a fraudulent bond scheme involving a Native-American tribe. 

The younger Biden wasn't charged in that case, though several of his business partners were. But agents in that probe did gain extensive access to Hunter Biden's bank files, corporate records, and communications, including some that were not located on the first son's now infamous laptop that would be seized by the FBI in 2019 and become a subject of political controversy a year later.

The evidence, recently secured by the House Oversight Committee in the impeachment probe of President Joe Biden, shines new light on how Hunter Biden sought to cash in on his family's famous name overseas -- sometimes in the vapor trail of his father's official duties. It also substantiates impeachment inquiry testimony from former Hunter Biden business associates Devon Archer and Jason Galanis, lawmakers told Just the News.

“The only reason Joe Biden wanted to kiss President Xi was because state-affiliated companies were about to line his family's pockets with foreign wires and lucrative business opportunities," said House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is leading the current impeachment inquiry.

"This is another example of the same formula demonstrated through our Committee’s investigation into the Biden Family’s influence peddling operation: Hunter Biden sets up meetings with the foreign businessman, Joe Biden meets them at Hunter’s direction, and the Biden family receives substantial payments in return. Rinse and repeat,” Comer added.

Biden has consistently denied any involvement with Hunter's Chinese business associates, and an incurious U.S. media refused to delve into it. For his part, Hunter Biden called the issue part of the "Trump attack machine." Pro-Biden media outlets like Politico parroted the White House's line that the laptop was part of a "Russian Disinformation" scheme.

Another lawmaker who launched one of the earliest investigations of the Biden family's business dealings said the new evidence was shocking for another reason: it divulges how much government agencies knew about the Biden family's various foreign business exploits long before they became a controversy during the 2020 presidential election.

“I was always suspicious that the FBI, the Department of Justice had walled Hunter Biden off of that Indian fraud prosecution to protect him and protect Joe Biden,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Just the News on Thursday. "I think that was maybe the first sign of corruption way back in 2013."

"The FBI apparently had some, at least reasonably incriminating or suspicious evidence against Hunter, and they buried it, and they've kept it buried until it just was revealed right now," he added.

Abbe Lowell, lawyer for Hunter Biden, did not respond to email and text message requests for comment.

Hunter Biden's trip aboard Air Force Two has been known for years. But the new documents divulge fresh details about what happened on that 2013 trip, Hunter Biden's observations of his father's ties to China, and the fact that federal law enforcement has known for years that Hunter Biden was connecting his father to the foreigners he was soliciting for business, something the Biden family originally denied.

The first son admitted in his deposition to the House Oversight Committee in February that Joe Biden in fact met with his Chinese partners.

Just the News obtained several emails from the federal investigation's repository showing that Hunter Biden arranged the meeting in Beijing in 2013 with Chinese-based partner Jonathan Li and his father right after the then-vice president finished meeting with Xi. The meeting was not impromptu, but rather set up in advance, the emails showed.

“I arrive around 12- head to embassy then great hall for arrival ceremony. Staying at St. Regis- I will touch base when I land,” Hunter Biden wrote to Li on Dec. 4, 2013.

“Hope I can see u this time!” Li replied.

“Yes - we will make it work- lets plan on you guys coming over to St. Regis around 7:30 tonight. I don't know exactly when I'll be back but it should be around then- and I'd like to introduce you to my Dad. Also I am here until 4PM tmrw- again not sure what I am going to attend with Dad but will have better idea by tonight,” Hunter informed his partner, seemingly eager to arrange the meeting.

Li agreed to join Hunter Biden at his hotel and said he would bring two of his associates, the emails show.

“Meetings are running late- which means dinner w/ X will be pushed back so I think it is more likely that I will be back to hotel around 8:30 now. I'll keep you updated,” Hunter Biden informed Li after some time had passed.

“No problem. We are having dinner in a restaurant beside your hotel. You hotel is closed, so you need to have someone to meet us when you are back,” Li replied.

You can read that email below:

DEC2013_HB_Li_Re- Connecting in Beijing.pdf

Later than same evening, Devon Archer emailed Hunter Biden to ask if the Bidens had met with Li.

“Did you end up meeting Jonathan?” Archer asked.

“Yes- and they got to meet Dad. All very good. Talk later,” Biden replied, confirming the meeting between Li and the vice president took place.

“[G]reat!  have a good day over there,” Archer wrote back.

“Dinner w/ Xi was pretty amazing. They (Xi and JRB) were supposed to spend 2hrs together. It stretched to 7hrs. I think they are in love with each other. They all most kissed on departure,” Biden wrote, describing the meeting between his father and President Xi Jinping, who had been chosen for the role earlier that year.

You can read that email below:

DEC2013_HB_Archer_Re-Beijing.pdf

During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden repeatedly denied having any interactions with his son’s business associates. Joe Biden has continued to maintain these denials as president, even recently after his son confirmed several meetings with business partners.

“I did not interact with their partners,” Biden told reporters in March.

“I have never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their business, period," he said on the campaign trail in August 2019.

But, his own son contradicted the president’s denials when he appeared before the House Oversight Committee for his deposition earlier this year as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into his father.

“When we returned from an event to the hotel, there was a rope line, and Jonathan Li was in the lobby of the hotel where I was going to meet him for coffee. In that line I introduced my dad to Jonathan Li and a friend of his, and they shook hands and I believe probably took a photograph. And then my father went up to his room, and I went to have coffee with Jonathan Li,” Hunter Biden told investigators, describing the meeting which was chronicled in the emails.

“I was working with Jonathan on a potential that he had an idea for creating a private equity fund based in China to do cross-border investments,” the younger Biden explained.

Hunter_Biden_Transcript_Redacted.pdf

The new evidence makes clear that the FBI and other law enforcement knew as early as 2016 that Hunter Biden planned for his father to meet Li, with whom he was worked to establish a new fund.

Biden, Li, and Archer had signed a memorandum of understanding to form a new venture in November 2013, the month before Vice President Biden’s official trip to China. Twelve days after the Bidens met with Li, the joint venture—BHR Partners—was officially registered in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported.

