Newsweek: Hamas Hails Biden's 'Clear Changes' on Israel Policy

 

A senior Hamas official has told Newsweek that the Palestinian movement has identified shift in the United States' position toward Israel after Washington declined to back its ally's stance at the United Nations, a change the group believes is due to pressure being felt by President Joe Biden from at home and abroad.

After using its permanent member status to issue several vetoes against U.N. Security Council calls for a ceasefire since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war nearly six months ago, the U.S. abstained on Monday from the latest draft resolution demanding a cessation of hostilities throughout the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The move drew condemnation from Israel, which canceled a high-level delegation set to visit Washington for talks this week.

Hamas, usually deeply critical of the extensive political and military support the U.S. has extended to Israel, praised the passing of the resolution. The group believes Washington may be forced to make other tough decisions as pressure builds to find a solution to the deadliest-ever flare-up in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Regarding the American administration, there is no doubt that there are clear changes in its policy towards Israel," Hamas senior official and spokesperson Ghazi Hamad told Newsweek, "and this is perhaps due to the stupid and foolish policy of the occupying state, which commits genocide, killing civilians, and starvation."

"America has found that Israel is putting it in an awkward position before the world, and it cannot justify its retaliatory actions against civilians," he added. "America also feels that Israel is floundering and is not achieving any of the goals it has set for itself."

Left-wing activist who hired one of Farrakhan's 'top soldiers' has visited Biden White House 7 times

 

 A prominent social justice and environmental activist group with high-level access in the Biden administration employs one of the so-called "top soldiers" of the Nation of Islam, a Black nationalist religious organization with a long track record of antisemitism and racism.

Terence Muhammad, the lead events and field coordinator for the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Hip Hop Caucus, has repeatedly praised the Nation of Islam and its current leader, Louis Farrakhan, according to a Fox News Digital review of social media posts. The Hip Hop Caucus, whose stated mission is to fight injustice and enact change, has been involved in key Biden administration policy decisions.

And according to the White House visitor logs, Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO Lennox Yearwood has visited at least seven times since Biden took office, with six of those visits happening in 2023. In the most recent example, Yearwood and two other Hip Hop Caucus officials, Tanya House and Cynthia Swann, were hosted in the West Wing for a private meeting with White House Domestic Policy Council adviser Sofia Carratala.

"Bless Minister [Louis Farrakhan] allowing one of his top soldiers [Terence Muhammad] 2 be w/ me for #MOW50. Much LOVE to the [Nation of Islam]," Yearwood wrote in a 2013 post during an event commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.

In April 2015, during an event protesting police brutality, Muhammad posted a picture of Yearwood "with Malik Farrakhan and the brothers of the F.O.I." The acronym "F.O.I." appears to be a reference to the Fruits of Islam, the paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam. 

Prepare for a Biden-Netanyahu showdown: Israel sees UN resolution as a real threat

 

There has been no shortage of hints when it comes to the White House's efforts to convey the message that Israel should refrain from taking action in Rafah, find a path to a ceasefire, and increase aid to Gaza. The vice president turned this subtlety into explicitly policy when she threatened Israel that there could be consequences to an operation in the city. On Monday, the rhetoric turned into action at the UN.

Israelis by and large will likely brush off the Security Council resolution as yet "another example of a delusional UN," but high-ranking Israeli officials see it as a real threat to Israel's freedom of action, as a deliberate undermining of Western legitimacy to act against Hamas terrorists, and a a potential weapon that will be seized by Israel-haters around the world to demand an end to the war even before the return of the captives and the toppling of Hamas.  

The doom and gloom that had until Monday been dismissed as paranoia became a potential reality in the hours following the resolution, which calls for a halt to the war in Gaza for the entire month of Ramadan and the release of the captives passed without condemning Hamas.

The text was hailed by the murderous terror organization, and Palestinian representative to the UN also demanded that the international community actively force Israel to implement the decision with the tools at its disposal (and there are such tools). The sponsor of the resolutions even went on to contradict the US by saying they viewed the decision as binding. 

