IDF worked to erase footage from October 7, 2023

A most horrific discovery was made that the same outfit that enabled sexual discrimination against female soldiers over petty issues and ignored warnings of a female observer also worked to erase footage of investigations into the October 7, 2023 massacre:

A Channel 12 report has revealed new details about the military mechanism that operated on the ground after October 7th to gain exclusive control over documentation from the massacre.

The special unit was established in 2020 as a lesson from previous operations in the Gaza Strip, and is headed by Lieutenant Colonel N. On October 7th, 2023, the unit's soldiers, all former members of elite units who received fictitious officer ranks in order to move freely, were deployed to the mission defined as "classified and complex."

The unit's mission was clear: collect every bit of footage from the massacre before anyone else lays their hands on it. The teams worked through several different means. The soldiers broke into kibbutz offices and homes to seize DVR machines from closed-circuit television systems. In the Gaza envelope communities and the Nova Festival site, the soldiers collected dozens of memory cards from dashcams. Additionally, they collected hundreds of mobile phones, belonging to both Nukhba terrorists and Israeli citizens, both the victims and the survivors. The soldiers carried military iPhones without SIM cards and uploaded the materials to an internal IDF Telegram in real-time.

Sources in the unit recounted: "We promised a guy from Be'eri that we would not delete anything and that we'd return everything, and that didn't happen. Everything was deleted. They instructed us not to do anything, and only then to return the devices. We deleted the content from some of the phones we returned, including videos and recordings of conversations between people from the Gaza envelope and the party."

According to the sources, the orders came directly from the Operations Directorate, and the orders were clear: "Collect everything and don't leave anything."

While the soldiers collected materials under fire, an "editing operations room" was opened on a floor that was rented out in a Tel Aviv office building. In the operations room, professional video editors dealt with the materials. Some of the materials were compiled into the video shown to the international audience to prove the scope of the atrocities.

According to the soldiers, a significant amount of the raw footage "disappeared" into the military system and never reached the families or civilian investigation teams.

The IDF did not comment on the report.

It shouldn't have to be told this is a most repulsive discovery, no matter how unshocking it may be to some at this point. No doubt, some people are wondering if some IDF officials were collaborators who enabled the horror to occur. And collaborators/infiltrators are a problem everywhere. What the military officials who worked to erase vital information did is offensive to the families of the victims along with the victims themselves. It's also stunning how desensitized to violence some people can be, that they'd even practically engage in cover up cliches.

Wash. Post admits Hamas is to blame

In a rare instance of willingness to acknowledge savages are to blame for causing a "cease-fire" to collapse, the Washington Post admits the Hamas is the one at fault here, but that's otherwise all:

After just a week, the fragile Gaza peace is fraying. Israel halted the transfer of aid to Gaza on Sunday and launched airstrikes after it said Hamas fighters killed two Israeli soldiers. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have threatened to withhold reconstruction funds so long as Hamas stays in power. Given the continued barbarity of Hamas, a happy future for the people of Gaza is probably out of reach in the near term. Yet full war is also unlikely to resume.

Consider this a win for President Donald Trump, who brought about the ceasefire. It’s also an acceptable outcome for Israel, which has seen the return of all living hostages. And, perhaps most important, this might the best anyone can really hope for in the Middle East.

Naturally, they vehemently refuse to acknowledge Islam's got any accountability here, and if they don't think it should stop being indoctrinated, then no wonder nobody can hope for much in the middle east. And of course, they fail to acknowledge that any crowds in Gaza who cheer when alleged collaborators with Israel are murdered execution style by the Hamas only make clear they're as barbaric as the overlords are. One of the biggest tragedies in this case is that the Gazan Muslims are "happy", but for all the wrong reasons. If any of them are leaving for other countries, hopefully ones like the UAE and even Indonesia, it'll be far better as a result.

Rescued hostage says he was told to convert to Islam for food

Rom Braslavski, one of the freed hostages, says the Hamas captors told him to convert to Islam if he wanted food:

According to her son's testimony, which she revealed, Tami said Rom's captors abused him psychologically, told him that Iran bombed Israel, that his parents weren't at the protests in the square, and chose to show him specifically only the Kaplan protests, while lying to him that his parents forgot about him.

Not only that, his mother said his captors tried to convince him to fast during Ramadan or read chapters from the Quran and convert to Islam, in exchange for food and improved conditions, but he refused. As evidence of the mental crisis he experienced as a result of the psychological manipulations his captors operated on him, the mother recounts, "And now when he returned, he keeps saying all the time 'I'm Jewish.'"

"I didn't understand why he keeps saying 'I'm Jewish,' 'I'm a strong Jew.' It was so important to him to preserve his Jewish identity because they asked him to convert to Islam and tempted him, if you fast in Ramadan we'll give you food, soap, all kinds of things that for us are banal, but Rom didn't break, and however he came he put on tefillin, we brought him the tefillin to the hospital and he put them on."

Here's more info about this abominable case:

His captors weaponized food, turning starvation into a weapon to break his faith. “They asked him to convert to Islam and tempted him — if you fast during Ramadan we’ll give you food, soap, all kinds of things that for us are banal — but Rom didn’t break,” Tami said, adding that guards dangled extra rations and hygiene items if he would read from the Quran.

It's remarkable he held firm. But will this teach any left-wing Israelis why the Religion of Peace is a bad thing? Who knows? That's another serious issue that has to be raised, whether anybody in Israel is going to learn from this.

National memorial for October 7, 2023

Today there's been a national memorial held for victims of October 7, 2023 at Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park:

Israel’s national memorial event marking two years since Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, onslaught — in which over 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage — has begun in Tel Aviv, drawing some 30,000 attendees.

The ceremony, organized by Kumu (“Rise Up”), a movement founded by families of victims, hostages, and survivors of the attack, is being held at Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv’s largest outdoor venue.

Speakers include former hostage Omer Shem Tov and Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan Angrest, alongside performances by Israeli artists Yuval Rafael, Idan Amedi, and more.

Unlike last year, the Israeli government chose not to hold an official state memorial, instead designating a national day of remembrance on the day after Simchat Torah — the Hebrew anniversary of the massacre — on the 24th of Tishrei, which this year, falls on October 16. As a result, Kumu’s event has become the country’s main memorial ceremony for the October 7 attacks.

Here's more on Sky News, and on Israel National News. This was an utter disaster that will take years to recuperate from.

Trump makes vital point at UN

In his address to the insufferable UN, president Donald Trump made the following clear:

US President Donald Trump warned against unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state during his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, saying it would amount to rewarding Hamas for its atrocities while hostages remain in captivity. “This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including October 7th, even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire,” Trump said.

The President stressed the urgency of halting the conflict in Gaza. “We have got to come together, and we will come together. We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately. We have to get it done. We have to negotiate peace,” he declared.

Trump sharply criticized Hamas for rejecting ceasefire proposals and for continuing to hold hostages. “Instead of giving in to Hamas ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: release the hostages now,” he said, emphasizing that the remaining captives must be returned together and without delay. He also mentioned the bodies of 38 victims, saying their families deserve their return “very quickly and very badly, as though they were alive.”

He's right that those countries who said they'd recognize a "palestinian state" without any historical proof that a Muslim/Arab state of that sort ever existed have done a horrible thing that only continues to embolden Israel's enemies. Senator John Fetterman also made this point:

Hamas views the move by Western nations to recognize a Palestinian state as a "reward," Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told Newsmax Tuesday.

France recognized Palestinian statehood on Monday at the start of a high-profile meeting at the United Nations aimed at galvanizing support for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and Monaco also announced or confirmed their recognition of a Palestinian state — a day after the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Portugal did.

"Yes, it's a reward, but it also creates a narrative. And I even hear what Hamas is saying, like, This is part of the sacrifice, and now it's all made it all worth it," Fetterman said during an appearance on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren.”

The Pennsylvania senator is unique among his Democrat colleagues in that he supports Israel's actions.