 
John Solomon and Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/feds-knew-2016-hunter-connected-his-chinese-business-partner-his

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Pending pandemic agreement and International Criminal Court decisions fan fears of globalism - Madeleine Hubbard

 

by Madeleine Hubbard

"We ought to get out of the WHO altogether. That's obvious," Rep. Glenn Grothman said.

 

The World Health Organization's pending global pandemic agreement and the International Criminal Court's application for arrest warrants of leaders of a democratic country fighting terrorists are raising concerns about globalism, which critics say is supported by President Joe Biden's policies.

"We ought to get out of the WHO altogether. That's obvious," Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., told the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show this week. "We do not want any future American administration, like the Biden administration, to say, because the WHO is doing something – recommending certain vaccines, recommending certain treatments – that we, therefore, have any obligation whatsoever to go along with that sort of thing."

The WHO released a draft of its global pandemic agreement last month, and a final version of the document is expected to be decided by consensus during the World Health Assembly's meeting from May 27 to June 1.

"It must be noted that it was a decision by Member States to embark on this process, in December 2021, which was an acknowledgement [sic] of their common desire to strengthen the world’s coordination action in terms of preparing for, preventing and responding to pandemics in light of COVID-19," the WHO told Just the News. 

Former Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann, who has been raising the alarm on the issue since at least 2022, told "Just the News, No Noise" that under the treaty, the WHO "would be energized and supercharged and given even more powers, in fact, global powers to be able to call the shots on health."

The concerns come even though the the current draft of the treaty includes safeguards to limit the WHO's power.

"Nothing in the WHO Pandemic agreement shall be interpreted" as giving the WHO the authority alter or implement domestic laws, or to impose any mandates, including rules about travel, vaccinations, treatments and lockdowns, the draft states.

However, there are more than 300 amendment proposals for the treaty, and some of the proposals "would substantially increase the WHO’s health emergency powers and constitute intolerable infringements upon U.S. sovereignty," according to a letter to President Joe Biden signed by all Senate Republicans earlier this month.

Bachmann said that if the treaty passes, "we would go back to what it was like under COVID, only worse, we'd have no right of appeal. ... This would also create a surveillance state like the Communist Chinese would have. And this would again take away and restrict our constitutional liberties," because of the vast number of things that the WHO considers things such as being health care. 

The draft agreement "recognize[es] the importance and public health impact of growing threats such as climate change, poverty and hunger."

However, it is unclear how the agreement's language would increase surveillance beyond what is already allowed under current international law. The agreement states it is looking to "strengthen pandemic prevention and public health surveillance capacities, consistent with the International Health Regualtions," which is an existing agreement that requires countries, including the U.S., to report and respond to potential public health emergencies.

The current agreement is not finalized and negotiations are ongoing for it, but it's not just Republicans who are expressing concerns about the agreement.

Human rights organizations, specifically Amnesty International, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Commission of Jurists and Human Rights Watch, argue that the agreement does not go far enough in preventing a global health disaster.

"Rather than acting on the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, the current proposed text offers a weak framework for ensuring that countries will be accountable for maintaining a rights-compliant response to future pandemics," the four organizations wrote in a statement about the agreement in the fall.

Meanwhile, concerns about global governance are also being voiced in response to the ICC's decision earlier this week to apply for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the same time as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.

Former Trump National Security Council official Robert Greenway said that Congress should "impose restrictions on the ICC," just like the Trump administration did. 

"The court's rogue, it's political, it serves no justifiable purpose. And as long as it's pursuing partisan political objectives, it shouldn't be supported by the United States, or the United Nations or the international community," he also said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., similarly blasted the ICC for making what he called a "baseless and illegitimate decision" to go after Netanyahu and Gallant.

While the future of both the ICC and the WHO pandemic agreement are unclear under Biden, if former President Donald Trump is reelected this fall, he may decide to restart the process of withdrawing from the WHO and reinstitute sanctions on the ICC.

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.

 
Madeleine Hubbard

Source: https://justthenews.com/world/pending-pandemic-treaty-and-international-criminal-court-decisions-fan-fears-globalism

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South Africa, Putin's Marxist Cadres, and the International Court of Justice - Nils A. Haug

 

by Nils A. Haug

[T]he ANC has effectively "turned its back on Western values, and expressed its support for countries and organisations that subscribe to terror as a measure and method of governance."

 

• [I]n 2023, the ANC, on behalf of the South African government, brought charges of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This case seems to be another fatuous endeavour by the ANC for prominence....

• [T]he ANC has effectively "turned its back on Western values, and expressed its support for countries and organisations that subscribe to terror as a measure and method of governance."

• Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa, citizen.co.za, November 15, 2023

• [E]verything Western, regarded as colonialist or imperialist, must be destroyed and recreated according to atheist, socialist, dogma... in pursuit of a revolutionary version of pseudo-egalitarian social justice.

• The historic ties of these African countries to the totalitarian countries of Russia, Cuba, and China and to revolutionary movements such as Hamas are as strong as ever.

• Through BRICS and other forums aligned with anti-Western actors, these African countries oppose the West with impunity and reject any pretence of joining the West's sphere of nations with their liberal democratic traditions.

• Anglo-American nations blissfully ignore Africa's strong connection to despotic regimes and persist in their simplistic approach towards these countries by showering them with financial incentives and arranging unproductive conferences.... African countries gladly accept the offered funds while remaining aligned to totalitarian regimes. Financial enticements by the West for the purposes of gaining favour are made in vain: these leaders remain, at their core, Marxist revolutionaries imposing extreme socialist policies on their populace, unfortunately leading to the demise of hitherto prosperous and productive economies.

• Until a positive regime change occurs, no improvement in the lives of the average citizen can be expected. The people get poorer by the day.... The dim prospects of the poor, which led to the protest and resulted in millions of dollars in damage to the economy, have not improved.

