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We leave on the 24th to go to Atlanta and then depart Atlanta on the 23rd to go to Birmingham. We return to Savannah on Friday the 27th and I will have that weekend to catch up with accumulated mail etc.
I know I have said this time and again and then broken my word but this time we are going to be so engaged this will truly be my last opportunity to write a memo until after we return and I want to devote most of it to personal comments after I have posted some by others.
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Who Says Hamas Does Not Represent The Palestinians?
by Bassam Tawil
In a number of statements since Hamas's October 7 massacre in Israel, US President Joe Biden stated that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people. "I think Israel understands that a significant portion of Palestinian people do not share the views of Hamas and Hezbollah," Biden said in an interview with CBS.
Biden's claim was repeated by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who told Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. In a phone call with Abbas, Blinken "expressed continuing US support for the Palestinian people, stressing that Hamas terrorists do not represent Palestinians or their legitimate aspirations for self-determination and equal measures of dignity, freedom, security, and justice," according to a State Department readout.
The Biden administration's assertion that Hamas is an insignificant group of terrorists that does not enjoy the support of many Palestinians is not only false; it is dangerously so. This assertion contradicts the reality, which proves that Hamas actually does represent a significant portion of the Palestinians.
This inconvenient reality is based on public opinion polls conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) and the results of elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council and university student councils and professional unions. It is also based on mass demonstrations and rallies in support of Hamas before and after the October 7 carnage in which Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,400 Israelis and wounded more than 4,000.
The most recent PSR poll, published last month, showed that if new presidential elections were held today, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would win 58% of the vote, while Mahmoud Abbas would only receive 37%. Hamas's "armed struggle" (terrorism) against Israel was supported by 58% of the Palestinian public, the poll showed. A little over a quarter (27%) of Palestinians believe that Hamas is the most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people today, while 24% believe that Abbas's Fatah faction (which rules the West Bank) is more deserving; 44% believe both are unworthy of representation and leadership.
Another PSR poll, published last June, found that 66% of Palestinians believe that Israel will not celebrate its 100thanniversary and 51% believe that the Palestinian people will be able to "recover Palestine in the future" (i.e., destroy Israel). This means that a majority of Palestinians share Hamas's desire to eliminate Israel as expressed in the terror group's 1988 charter. The poll also showed that 71% of the Palestinians support the formation of armed groups to murder Israelis.
In the past few months, Hamas-affiliated students won elections at two major Palestinian universities in the West Bank. At An-Najah University in Nablus, Hamas's Islamic Bloc won a majority of 40 seats of the student council, while Abbas/Fatah loyalists secured 38 seats. At Birzeit University, near Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians, the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Wafa Bloc won 25 seats out of the student council's 51 seats. A Hamas student bloc also won the majority of seats at Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron earlier this year. According to Middle East Eye:
"The Birzeit and An-Najah elections are considered the bellwether of West Bank politics. The results of these elections are read as a reflection of wider Palestinian society, its position on the PA, and voters' orientations in any broader elections that may be held in the future. With no general Palestinian elections on the horizon, student polls are seen as a 'test for measuring public opinion'..."
In 2021, Abbas cancelled elections he had called for the Palestinian Authority presidency and parliament after realizing that his Fatah faction was poised to lose to Hamas, as took place in the 2006 parliamentary election. "The decision to cancel the elections stemmed from substantive concerns by all the Fatah factions over losing to Hamas," said Dr. Ido Zelkovitz, head of the Middle East Studies department at Israel's Jezreel Valley Academic College.
"The divisions within Fatah and the personal rivalries within its factions contrasted with the united front Hamas presented ahead of the scheduled elections. To avoid embarrassment, Abbas chose to delay the elections, pointing an accusing finger at Israel for [allegedly] preventing the voting by refusing to allow the participation of East Jerusalem residents."
In 2006, Hamas scored a major victory when its representatives won the parliamentary election. Of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hamas won 76-43 seats went to Fatah.