"I support what they continue to do because I don't understand why in the world these countries now are looking to recognize Palestine. Why aren't they demanding — before we do anything — to release all those hostages?" he added.

All this is why sanctions have been imposed upon the PLO along with Hamas in the USA, and even in Israel, there's considerations to that effect. The European governments appeasing the Hamas are a disgrace to history, and have only made things worse for their own countries since it doesn't change what the Islamic Koran commands doing to infidels.

IDF succeeds in eliminating jihadist who abducted Yarden Bibas

The IDF has succeeded in meting out justice against a jihadist who was involved in the abduction of Yarden Bibas:

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced this evening (Tuesday) that the IDF and ISA, with direction from the southern command, struck and eliminated on August 10th, 2025, the terrorist Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar, a terrorist in Hamas' military wing.

The terrorist infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz during the brutal October 7th massacre and took part in the abduction of Yarden Bibas.

"The IDF and ISA will continue to operate against the terrorists who took part in the brutal October 7th massacre," the military said.

Following the IDF's announcement, Yarden stated: “A small part of my closure happened today. Thank you to the IDF, the Shin Bet, and everyone who took part in the elimination of one of the terrorists who kidnapped me on October 7. Thanks to you, he will not be able to harm anyone else. Please take care of yourselves, heroes."

There's still much to do in order to avenge the murder of other members of the Bibas family, of course. For now, this is an important victory in the war against the Hamas jihadists.

Last remaining American hostage of Hamas freed

Eden Alexander, the one remaining USA-born hostage of Hamas, has been released from captivity:

Edan Alexander, 21, the last American-Israeli hostage, was released Monday by Hamas to the Red Cross and is en route to Israel, where he will be met by his family, doctors, and officials from both Israel and the U.S.

Alexander, who comes from Tenafly, New Jersey, immigrated to Israel and volunteered in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), where he was accepted into the elite Golani brigade. He was kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, terror attack.

Many residents of Tenafly gathered at dawn to watch Alexander’s release.

Alexander was handed to the Red Cross — which, for nearly 600 days, failed to visit him in captivity — in Gaza on Monday afternoon local time, and was set to be delivered to Israeli forces in Gaza, before his return home.

It's to be remembered that this makes clear how evil the Red Cross actually is, if they refuse to try and visit hostages.

Donald Trump has welcomed Alexander's release, and this is an important achievement for the POTUS indeed. Here's more:

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomes the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander “after 584 agonizing days of captivity.”

“Edan’s release is a beacon of light and hope, and it is also a reminder that 58 hostages are still being held captive in Gaza,” it says. “No hostage can be left behind. Unless all of them return, there will be no Israeli victory.”

“The return of all the hostages is the most urgent and important national mission of our generation,” the forum adds.

The problem is that the Hamas still cannot be allowed to remain, nor any other Muslims in Gaza, or this nightmare will return, and whether or not all hostages are released, we cannot allow that to impede upon punishing the jihadists. Food for thought.

Update: Alexander's been reunited with his family.

Hen Mazzig's offensive moral equations

About 2 months ago, the leftist homosexual journalist Hen Mazzig, who already did something bad enough by attacking Abigail Shrier for defending girls, Jewish or otherwise, from LGBT operations similar to the violence Hamas committed on October 7, 2023, wrote apologia for Muslims in Gaza in the Jewish Exponent where he says they shouldn't be "displaced" from the Gaza strip, obscuring that they disqualified themselves of the privilege of remaining:

I grew up on stories of exile. My family was forced out of Iraq and Tunisia for being Jewish — homes stolen, communities erased and history rewritten. To this day, too many people insist it was “voluntary migration,” as if nearly a million Jews in Arab lands simply woke up one morning and decided to leave behind centuries of roots, culture and history.

I’ve spent years pushing back against that erasure, making it clear that my family — and so many others — were forced to leave. And yet, today, I see a disturbing echo of that same denial. The same people who overlooked Mizrahi Jews’ suffering are now casually advocating for the forced displacement of Palestinians as “the only option” to deal with Hamas’ terror.

I get the disgusted feeling he's implying right-wingers "overlooked" eastern Jews' plight? Well that's awfully rich coming from somebody who doesn't seem to have much respect for women. This certainly obscures how the Menachem Begin government did its best to help people of such backgrounds, and suggests Mr. Mazzig's political leanings are impeding his ability to appreciate that. Of course, it's also possible he's implying the left as of now is advocating for moving out what Mazzig blatantly calls "palestianians", and can't stand if anybody on his end of the spectrum is supporting what's best worked on, which is to send away products of Islamic indoctrination who tragically were all on Hamas' side 2 years before, to a distance that would be best remained at.

Reactions to President Donald Trump’s statement last week about removing Palestinians from Gaza ranged from some voices applauding it as a necessary step — one online commentator even told me it was time to “try something new to solve this conflict” — to anti-Israel activists using it as “evidence” of Israeli intentions, to extremists on both sides seizing it to justify their absolutist solutions for this conflict.

I see things differently, because I don’t have to imagine what forced displacement does to a people. I see it in my own family, even 75 years later. My grandmother still speaks of Baghdad — not just as a city, but as her other homeland that was taken from her. The trauma of being uprooted never left her, nor did the deep pain of knowing that an entire world of Jewish life in Iraq was erased in a single generation. Yes, we rebuilt. Yes, Israel gave my family refuge. But what was lost can never be fully regained.

This is what’s missing from the argument that Palestinians would be “better off” leaving Gaza — that they would have safer, more comfortable lives if they were resettled elsewhere. It’s the same logic that was used to justify the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands. And while my family may have found security in Israel, that doesn’t mean the original trauma was justified. Nor does it account for the cultural and communal annihilation that came with it.

This entirely obscures the evils of Islam, which I sadly guess Mr. Mazzig isn't even the slightest bit willing to acknowledge, and even if he studied the Koran's contents, chances are it makes no difference to him. He continues with his shoddy obfuscations:

The destruction of Gaza under Hamas’ rule is undeniable. But forced displacement doesn’t solve that problem — it only ensures that the pain and resentment of this war will last for generations. I am not blind to the fact that anti-Zionists today demand the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel. Not only is that hateful, but it fundamentally denies the Jewish people’s historic connection to the land of Israel. That’s racism. And it’s unacceptable.

Indeed, the loudest voices in the “Free Palestine” movement aren’t calling for a two-state solution. They’re not talking about peace. They want Israel gone. They want Jewish sovereignty erased. They don’t see Oct. 7 as an atrocity — they see it as a model.

But you don’t fight anti-Zionist eliminationism with eliminationist rhetoric of your own. You don’t counter the fantasy of erasing Israel by proposing the same for Gaza.

That’s not strength. That’s surrender — to the idea that this is a zero-sum war where one side must be erased for the other to survive.

And I guess it's weakness to look for the cause of the hatred driving Muslim adherents, right?

I am not talking about efforts — if they exist — to give Gazans who wish to seek refuge elsewhere the ability to do so. That is their right. I am talking about the fantasy that all Palestinians in Gaza will be wiped out or relocated to some as-yet-undetermined place, as if that were a serious solution.

Of course, the plan to displace Gazans that Trump floated, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, is unlikely to end up getting carried out.

Let’s be honest: Relocating Palestinians from Gaza is never going to happen. No Arab country will get on board. Saudi Arabia rushed to release a statement making it clear they won’t normalize relations with Israel without a Palestinian state. Egypt and Jordan have always said they won’t take in Palestinians from Gaza. No American administration — least of all one that ran on ending wars and tightening borders — will commit troops to enforce it or open the gates to Palestinian refugees.

This is political theater.

And this is defeatism on Mazzig's part. Mainly because the Jordanian king has so far shown the willingness to take in children of families who need medical care, and there are more who'll be relocating to Indonesia. But Mazzig, in all his moral equivalence, won't show any appreciation, will he? And of course, he avoids any reference to the Religion of Peace. He definitely doesn't speak of it negatively. And he doesn't seem particularly interested in making a case for sending a message to Arab countries that they should take in these so-called palestinians, whose very name draws from one given to Israel by the Roman empire, and Mazzig obscures that entirely.