• Realistic hope turns to despair for southern Africa's political and economic future, particularly South Africa, which is fast approaching a failed state. A 2023 Harvard Kennedy Business School study describes the cause as "collapsing state capacity and spatial exclusion" -- which translates as state inefficiency and the exclusion of whites from certain aspects of the economy. The same can be said of Zimbabwe (very much a failed state), Namibia, and others.

• This is the complex world of southern African politics, whose leaders present lip service to the Western ideals of democracy while accepting generous global hand-outs – usually offered, unfortunately, with no demands for accountability.

In 2023, the African National Congress (ANC), on behalf of the South African government, brought charges of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice. This case seems to be another fatuous endeavour by the ANC for prominence. Pictured: Basem Naim (L), a Hamas leader who is a former Gaza health minister and Khaled Al-Qaddumi, Hamas' representative in Iran, speak during a press conference in Cape Town, South Africa on November 29. (Photo by Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images)

In South Africa, the most important benefactor of the African National Congress party (ANC) since independence in 1994, providing military support for years, was the former Soviet Union. Despite exhibiting a veneer of democracy, the ANC and their associates, remain fervently Communist-Socialist, adopt Marxist-Leninist socialist dogma as their political worldview and hold Russian President Vladimir Putin in high regard.

In the three decades since the neo-Marxist ANC commenced its rule, however, South Africa, as a country rich in natural resources and with a hitherto first class private business sector, has been experiencing a depressing nearly 40% unofficial unemployment rate, with daily electric power "load-shedding" nationally, a compromised water supply, and endemic corruption at every level of government -- generally to the benefit of a politically connected elite.

During November 2023, for instance, the Office of the Auditor-General estimated that more than 12 billion rands were lost the previous financial year through corruption in government departments. In fact, the authorities have no real idea of the exact amounts involved, as trillions have been "lost" through corruption and maladministration over the last 30 years, severely weakening the country's financial solvency.

The official implementation of Communist "cadre deployment'' strategies into all sectors of the public sector has severely damaged one of Africa's largest and most vibrant economies. Apart from government departments, all State-owned enterprises (SOE) are bankrupt, dysfunctional, and crippled by endemic corruption through ANC appointed cadre directors and managers. These personages draw substantial salaries but are incapable of fulfilling their designated functions competently or at all.

SOE examples include the sole mandated supplier of electricity, ESCOM; the national broadcaster, SABC; the national airline, SAA, the national Post Office, and so on. Long-suffering taxpayers fund these nationalised entities year after year with no improvement in sight.

All major arms of government and the public sector appear to be dominated by socialist, unionised, ANC-appointed loyalists, resulting in a centrally controlled, dysfunctional, public sector designed to generate political allegiance to the regime. South Africa's government employees are considered the highest-paid in the world, relatively speaking, as are politicians at all levels, from local to provincial and national. This situation has led to highly competitive elections, particularly at local level, for the enticing rewards of office. Ironically, the practice has also led to a compromise of democratic principles as elected officials are constantly under threat of assassination. As a result, many persons of integrity are dissuaded from seeking office.

Since July 2018 -- in one province alone, Kwa-Zulu Natal -- more than 150 politicians, either elected or standing for election, have been assassinated. In addition, 300 cases of politically motivated crimes such as attempted murder, intimidation, and conspiracy to murder are under investigation. The situation in other provinces is basically no different.

Embracing the standard Marxist dualism between "oppressors" and the "oppressed," the ANC implements draconian racist restrictions on the "colonialist" white race group (to a lesser degree on Indian and mixed-race communities), effectively prohibiting them from entering the public-sector tender-driven economy on an equal footing.

In the private sector, ANC racial requirements, at all levels, compromise traditional capitalism and freedom of trade, going so far as to subject private real estate agents to calamitous racial standards.

In November 2023, short-sighted regulations were promulgated by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (a misnomer), allowing permits for the export of agricultural products (a mainstay of the economy) issued only to those entities complying with drastic racially-defined requirements under Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) rules. Here, the ANC in its pursuit of total control of all facets of the economy further reveal their statist ideology in seeking a nuanced neo-Marxian utopia.

The inept ANC cannot manage its own party finances, even though it is the largest political party in a somewhat sophisticated African country. During the first week of December 2023, the High Court Sheriff served a Warrant of Attachment and Execution on ANC headquarters, Luthuli House, as a result of an unpaid civil debt amounting to millions of rands. In the process, the ANC's bank accounts and assets were seized. This is not their first financial crisis: ANC employees have frequently gone without wages due to cash flow issues.

The ANC's brutal racist intervention in South Africa's economy, adversely affecting the social life of citizens, suggest a form of "revenge Apartheid." Notwithstanding that Apartheid ended in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela as president, in the ensuing 30 years the country has become more racist than ever. Whites born after 1994 who knew nothing of Apartheid are discriminated against as they struggle, irrespective of merit, to obtain access to certain educational institutes, such as medical schools. Whites are prejudiced against both in the public sector and private sector economies – the latter due to demographic racial requirements newly imposed on large corporates.

Irrespective of enticements and preferential US and European trade conditions (such as AGOA – the African Growth and Opportunity Act), and with billions of dollars in annual financial benefits through USAID and others, southern African countries do not support the West when it counts. At the United Nations, for instance, they vote against (or abstain from) condemnation of Russia for the Ukraine invasion.

Instead, in early 2023, South Africa conducted joint military exercises with Russia and China and, according to the US Embassy, allegedly supplied a sanctioned Russian warship with matériel, presumably for the Ukrainian war. In late April 2024, giant Russian cargo-aircraft collected military goods in South Africa ostensibly for delivery to defence force troops stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Predictably, the ANC strongly supports the terrorist movement Hamas, despite atrocities its Einsatzgruppen perpetrated on innocent civilians in Israel, that fateful day in October 2023. Hamas operates offices in Cape Town, unofficially sanctioned by the ANC, but to the disgust of many South Africans, including the main opposition Democratic Alliance party. On December 5, Hamas officials attended a memorial for Nelson Mandela in South Africa. The officials included Basem Naim, erstwhile Gazan Health Minister, and Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas envoy to Iran.

