Sunday, June 8, 2025

Anatomy of A(nother) Blood Libel - Clarice Feldman

 

by Clarice Feldman

Major media is acting hand in glove with Hamas to broadcast fake Gaza atrocity stories and enflame antisemitism. 

 

Immediately following the Hamas atrocities in Israel on October 7, key media outlets played a significant role in fomenting antisemitism, bruiting blood libels against Israel and those who support her. Last week, the same week Jews were firebombed in Boulder, Colorado, some publications seem to have by design or bias aided Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.

Background

There is no “genocide” in Gaza.

“Gaza genocide” is a lie, and the people spreading that lie are partially responsible for the crimes these three men committed.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas -- an avowedly terrorist organization and the ruling class of Gaza, whose charter specifically calls for the eradication of Israel and the death of all Jews living there -- engaged in an act of war. There is no doubt whatsoever that the cross-border invasion and murder of scores of innocent, unarmed Israelis was an act of war under international law. Moreover, international law from the days of St. Thomas Aquinas onward has always recognized the concept of a “just war,” and no war can be more just than waging it against terrorists from a neighboring state who avowedly seek the destruction of your own country and demonstrate the military capacity to do so.

Just wars are NOT “genocide.”

Moreover, the Israeli Defense Forces practice state-of-the-art civilian risk mitigation measures, in full keeping with the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. If you are trying to commit “genocide,” you do not follow the Geneva Conventions. You just don’t.

If you are trying to commit “genocide,” you do not provide civilians early warning that you are about to strike legitimate military targets in their midst.

If you are trying to commit “genocide,” you do not distribute robust food aid to the alleged targets of your genocide.

If you are trying to commit “genocide,” you do not provide humanitarian medical assistance to the alleged targets of your genocide.

If you are trying to commit “genocide,” you do not evacuate sick and wounded children of the alleged targets of your genocide to hospitals.

If you are trying to commit “genocide,” you do not communicate that all armed conflict will end the moment Hamas lays down its guns and stops indiscriminately shooting rockets at Israeli civilians.

No, if you are trying to commit genocide, you do not fight a just war in keeping with the Geneva Conventions. Instead, you line everybody up against the wall and shoot them in the back of the headThat is genocide, and the war the Israelis are waging in Gaza looks nothing like that.

Alleging that Israel is engaged in “genocide” is the blood libel of the modern era, on par with the claim that Jews season their matzos with the blood of Christian babies.

I know, I know, “It’s not that I’m antisemitic; it’s that I oppose Zionism.” Bullcrap. If you have to commit a blood libel lie in order to support your hate, while never once caring about or even mentioning the actual genocides ongoing in places like Darfur and Myanmar, it’s a reasonable assumption that you are a raging antisemite (particularly when I click on your X account and it’s chock full of conspiracy theories about “the Joos”).

“Gaza genocide” is a LIE. It’s a hoax that bears no resemblance to objective reality, and if you are spreading this lie, blame for the blood and fire in Boulder, the ruined mansion in Harrisburg, and the dead bodies on the steps of the Capitol Jewish Museum rest in part on your blood-soaked hands.

Wipe that blood off your hands and start speaking truth, lest the lies consume you.[/quote]

Neither is there a famine in Gaza.

It is established beyond debate that Israeli food shipments into Gaza have been commandeered by Hamas, which sells the food at high prices to fund its terrorist operations. Countless photos of captured Hamas operatives show them well fed. Similarly, you can see on X videos of well-stocked Gazan food markets and restaurants. You can also see videos of Hamas stealing the shipments, beating and shooting poor Gazans trying to reach the Israeli food trucks. And this week, you can see Gazans breaking into a UN warehouse where tons of this food had been locked away from them. As Hamas is losing, it is becoming ever more desperate to hang on to its food monopoly, and the U.S. and Israel, working with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), worked out a secured food distribution system which minimizes Hamas’ last hold on the area. Since operations began, approximately 5.8 million meals have been distributed. Unable to break through defensive positions around these distribution centers, Hamas tried overwhelming IDF troops some distance away and were shot at. Here’s the video evidence, and here's a recording of a Gazan civilian confirming it.

“The people who fired [on Gazans collecting aid] were Hamas terrorists. They don’t want the people to receive aid, they want to foil the plan so that the aid will go to them.”

Nevertheless, beginning with the BBC, a number of major media reported that Israel was shooting at civilians who were trying to get food. No unbiased person would have accepted this nonsense. Why, such a person would ask, would the Israelis go to so much trouble to provide food if only to shoot those trying to get it? Why not just shoot and skip the logistics problem? Jake Simons nailed it:

“So now we are being asked to believe that Israeli forces are simultaneously giving aid to the people of Gaza and gunning them down when they try to collect it? Wouldn’t it have been easier to have skipped the first part?” 

Brains must be fried at the BBC, which reported that Israeli tanks attacked the civilians:

Most recently, Hamas reported an Israeli tank attack at a GHF site last weekend.

The media reported it without question. A BBC news summary said, “At least 31 people have been killed after Israeli tanks opened fire near an aid center in Gaza, Hamas-run health ministry says, and 150 Palestinians have also been injured according to the Red Cross hospital in Rafah… ‘We have had an extortionate [sic] amount of people come through the door… The injuries are all gunshot wounds.’”

Gunshot wounds from a tank attack? Oops. [snip] Now -- we have come to the central issue. Hamas is losing the war. Its commanders are gone, its tunnels are severely degraded, its weapons are low, Iran largely gone from the region, and -- with an alternative source of food -- the people of Gaza are turning on them. Hamas is desperate.