We’ve seen this play before. Netanyahu and Trump previously dangled West Bank annexation only to “concede” it in exchange for the Abraham Accords. Now, Trump is floating this logistical insanity — likely knowing it will never happen — to position himself as the only one who can “negotiate it down.”

But here’s the real danger: While world leaders understand this is just bluster, the people watching — especially online — think it’s real. And that’s a serious threat to us.

Because Mr. Mazzig wants it to be. He's obviously anti-Trump, just like he's anti-Netanyahu. And if he thinks western conservatives are the root cause of all evil, and can't acknowledge even liberals make mistakes, that's just the problem Mazzig has failed to prove he can rise above.

Because when these extreme ideas enter the mainstream, they don’t just fade away. They stick. They fuel conspiracies. They get used to paint all Jews as complicit in a plan that doesn’t even exist. And once again, we become the scapegoat.

Political leaders pushing these ideas aren’t protecting Jews. They’re making us targets. Jews deserve better than to be associated with unrealistic, cruel proposals that will almost certainly never happen but will absolutely be used against us.

And if there’s one thing I know from my family’s history, it’s that displacement only creates new wounds; it does not heal old ones. The Jews who were expelled from Arab lands never found justice, and Palestinians won’t either if they are forcibly removed from Gaza.

Hamas started this war. Hamas is responsible for this war. But the people in Gaza shouldn’t have to pay for a tyranny that rules over them with an iron fist. Many of them, as we’ve seen from footage throughout this war, oppose Hamas and do not want to live under their control.

And we deserve better than to have leftists like Mazzig lecture us with cowardice. This reeks of blood libels anti-Israel propagandists use, to imply that Israel is literally guilty of tyrannizing Gazans entirely without justification. And ignores all the barbaric acts committed in the name of the Religion of Peace, to say nothing of how many Muslims in Gaza were indoctrinated with Hitler's Mein Kamph, translated into Arabic. That Mazzig apparently obscured such horrific discoveries speaks volumes, and the same goes for how he obscures the celebrations the Gazan Muslims had after October 7, 2023. The Islamofascists in Gaza also celebrated September 11, 2001, and Mazzig doesn't dwell on that either. What does that say about what kind of person Mr. Mazzig is?

The more we entertain the idea that one side must be erased for the other to live, the further we get from any future that isn’t defined by endless war.

There are no magic wands here. No shortcuts. And no amount of forced migration — of Jews or Palestinians — will bring the peace we all deserve.

The only way forward is to dismantle Hamas, empower Palestinian leaders who reject extremism and invest in a long-term solution where both peoples can live with security, dignity and self-determination — without adding to the traumas that must be overcome another episode of ethnic cleansing like what my family experienced.

And the more we vehmently refuse to discuss the content of the Koran/Hadith, and vehemently refuse to acknowledge that the modern claim of a "palestinian state" was an anti-Israel fabrication, the less likely we are to solve a terrible problem. Oh, and has Mr. Mazzig ever spoken in defense of black Africans who were victim of Islamofascism in Africa? Or victims of honor murders? He also doesn't seem particularly concerned about Islamic hostility to homosexuality, this despite Mazzig himself being homosexual. He also obscures how Gaza is really Israeli land, and this makes him no better than say, the phony conservative Ed Morrissey.

Mazzig has only proven himself one of the biggest hinderances to Israel, and if he hasn't apologized to the aforementioned Shrier, that's another serious error he's made.

New graphic novel about October 7, 2023 features moral equivalence

The Times of Israel reported about a graphic novel being developed with a Canadian academic, and it looks like this product, unfortunately, relies on moral equivalence, blurring the differences between Jewish victims and Islamic aggressors, despite any claims to the contrary:

In the annals of graphic novels being written about the stories of those affected by the Hamas terror onslaught of October 7, 2023, “Echoes of October” may be the first in which the creators wish to remain mostly anonymous.

The fictional, kids-geared upcoming graphic novel has four child narrators — from Gaza City, Toronto, Tel Aviv, and the Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel — each one telling their stories leading up until October 7, the day on which each of their fathers was killed.

The Jewish Israeli father from Tel Aviv was killed at the Nova desert rave, where he was working as a DJ, while the Druze boy’s father, an elite IDF soldier, was killed fighting near Gaza, defending the kibbutz communities.

The Palestinian girl’s father was killed as part of the wave of Gazan civilians who entered Israel on that day through the security fence to join the brutal assault, and the Canadian girl’s father — they’re not Jewish — was murdered during the onslaught at the kibbutzim, where he had been staying to help aid Palestinians.

So we're supposed to care about somebody who's father participated in a mass jihadist attack on defenseless women and children, not to mention also men, and, in allusion to what's further discussed below, we're also supposed to believe quite literally that he was dragged into this? I'm sorry, but this entirely obscures what influence the Islamic religion had in the whole tragedy, and how severe its indoctrination was all these years in the Hamas/PLO enclaves. Not to mention how taqqiya (deception) and naive conduct of specific victims made it possible for the jihadists to betray many of said victims.

To that end, and to avoid bias as much as possible, three of the four creators — including one of the two writers, the artist and the colorist — have opted to remain anonymous and together chose a pseudonym, Ami Adan, as the author name.

“We wanted to have as few preconceived notions as possible and we chose the name Ami Adan as an amalgamation of identities,” said Omri Rose, a professional voice actor who is Israeli and is one of the novel’s two writers, the only team member who opted to identify himself.

The idea for the graphic novel came about after October 7, when a Jewish Canadian academic who had previously been in touch with Rose began reaching out to him in solidarity following the Hamas terrorist attack.

“He wanted to do something, especially because things were so tough in Canada,” said Rose.

Rose’s Canadian co-creator particularly wanted to create something that would represent all sides affected by the conflict, but without authors whose names and origins would lead readers to draw their own assumptions.

“He sees this as a labor of importance,” said Rose.

The two began tossing around ideas for a graphic novel based on children, but with the focus on multiple perspectives and authenticity.

“It is pro-peace,” said Rose. “We firmly believe in Israel’s right to exist and also that the Palestinian people deserve respect and their own say, free of Hamas. It is anti-Hamas.”

Unfortunately, this just sounds like another effort to legitimize the whole fabrication of a Palestinian Moslem/Arab state at Israel's expense, obscure that many of the Gazan Islamists had nothing but hatred for the hostages, kept Arabic-translated copies of Mein Kamph in their households, don't accept Israel's existence no matter what they think of the Hamas, and "multiple perspectives" is little more than clue of defeatism involved. Not to mention that again, if they won't question whether the Religion of Peace had any influence in the horror of October 7, 2023, then what good will this GN be? The following notes that:

None of the deaths are explicitly explained, including the Gazan father, who is not a member of Hamas and instead is described as someone pulled into Hamas activities, without much say in the matter. [...]

Rose said that he and the other writer spoke with Gazan journalists and other Palestinians, as well as members of the Druze community, to create authentic storylines.

Umm, is that meant to imply he was merely coerced? Because as surviving hostages have testified, there were even journalists who were involved in the evil, and do the artists and writers of this GN take anything by Islamists in Gaza at face value? I'm sorry, but there's many clues here that this GN, if any, will not offer any meat-and-potatoes perspective, and will toe a PC line that forbids any objective view of the issues involved. Such moral equivalence is simply unacceptable.

It turns out the Bibas family was murdered

This was probably no shock, but the discovery the Bibas family was murdered by Hamas terrorists is still absolutely abominable:

The Hamas terrorist organization on Thursday released the remains of four Israeli hostages it murdered following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The bodies handed over in a ghoulish Gaza ceremony were said to be of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was snatched.