To support the jihadist agenda, a recent report indicated that South African religious Muslim students flew to Syria carrying suitcases full of cash donated to Islamist terrorists. On May 10, 2024, the South African government, led by Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, hosted the inaugural "Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine" aimed at gathering all anti-Israel activists, both state and non-state actors. The given agenda was to create a "global movement to dismantle Israel's settler colonialism and apartheid."

Here, too, the ANC emulates Putin's stance on Israel, while ignoring Hamas's slaughter of innocents. In early November 2023, the editor of the South African Jewish Report wrote that South African's Foreign Minister "congratulated Hamas on the success of their operation." He adds the minister's view accords with the "ANC line which supports Russia, Venezuela, Iran and Cuba." In same perverse mode, an ANC spokesman declared "the decision by Palestinians to respond to the brutality of the settler Israeli apartheid regime is unsurprising."

To further publicise South African political support for revolutionary jihadists supported by Iran, on March 25, 2024, the progressive University of Cape Town hosted a Zoom conference with Hezbollah and Hamas, which have never been designated in South Africa as terrorist organizations.

Iran and the ANC also enjoy a close relationship, and few doubt that Iran's funding enables the ANC to pursue their ani-West agenda.

The ANC has historic alliances with Palestinians, initially through Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). They confirmed their allegiance to Hamas when downgrading their Tel Aviv Embassy to a liaison office and voting to shutter Israel's Embassy in South Africa. The ANC recalled their Ambassador in 2018, indicating their future stance on Israel some six years back. In November 2023, the ANC indicated its intention to rename Johannesburg's most prominent street, Sandton Drive, after noted Palestinian activist and airplane hijacker Leila Khaled. Later in 2023, the ANC, on behalf of the South African government, brought charges of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This case seems to be another fatuous endeavour by the ANC for prominence and one which has generated much criticism not only from Israel but also the US, the UK and Germany. Many feel that the ANC is an embarrassment to South Africa.

The Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Warren Goldstein, spoke for many South Africans on the Israel-Hamas conflict when he explained that the ANC has effectively "turned its back on Western values, and expressed its support for countries and organisations that subscribe to terror as a measure and method of governance."

Once in power, liberation movements rarely appear capable of transforming into successful democratic governments. Revolutionaries seem never to change their fundamental ideology: they seek power above all else. Craving respect as international power brokers, the maladroit ANC elite make seemingly irrelevant peace trips to Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere, while demanding an urgent BRICS head-of-state meeting on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The explanation for ANC mismanagement of South African life can be demonstrated by the typical anarchist mode of res delenda est – everything Western, regarded as colonialist or imperialist, must be destroyed and recreated according to atheist, socialist, dogma (the ANC's ideological ideal), in pursuit of a revolutionary version of pseudo-egalitarian social justice.

The historic ties of some African countries to the totalitarian countries of Russia, Cuba, and China and to revolutionary movements such as Hamas are as strong as ever. Through BRICS and other forums aligned with anti-Western actors, these African countries oppose the West with impunity and reject any pretence of joining the West's sphere of nations with their liberal democratic traditions.

Anglo-American nations blissfully ignore Africa's strong connection to despotic regimes and persist in their simplistic approach towards these countries by showering them with financial incentives and arranging unproductive conferences such as annual meetings of the US and African Union Commission (AUC) in Washington, DC. African countries gladly accept the offered funds while remaining aligned to totalitarian regimes. Financial enticements by the West for the purposes of gaining favour are made in vain: these leaders remain, at their core, Marxist revolutionaries imposing extreme socialist policies on their populace, unfortunately leading to the demise of hitherto prosperous and productive economies.

Until a positive regime change occurs, no improvement in the lives of the average citizen can be expected. The people get poorer by the day. The 2021 mass uprising by the populace in South Africa revealed justified anger with the current political and economic situation, the unacceptably high unemployment rate, and the absence of hope for the future. The dim prospects of the poor, which led to the protest and resulted in millions of dollars in damage to the economy, have not improved. There is therefore every reason to expect another uprising in the not too distant future. Such unrest will no doubt be exploited by an ANC kleptocracy for the further entrenchment of their regime. They, as other leaders, have little inclination to relinquish power. In the meantime, these countries continue to strengthen their ties to Russia, Cuba, and China.

Realistic hope turns to despair for southern Africa's political and economic future, particularly South Africa, which is fast approaching a failed state. A 2023 Harvard Kennedy Business School study describes the cause as "collapsing state capacity and spatial exclusion" -- which translates as state inefficiency and the exclusion of whites from certain aspects of the economy. The same can be said of Zimbabwe (very much a failed state), Namibia, and others. It was Lord Acton who pointed out in 1834, "false principles cannot serve as a basis for reconstruction of civil society." Consequently, skilled workers continue to depart the country in droves.

This is the complex world of southern African politics, whose leaders present lip service to the Western ideals of democracy while accepting generous global hand-outs – usually offered, unfortunately, with no demands for accountability.

Nils A. Haug is an author and essayist. A Lawyer by profession, he is member of the International Bar Association, the National Association of Scholars and Academy of Philosophy and Letters. Retired from law, his particular field of interest is the intersection of Western culture with political theory, philosophy, theology, ethics and law. He holds various degrees including M.A. (cum laude) in Biblical Studies and Ph.D. in Theology (Apologetics). Dr. Haug is author of 'Politics, Law, and Disorder in the Garden of Eden – the Quest for Identity'; and 'Enemies of the Innocent – Life, Truth, and Meaning in a Dark Age.' His eschatological study, 'Towards the Eternal City,' will be released 2025, published by Academica Press, Washington – London. His work has appeared in Quadrant, First Things Journal, The American Mind, Gatestone Institute, Minding the Campus, the National Association of Scholars, Jewish News Syndicate, Israel Hayom, and others.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20659/south-africa-marxist-cadres

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The Secret Reason Hamas's Friends - Ireland, Norway, Spain (and Germany) - Are Helping the Palestinians - Bassam Tawil

 

by Bassam Tawil

Apparently, Ireland, Norway and Spain do not even realize that they just strengthened the terrorists in their own countries.