“Aid” agencies are desperate to help. Part is reputational -- having claimed to be feeding starving Gazans, they are not happy to see Gazans welcoming food from the US in cooperation with Israel.

The uglier part is financial -- having received billions in aid money, as the world finds out that Hamas was not only stealing the food but charging “starving people” exorbitant prices for donated goods, they are understood to be thieves. The media fronted for all of it. The ugliest part is anti-Zionist/antisemitism; they can’t be separated from each other or from their proponents.

Deliberate Bias

The hoax was widely published. The most incendiary and false coverage was by the Washington Post and the BBC. A clue as to the underlying bias is whom the press relies on to report from Gaza. The Post reporters were three Brits stationed in the Middle East, one of whom was a former Al Jazeera reporter, who earlier reported a lie that Israel was keeping mothers away from visiting their children who had been brought to Israel for medical treatment, (a lie the Post had to walk back) and a fourth person, a Gazan. What kind of newsroom again hires someone who earlier provided fake news it had to retract? We have already learned from CNN in Baghdad, the Green Helmet charade, and other Middle East press hoaxes that reporters stationed in these countries are mere mouthpieces for the Islamist autocrats who run them. 

Not only were the BBC and Washington Post guilty of spreading Hamas propaganda without using the simplest of logical tests and without considering the sources of the information upon which they relied, they are both disingenuously responding to criticism, one saying it continually updated information as it came in, the other leaving the original fake report online

The Post took a different approach from other mainstream outlets in its coverage of the story. While the New York Times did report that "Palestinians who had gathered overnight in the hope of obtaining food from an aid distribution center in Gaza came under fire, according to local health officials," it did not use the Gaza Health Ministry’s accusations against Israel in its headline.

The Wall Street Journal used similar language, writing, "More than 20 Gazans were killed as they made their way to a U.S.-Israeli aid distribution center, Palestinian authorities said."

The result of the Post's coverage was a comment section in which readers described "Israel's actions near aid distribution sites in Gaza" as "genocidal," accused the Jewish state of "committing war crimes" and implementing "a broader strategy of ethnic cleansing," and called for "an end to U.S. support for Israel," according to the Post's AI-generated summary. 

The false stories have taken on a life of their own. In any event, further investigation makes it clear that the video which the press claimed supported the ludicrous charge was first posted by Drop Site reporter Ryan Grim, a Palestinian who works for al Jazeera.

The BBC on Monday issued results of an investigation determining the video, which shows masked gunmen firing into a crowd, does not line up with claims that the IDF massacred Gazan civilians on Sunday

The original video -- which amassed nearly 400,000 views on X -- was posted by a Palestinian who works for the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera news network, which is known to fabricate anti-Israel narratives. The BBC found on Monday that the video, which does not depict a single IDF soldier, was filmed nearly three miles from the nearest aid distribution site at an hour of day that does not align with the timing of the purported massacre. It is now believed the attack was carried out by Hamas.

Grim’s tweet, which is still live after both the BBC and IDF debunked its contents, has drawn more than 133,000 views and promotion from a network of prominent anti-Israel agitators. The group includes former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft scholar Annelle Sheline, and Raed Jarrar, a policy analyst with the anti-Israel advocacy group Democracy for the Arab World Now.

The false story also gained widespread traction in the mainstream media, with the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, BBC, and others relying on Hamas officials to claim that Israel gunned down over 30 civilians. Many of these outlets, including the BBC, subsequently walked back their initial reports, but not before they had spread across social media and fomented another public relations nightmare for Israel.

Grim and his Drop Site News outlet are the original purveyors of false claims that a White House National Security Council staffer previously worked for the Israeli government, an allegation that generated anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and was quickly disproven by the Trump administration.

The Quincy Institute, an isolationist think tank funded by George Soros and Charles Koch that advocates for normalized relations with Iran, boosted that story and Grim’s Gaza massacre tweet.

While some social media observers informed Grim that his tweet about the events in Gaza was false, others have used it to promote blood libels about the Jewish state and its war effort.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror spree, anti-Semitism has skyrocketed across the globe, leading to the killing earlier this month of two Israeli embassy staffers in downtown Washington, D.C., and a terrorist attack on peaceful demonstrators this weekend in Boulder, Colorado.

An IDF spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon that misinformation about the incident in Gaza continues to spread.

"In recent hours, false reports have been spread, including serious allegations against the IDF regarding fire toward Gazan residents in the area of the humanitarian aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip," the spokesman said. "The IDF calls on the media to be cautious with information published by the Hamas terrorist organization, as proven in several previous incidents."

Findings from an initial IDF inquiry into the matter indicate that soldiers "did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false."

These findings are consistent with the BCC’s own investigation of the video Grim, Al Jazeera, and others promoted online.

"We have geolocated the clip to a spot in Khan Younis about 4.5km (2.8 miles) from the nearest aid distribution point," the outlet reported on Monday. 

If you want the propaganda from Hamas’ financier Qatar, skip the middlemen like the BBC and Washington Post and go straight to Al Jazeera. In the meantime, I hope some younger, more energetic lawyers than I am study whether 18 USC Sec 2339B, which criminalizes providing material support to terrorist organizations applies to press outlets which knowingly rely on absurd allegations made by operatives of terrorist organizations to advance their nefarious interests.

 

Clarice Feldman 

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/06/anatomy_of_a_nother_blood_libel.html

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For first time in 20 years, nuclear watchdog nations to accuse Iran of violations - JNS

 

by JNS

The draft resolution from the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom will state that Iran’s failure to declare its nuclear material and activities “constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement.”