So is this just American naivete or an attempt by Washington to use tools at its disposal to show the Israeli government that it is serious in its intentions against the operation in Rafah? Senior Israeli officials who held talks with the White House in the hours leading up to the resolution in tried to have the wording changed or have it vetoed –  as was the case with previous similar statements – but they were told that "Very senior officials at the White House are opposed to a veto this time."

The Biden administration had felt compelled to show a tougher hand on Israel for electoral purposes, but Israel sees this move as a way to appease progressive voters on the backs of the captives and Israelis living in border communities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reaction – scrapping the talks that had been planned in Washington – at first glance, appears measured. The rationale is that if the White House is not interested in supporting Israel's efforts on the battlefield, there is no reason for a senior Israeli delegation to travel to Washington to hear alternatives to the operation in Rafah.

But this is not going to be the end of Israel's response. The American decision caused consternation from within the Democratic Party and even more intensely among Republicans – who may now do what they did in 2015 all over again. Back then it was President Barack Obama who came out against Netanyahu, which resulted in the latter being invited for a fiery speech in Congress in which he lashed out at the administration This time it's Biden who is president, and the current Speaker of the House has already said he would invite Netanyahu. 

There are those who think that these actions will ultimately push Biden to express unequivocal support for the continuation of Israel's offensive operations in Gaza until Hamas is defeated.

The pressure exerted from Israel and internally from Republicans and within the Democratic Party is supposed to silence the rising tones from the progressives, or at least create a counterweight that will force Biden not only to quietly support Israel by arming it, but also publicly. This may also be what Israel needs most at this stage, when the legitimacy of its actions is dwindling at an alarming rate. It needs American backing on the world stage that would push back against the pressure exerted by European countries that have already begun taken action to stop the war. 

Steven Spielberg warns: 'Jews may again have to fight for right to be Jewish'

 

Acclaimed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg warned of the dangers of modern antisemitism while being honored by the University of Southern California yesterday (Monday).

Speaking at an event marking the 30th anniversary of the USC Shoah Foundation, an organization he founded in 1994, Spielberg said that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

The Schindler's List director stated that he is "increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history, to once again have to fight for the very right to be Jewish."

He warned that “the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses” and that “the echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate."

In November, Spielberg announced that the Shoah Foundation would launch a new project in which it would interview survivors of the October 7th massacre and document the various acts of terror it included, similar to its efforts to gather testimony from Holocaust survivors to document the crime that led to the creation of the word genocide.

“I never imagined that I would see this kind of unspeakable barbarity against Jews in my lifetime,” Spielberg commented at the time.

In an interview with Fox News, he commented on the growing antisemitism in the world. “I find it very, very surprising because antisemitism has always been there. It’s either been just around the corner and slightly out of sight but always lurking, or it has been much more overt, like Germany in the 30s,” he said. “But not since Germany in the 30s have I witnessed antisemitism no longer lurking but standing proud with hands on hips like Hitler and Mussolini.

Watch the Brave Muslim who murdered innocents in Russia turn into a Coward Screaming and Weeping Like a baby

 I hope the IDF watches this ... 

This is the moment one of the four terrorists who carried out the Moscow concert hall massacre cried and screamed as he was caught by Russian soldiers, who then went on to cut off his ear and make him eat it.

Russian border guards and FSB agents were seen furiously battering a man understood to be suspect Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda after chasing him through dense woodlands, in the 90-second-long clip shared to Telegram.

Moments later, an enraged soldier sliced off Rachabalizoda’s ear with a knife and forced him to eat it in a video too gruesome for MailOnline to publish.

Rachabalizoda is one of four ISIS terrorists who were charged  with terrorism, after they were caught, allegedly tortured and detained by Russian security services following the deadly attack at a Moscow concert hall on Friday night. 