The remains were in black coffins and as a final insult, the caskets were locked and presented without a key — offered only after they were paraded before a delirious crowd across the streets of Gaza, according to the NY Post.

Kfir, who was nine months old when he was taken, was the youngest captive. [...]

“Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement.

“On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”

AP reports the terrorists displayed the four black coffins on a stage in the Gaza Strip surrounded by banners, including a large one depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire.

It's absolutely obscene, and just compounds why these Islamic monsters cannot remain in the area. Condolences to the Bibas family for the tragedy that took place.

More severely problematic statements made by Miriam Libicki

The Comics Journal, quite a leftist periodical for many years, interviewed artist Miriam Libicki, whose own far-left viewpoints continue to be display here, and a number of her comments regarding the VanCAF scandal are, at this point, quite stupefying. First, let's take another look at Libicki's description of events, which continue to be rather ambiguous:

The statement that VanCAF put out alludes to the first of two incidents that happened in 2022. Do you know what that incident was? And can you describe it for me?

I do know what it was. It was an incident at the end of the show where two people walked by my table. They just saw some of my book covers: they saw the cover of Jobnik!, and they saw the cover of Toward a Hot Jew, which was then still in print, and both of those depict Israeli soldiers on the cover.

Without picking up the books, they pointed at them and they said, “Is this anti-Zionist?” And I started to try to explain my work and myself, but all I got out was “No, it's not anti-Zionist.” And then they said, “That's good,” and they ran away. And then later I found out that immediately after running away from my table, what they had done was they went to a volunteer and started screaming about, “How was somebody like me allowed to exhibit that; It was a Zionist propaganda; that it was like having the KKK at the festival,” and numerous other things. And they were screaming and cursing at a young volunteer. And then the festival directors stepped in and they screamed and cursed at them also. And then a couple more people were screamed and cursed at by them before they left, but they never screamed and cursed at me. It was a very, very quick interaction that I had with them in which they did not pick up the books or look through them or anything. So that was 2022.

So you found out about all of that secondhand? Somebody else told you about it?

Yeah, somebody else told me about it.

Who was it that told you?

One of the festival organizers who had been screamed at, they told us about it at the show. One of [the festival organizers] came by our table and said, “You are going to need to submit copies of your book to the board.” But I didn't even know that they were serious. Like, I had copies of the book on the table, but they did not try to take the copies of the book that were on the table. They just said this thing. And then kind of smiled and walked away.

So then, another one of the guests of the con who had nothing to do with me, but for some reason had also been screamed at – I went up and talked to them at the end of the show, and introduced myself, and was like, “I heard somebody screamed at you about me.” And I had a nice but confused conversation with that person. So I did hear about it from multiple people at the show, but I didn't see it myself.

It sounds an awful lot like the offenders - who curiously continue to go unidentified - employed some kind of psychological warfare strategy to turn the managers they screamed at against Libicki, in another example of victim-blaming. Simultaneously, it also strongly suggests the managers and their board of directors are sorely lacking in confidence, one more reason why they initially took such a pathetic approach before reversing. That's hardly the kind of example that would suit adventure comics of decades past emphasizing heroism. As for how Libicki handled all this more recently, here's where it gets disturbing when they discuss more about the staff's request to review her books:

What happened at that meeting in February?

First they told us that, because the people who made the complaint hadn't read the book, it wasn't our fault [and that] those people have actually been banned from the festival. But they were saying that it's a very sensitive time and that those weren't the only complaints. And we said, okay, what were the substance of the other complaints? And they wouldn't tell us. They were like, “Times are just very sensitive, and Israel is committing war crimes.”

And we were like, okay, but I'm not responsible for what Israel is doing. I didn't try to argue back that Israel's position was okay. That's not something that I can do anything about. And I told them that the one book that was already out of print, so I wouldn't have that at the table anyways. And they were like, “Well, we would like you to not display Jobnik!, and not display any IDF imagery. We didn't realize that you were promoting this book about a Holocaust survivor, because actually we didn't read your application.” Like, during that meeting, they told me that they didn't read my application for 2024.

Just to clarify, they had rejected your application and they were now saying that they didn't read it?

Yes. So then they were like, “We do think that is an important book.” Basically they offered me a deal. They said, we will give you a half table if you don't have Jobnik!, and if you don't display any IDF imagery, which I guess there is one background backdrop I have that is based on the book cover. So that could be construed as displaying IDF imagery. So again, it seemed like I was being singled out, but on the other hand, my partner and I had already discussed maybe retiring Jobnik! from shows for a while, because it is an older book. And we also did know that people are rightfully very sensitive. They're seeing terrible imagery of IDF soldiers, and these things that Israel is actually doing. So we understand why people are upset by that, especially now. So we were like, yeah, we're okay with that. We're okay with not selling the book. We want to focus on the newer book. We don't want it to be a distraction. We don't want to have confrontations at our table. So we agreed, and then they agreed that we could have a half table.

I'm sorry, but excuses are unbecoming. The staff apparently took a position favorable to Hamas, and adding insult to injury, Libicki was perfectly okay with censoring her book? That's pretty much what they did and she went along with, certainly initially. And to make matters worse, in all her unadulterating leftism, she wouldn't even defend Israel and make clear it was the Hamas who attacked first on October 7, 2023, graphically raping and murdering over 1,200 people that very day. If any specific staffers at VanCAF favored Hamas, they do not belong in the comics medium, period, and those who resigned couldn't have done so soon enough. Their positions desecrate the memory of past Jewish comics creators like Siegel, Shuster, Lee and Kirby. For the record, as this Tablet article indicates, such blacklisting as Libicki nearly encountered isn't new, and only the tip of the iceberg. Are we to assume the VanCAF staffers who caused this whole scandal are also among the leftist deniers of the sexual violence that took place? To make matters worse, the convention's attendants this year sure seem pretty creepy:

So tell me about the confrontation that happened in 2024.

At the show, two days minus one half hour of the festival went by very unevenly. I sold almost all the copies [of my book]. There were plenty of people wearing Palestine pins, wearing keffiyehs, and slogans on their shirts. And I had no problem with them because I don't have a problem with people protesting, and they had no problem with me. Nobody questioned me about my identity or my politics.

And then half an hour before the end of the show, two people came by my table, and first they started asking about screen prints. And I talked to them about the process of screen printing. They thanked me for my advice, and they started to walk away. And then one of them turned around and said, “Aren't you Miriam Libicki who does Jobniki?” Which is not the name of my comic, but I knew what she meant. And I said yes. And then this person started on a new attack, and was asking all kinds of leading questions about why my army comics weren't out. And when I kind of admitted that VanCAF had asked me not to [display them], they were kind of trying to draw me out: “Didn't I think I had been censored, didn't I think I had been silenced?” And I really didn't know where they were coming from. I thought perhaps they were a Jewish person who was more right wing than me or something.

But I was kind of just trying to give polite answers without committing to anything they were saying. And they were like, “Do you know there's a table in the other room which is, like, covered with Palestine flags and stuff?” And I was like, okay, that's fine. And they're like, “But they're taking people's signatures, and they're taking people's names.” And I said, okay – like, I really don't know what this has to do with me. I was trying to be like, “I guess if that disturbed you, I understand why you're disturbed by it. It's a tough time for people who have ties to Israel. I kind of think that for me, the best thing is just to keep my head down and hope things get better.” And that's what I said to them. And then they smiled and walked away. And then like five minutes after that, Robin McConnell comes up to my table and he says, “What did you tell those girls, Miriam?” And that is when I realized it was the same two people from 2022, and that I hadn't recognized them. But then when he said that, I made the connection.