 

The Vienna International Center (bottom left), home to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), viewed from the offices of the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna, Austria. Credit: Justen Thomas/U.S. Department of State.
The Vienna International Center (bottom left), home to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), viewed from the offices of the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna, Austria. Credit: Justen Thomas/U.S. Department of State.

The United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom are set to introduce a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency that would find Iran in noncompliance with its nuclear safeguards obligations, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

Citing a “senior Western diplomat,” the newswire said that if the resolution passes, it would mark the first time in 20 years that Iran has been found to be in violation of its legal obligations to declare all nuclear materials and activities and allow them to be inspected by the U.N. atomic watchdog.

“Iran’s many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran … constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement,” the text of the draft resolution states.

In May, the IAEA issued a confidential report to its board members, reportedly concluding that Iran concealed nuclear activities and failed to declare materials at three sites.

A separate report circulated the same day concluded that Iran has enough nuclear material to build approximately nine nuclear weapons, though its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium remains shy of the 90% purity threshold considered “weapons grade.”

The United States and Iran are currently engaged in talks about curtailing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

U.S. President Donald Trump has written on social media that the United States “will not allow any enrichment of uranium” for Iran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, rejected U.S. demands to stop nuclear enrichment on Wednesday.

The IAEA’s board members are due to convene the week of June 9.


JNS

Source: https://www.jns.org/for-first-time-in-20-years-nuclear-watchdog-nations-to-accuse-iran-of-violations/

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Why Iran Will Never Give Up Its Nuclear Weapons - Amin Sharifi

 

by Amin Sharifi

Iran's leadership sees deception not as dishonorable, but as strategic. The Islamic doctrine of taqiyya, or religiously sanctioned deception, allows lying to infidels in the name of survival or victory.

 

  • Iran's ruling elite, bluntly, believes that both its survival and its mission depend on acquiring nuclear weapons. They saw what happened to Libya and Ukraine when their leaders gave up their nuclear weapons, and understood that this was not the way to go.

  • The regime's goal is the bomb.

  • Iran's Supreme Leader is not just a political figure, but is considered divine, with a legitimacy given not by man but by Allah.

  • "And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged." — Qur'an 8:60 (Sahih International Translation).

  • This verse is used by the IRGC not just as a call for defense, but as a religious endorsement of nuclear armament. In this view, nuclear weapons are not only permitted, but also necessary. They are both a shield against the regime's many enemies and a divine tool for the end-times struggle they believe is coming.

  • Iran's leadership sees deception not as dishonorable, but as strategic. The Islamic doctrine of taqiyya, or religiously sanctioned deception, allows lying to infidels in the name of survival or victory.

  • The regime's lack of response to Soleimani's killing revealed something essential: the mullahs understand only strength.

  • Iran's nuclear program must be completely and permanently dismantled. Even if ideology were not part of the equation, Iran's corruption, mismanagement and incompetence would still make it unfit to operate any nuclear facility. Senior officials are appointed through favoritism, cronyism or family ties. Industry is collapsing. Accountability is nonexistent.

  • The day we wake up to hear that Iran is about to use its nuclear bomb will be the day the world changes forever.

Iran's nuclear program must be completely and permanently dismantled. Even if ideology were not part of the equation, Iran's corruption, mismanagement and incompetence would still make it unfit to operate any nuclear facility. Senior officials are appointed through favoritism, cronyism or family ties. Industry is collapsing. Accountability is nonexistent. Pictured: The Isfahan uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan, Iran. (Photo by Getty Images)

Iran's ruling elite, bluntly, believes that both its survival and its mission depend on acquiring nuclear weapons. They saw what happened to Libya and Ukraine when their leaders gave up their nuclear weapons, and understood that this was not the way to go. To Iran's rulers, their nuclear program is not just a policy objective to protect the continuation of their regime, but the centerpiece of Iran's ideology and propaganda.

Despite having some of the world's richest oil and gas reserves, the regime has accepted crushing sanctions and economic ruin, all under the excuse of pursuing nuclear power. The regime's goal is the bomb.

Many different groups were involved in the 1979 revolution that overthrew the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini quickly eliminated his rivals and imposed an Islamist system unlike anything else in modern history: Velayat-e-Faqih, or "the rule of the Islamic jurist." In this vision, drawn from a radical interpretation of Twelver Shiism, political power belongs not to the people, but to Allah, and through Him to the clerical class acting as representatives of the Twelfth Iman, known as the "Hidden Imam." This belief forms the foundation of the Supreme Leader's authority. Iran's Supreme Leader is not just a political figure, but is considered divine, with a legitimacy given not by man but by Allah.

In Iran, the Supreme Leader is the only absolute ruler. He appoints the judiciary, controls the military, dictates foreign policy, and approves or rejects all applicants for election candidacy. Elections exist, but are meaningless ceremonies. Presidents and parliaments do not govern, they obey. What is absent from the Islamic Republic of Iran is a "republic."

The West still fails to grasp this regime's worldview. It is not just authoritarian, it is theological. It sees the world in binary terms: believers and infidels, Shiites and non-Shiites. It also believes that history is heading toward a final confrontation, in which Iran will be prepared militarily and spiritually to lead. That is why the Iranian nuclear program is not negotiable. It is holy, sacred.