Neo-Nazi skinhead is now an observant Jew thanks to DNA discovery

The neo-Nazi who inspired Edward Norton’s skinhead character in “American History X” has revealed he is now an observant Jew after turning his life around — and discovering his heritage through DNA testing.

Frank Meeink, 48, became a leader of a violent ultra-right group in the early 1990s, torturing enemies who stood in the way of his attempt to foment a race war.

Intensely anti-semitic and flaunting a flaming swastika tattooed on his neck, he railed against what he called the “Zionist occupation government” and believed the Jews were “the root of all evil.”

 In 1998’s “American History X,” Norton’s Derek Vinyard character was based, in part, on Meeink’s road to redemption as he began to ditch his racist views after kindling friendships with black inmates in prison. 

But now Meeink has revealed to The Post an astonishing twist: he is Jewish. 

Can Gedolim err? They Can and they did!

 

When the Rebbe of Belz came on aliyah, he said, ‘We realize now that we erred in our estrangement from Eretz Yisrael.’

by Rabbi David Samson

An opinion of our Sages teaches that the evil decree in the Purim story came when the Jews of Shushan attended the feast of Achashverus which celebrated his false understanding that the Jews would not return to Eretz Yisrael to build the Beit Hamikdash. Apparently, Mordechai was the only Jew who protested. He begged the Jews not to participate, but they were happy to attend, insisting that the food and drink would be glatt kosher.

The cause for the celebration – the belief that the Jews were freed of the obligation to return to the Land of Israel and to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash did not seem to bother anyone save Mordechai. There is no record that the other great Rabbis of the time, of which there were many, supported Mordechai’s vehement protest. Perhaps they did and perhaps they erred and attended the gala party which celebrated the disconnection from Eretz Yisrael and an open door to acceptance amongst the Gentiles and assimilation, believing it would cement good relations with the powers that be.

The modern version of that question arises – how could Gedolai Yisrael make a mistake in such a serious matter as the return of the exiled Jewish Nation to Israel? 

Rav Tzvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook, of blessed memory, my Rosh Yeshiva at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, told us that great Rabbis and Tzaddikim can also make occasional mistakes as seen in their opposition to Hashem’s returning the Jewish People in modern times. He discussed this very sensitive matter with us in spite of the reverence he held and taught us to feel for our Sages and for all Torah Scholars. However, he wanted us to understand that even great Torah Scholars can err.

In this past week’s Torah portion of Vayikra several types of sin offerings are mentioned. Situated between the offerings of a High Priest who sins and a king who sins are the laws of a sin offering for the whole congregation (Vayikra 4:13). The tractate Horiot explains that this is a case where “the majority of the Great Sanhedrin makes a mistake” and because of their error in deciding the law a majority of the congregation transgresses. The Sages of the Great Sanhedrin were the leading Rabbis of the time, yet the Torah defines a situation where even they can make an error of judgment.

The Torah testifies about Korach and his followers that they were outstanding Torah Scholars, stating: “They were princes of the congregation, the elect men of the assembly, men of renown” (Bamidbar, 16:2), yet they made a terrible mistake in their opposition to Moshe and Aharon. Datan and Abiram even went so far as to call Egypt, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” the very special expression the Torah bestows upon Eretz Yisrael. For their own personal reasons, they turned the words of the Torah upside down.

Ben Gurion's and Begin's talking points for Netanyahu

 Typically, Israel assumes a reactive, defensive attitude in foreign affairs: “Please like us, we haven’t done anything wrong”. It has never worked. 

We might best learn from Ben Gurion and Begin in their best moments, proactive and assertive. Biden probably doesn’t remember when Begin told him: “Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”

Or as Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, famously noted: "It does not matter what the goyim say, it only matters what the Jews do.”

Reactive and defensive may convince our friends, it will not help us with our enemies. We need to be proactive and assertive. We need to set the agenda, not refuse theirs. Should he chose to go, Netanyahu could practice some of these lines on the plane to Washington:

-“If we didn’t care more about Gaza citizens than Hamas, this would have been over on October 8th.”