Before we get to more on how the 2 disgusting troublemakers showed up again despite claims they'd been thrown out 2 years prior, that anybody would show up at a festival like this carrying Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags and scarves similar to what the horrific jihadist Yasser Arafat wore leaves a very bad aftertaste, and compounds my decision that, were I traveling to Canada today, I would not set foot in VanCAF even if they offered me free bags of money along with comics. Whoever the staffers are who allowed this are truly disgraceful people, especially if it turns out Israeli flags aren't allowed there, nor Armenian flags, recalling they're another country that's been persecuted by the Religion of Peace, and a victim of the Ottoman Islamic Empire during WW1. As I may have mentioned before, based on what Libicki's telling here, it's doubtful she'd ever agree to participate in developing a GN about Medz Yeghern, and she likely won't collaborate on a GN about October 7, 2023 either. Not even a GN project about September 11, 2001 and its victims, Betty Mahmoody, or even the Ajmer serial rape case in India back in 1992. The way Libicki describes people at a table with PLO flags "taking names" is ambiguous, but it could be what was meant was that they were signing anti-Israel petitions, which makes this whole affair additionally chilling. And when Libicki didn't provide the answers the infiltrators wanted, that's what the 2 or 3 creeps used as their excuse for repeat offending. Yet exact identities are kept concealed, and Libicki seems driven by anti-conservative ideologies.

Also fascinating - she thought the creeps were right-wing Israelis?!? I get this weird feeling she's distorting and covering something up here or telling the magazine something they'd want to hear from a leftist viewpoint; I don't know. It sounds like her apparent hatred of right-wingers and/or patriotic Israelis is getting the better of her, and if they really were pro-Israeli passers-by, why would they take any positions that're hostile to Israel? Simply bizarre.

So at this point, do you have any idea who those people are?

No, and in fact, I still don't. It's something I'm kind of trying to figure out, although I don't really want to dig around. I don't know. I feel digging around might make me insane.

Basically what happened is after they left my table, they did the same scene as 2022. They went to organizers, they went to the staff of the convention center, which is why that location is mentioned in the statement. And again were just screaming and cursing people out – not me, screaming and cursing other people out, to the point where they were becoming really aggressive. Apparently they were cursing in front of one staffer's small child, and they were physically removed by security. So again, I didn't witness this, but was told this afterwards by different people who had seen it.

What did Robin say to you then when he came to your table?

He said, “What did you say to them?” And then I was like, oh my God, it was those two. He was angry at me, as if I had fallen for something. And I was just trying to rack my brain for what I might have said that was incriminating. And so I told him that the festival told me not to display things. And at one point I might have said I'm pro-Israel and pro-peace. I don't think I would even necessarily have said I'm pro-Israel. To somebody who was coming from the left, I wouldn't necessarily describe myself that way, but I thought I was talking to someone who was a lot more right wing than me and maybe Jewish. And so I said pro-peace, but pro-Israel, and that was the closest to some sort of Zionist statement that I could have gotten. And he seemed angry that I had said that. But when I asked him what happened, he just walked away and he wouldn't answer me.

My spouse [Mike Yoshioka] went to go talk to Robin, and then Robin just screamed and yelled at him, and was saying that he [Robin] got yelled at because of me. And he was saying, “If Miriam doesn't have the proper responses to these things, then this is going to keep happening.” But Mike said, “You told us that those people were banned and they couldn't come back to VanCAF.” And Robin's like, “Well, we can't watch the doors. Like, we can't check everybody coming in.” So he was blaming me for speaking to them, but not not saying that the show had any responsibility.

Mike also found Jarett and tried to ask Jarett what happened, and Jarett said, “I can't talk to you right now.” So Mike talked to staff at the Roundhouse, and that's when he got more details. And then I later heard from other people who had been nearby and had seen the scene.

Interesting. It sounds like the staff never made any attempts even before this to have the majority of entrances closed, so they could conduct security checks more easily. Put another way, they're lazy, plain and simple. Is that a good example of management? I don't think so. And the left-wing viewpoints continue to be espoused. Later, when Libicki talks about the embarrassment of the announcements VanCAF made, she said:

Did you try to reach Robin or Jarrett after that statement came out?

No, I didn't send an email. I keep Shabbat, so it was almost sunset at that point. All I did was send a DM to the Instagram account of VanCAF and I said, “Please stop people tagging me and saying my name in your post.” And then took my Instagram to private, because I was just really frightened – like, people were already naming me and I was being tagged by people I didn't know. On that day I texted Mike. That's the only person.

I read in another article linked here that she's ostensibly religiously observant. Pretty weird for somebody who's supposedly reading the Torah/Bible - if she actually does - to be taking standings hurtful and delegitimizing to Israel, laced with the moral equivalence of a "two-state solution" that absolves Islam of anything wrong, and quite possible any religious observance on her part is all for the sake of virtue-signaling, which she seems to revel in regardless.

What's your sense of where things stand now? I mean, do you consider this an apology, or are you trying to do more at this point?

I think that it's a start. I think it's a necessary start, but that more definitely has to happen. This amount of transparency is not going to work. At least I need to know who's on the board.

But on the other hand, I think that a lot of people I wasn't in touch with were calling for VanCAF to lose their city funding and federal funding. And I really object to that, because I remember before VanCAF existed there wasn't a really great indie community in Vancouver, and there is quite an indie community [now]. And VanCAF in its inception, for the first eight, 10 years it ran, was a wonderful show. It was one of our favorite shows of the year. We really consider it our home show. I really fear that if people are going after the funding of VanCAF, once you take that away, it's really hard to get it back.

So to be clear, you’re not calling for any kind of protest.

No, I don't think a protest or boycott is the way to go. I think that they've shown that they're willing to reform, and so we're waiting to see if they really are able to be accountable and to prove that they have changed their ways so that VanCAF can continue, so that we can continue to have a good indie show in Vancouver.

I think her forgiving the VanCAF bunch has what to do with her leftist loyalties, and despite what's emphasized here, the chances VanCAF's staff will reform to the point they'll be willing to welcome right-wingers, pro-Israeli sources, 9-11 Families for a Safe America, cartoonists like Charlie Hebdo's in France, openly Republican supporters and maybe even Salman Rushdie, if it matters, are close to zero. Libicki certainly doesn't make the case for them, and continues to be quite the leftist.

So your goals at this point – you would like to have more transparency to the extent of at least knowing who's on the board. What else are the outcomes that you're trying to get?

Well, I think that I would like them to take some public actions showing that they've learned from this and that even if they are brigaded and dogpiled again, that they'll know how to deal with it, and why what they did was not the right action. They'll have plans for what to do instead, and they'll be open with the community about what mistakes were made and how they will operate differently in the future. I think that has to be a public process now. And because I think there probably will be backlash in the so-called activist left community, they'll have to be able to show that they can deal with that, that they are able to stand up to a backlash if they want to have a comic festival in this day and age that truly represents the community.

Unfortunately again, the chances they'll be willing to work with openly right-wing creators is next to nothing, and if Chuck Dixon isn't invited, that's yet another example of where they continue to stand. So is she talking about the whole community? Not really. But interesting that she mentions leftist activists, because that's actually those who've been responding to the scandal based on Libicki's politics being more aligned with theirs.

Is there anything else you want to add at this point?

I feel like I need to get the word out that my IDF service happened 24 years ago. It happened from 2000 to 2002. Indeed I was not drafted. I did volunteer because I had received my citizenship after my 18th birthday. So I did volunteer for the service, but the service I did was the same service and I was the same age as Israelis who were drafted. And my reasons for joining the Army at the time – I was already in the pro-peace camp. I already believed that Israel and Palestinians needed to both have human rights and self-determination in that land. But at the time, it was more about having a sense of belonging and proving that I could belong. A way to prove that I could be a real Israeli, too if all of the real Israelis had to go into the draft.

And when I joined in the summer of 2000, there was still a peace process in place. It was during the Oslo peace process which, you know, wasn't perfect, but it was the negotiated peace process between leaders of Israel and leaders of the Palestinian people. And then Second Intifada started two months into my service, and that's kind of the backdrop of Jobnik! I was never a right winger, I never planned to be part of an occupying force. For some people, military service anywhere in the world is beyond the pale. And that's fair. But if I can set the record straight about when and what my army service was, I want to get that out there.