Unlike Biden and Blinken, Abbas knows that Hamas does indeed represent many Palestinians, and unlike Biden and Blinken, Abbas has seen the pro-Hamas demonstrations in the West Bank, including ones that took place a few miles away from his office in Ramallah, in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre of Israelis, including women, children, and the elderly. Unlike Biden and Blinken, Abbas has also seen the numerous Hamas-affiliated terror groups that emerged in the West Bank over the past two years. These groups, such as Jenin Battalion and Lions' Den, are responsible for murdering and wounding dozens of Israelis since the beginning of this year.
Abbas and his officials fully understand that Hamas is not an alien group that landed from Mars. "Hamas is an integral part of the Palestinian people," he said in 2014. Former PLO official Hanan Ashrawi also acknowledged the significance of Hamas in Palestinian society:
"Hamas is an integral part of the [Palestinian] people and it is one of the people's national and societal components."
If, according to Biden and Blinken, Hamas does not represent the Palestinians, how do they explain the fact that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians participated last year in the group's rally to commemorate the 35th anniversary of its founding? Also, how do they explain the fact that hundreds of Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip joined the Hamas terrorists who attacked the Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip?
By stating that Hamas does not represent the Palestinians, Biden and Blinken are implying that Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are the genuine and legitimate representatives of the Palestinians. It is worth reminding the US President and his Secretary of State that Abbas is now in the 18th year of his four-year term in office. Abbas was elected in 2005, and since then the Palestinians have not held presidential elections. Notably, the last PSR poll showed that 78% of the Palestinians do not have faith in Abbas and want him to resign.
The Biden administration is presenting a false claim according to which most Palestinians are opposed to Hamas and that Abbas's Palestinian Authority, which rewards terrorists who murder Jews with monthly stipends, is a "peace partner" for Israel. This is a complete distortion of reality and does not represent the truth.
Recently, Abbas reminded everyone that he is an antisemite and a Holocaust-denier. Speaking on August 24 at a Fatah meeting in Ramallah, Abbas said:
"They say that Hitler killed the Jews because they were Jews and that Europe hated the Jews because they were Jews. Not true. It was clearly explained that [the Europeans] fought [the Jews] because of their social role, and not their religion. The [Europeans] fought against these people because of their social role in society, which had to do with usury, money and so on and so forth."
When will Biden and Blinken grasp that there is no difference between the murderous Hamas leaders and Abbas the antisemite? Surely, Biden and Blinken are aware that Abbas has not condemned the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7. Abbas's silence is a rambunctious approval of the cold-blooded massacre of hundreds upon hundreds of Israelis. Let there be no mistake about it: both Hamas and Abbas represent a majority of Palestinians whose goal is to murder Jews and destroy Israel.
Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
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The IDF has arrested and detained over 500 Hamas personnel and Hamas Palestinian sympathizers. Many more will enjoy the same fate so stay tuned.
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A new elite Israeli unit will hunt down every Hamas terrorist involved in the sneak slaughter
By Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
An elite unit of Israeli agents has been formed to hunt down every Hamas terrorist involved in the heinous Oct. 7 sneak attack on the Jewish state, according to reports.
The specially selected members of Shin Bet, Israel’s version of the FBI, will function independently from other units targeting high-ranking terrorists, the Jerusalem Post said.
The new unit will specifically target members of the special Hamas commando group called Nukhba, which is believed to have pulled off the attack that slaughtered hundreds of innocent Israelis along the country’s border with the Gaza Strip.
The unit is being named after the World War I-era Jewish underground organization “Nili,” an acronym in Hebrew for “the Eternal One of Israel will not lie,” said the Times of Israel.
Shin Bet and the Israeli Defense Forces were chided in the aftermath of the massacre for being caught off guard.
Israel security forces looking for Hamas terrorists.3
Israeli security agents search for Hamas terrorists at a checkpoint near the Gaza Strip after the sneak attack on Israel earlier this month.Getty Images
More than 200 people were kidnapped during the Hamas assault on Israel.3
More than 200 Israelis and foreign nationals were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists Oct. 7, including women, children and the elderly. Matthew Chattle/Shutterstock
Shin Bet’s new unit will use intelligence as well as agents in the field to hunt down the estimated 2,500 terrorists involved in the attack.