-“They already have ‘From the river to the gulf’ and that’s all worse than Gaza ever was. That’s over now in Gaza.”

-"Joe, it was not theirs until 1948, they possessed it for 19 years which was not internationally recognized and introduced ethnic cleansing, took away freedom of religion, and women's rights. They destroyed historic sites. Why is that 19 years the gold standard we should return to?"

And for 2-staters in the Biden administration:

-"How long have you supported ethnic cleansing?"

-"We are very happy with freedom and rights. If you don't like them, you can cross the river to Palestine, often called Jordan, where the rest of your Syrian and Egyptian families live."

-"We paid for it with the blood of our son's, our brave soldiers, in defensive wars that they started. They can try to take it away from us but I don't suggest that. We paid dearly for it, we're not giving it to them."

-"We are sitting on the Jordan River, we are staying here. If they have something to say about that come to our capital, Jerusalem and we can discuss their concerns."

-"No, we're not going to Qatar to talk to them, if they want to talk they can come to Jerusalem."

Those are the positions our neighbors understand. They should be the starting and finishing point of any discussion. If they would like tea and biscuits in the middle we would gladly boil the water and make the tea.

Appeals court Spanks Letitia James cuts Bond to 175 Million

Biden ym"s pulls an" Obama" in the UN !! A forced ceasefire, without a hostage deal

 

Biden, may he drop dead soon, pulled an obama, leaving Israel in the dirt.! DUS IZ NIES !! Rare View...: Obama’s appalling UN betrayal

In his State of the Union address, President Biden made a promise to the families of U.S. hostages held by Hamas: “We will not rest until we bring their loved ones home.” At the United Nations on Monday, he undermined that pledge.

The U.S. withheld its veto and abstained as the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that demanded a cease-fire in Gaza but didn’t make the cease-fire contingent on Hamas releasing its 134 hostages. That condition, on which the U.S. had previously insisted, has been dropped.

Instead, the resolution’s two demands—“an immediate cease-fire for the month of Ramadan . . . leading to a lasting sustainable cease-fire” and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”—each stand on their own. To Hamas, the diplomatic pressure will be meaningless. To Israel, it can be perilous, as Mr. Biden well knows. His fence-sitting opens up Israel to more pressure to end the war while Hamas still reigns in part of Gaza.

White House spokesman John Kirby says, “Nothing has changed about our policy—nothing.” He explains that the U.S. abstained because the Security Council resisted a last-minute amendment condemning Hamas. Yet the U.S. had previously vetoed resolutions that wouldn’t condemn Hamas for Oct. 7. The moral arbiters at the U.N. still won’t do that.

The reactions to the resolution tell the real story: 

Hamas welcomed it and Russia, China and Algeria voted for it, while Israel called it “a clear departure from the consistent U.S. position,” adding that it “gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a cease-fire without the release of our hostages.” Israel also canceled some high-level meetings.

Biden officials push the line that the resolution is nonbinding and Israel is overreacting. Yet this is how Mr. Biden has turned against Israel: one half-step at a time.

The President’s initial support for a “pause” to free hostages morphed over time into Friday’s U.S. resolution for an “immediate, sustained cease-fire.” The new resolution uses Ramadan as a fig leaf to sneak in a “lasting” cease-fire that would let Hamas survive.

Mr. Biden’s initial support for destroying Hamas has faded, such that Vice President Kamala Harris now refuses to rule out “consequences” should Israel invade Hamas’s last stronghold of Rafah. Administration leaks about international isolation and weapons embargoes drive home the point.

If Mr. Biden thinks his escalating fight with Israel is risk-free, think again. The March Harvard CAPS Harris poll finds that 63% of voters support a cease-fire only after Hamas releases the hostages and is removed from power. Two-thirds say Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.

Americans don’t want to see Hamas survive to repeat Oct. 7. The President can’t become Obstacle No. 1 to an Israeli victory without endangering his own in November.