Do you feel in general that your Army service or your position on Israeli and Palestinian politics are valid grounds to decide whether you should be at the festival?

I think that if my IDF service in 2000 is grounds for barring me from a festival, then anybody who served in any military in the world ... because all militaries commit violence and injustice. Canada was part of the invasion of Afghanistan. The US invaded both Iraq and Afghanistan, and other places. Unjustifiably, many places in Central America. So if when you served doesn't matter, and your current politics doesn't matter, then that disqualifies a lot more people than me.

Yikes...is she saying there was no justification in any way whatsoever for raiding Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban, despite the totalitarian regime they practically reestablished after the Biden government's disastrous pullout 3 years ago? This has to be the most mind-numbing part of the whole interview. At least she admits she's not a right-winger, but she apparently believes anybody with such politics is nothing more than barbaric conquestors, while blotting out the bigger pictures, with the worst part being she strongly implied she believes Israel is evil. What this means, worst of all, is that she has no concerns about Islam's own atrocities that she accuses the west of. I guess this also means she's got no issues with the huge disaster for women's rights the botched Afghanistan withdrawal resulted in, among other horrors. And what's this about "real" Israeli? Even that's jumbled up, as is the part about her service. Does she also believe the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose the despot Manuel Noriega was wrong, ditto the defeat of Saddam Hussein? And she doesn't seem to actually mention or address the issue of October 7, 2023, if at all. No wonder I'd rather not spend money on her GNs, and no sensible person should work with her either.

Now, coverage of this incident in the comics specialty press has been rather unsurprisingly muted, but the far-left Comics Beat did write about it, and predictably, their approach is hostile to Israel, and favorable to sources siding with Islam like the BDS movement (or PACBI, another acronym used here for Palestinian Campaign to Boycott Israel). For example:

The specific public safety concerns were unclear in the Accountability Statement but the other references relate to Libicki’s past voluntary service in the Israeli military as a teenager, which were the subject of her self-published graphic memoir jobnik!. Libicki, who comes from a religious Orthodox Jewish background would have been technically exempt from service – which is compulsory for most Israeli citizens on graduation from high school – but volunteered. The period in which Libicki served would later coincide with the outbreak of the Second Palestinian Intifada – also known as the Al Aqsa Intifada – which took place between 2000 and 2005. This period of violent upheaval saw the deaths of over three thousand Palestinians and a thousand Israelis. While her position in the Israeli army was a secretarial one on a remote base, her association with the institution, voluntary enlistment, and it being the setting of her debut work has incensed pro-Palestinian activists.

And this effectively erases any clear understanding of what went on in the early 2000s, like Islamic terrorist attacks. Making things more ambiguous is that they don't even actually make use of the word "terrorists" when referring to "palestinians". This is exactly why Comics Beat is worthless, and it's a wonder their writers are even into the whole medium to begin with, if they're going to make it sound like Israel did worse for no reason, and in doing so, they devalue the lives of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Israeli brethren by obfuscating the seriousness of the issues involved, not making any clear distinction between ordinary Arabs and those who commit terrorist attacks. What even Libicki may not understand is that there's Moslems who don't care whether a book by Israelis sides with their beliefs or not, they'll be hostile even to a left-wing Israeli. It reminds me of recent news of a left-wing IDF soldier named Naama Levy, who sided with the Palestine-fabrication, and was kidnapped and tortured by the Hamas regardless. Point: jihadists like them are completely indiscriminate in whom they attack, including other Moslems, and it makes no difference what the victim's political standings are; what matters is that they're Jews and other "infidels", along with anybody they consider a traitor to the cause of the Religion of Peace.

The CB article also highlights several people who defended Libicki, and who, most unfortunately, are as leftist as she is, and likely only came to her defense because of her politics:

Shortly following VanCAF’s Accountability Statement being issued, members of the comics community spoke out including Derf Backderf, Nate Powell, and MariNaomi – many of whom implied this ban may be considered anti-Semitic.

Backderf, if anybody, is a sadly bad lot himself politically, but what really takes the cake here is when CB's writer downplays the seriousness of any antisemitism involved. Hugely disappointing, but not surprising they'd do that.

According to Powell,

“Their published statement is knowingly incomplete to the point of being misleading & disingenuous – I know this because the blacklisted creator is a good friend of mine, and I’ve been aware of all information & context regarding the last year’s worth of discussion with VanCAF as it developed in real time, including prior to the attacks of Oct. 7th.”

He added,

“The blacklisted creator…discussed and complied with all requested VanCAF concessions (importantly, removing all books & imagery featuring IDF depiction – very reasonable concession in 2024 context, and which I support). Organizers received digital versions of the creator’s recent award-winning work (first person comics narratives directly from Holocaust survivors’ experiences) – but did not download or read the requested work before trying again to deny her a table – still intending to blacklist creator many months ago.

“Even with no IDF-related imagery at the creator’s table, the outbursts of a couple of misguided attendees was the “public safety concern” serving as pretext. The creator had nothing to do with a public safety concern, and the disruption was not even at her table (which had none of the content originally cited as the objectionable issue). VanCAF’s action, including knowingly incomplete & misleading statement afterward, has a hint of antisemitic aftertaste to it – and I know this is likely not their intent. But it is one of the takeaways.”

Well the politics expressed by the staffers who resigned certainly provides evidence something's terribly wrong. Now here's more, and at least 3 more names most should be wary of, who took part in a letter that's otherwise hostile to Israel too:

A letter of protest was submitted by indigenous Canadian creator Alina Pete, and was signed by a number of creators including Alex de Campi, David Brothers, and Reetta Linjama. It said:

“We, the undersigned comics arts professionals, would like to state that we also oppose the current genocide being perpetrated upon the Palestinian people by the state of Israel. However, we see and affirm that there is a clear distinction between the Israeli state and the Jewish people as a whole—even those who have previously served as part of the IDF.”

Adding:

“These guidelines are not a call to boycott all Jewish forms of expression. The PACBI’s guidelines specifically call to “comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions” —i.e., state-sponsored sources of pro-Israeli propaganda. Ms. Libicki is not an Israeli academic, and her publications are not sponsored by the Israeli state. Thus, the PACBI guidelines do not apply to her works.

“It is unconscionable, and frankly anti-Semitic, to bar someone from your convention for simply being Jewish and having personal ties to Israel.”

And what does that mean? That it's okay to be antisemitic towards anybody who does live in Israel? Or that because Libicki doesn't live in Israel and is left-wing, that's why antisemtism should be avoided? That aside, this letter indicates de Campi, already known as quite a far-leftist, and even Brothers is a leftist, who turned against another leftist, C.B. Cebulski. These are most decidedly not people worth supporting, and their approach to the subject is very disappointing too.

So in the end, while VanCAF's initial approach to this whole affair was indeed reprehensible, it's very sad simultaneously that people like Libicki are a very bad lot themselves too, and beyond what happened, it's just not worth supporting their comics. The politics people like her support are offensive and insulting to the intellect, and completely disregard any and all common sense, suggesting that beyond certain topics, she won't address others convincingly, which makes her writings about the WW2 Holocaust unconvincing, because if she doesn't take the issue of Islam seriously, how can we be sure she does take Germany's evil deeds during WW2 seriously? Or even the Viet Cong's during the 1960s in southeast Asia? Such leftists as Libicki are only undermining the ability to confront serious topics clearly, and that's why there's no point in supporting her products.

4 hostages rescued in Gaza

Some very fortunate news has just come up, as at least 4 hostages were rescued from the Gaza area:

On Saturday morning, in a joint IDF, ISA and Israel Police (Yamam) complex, special, daytime operation in Nuseirat, four Israeli hostages were rescued.

Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40), were kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization from the 'Nova' music festival on October 7th.

The hostages were rescued by the IDF, ISA and Yamam counterterrorism forces from two separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat.