Iran's private militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), embodies the most radical interpretation of the Quran. For example, Surah al-Anfal, verse 8:60, which commands Muslims:

"And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged." (Sahih International Translation)

This verse is used by the IRGC not just as a call for defense, but as a religious endorsement of nuclear armament. In this view, nuclear weapons are not only permitted, but also necessary. They are both a shield against the regime's many enemies and a divine tool for the end-times struggle they believe is coming.

Iran's leadership sees deception not as dishonorable, but as strategic. The Islamic doctrine of taqiyya, or religiously sanctioned deception, allows lying to infidels in the name of survival or victory. Combine this with their reading of Islamic sources such as the Islamic Prophet Mohammed's saying that "war is deceit", therefore, any agreement, verbal or written, is ultimately meaningless to a regime that views deception as doctrine.

Western diplomats still behave as if they're dealing with a conventional authoritarian state. They're not. They're dealing with an absolutist religious movement that uses treaties as cover and smiles as strategy. The Obama Administration's 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement with Iran never involved real concessions from the Islamic Republic. It was an Iranian delay tactic, a calibrated pause to outlast and outmaneuver naive Western governments.

The silence of then US President Barack Obama during Iran's 2009 Green Movement protests betrayed millions of Iranians fighting for freedom. Instead of supporting the people, he chose to preserve nuclear negotiations, a decision that allowed the regime to survive and rebuild.

By contrast, President Donald J. Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018 and his killing of IRGC Quds Force commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani represented a break from this pattern of appeasement. The regime's lack of response to Soleimani's killing revealed something essential: the mullahs understand only strength.

The Biden administration revived the failed engagement policies, and Iran became bolder than ever. From backing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, to direct launching ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in 2024, the Iranian regime acted without fear. If these events did not convince the West of the consequences of compromise with Tehran, what will?

When Iran released a video simulating the assassination of Trump, it clearly never expected him to return to power. But now, Iran's goal is simple: survive the next four years by dragging out talks and buying time to acquire nuclear bombs and rebuild the air defenses that Israel destroyed.

While the West was playing this game of hide-and-seek bogus diplomacy, Iran managed to deploy more advanced centrifuges, enrich uranium to higher levels (weapons-grade), build and expand deeper underground facilities, and find more sophisticated ways to conceal its nuclear progress.

Here is the bitter truth: A new deal with Iran might look like a solution. In reality, a deal will only give Iran more time and more cover to evade whatever it agrees to. The regime will invent distractions to advance its program underground. Another war. Another proxy. Another crisis.

Iran's nuclear program must be completely and permanently dismantled. Even if ideology were not part of the equation, Iran's corruption, mismanagement and incompetence would still make it unfit to operate any nuclear facility. Senior officials are appointed through favoritism, cronyism or family ties. Industry is collapsing. Accountability is nonexistent.

Nobody wants to see a Chernobyl-like nuclear disaster caused by Iranian incompetence or something even worse, caused by ideological intent.

Iran's regime cannot be reformed. Most especially, it cannot be trusted. It will never voluntarily give up its nuclear ambitions. Those ambitions are not just political. They are theological.

The day we wake up to hear that Iran is about to use its nuclear bomb will be the day the world changes forever.


Amin Sharifi is an expert in international relations and the Middle East. He is presently based in Sweden.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21670/iran-give-up-nuclear-weapons

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GHF reopens Gaza aid centers after Hamas threats - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation resumed aid distribution after halting operations due to direct threats from the terror group against its staff and sites.

 

Palestinians walk along a road to receive humanitarian aid packages from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 5, 2025. Photo by AFP via Getty Images.
Palestinians walk along a road to receive humanitarian aid packages from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 5, 2025. Photo by AFP via Getty Images.

 

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) resumed aid distribution in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, after cancelling distribution on Saturday due to what the U.S.-backed organization said were direct threats by Hamas.

One distribution center opened briefly during the morning hours, closing for the day after completing the distribution of food packages, according to GHF. Two more sites were scheduled to open at noon in the Tel Sultan area of Rafah City in southern Gaza.

The aid organization announced on Saturday that it had been unable to distribute food parcels due to “direct threats” by Hamas that “made it impossible to continue working today without endangering innocent lives.”

The statement accused Hamas of “seeking to return to a broken regime it previously controlled and exploited—by diverting aid routes, manipulating distribution processes, and advancing its own agenda regarding the basic needs of the people of Gaza.”

Despite the risks, the foundation stressed that “these threats will not deter the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation from its mission to deliver food to Gazans who need it most,” and that it is “intensively modifying our operations to counter these threats” with the aim of resuming aid distribution “without delay.”

Saturday’s closure followed the organization’s announcement that nearly 9 million meals had been delivered since operations began on May 26.

High demand forced two distribution centers in southern Gaza to close early on Friday. The large crowds that gathered early in the day “are impeding our ability to get all available aid to distribution centers,” the GHF posted on its Facebook page in Arabic.

On Friday alone, the group distributed 471,240 meals through 8,160 food parcels, according to its post.

The group further noted that it is “working to increase daily quantities and trucks, aiming to reach 4.5 million meals distributed daily.”

The nonprofit asked Gazans not to arrive before official opening hours and to stay clear of the roads before the centers’ gates are opened.

It also requested that people leave the sites as quickly as possible after receiving a food package, and to allow necessary space for women and the elderly.

Israel welcomed the arrival of GHF as a means of delivering aid directly to Gazan families, thus preventing Hamas from stealing the majority of the supplies.

The U.N. Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee stated on May 30 that “this initiative is an attempt to circumvent the U.N. and its agencies on the ground, foremost UNRWA, that have long delivered humanitarian aid and basic services.”