 

• Ireland, Norway and Spain should have advised the Palestinians that if they wanted anything from Israel, they should sit down and negotiate with the Israelis, and not try to impose any solution on them with the help of the international community.

• They also should have told them that there will be no peace negotiations with Israel unless the Palestinians repudiate and renounce terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist.

• Apparently, Ireland, Norway and Spain do not even realize that they just strengthened the terrorists in their own countries. When Muslims demonstrated in Hamburg last month and demanded that shariah law and a Caliphate replace democracy in Germany, politicians said they should be jailed and stripped of their citizenship.

• Perhaps a few countries might also recognize a State of Catalonia?

• [W]hen [Palestinians] talk about "liberating" the land, what they really mean is that they want to murder all Jews or expel them from Israel, and replace it with an Iran-backed Palestinian terror state.

• The timing of the recognition of a Palestinian state, just months after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, sent a message to the terrorists -- which should be transposed to the Europeans in their own countries -- that the more people they slaughter, including the Gazans Hamas kills as human shields, the more support they will have from the Europeans and the rest of the international community.

• Ireland, Norway, and Spain are letting it be known that the international community is willing to overlook, submit to, or even condone terrorism. This attitude will not promote any peace process between Israel and the Palestinians -- or among anyone trying to transform other countries. Instead, it encourages those who want to fundamentally remake countries in the West.

• Finally, who in his right mind imagines that the Middle East would be secure and peaceful with a Palestinian state adjacent to Israel? Such a state will simply serve as a springboard for more attacks against Israel. The Palestinians openly stated as much in their ratified 1974 "10-Point Program," known as the "phased plan," in which any land acquired will be used to get the rest.

• Basically, as Hamas openly states in its charter, its aim to eliminate the only homeland of the Jewish people and murder as many Jews as possible. It appears that the Europeans wish to finish the task that Hitler started -- the secret reason they are assisting the Palestinians in achieving this goal.

In the past few days, Hamas and other terrorist groups have been rejoicing over the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognize a Palestinian state. Germany, not to be left out, said it would "detain Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to set foot on German soil and if the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant..." Pictured: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere on April 22, 2024 in Hanover, Germany. (Photo by Ronny Hartmann/AFP via Getty Images)

In the past few days, Hamas and other terrorist groups have been rejoicing over the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognize a Palestinian state. The terrorists are so delighted that they have released several statements praising the three countries and stating that the Palestinians view the recognition as a direct result of their terrorist attacks against Israel. Germany, not to be left out, said it would "detain Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to set foot on German soil and if the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant..."

The recognition of a Palestinian state, even if it is merely a symbolic action that has no bearing on the reality on the ground, sends two messages to the Palestinians. First, that terrorism against Jews is justified and worthwhile because the world, instead of punishing you, will reward you for your crimes.

Second, that the Palestinians will not need to negotiate thorny issues with Israel, such as borders and the status of Jerusalem, because the international community will grant them everything on a platter.

Ireland, Norway and Spain should have advised the Palestinians that if they wanted anything from Israel, they should sit down and negotiate with the Israelis, and not try to impose any solution on them with the help of the international community.

They also should have told them that there will be no peace negotiations with Israel unless the Palestinians repudiate and renounce terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist.

The three countries, however, chose not to make any demands from the Palestinians before they announced their decision to recognize a non-existent Palestinian state. These countries appear to have been motivated more by a desire to put a finger in the eye of Israel than a genuine concern for the Palestinians.

Apparently, Ireland, Norway and Spain do not even realize that they just strengthened the terrorists in their own countries. When Muslims demonstrated in Hamburg last month and demanded that shariah law and a Caliphate replace democracy in Germany, politicians said they should be jailed and stripped of their citizenship.

Perhaps a few countries might also recognize a State of Catalonia?

The Palestinian terrorists have every reason to be happy. They know that a Palestinian state will be controlled by the Iranian regime and its Palestinian terror proxies, especially Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Public opinion polls conducted before and after Hamas's October 7, 2023 massacre of Israelis show that most Palestinians prefer the terrorist group over the Palestinian Authority and its governing Fatah faction. Additionally, a poll published last March showed that 71% of the Palestinians believe that the Hamas massacre was justified.

"This recognition [of a Palestinian state] came as a result of the enormous sacrifices made by the Palestinian people and after many decades of struggle and resistance," Hamas said. "The historic and bold decision announced by the Spain, Norway and Ireland is a decision in the right direction."

The "struggle" and "resistance" refer to the Palestinians' decades-long anti-Israel terrorism, which reached its peak on October 7 with the murder, rape, beheading, and burning alive of 1,200 Israelis, including infants, and seizing more than 240 as hostages -- many of whom are now believed murdered.

Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip said that they view the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain as a reward for the October 7 carnage and the many years of terrorism against Israel.

"The [Palestinian] resistance factions in Gaza welcomed the announcement by Norway, Spain and Ireland of their recognition of the State of Palestine, considering it a major shift in the global position in support of the Palestinian cause and the result of the Palestinians' steadfastness and bravery in defending their rights and clinging to their land," the Palestinian news agency Safa reported.

These factions also called on all world leaders and governments to follow suit and assist the Palestinians in their fight to "liberate" all their land. The factions, which include Hamas, PIJ, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), do not recognize Israel's right to exist. So, when they talk about "liberating" the land, what they really mean is that they want to murder all Jews or expel them from Israel, and replace it with an Iran-backed Palestinian terror state.

The Hamas-affiliated Palestine Information Center (PIC) said it viewed the three European countries' recognition of a Palestinian state as one of the achievements of the October 7 massacre, which the Palestinians call the "Al-Aqsa Flood."