They are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the Sheba Tel-Hashomer Medical Center for further medical examinations.

"The security forces will continue to make every effort to bring the hostages home," the statement stressed.

Thank goodness and the Lord for bringing about this rescue. Now, let's hope others will turn up alive and be saved from captivity as well.

Update: more information to consider:

Argamani, has been one of the most widely recognized hostages since she was abducted from a music festival in southern Israel. The video of her abduction was among the first to surface, images of her horrified face widely shared — Argamani detained between two men on a motorcycle, one arm outstretched and the other held down as she screams “Don’t kill me!”

Her mother, Liora, has stage four brain cancer and in April released a video pleading to see her daughter before she dies.

Let's hope that now, she can see her daughter and have a good reunion.

One of the abductees was an advocate for "palestine"

As some horrifying footage of what Hamas terrorists did to women they'd abducted came out, a writer at the Jerusalem Post points out that one of the women who was taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza was a far-left advocate who supported the "palestine" fabrication:

"I have friends in Palestine." These words, spoken by Naama Levy, an Israeli soldier and peace activist, that were uttered to her Hamas captors while her face was covered in blood, underscored the tragic irony of her abduction. Levy, who dedicated her young life to promoting peace and understanding between Israelis and Palestinians, was brutally kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

At 19 years old, Levy should have embodied the hope for a future in which Israelis and Palestinians could coexist peacefully. But this did not come true; on the contrary. Raised in Ra’anana near Tel Aviv, she became deeply involved with Hands of Peace, an organization committed to fostering dialogue and mutual understanding among young people from both sides of the conflict. Through this program, she participated in workshops, dialogues, and activities aimed at breaking down barriers and building bridges between communities long divided by hatred and violence.

The absurdity of Levy’s situation is heart-wrenching. Here is a young woman who, despite the profoundly entrenched conflict, chose to extend a hand of friendship and understanding to her Palestinian peers. Her dedication to peace and justice was not just theoretical; it was deeply personal and active. She fought for the rights of Palestinians, believing in a shared humanity and a better future for all.

Yet, on that fateful day in October, this same dedication was met with unimaginable violence. Levy was abducted from the Nahal Oz kibbutz military base. Footage of her abduction showed her in distress, injured, and forcibly taken by Hamas terrorists. In a cruel twist of fate, the very people she fought to understand and support became her captors, not because of her actions or beliefs, but simply because she was Jewish.

Something to consider: she could've been attacked even she weren't Jewish, and there have been tons of women in the past of different ethnicities who went miles out of their way to advocate for adherents to Islam, only to be betrayed in the worst ways possible. Most disgusting is how such propagandists emphasize moral equivalence, and worst, completely obscure the Religion of Peace being a motivating factor behind Arab violence. This is exactly what led to the tragedy, and the paper's writers predictably don't have the courage or the honesty to bring that up. Does that mean they see nothing wrong with taqqiya (deception) either? That's another problem nobody like her ever considered. She probably never even championed the cause of Arab women who were threatened with honor murders for doing something unacceptable under the Religion of Peace.

This whole issue also reminded me of advocate Ysabella Hazan, who, it was reported a few months ago, was supporting Islamic causes:

She is also an advocate for non-Jewish causes and people. Hazan was part of a planning committee that organized a vigil for Muslims to honor the victims of the 2019 mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand that killed 51 and injured many others.

She also spoke on behalf of the Uygur Muslims outside the Chinese consulate in Montreal.

Now I don't think it's good what China's been doing to the Uygurs, and the shooting in NZ was a bad thing too, but it's awfully dangerous to associate with followers of the Religion of Peace, when one considers its hostility to Jews and women, and to think the Uygurs are any different is being naive. There have been times in the past when Uighers and their supporters did some very offensive things, and to ignore atrocities committed by Muslims in China will only prolong a terrible issue.

And has Hazan ever advocated for Armenians who've been harmed by Islamofascism? If not, she's only making a joke out of her advocacy job. It should noted the imam at the Christchurch mosque even blamed Israel for the shooting, and the whole notion they're going to literally change based on Hazan's support only perpetuates naivity. Seriously, I think Hazan has some reevaluation to do, and tragically, she probably won't.

ICC threatens Israeli leaders with arrest warrants, uses moral equivalence as justification

The Intl. Criminal Court's again proving useless by threatening to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, and it's entirely possible that by sharp contrast, they won't do the same with Hamas leaders, no matter what moral equivalence they're using to shield their plans for Israeli politicians:

Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court (ICC) formally requested arrest warrants on Monday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and several leaders of the genocidal Hamas terrorist organization.

Khan equated Israel’s self-defense operations against Hamas in Gaza to the widespread atrocities committed in Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, explicitly calling the self-defense operation to uproot Hamas from Gaza, a territory it has controlled since 2007, “criminal.”

[...] Khan requested warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant as well as several high-ranking Hamas terrorists: terror chief Yahya Sinwar, “political” leader Ismail Haniyeh, and the “commander-in-chief” of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri.

Despite what's stated above, it's unlikely they'll actually follow through seriously on warrants against Hamas overlords. This is offensive in the extreme how differences are being blurred between Israel and the Islamofascist enemy, and all via a man who may have visited the site of the tragedy last year, yet clearly was not changed one bit by what he saw. Khan should not enter Israel again if this is how he behaves.

His positions have already drawn condemnations for the damage they've caused millions of years ago:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the decision by International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan on Monday to seek warrants against him and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza.

Khan also announced that he would pursue indictments against three Hamas leaders. Still, the unprecedented prosecution would place Israel on a morally equivalent level with Hamas and delegitimize defenes against terror.

Netanyahu posted videos in Hebrew and English. The English version follows below (via Prime Minister’s Office):

Mike Pompeo's also responded:

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that President Joe Biden should restore President Donald Trump’s 2020 sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Biden reversed soon after taking office, in April 2021.

The sad thing, however, is that not all foreign governments are opposing this kangaroo court act, and even the USA's under Joe Biden can't be trusted to actually oppose this convincingly, even though the ICC's more than willing to go after American military officials over similarly trumped up accusations. What the European governments supporting this move are doing hurts European citizens too by extension. That aside, this all makes clear why the ICC is worthless, and has doubtless been for a long time. No sane person should support them in any way, and it's entirely possible the ICC could go after 911 Families too, given the chance.

Israel may have to consider not relying on the USA anymore

Fraud-in-chief Joe Biden continues to do what he and the Democrats can to damage Israel's ability to rescue hostages:

President Joe Biden, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanded that Israel enact an “immediate ceasefire” in its war against Hamas and threatened that the U.S. would change its support for Israel if it does not meet the administration’s demands.

Biden attacked Israel for the humanitarian situation inside Gaza, calling it “unacceptable,” even though Israel has worked to allow aid to flow into the area, but has had to do so in a manner that prevents weapons from entering.

“[Biden] made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said in a readout of the call. “He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”

“He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home,” the statement continued.

White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby confirmed at the White House press briefing shortly after the readout was published that Biden did threaten Israel if it did not meet his demands.

He also seems to blame Israel for the hostages' continued situation. And that's reprehensible. Joel Pollak says Israel may have to consider whether becoming a pariah is for the best:

Biden, like Barack Obama before him, is trying to appease the Iranian regime that funds and arms most of the terror groups in the Middle East. He also believes a Palestinian state is the key to peace, despite evidence to the contrary.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes these policies, as do most Israelis, from right to left. So Biden is trying to do everything he can — overtly and covertly — to push Netanyahu aside and hope for a more pliant leader.

The result is that Israel finds itself alone. Biden is emphasizing Israel’s isolation by using tragedies like the World Central Kitchen deaths to accuse Israel, falsely, of being responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Biden, like Hamas, is demanding an “immediate ceasefire,” and may let the UN declare a Palestinian state.

If Israel wants to defeat Hamas by destroying the last Hamas battalions in the city of Rafah in Gaza, it may have to do so without U.S. support.