It further claimed that “GHF fails the test of the humanitarian principles,” and that it was practicing “a policy of deprivation by design.” The United Nations urged Israel to allow UNRWA and other aid groups to reenter Gaza, and it has refused to cooperate with GHF in its effort to supply Gazan families with food.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Friday night that the U.S. State Department is considering granting the GHF a budget of $500 million, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former U.S. officials.

The funds, if provided, would come from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being absorbed by the State Department, Reuters reported, citing four unnamed sources.

On Thursday, the GHF reopened the two distribution sites in the southern Strip after temporarily shutting them down for “update, organization, and efficiency improvement work” the previous day.

The temporary freeze followed three days of unrest around the distribution sites, where IDF soldiers fired their weapons in the air to control the crowds and Hamas gunmen fired their weapons to discourage Gazans from receiving aid not under their control.

While Hamas has publicly claimed that 61 people were killed and an additional 295 were wounded, the IDF has stated that these numbers are inflated.

GHF head Johnnie Moore said that “false reporting of violence at our sites has a chilling effect on the local population, and we can think of no greater disservice to a community in dire need.”


JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/ghf-reopens-gaza-aid-centers-after-hamas-threats/

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The Trump-Musk Tiff in Theatrics and Policy - Roger Kimball

 

by Roger Kimball

The Trump-Musk feud played out like internet-age theater—loud, messy, and probably temporary, with politics, ego, and spectacle trading blows center stage.

 

In 1939, the American novelist Ernest Vincent Wright self-published the 50,000-word novel Gadsby, a lipogram in which the letter “e” does not appear. Since “e” is the most common letter in English, producing a sustained work that is e-less is a tricky thing to do.

You might be asking yourself, “Then why do it? Isn’t it just a pointless exercise?”

Well, is writing a sonnet a pointless exercise? That has plenty of constraints, too, if it is to be a proper sonnet.

But to move from the literary to the political realm, I suspect that writing a novel—or perhaps I should say, “a work”—without the fifth, you know—is akin to writing about Elon Musk’s dust-up with Donald Trump without using, oh no, “bromance.”

In part, it’s a matter of nausea avoidance. If I read another headline with that silly neologism, I might just scream.

So I am going to avoid it here (and, no, I haven’t used the word; I have merely mentioned it).

The amusing aspect of this little drama is that it revolves around the Mr. Etna-like eruption of knowing commentary by people who know nothing about Trump, Musk, their relationship, or what really precipitated their break—if, that is, there really has been a break and not just a bit of calculated theater.

About all that, I know exactly as much as you do, which is to say, nothing.

No one would describe what has happened—or, rather, what is happening still—between them as a personal example of the stately quadrille, the movement of European alliances in the eighteenth century that danced to tunes established by the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748). That set concluded with the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, in which Austria changed partners from Britain to France, while Prussia linked arms with Britain.

To read what some in the commentariat have been writing, you might conclude that the Musk-Dump-Trump routine was a world historical event worthy of analysis by Talleyrand or Henry Kissinger.

A clever friend came much closer to the truth when she observed that

The Trump-Musk breakup is performance art for the Age of the Internet Era. Two cartoon-like celebrities with massive egos went from a superhero duo to arch-nemeses with the tap of a phone. It’s no different from Wrestlemania III, when friends and “faces” Hulk Hogan and André the Giant went from friends to enemies in the twinkling of a body blow. Back then, only 8-year-old boys took the performances seriously. Now, the entire commentariat is atwitter with apprehension and advice.

The ostensible issue, as all the world knows, is Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. I say “Trump’s bill,” but, of course, while the bill centers around the agenda (the “promises”) that Trump made in his campaign, it is, like all such bills, something that originated in the House of Representatives. Having been worked over by the special interests there, it is now being picked apart and modified by the Senate before it goes back to the House and has a final pow-wow with the Senate before landing on Trump’s desk, something that is supposed to happen by July 4.

Simply describing this extended process brings us to one possible source of Musk’s unhappiness, assuming that it is genuine and not feigned. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill,” he wrote on X, is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

That was before he asserted that he was responsible for Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, suggested—then retracted the claim—that Trump appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files, suggested that Trump be impeached, and called for the creation of a new political party.

Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, SolarCity, the Boring Company, and who knows what else, is used to being the man in charge. He is a genius who Gets Things Done. Like Jack Aubrey in the Patrick O’Brien novels about the British navy in the Napoleonic Wars, he is used to saying “Make it so” and then watching while whatever he ordered was accomplished.

That’s not the way politics works in a bureaucratic, quasi-democratic regime like the United States. It’s not so much that compromise is the name of the game—though it plays a role—as that horse-trading and jockeying for advantage are. It’s messy. It’s imperfect. But it’s the system under which we live.

In the commentary on the Trump-Musk mini-series and the OBBB, two slogans have often recurred. One is Bismarck’s observation that the origins of laws and sausages ought not to be looked into too closely. The spectacle is unedifying.

The other slogan is the old saw that “the best is generally the enemy of the good.”

Both are true.

The Big Beautiful Bill is far from perfect. In my view, it does not cut enough spending or zero out enough programs. But it does a lot. The White House has listed fifty things that the bill accomplishes, from making Trump’s original tax cuts permanent, adding new tax cuts, and boosting border and immigration security to eliminating funding for Biden’s Green New Deal programs, unraveling woke DEI policies on America’s campuses, and upgrading the military.

It also adds between $2 and $3 trillion (depending on who you ask) to the already gargantuan federal debt over ten years.

That is one thing that earned Musk’s ire.