"It is the Al-Aqsa Flood alone and nothing else that changed the equations and returned the Palestinian issue to the top of the agenda of the world," PIC said, adding that the massacre successfully paved the way for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Commenting on the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain, the PFLP said in a separate statement that the recognition of a Palestinian state "came as a result of the Palestinian people's resistance" -- a reference to the October 7 massacre and other crimes committed by the Palestinians against Israelis over the past few decades. The PFLP expressed hope that the recognition of the Palestinian state would mark the beginning of "defeating" Israel and "expelling" the Jews from "our land."

The timing of the recognition of a Palestinian state, just months after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, sent a message to the terrorists -- which should be transposed to the Europeans in their own countries -- that the more people they slaughter, including the Gazans Hamas kills as human shields, the more support they will have from the Europeans and the rest of the international community.

Ireland, Norway, and Spain are letting it be known that the international community is willing to overlook, submit to, or even condone terrorism. This attitude will not promote any peace process between Israel and the Palestinians -- or among anyone trying to transform other countries. Instead, it encourages those who want to fundamentally remake countries in the West.

Finally, who in his right mind imagines that the Middle East would be secure and peaceful with a Palestinian state adjacent to Israel? Such a state will simply serve as a springboard for more attacks against Israel. The Palestinians openly stated as much in their ratified 1974 "10-Point Program," known as the "phased plan," in which any land acquired will be used to get the rest.

It was precisely this plan that was put into action on October 7.

Under the rule of Hamas and PIJ, the Gaza Strip had actually been a sovereign and autonomous state -- and supposedly honoring an official ceasefire already in place. Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza possessed their own government, parliament, judiciary, security forces, military, and border crossings (with Egypt and Israel) – with not one Jew or Israeli in their territory. Gaza had the opportunity to become a "Singapore on the Mediterranean" and all the foreign aid in the world with which to create it.

Instead, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups chose to use the funds to build "a city under a city" -- 400 miles of terrorist tunnels from which to attack Israel -- because their true goal has always been, and remains, not to live next to Israel, but to replace Israel. Basically, as Hamas openly states in its charter, its aim to eliminate the only homeland of the Jewish people and murder as many Jews as possible. It appears that the Europeans wish to finish the task that Hitler started -- the secret reason they are assisting the Palestinians in achieving this goal.

Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.

Source:https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20661/ireland-norway-spain-palestinians

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White House walks back denial of Israel's Rafah evacuation capabilities - WSJ - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

According to WSJ, for months, the White House insisted Israel had "no credible plan" to evacuate Rafah’s 1.3 million residents, but despite these objections, Israel proceeded with its plans.

 

IDF soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, May 23, 2024

(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

"This Administration never supports anything we do until we do it," a senior Israeli official told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Thursday. The WSJ editorial highlighted what it called “Israel's successful evacuation” of 950,000 civilians from Rafah, Gaza, despite months of opposition from the Biden Administration.

According to WSJ, for months, the White House insisted Israel had "no credible plan" to evacuate Rafah’s 1.3 million residents. President Joe Biden asserted there was no feasible way to conduct a major military operation with so many civilians present, leading to an arms embargo on Israel. "We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas," Biden said.

Despite these objections, Israel proceeded with its plans. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan both expressed doubts, claiming Israel had "no credible plan" and warning against launching a major operation into Rafah.

Biden Administration 'shifted' narrative

As the evacuation succeeded, the Biden Administration shifted its narrative, according to WSJ, claiming Israel had updated its plans to incorporate US concerns. A senior US official remarked, "It’s fair to say that the Israelis have updated their plans. They’ve incorporated many of the concerns that we have expressed." The official also suggested the operation might revive hostage negotiations.

The delay caused by the Biden Administration’s initial opposition has prolonged the conflict, primarily to Hamas’s detriment. A senior Israeli official criticized the US stance: "This Administration never supports anything we do until we do it."

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks, at a celebration for Jewish American Heritage Month, in the Rose Garden at the White House, in Washington, U.S., May 20, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)

The WSJ editorial explained that Rafah’s strategic importance is crucial for post-conflict plans, as Israel aims to prevent Hamas from maintaining a military presence and controlling the Egyptian border. Israel has uncovered 50 tunnels used for smuggling between Rafah and Egypt. Securing this border is essential to weakening Hamas’s ability to sustain an insurgency.

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-802477

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California 'Racial Justice Act' uses racial disparities to cut prison sentences - Kenneth Schrupp

 

by Kenneth Schrupp

Law enforcement and prosecutors say this act has reversed otherwise lawful convictions of violent individuals, threatening public safety.

 

(The Center Square) - A new California law now allows criminal defendants from disproportionately-convicted racial groups to challenge lawful convictions as state leaders seek to balance criminal justice reform with skyrocketing violent crime. The law also allows for additional challenges in the case of demonstrated racial bias inside or outside the court, or if a conviction or sentencing could have negative immigration consequences.

Law enforcement and prosecutors say this act has reversed otherwise lawful convictions of violent individuals, threatening public safety, while criminal justice advocates say that the existence of racial disparities in conviction and sentencing are evidence of injustice.

Under the Racial Justice Act, all a criminal defendant has to do to challenge a conviction or sentencing is present racial bias related to trials, or in the absence of bias, county-level data finding members of an individual’s race or national origin face more arrests, serious charges or longer sentences than another group.

Because Asian Americans commit crime at the lowest rates, even white Americans can use the Racial Justice Act and present a comparison population with relatively lower numbers of convictions and sentences.

Current prisoners in California became eligible for using the RJA to challenge their sentences and convictions starting in January of this year. The RJA has already been used to throw out life sentences for Oakland gang members convicted of murder after an investigation found racist communications and actions in the local police department.

“The pursuit of 'equity' in the name of justice is a Trojan horse, designed to free convicted felons solely based on the color of their skin, ignoring the simple fact they were arrested, tried, and convicted based on what they did,” said former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva to The Center Square. “Show me the evidence where the law was applied differently due to skin color, I have yet to see it.”