Likewise, if Israel takes on Iran — directly, or in Syria and Lebanon — it will be on its own. The White House is hinting that Israel can claw back support by dumping Netanyahu, but Israel would do so at the cost of its independence.

That's simply unacceptable terms. So, Pollak has a point.

Government approves memorial day for October 7, 2023

The Israeli government unanimously approved a rememberence day for October 7, 2023, when the Hamas committed their horrifying bloodbath and sexual violence last year:

The government unanimously approved a National Day of Remembrance to be held every year on the 24th of the Jewish month of Tishrei, to commemorate the October 7th massacre and the Sword of Iron War.

On the first anniversary, a ceremony will be held also on the secular date – October 7th, 2024.

The National Day of Remembrance will be marked annually with two state ceremonies: a ceremony at 11:00 a.m. in memory of those killed in the war, and a ceremony at 1:00 p.m. in memory of the civilians murdered in hostilities.

This year, in light of the fact that the 24th of Tishrei falls on Saturday, the ceremonies will take place on Sunday, the 25th of Tishrei, and so forth every year that the 24th of Tishrei falls on Shabbat (Saturday).

Those who voted in favor did the right thing. It's terrible, of course, that the horrifying incident had to happen, and now one more antisemitic tragedy's been scarred into history. But that's exactly why it's vital to remember these horrible incidents in order to try and prevent more from happening in the future.

IDF rescues 2 hostages in Gaza's Rafah neighborhood

The IDF has thankfully and successfully rescued 2 men who were held hostage by Hamas in Gaza:

Two Israeli hostages Louis Har, 70, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, were rescued at around 2 a.m. on Monday from the second floor of a building in the center of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by the Israel police’s Yamam anti-terror unit, Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet internal security agency. The men were flown by helicopter to the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, where they are in good condition. One soldier was slightly injured during the rescue.

Har’s son-in-law Idan Bejerano, said that he and his wife met with his father-in-law briefly before he was taken for medical examinations.

“We were called at 3:30 a.m. and jumped out of our beds in joy. We were told, ‘We have them in our hands,’ and instructed to get to the hospital. It took us nearly an hour to get there, and I am not sure my wife was breathing at all during that time. This is a great relief,” he said.

Asked about their condition, Bejerano replied, “They are both in bed in the hospital. Whether they are healthy in spirit, in body, is still hard to know, but they look whole. It seems they had the strength of spirit of these 128 days to remain strong and come back to us.”

The men were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Oct. 7, when terrorists from Gaza murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands and took 253 hostage in a murderous rampage near the Gaza border. Marman and Har were taken captive along with Marman’s sisters Clara, 62, and Gabriela Leimberg, 59; and Gabriela’s daughter, Miam Leimberg, 17. They were visiting Har at the kibbutz for the Simchat Torah holiday weekend. The five were hiding in their sealed room during the attack before they were taken hostage. The women were freed as part of an earlier hostage release.

This is very fortunate, but only a small part so far in rescuing any more hostages who're hopefully still alive. For now, we must thank God these 2 men were saved from the awful situation they were in, and now reunited with their families. Let's hope they'll be able to recuperate as best as possible along with their families.

The ICJ is a tool for evil, as is the government of South Africa

Joseph Klein looks at how the Intl. Court of Justice has become the tool of anti-Israeli activists, here being primarily the South Africa government:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided in its January 26th provisional ruling to move forward with a peculiar case that South Africa brought against Israel, alleging that Israel has been committing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza. South Africa claimed that it was simply enforcing rights protected by the international Genocide Convention to which both countries are signatories.

The ICJ is enabling South Africa to weaponize against the Jewish State of Israel the Genocide Convention, which was enacted in 1948 when the genocide of Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust was still fresh in peoples’ minds. To hurl an accusation of genocide against Israel, where at least one of the nearly 150,000 Holocaust survivors still living in Israel was killed during Hamas’s October 7th attack, is obscene.

Hamas initiated the war with Israel when it invaded Israel on October 7th and went on a genocidal rampage against Israeli civilians. Israel’s military operations in Gaza following that attack are a legitimate exercise of Israel’s inherent right of self-defense, which is recognized in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter when “an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations.”

The ICJ deferred making a final judgment on the merits of South Africa’s genocide claims, which could take months or even years to decide. However, the ICJ issued provisional orders to take immediate effect, which are prejudicial to Israel’s inherent sovereign right of self-defense. Fortunately, the ICJ has no mechanism to enforce its ruling, although technically it is legally binding. Nevertheless, the ICJ’s decision that South Africa has presented a plausible case of genocide against Israel will put increased pressure on Israel to quickly wind down its military operations in Gaza.

To make matters worse, South Africa's government has practically celebrated evil:

A mere ten days after the October 7th attack, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor had a phone call with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The Jewish News Syndicate reported Hamas’s claim that Pandor had called to congratulate Hamas for the success of its October 7th rampage.

Last December, just weeks after Hamas’s horrific October 7th genocidal attack, senior Hamas officials visited South Africa to participate in the Fifth Global Convention of Solidarity with Palestine.

South Africa is not an objective party benevolently seeking to protect a group of people from genocide, as it has falsely portrayed itself to the ICJ. The South African government is advocating for a savage terrorist group, whose founding genocidal mission, repeated by its leaders on multiple occasions, is to destroy the Jewish State of Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.

The actions of the South Africa government are repulsive, and are equally hostile to other countries that suffered Islamic terrorist attacks. One can only wonder what their position is on al Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in the USA.

The behavior of the South Africa government could also explain why business is collapsing there, and citizens are even emigrating:

A new white paper from payroll services group Playroll, in partnership with tech and developer jobs marketplace OfferZen and executive recruitment firm Aims International, shows that South Africa’s skills crisis runs deeper than industry-specific shortages portray.

The group’s research found that close to 80% of all business leaders it surveyed consider the emigration of skills one of the critical risk factors facing their organisations.

This comes at a time when emigration appears to be accelerating, it said.

Playroll noted that over 900,000 South Africans have already left the country – a number that was most recently published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ 2020 International Migrant Stock report in 2022.

According to the UN report, by the end of 2020, 914,901 South Africans were living in other countries and territories, up from 786,554 in 2015.

Worryingly, three times as many people emigrated from South Africa between 2015 and 2020 – over 128,000 people – than between 2010 and 2015 (43,000 people), the data showed.

The UK has the most migrant stock from South Africa, with almost a quarter of a million residents listing RSA as their birth country. This is followed by Australia, the USA and New Zealand.

Playroll said that the problems around the emigration of critical skills run deeper than even these numbers show because, increasingly, young people are the ones leaving.

The group noted that those aged between 25 and 40 are the most likely to leave the country – and possibly more concerningly, over half of South Africa’s graduates have the potential to emigrate in the future.

Senior employees are also more likely to relocate, probably because they have the financial means to do so, it said.

[...] According to Simonetta Giuricich, Chief Operating Officer for Playroll, remote work arrangements that were fuelled by Covid-19 means that many skilled South Africans are not available for local employment because they can access high-paying work opportunities with international companies while still staying in the country.

For example, the group’s research showed that an alarming number of local software developers are working for overseas companies while still being based in South Africa. It estimated that 40% of the 120,000 developers in the country are working remotely for foreign companies.

So even though emigration may be slowing down in certain sectors, this doesn’t necessarily mean good news for local businesses.

Giuricich said that the loss of employees to emigration not only creates immediate gaps in the skills and qualifications required by an organisation but could also lead to entrenched competitive challenges in the longer term.

One can only wonder if the South Africa government's become so obsessed with backing evil, they've practically ignored the crisis facing their business industry, to say nothing of how folks are emigrating because clearly, business prospects in South Africa aren't what they could be. Let's hope most of those who've emigrated are people with common sense, and they'd be the ones more deserving of the country than those current running the government into the ground. South Africa's tragically made themselves look very, very bad, mainly based on their associations with jihadists.