But remember that in the previous ten years, the people we elected to govern us added $18 trillion to the federal debt.

The federal debt, now some $37 trillion, is unsustainable. I think that Treasury Scott Bessent is right. The responsible way out of that burden is a combination of spending cuts and policies that encourage growth.

As I say, the BBB is far from perfect. But there is an important sense in which Trump’s spokesman, Stephen Miller, is right when he says that the bill is the “codification” of Trump’s campaign promises.

The spat between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has been entertaining for those addicted to what Henry James called the imagination of disaster. However, the investor Bill Ackman was right when he noted that he supported both Trump and Musk and argued that “We are much stronger together than apart.”

It was encouraging to see Musk reply, “You’re not wrong.”

There are, in fact, many signs that the split between Musk and Trump is resolving itself. We must credit the Democrats with playing an important role in the healing process. Their unfettered delight at the explosion of acrimony between the two had a dampening effect. “Few things,” Musk noted, “could convince me to reconsider my position more than Adam Schiff agreeing with me.”

It’s by no means clear that Donald Trump will be offering more golden keys to Elon Musk. But I suspect that before long, the two will once again be cordial, if not chummy, partners.


Roger Kimball is editor and publisher of The New Criterion and the president and publisher of Encounter Books. He is the author and editor of many books, including The Fortunes of Permanence: Culture and Anarchy in an Age of Amnesia (St. Augustine's Press), The Rape of the Masters (Encounter), Lives of the Mind: The Use and Abuse of Intelligence from Hegel to Wodehouse (Ivan R. Dee), and Art's Prospect: The Challenge of Tradition in an Age of Celebrity (Ivan R. Dee). Most recently, he edited and contributed to Where Next? Western Civilization at the Crossroads (Encounter) and contributed to Against the Great Reset: Eighteen Theses Contra the New World Order (Bombardier).

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/06/08/335926/

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Trump deploys 2,000 National Guard to LA as anti-ICE protests escalate to violence - John Solomon

 

by John Solomon

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents executed arrests of illegal migrants across the country.

 

President Donald Trump on Saturday night deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles as protests against immigration arrests escalated into violence for a second straight day.

“We’re gonna bring the National Guard in tonight, and we’re gonna continue doing our job,” White House Border Czar Tom Homan told Fox News. “We’re gonna push back on these people, and we’re gonna enforce the law.”

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents executed arrests of illegal migrants across the country, hitting the Los Angeles area intensively the last few days, street protests broke out and eventually developed into rioting Friday night.

The unrest broke out again Saturday afternoon and the White House moved to reinforce agents with troops while warning the Democratic leaders of California to step up and stop the violence or face consequences.

“In recent days, violent mobs have attacked ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations in Los Angeles, California. These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States," the White House said.

"In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens," it added. "That is why President Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.

Trump took aim at California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrat leaders for failing to stop the violence.

"If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can’t do their jobs, which everyone knows they can’t, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!” Trump wrote Saturday night on his Truth Social platform.

 

John Solomon

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/security/trump-administration-dispatches-national-guard-la-anti-ice-protests-escalate

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Young Americans are Returning to Traditionalism - William Hillman

 

by William Hillman

Young people, raised in an era of rapid technological change, social fragmentation, and existential uncertainty, are seeking meaning and stability in timeless institutions and traditions.  

 

In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a seismic shift caught many political analysts off guard: young voters, assumed to be a reliably progressive demographic, showed unprecedented support for conservative candidates. This was no fleeting anomaly. Rather, it reflects a cultural transformation among America's youth, in particular young men, one that is steering them toward traditionalism and a rejection of the liberal paradigms that have dominated their cultural landscape for decades. From a resurgence of traditional religious practices to a renewed appreciation for authentic, skill-driven music, the young are embracing values that align with Traditionalism. As politics is downstream from culture, this shift is not only reshaping the present but will influence elections for years to come.

Traditionalism, as described, is a belief in timeless, sacred principles that shape a higher, spiritual order for society. Tradition comes from divine truths and guided ancient civilizations with strong hierarchies and spiritual focus. 

A Cultural Awakening: The Rejection of Empty Promises

At the heart of this transformation is a growing disillusionment with the hollow promises of modern liberalism. Young people, raised in an era of rapid technological change, social fragmentation, and existential uncertainty, are seeking meaning and stability in timeless institutions and traditions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of religion, where a notable trend is emerging: the youth are flocking to the Catholic Church, rejecting the relativism of atheism and liberal Protestantism.

According to the New York Post, young men are converting to Catholicism en masse, drawn to its rich traditions, moral clarity, and sense of community. The article highlights how Gen Z and Millennials are finding solace in the Church's rituals, such as the Latin Mass, and its uncompromising stance on issues like family, marriage, and life. "Catholicism offers a countercultural rebellion against the secular, individualistic ethos of modern society," the article notes, quoting a young convert who found atheism lacking in purpose. 

This religious revival is not about blind adherence to dogma but a deliberate choice to embrace a worldview that provides structure and meaning. The Catholic Church, with its emphasis on tradition, hierarchy, and moral absolutes, resonates with a generation weary of the moral ambiguity and existential drift of secularism. 

Music as a Mirror: The Rise of Roots and Authenticity

The cultural shift extends beyond religion into the arts, particularly music, where young people are gravitating toward genres that celebrate authenticity, skill, and tradition. Bluegrass, blues, and other roots music forms are experiencing a renaissance among younger audiences, as evidenced by the rising popularity of artists like Sierra Hull, a mandolin virtuoso who has become a standard-bearer for the bluegrass revival. In a Rolling Stone feature, Hull describes her music as a blend of technical mastery and emotional depth, performed without the crutches of auto-tune or elaborate production. "I’m trying to find that sweet spot where the music feels alive and real," she says, emphasizing the importance of live performance and instrumental skill.