While RJA author Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose cited the California Department of Justice’s Judicial Council when saying black men are 42% more likely to be sentenced to prison than white men convicted of a felony, Judicial Council data from that year found black men are 0.8 percentage points less likely to be convicted “if all other factors were held constant and the race switched to white.”

In April of 2024, San Diego public defenders successfully used the RJA to prevent a certain judge from hearing an RJA motion in a homicide case because the judge said in an earlier case “there is absolutely no evidence that … the proportion of persons in an ethnicity committing a crime must be the same as the proportion of the population.”

In documentation providing clarification and training for use of the RJA, criminal justice advocacy group Prosecutors Alliance suggests that RJA population comparisons should be made using “people who have engaged in similar conduct – not who is convicted versus the population as a whole.”

When asked if the organization meant defense lawyers should use populations of criminals who commit similar crimes as the comparison populations for RJA motions, the Prosecutors Alliance said, "We cannot have true justice when racial disparities exist at every level of the criminal legal system. We need ways to address these injustices both proactively and retroactively, and the Racial Justice Act plays a key role in our ability to do that.”

“The RJA helps create a fairer, more equitable legal system, which builds trust with communities and promotes long-term safety,” continued Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance, to The Center Square.

However, some crime experts say the RJA could hurt minority communities the most.

“The Prosecutors Alliance continues to suppress the actual cause for racial disparities in the criminal justice system: vast disparities in criminal offending,” said Manhattan Institute fellow and crime expert Heather Mac Donald to The Center Square, in response to the Prosecutors Alliance. “In Los Angeles, blacks are 57 times as likely to be a homicide suspect as whites. Blacks are 21 times as likely to commit a violent crime as whites in Los Angeles, and 36 times as likely to commit a robbery. These data come from witnesses to, and victims of, these crimes, mostly minority themselves, in their reports to the Los Angeles Police Department.”

“And it is those crime disparities that should be the focus of civil rights groups, since the victims of violent street crime are also disproportionately black,” continued Mac Donald. “In Los Angeles, blacks are 17 times as likely to be a homicide victim as whites, and 13 times as likely statewide.”

 
Kenneth Schrupp

Source: https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/california-racial-justice-act-uses-racial-disparities-cut-prison

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Nearly 70% of Gaza Aid from US-Built Pier Stolen - Joshua Marks

 

by Joshua Marks

According to Israeli estimates, Hamas has been stealing up to 60% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip, and a Channel 12 report last week revealed that the terrorist organization has made at least $500 million in profit off humanitarian aid since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

Close to three-fourths of the humanitarian aid transported from a new floating pier built by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast was stolen on Saturday en route to a U.N. warehouse. Pictured: Palestinian men loot a truck carrying international humanitarian aid from the US-built floating pier near Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip on May 18, 2024. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

Close to three-fourths of the humanitarian aid transported from a new $320 million floating pier built by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast was stolen on Saturday en route to a U.N. warehouse, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Eleven trucks "were cleaned out by Palestinians" on the journey to the World Food Programme warehouse in Deir El Balah in the central Strip, with only five truckloads making it to the destination.

"They've not seen trucks for a while," a U.N. official told Reuters. "They just basically mounted on the trucks and helped themselves to some of the food parcels."

According to the United Nations, no aid was delivered to the warehouse from the U.S. military's pier on Sunday and Monday.

The United Nations said that 10 truckloads of food aid from the pier arrived at the warehouse on Friday, its first day of operation. It was transported by U.N. contractors.

"We need to make sure that the necessary security and logistical arrangements are in place before we proceed," said the U.N. official.

According to Israeli estimates, Hamas has been stealing up to 60% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip, and a Channel 12 report last week revealed that the terrorist organization has made at least $500 million in profit off humanitarian aid since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

The pier was pre-assembled at the Israeli port of Ashdod before being anchored to a beach in the coastal enclave on Thursday. No American troops went ashore during the installation of the pier, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Some 1,000 U.S. soldiers and sailors helped build the floating pier.

The Israel Defense Ministry's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit announced on Saturday that "hundreds of pallets of humanitarian aid" and more than 160,000 liters of fuel had entered via the pier.

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of CENTCOM, said that the goal is for 500 tons of humanitarian aid, or 90 trucks, to pass into Gaza through the pier daily, eventually increasing to 150 trucks a day.

CENTCOM tweeted early Tuesday that over 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance has been unloaded from the pier so far.

Reuters also reported that "food and medicine for Palestinians in Gaza are piling up in Egypt because the Rafah crossing remains closed."

Israel took operational control of the crossing weeks ago, but Cairo so far has refused to cooperate with Israeli authorities to facilitate the entry of aid through Rafah. The Israeli government wants to allow aid into Gaza through the crossing but is unable to do so without Egyptian cooperation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz last week placed the responsibility for averting a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip squarely on the shoulders of Egypt.

Katz said he had spoken with his British and German counterparts "about the need to persuade Egypt to reopen the Rafah Crossing to allow the continued delivery of international humanitarian aid to Gaza."

While the world places the responsibility for Gaza's humanitarian situation on Israel, he added, "the key to preventing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is now in the hands of our Egyptian friends."

Meanwhile, COGAT on Thursday approved the resumption of commercial trade between Israel and the Gaza Strip, with truck deliveries starting the following morning, Israel's Walla! News outlet reported on Sunday.

According to the report, 150 trucks loaded with produce from Israel—not aid—crossed into Gaza, intended for merchants who purchased the produce, which is "intended for Hamas members and the civilian population."

Reprinted by kind permission of JNS.

Joshua Marks

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20658/gaza-aid-stolen

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What mainstream media isn’t reporting during the Israel-Hamas war - opinion - Andrea Samuels

 

by Andrea Samuels

With very little information getting out there about what’s really happening in Israel, both Jews and non-Jews in the Diaspora must arm themselves with accurate, evidence-based information.