This resurgence of roots music reflects a broader rejection of the polished, synthetic aesthetics that dominate mainstream pop. Young listeners are drawn to the raw, human quality of bluegrass and blues -- genres that demand virtuosity and storytelling over glamour and spectacle. Artists like Billy Strings, Sierra Ferrell, and Sierra Hull have also seen meteoric rises, with their music resonating with audiences who crave authenticity in an age of digital artifice. A 2023 article from Billboard notes that bluegrass festival attendance has surged among under-30s, with events like the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival reporting a 20% increase in young attendees over the past five years.

This musical trend mirrors the conservative ethos of valuing tradition, craftsmanship, and individual effort. Just as young people are turning to the Catholic Church for spiritual grounding, they are embracing music that honors heritage and skill, reinforcing a cultural shift that prioritizes substance over superficiality.

Politics Downstream: The Youth Vote in 2024 and Beyond

As culture shapes politics, the conservative leanings of today's youth are manifesting at the ballot box. The 2024 election saw a remarkable shift in the youth vote, with 

 

young men and women alike showing increased support for conservative candidates. A Yale Youth Poll conducted by the Yale Institution for Social and Political Studies revealed that voters aged 18 to 21 leaned Republican by 11.7 points when asked about their preferences for the 2026 congressional elections, a stark contrast to the 22-to-29 age group, which favored Democrats by a narrower 6.4 points. This data underscores a generational divide, with the youngest voters leading the charge toward traditionalism.

The reasons for this shift are multifaceted but deeply rooted in the cultural changes described. Young people, disillusioned by economic instability, cultural fragmentation, and the failures of progressive policies, are drawn to conservative platforms that emphasize economic opportunity, traditional family structures, and national pride. A 2025 Young America’s Foundation survey further illuminates this trend, noting that young conservatives cite personal experiences, family, and religion as the primary influences on their political views, rather than media or influencers. The survey also found that 61% of young voters reported moving rightward on social issues, a clear reflection of their alignment with traditional values.

This political realignment is not confined to white voters, as some might assume. Latino and black youth are also showing increased support for conservative candidates, driven by economic concerns and cultural alignment with conservative values like faith and family. A 2025 analysis highlights how Latino voters, particularly those with strong Christian beliefs, gravitated toward Republicans in 2024, citing concerns about government overreach and a desire to preserve traditional family structures. Similarly, the Brookings Institution notes a rise in conservative identification among black nondenominational Protestants, a fast-growing demographic within the black church.

Why the Shift? A Reaction to Institutional Failures

The question remains: why are young people, once the vanguard of progressive ideals, turning toward traditionalism? A significant catalyst appears to be the fallout from institutional failures, particularly in public education, exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdowns. A number of studies  and reports, including those released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Northwest Evaluation Association, the International Journal of Educational Development, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education reveal how public schools grappled with the consequences of prolonged closures, including disrupted learning, eroded trust in educational institutions, and exposed ideological biases in curricula. The Return Tracker study shows that enrollment in public schools -- down 3.5% nationally from 2019 to 2022 -- as parents and students sought alternatives like homeschooling and private institutions, many of which align with traditionalism values. 

The lockdowns exposed what public schools were teaching, and many parents didn’t like what they saw.  Controversies erupted over critical race theory and gender ideology.

For young people, the lockdown revealed the fragility of systems they were taught to trust. Remote learning often meant disengagement, and isolation. This betrayal has fueled a broader skepticism of progressive narratives that dominate public institutions, pushing youth toward alternatives that emphasize personal responsibility, family, and faith -- hallmarks of traditionalism. 

Image: PxFuel


William Hillman

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/06/young_americans_are_returning_to_traditionalism.html

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First Haredi IDF unit enters Gaza Strip - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

The Hasmonean Brigade’s deployment deepens the debate over yeshivah draft exemptions, which is putting strain on Netanyahu’s coalition.

 

Ultra-Orthodox soldiers of the IDF Hasmonean Brigade attend their swearing-in ceremony on Feb. 27, 2025. Photo by Jonathan Shaul/Flash90.
Ultra-Orthodox soldiers of the IDF Hasmonean Brigade attend their swearing-in ceremony on Feb. 27, 2025. Photo by Jonathan Shaul/Flash90.

 

The Israel Defense Forces’ new Hasmonean Brigade made history on Sunday by becoming the first ultra-Orthodox unit to enter the Gaza Strip, according to Channel 12 reporter Amit Segal.

The unit joins the fight against Hamas amid a fierce debate over exempting Haredi yeshiva students from military service that is threatening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

The infantry brigade was established after the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ruled on June 24, 2024, that “there is no legal framework that allows for a distinction between yeshivah students and others designated for military service.”

This effectively abolished the previous exemption claimed by Haredi men based on religious observance, which had expired the previous year. 

Directly following the ruling, and as of March of this year, the government issued draft notices to more than 10,000 Haredim. Only a few hundred answered the call. Further plans were drawn up to send notices to an additional 14,000.

Despite stiff political and social opposition from within Haredi society, the Hasmonean Brigade, the first all-Haredi combat unit, was opened in January 2025 and drafted approximately 50 recruits and 100 reservists, with long-term plans to enlist up to 4,000.

The brigade was named after the dynasty that began after the Jews threw off the yoke of Hellenistic rule in the Maccabean Revolt (167 BCE to 141 BCE) against the Seleucid Empire.

The brigade requires recruits to follow a strict halachic lifestyle—that is, one in keeping with Jewish law. Observant Jews serve as commanders.

Brigade enlistees were asked to sign a document accepting its rules. One clause states that recruits will at all times maintain a religious way of life, be careful to use “clean” speech, keep beards and sidelocks throughout their service if they entered the army with them and wear Sabbath clothes during Sabbath prayers and meals “as is customary in ultra-Orthodox society (and even a suit and a hat).”

All the courses and training for soldiers in the brigade will be conducted internally to avoid mixing with non-Orthodox units, a nod to a concern among many ultra-Orthodox.


JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/first-haredi-idf-unit-enters-gaza-strip-makes-history/

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Australia bans pro-Israel, bereaved brother from entry - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

Hillel Fuld, a bereaved brother and pro-Israel advocate, was set to speak in Australia before his visa was revoked over social media posts.

 

Hillel Fuld
Hillel Fuld                                                                                                               Arutz Sheva

Australia’s federal government has revoked the visa of Israeli-American tech entrepreneur and public speaker Hillel Fuld, citing concerns over social media posts it claimed may pose a threat to public order.

Fuld, whose brother Ari was murdered in a 2018 Palestinian terror attack near the Gush Etzion junction, was scheduled to address events in Sydney and Melbourne organized by Magen David Adom Australia, but was informed of the cancellation while abroad. His visit was part of a global tour raising funds for emergency medical infrastructure in Israel.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs cited sections 116 and 128 of the Migration Act, which allow for visa revocation on the grounds that a person’s presence may risk the “health, safety or good order” of the Australian community. Officials pointed to a number of online statements by Fuld, including criticism of civilian casualty figures in Gaza and remarks about radical Islam.

In a statement, Magen David Adom Australia described the decision as “deeply disappointing,” stressing that Fuld’s appearances elsewhere had proceeded without incident. “His message is one of resilience, hope, and community support,” the organization said.

Jewish advocacy groups have denounced the move as discriminatory. The Australian Jewish Association accused the government of singling out pro-Israel voices, warning it may deter Jewish visitors concerned over last-minute visa cancellations.

The move has also triggered condemnation from conservative media commentators. Writing in the Herald Sun, columnist Andrew Bolt described the Albanese government as “an enemy of free speech,” arguing the decision was based on selective quotes and political bias.

The controversy has extended beyond Australia’s borders. According to The Australian, a senior US diplomat reportedly raised concerns over the cancellation in a direct appeal to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, describing Fuld as “a respected figure” invited for a charitable cause.

Fuld himself responded to the decision by saying, “They accuse me of promoting hate and division, yet they are the ones spreading hate by excluding me for speaking the truth.”

This is not the first time the Albanese government has been criticized over its visa policy towards Israeli figures. In 2023, former Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked was denied entry to Australia over what authorities called “inflammatory” rhetoric.

According to government data, over 2,400 visas have been canceled under section 116 since 2013. Critics argue the provision has increasingly been used to silence controversial figures, rather than address legitimate threats.

Magen David Adom Australia has said it will seek to challenge the decision and remains committed to supporting emergency services in Israel.


Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/409628

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Govt. approves initiation of dismissal proceedings against AG - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

The government approved today (Sunday) the proposal of Justice Minister Yariv Levin to initiate impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in a precedent-setting step, which could trigger wide-ranging political and legal consequences.

 

Gali Baharav-Miara
Gali Baharav-Miara                                                                   Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

The government today (Sunday) approved Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposal to initiate a dismissal process against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Immediately after approval, Minister Levin approached the designated ministerial committee to request a hearing for the Attorney General, in accordance with the newly approved procedure.

Under the plan presented, the AG could be dismissed not only after consulting the selection committee that appointed her, but also following a hearing before a special ministerial committee. That committee will be comprised of representatives from all coalition parties except United Torah Judaism, which has announced its support for dissolving the Knesset.

The committee will be chaired by Minister Amichai Chikli, with members including Ministers Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, Gila Gamliel, and Michael Malchieli.

During the cabinet meeting, several ministers attacked the Attorney General’s conduct, alleging conflicts of interest and institutional overreach. Minister Levin stated, “The Attorney General is tainted by conflicts of interest,” while Minister Ben Gvir urged that the hearing take place “as early as tomorrow morning.” Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar joined Levin’s remarks, warning that a Supreme Court rejection of this decision could lead to a historic constitutional crisis, causing great damage to Israeli democracy.

Prior to this morning’s meeting, Baharav-Miara issued a scathing legal opinion from Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon. In it, Limon argued that the proposal “seeks to change the rules of the game, clearly aimed at ending the current Attorney General’s term, serving the immediate political needs of the government.”

Regarding the removal of the requirement to consult the professional-public committee, the opinion stated: “It is difficult to understand the logic behind abolishing the requirement to consult with a professional-public body meant to safeguard the independence of the Attorney General’s office.”

Limon’s memo further contends that the proposal “contains significant substantive and procedural flaws, including a series of legal defects that undermine the basis of the process.”

The opinion also addresses a broader trend: “Critics report ongoing attempts to weaken gatekeepers, various moves to increase politicization in the civil service… The State of Israel has shifted from a culture of 'it is not done' regarding political appointments to a culture of 'it is done now,' breaking established norms. Today, there is not even an effort to hide the intention to appoint political cronies.”


Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/409623

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