 

A SOLDIER passes by a burned-out car in Kiryat Shmona in the aftermath of a rocket attack on the northern Israeli city, earlier this month. Since the conflict began, northern Israel has come under repeated rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon, the writer notes.

(photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)

If you’re reading this outside of Israel on jpost.com, chances are, I’m preaching to the converted as it means you get your news about what’s going on here from a reliable Israeli news source – The Jerusalem Post. 

However, those who have just stumbled across this article, whose main information concerning the situation here is the mainstream media (MSM), will probably be surprised by what they’re about to read. In short, MSM will only tell you half a story, and a biased one at that.

Diaspora dwellers could be forgiven for thinking that the war in Israel is centered around Gaza alone: “Nothing about the North of Israel on any news in [the] UK. The only news at the moment is about getting food into Rafah,” said Chana Werner of Bolton, UK.

Using Israeli news outlets for information about the war

Those who live stateside share the same problem, as Sandy Wasserman confirmed, “I have to seek [Israeli news] out online. Then I read it from various sources. But it’s not reported in the standard US TV news. All we hear about is Trump’s trial.” 

As we all know, or at least ought to know, on October 7, Hamas and their supporters flooded into Israel from Gaza, hellbent on death and destruction. These merciless terrorists crossed the border into Israel by air, land, and sea, brutally attacking anyone they came across in the towns and villages along the border, regardless of their age or gender.

Palestinians break into the Israeli side of Israel-Gaza border fence after Hamas terrorists infiltrated areas of southern Israel, October 7, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa)

Over 1,200 people were slaughtered in the most violent and inhuman ways possible, often after being raped and tortured in the process. Further, over 250 people, from tiny children to elderly Holocaust survivors, were kidnapped into Gaza where around 130 remain, alive or dead, some of whom are known to have been murdered there. 

Naturally, an Israeli ground invasion into Gaza followed this horrific massacre, which has been the subject of much heated debate. While the operation was still in the planning stage, before a single soldier had even set foot on Gazan soil, absurdly, some were calling for a ceasefire. 

Since then, the world has watched as the war has been prosecuted in the Strip, poring over every military decision, largely trying to paint Israel and the IDF as the aggressor, and regarding as victims Hamas, its supporters, and the people of Gaza – often unable to distinguish between them. 

“In general, from watching MSM, we have the impression that the IDF is killing innocent children, unopposed, and there is no mention of the ongoing rocket attacks on Israel apart from the Iranian attack which was portrayed as a harmless gesture,” explained Paul Martin Gurnett from Britain.

The innocent victims of October 7, however, hardly get a mention anymore. And when they do, it’s perfunctory at best. 

Recently, for example, well-known English sports broadcaster Gary Lineker referred to the October 7 attack simply as “the Hamas thing.” Like many, he’s been extremely vocal about the plight of the Gazans, and yet he’s barely commented on the atrocity itself, save to minimize it. 

WHAT MANY outside of Israel may not realize, however, is that the war has affected not only those who live in the Gaza border communities – many of whom have been displaced or even lost their homes – but it also affects residents in the North just as badly. 

Since the conflict began, northern Israel has come under repeated rocket and drone attacks from both Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups stationed in Lebanon. 

While such attacks from Gaza have lessened as Hamas’s capabilities have been weakened, no such let-up has been apparent in the North. In fact, it’s getting worse. 

Currently, over 60,000 people are still displaced from their homes in the border towns and cities of northern Israel, with some completely out of bounds – entry is with IDF permission only. 

Many who fled their homes on October 7 left with little more than the clothes on their backs and haven’t been able to return since. Pleas to retrieve precious mementos from their homes, such as photos, in case they should be destroyed in one of the ongoing attacks, have been refused, so dangerous is the situation up there. 

A “war zone,” is how  Alex Haruni,, owner of Dalton Winery, located 10 km. from the Lebanon border describes the whole area.

“Is a rocket going to land on us?” He often wonders to himself, he told me in a recent interview. 

Like many business owners in the area, Hurani is unsure about what the future holds: “I always prepare the winery as if we’re not coming back tomorrow.”

And his fears are well-placed. Last week, for example, around 75 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel in a single day - and that’s not unusual. Although many were intercepted, the damage, chaos, and fear caused by such frequent barrages are substantial. 

ANOTHER ONGOING tragedy about which many outside Israel are unaware is the deaths of soldiers on the frontlines both in Gaza, the North, and the West Bank. 

Men, some as young as 19, as well as reservists in their 20s, 30s, and even 40s, are making the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe, often leaving behind young children who will grow up without a father. 

Many more troops have suffered serious, life-changing injuries, including the loss of limbs. 

“The impact on Israeli society moving forward in terms of rehabilitation and handicapped people living among us is going to be a tremendous shock for most people,” says, Dr Shlomi Codish, director general at Soroka Medical Center, “and that’s before we even talk about mental health.”

This ongoing, heartbreaking situation is one that all of us here have had to live with for eight months. Obviously, for the thousands who do not know when they will be able to return home – “refugees” in their own land  – life is much tougher. And then there’s the unbearable anguish of the hostages and their families, as well as those who are mourning the deaths of loved ones. 

The suffering of the nation as a whole runs deep and affects every aspect of our lives. 

AND YET, apart from news of the ongoing war in Gaza, with the focus mainly on the plight of the Palestinians and how to get aid to them, very little of this tiny nation’s ongoing ordeal is known by the outside world.  

To keep up to date with what’s happening on the ground in Israel, many have turned away from the MSM altogether, instead get their information from English-language Israeli news outlets and television channels, as well as other online sources, such as the IDF Facebook page and WhatsApp groups. 

With very little information getting out there about what’s really happening in Israel, both Jews and non-Jews in the Diaspora must arm themselves with accurate, evidence-based information.

Anything less would be a disservice to the people of Israel whose ongoing plight must not be minimized or ignored.

Andrea Samuels is a former lawyer from the UK who now lives and works in Israel as a freelance writer for The Jerusalem Post.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-802451

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