The Israel Defense Forces has already announced the deaths of several Nukhba operatives, including Billal al-Qedra, the head of the terror group’s Khan Younis battalion, and commander Ali Qadhi,
Last week, the Israeli military reported killing 10 Nukhba militants during operations in the Gaza Strip.
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Personal Comments:
1) I believe Sec. of State Blinken is lying when he says Israel is free to defend itself and in the manner it chooses. Why do I say this? I submit Biden "defanged" America first when he shut down America's energy production and left us dependent on world energy production.
Now, Biden has delayed Israel's decision when to attack Hamas and the war has widened. Biden made some appropriate speeches and even visited Israel. The problem is, Biden has a history of seldom, if ever, being right on any major decision (s), is a weak and challenged man who is not respected, feared or trusted to act boldly.
His administration has been a total disaster on every front, whether it be protecting America's borders, our withdrawal from Afghanistan, stopping the flow of fentanyl into our country. standing up to Mexican Cartels, stopping the spread of anti-Semitism in our nation, managing the economy and/or arresting the surging deficit.
2) If Biden continues to postpone Israel's freedom to attack, the morale and preparedness of the IDF could deteriorate, world economies will be exposed to the surge in oil prices and the rise in inflation and interest rates will become inevitable. This may occur, in any event, but Israel will be assured that, at least, Biden get's it, and our adversaries will be suffering from the pummeling Israel will unleash.
3) I further believe, Iranians are more than ready to take to the streets but they cannot do so as long as the Ayatollah's control the IRG. Therefore, both must be eliminated and Israel's Mossad and IAF are prepared to do so with American air force participation. The American Fleet's air power must be unleashed or why were they brought into those waters?
4) On our domestic front, I hope The FBI is documenting every detained campus Hamas sympathizer and anti-Semite so future employers have an ability to determine the veracity of any job interviewee to verify were they involved in acts of hatred and anti-American protests. It is their right to protest but they also must come to understand lunches are not free and there are painful consequences for aberrant, hateful behaviour. We have coddled our youth and foreign adversaries here on Visa's beyond logic and our own national safety from terrorism
One has to be naïve to believe the president of a Detroit synagogue was murdered because she was a good person. Time will tell.
5) I support Sen. Scott who urged the Biden Administration, withdraw all tax payer government funding where University Administrators have failed to protect the safety and well being of their student body, ie mostly Jewish students as well as punish all professors who have subjected their Jewish students to anti-Semitic acts both in class rooms as well as campus protests.
6) It is high time America return to its roots and cease embracing Nazi and Communist tactics and similarities. We were once a better people until we dropped our guard, succumbed to radical intimidation and both pandered to and financed their filth and garbage ideology.
Biden has even allowed China to occupy and encamp their military into Cuba. Khrushchev must be gloating .
I no longer recognize my blessed country but I, also, am not surprised. Why? Because I always knew it could happen here and was only a matter of time. I predicted the unworthy election of Obama and his pledge to transform America was the beginning of our downfall and still do because far too many former Obama personnel still reside in government, control the thought process and selection of Biden operatives.
Even the current nominee to be our Ambassador to Israel is an avowed liar and our own State Department just banned a radical Islamist sympathizer, stripping him of his top secret clearance. The Biden Administration is flooded with such and they occupy highly sensitive positions. The Pentagon has been turned into a nursery for all kind of LBGTQ 's resulting in a depressed fighting force incapable of meeting volunteer hiring quotas. This, while China's military capabilities surge.
7) Finally, there is mounting circumstantial evidence the entire Biden Clan has been corrupted and could well be under the influence of a variety of foreign nations who are adversaries. The money flows have begun to be documented by Rep. Jordan who has been effective. This is why Democrats and Hillary weaponized their stance against Trump's threat to their elite power and the likes of Jordan and his conservative associates who are investigating alleged Biden corruption.
Furthermore, never dismiss cover-up efforts by the mass-media to either remain quiet or purposely deflect highly revealing documentation. American distrust of government, social media and political parties has reached levels suggesting the degree of utter distrust and contempt are dangerous if our democracy/republic is to survive.
I submit, no nation with a populace speaking a multitude of languages can or has survived.
Ben Franklin warned us. George Washington warned us. Lincoln warned us. Pogo warned us. Ayn Rand warned us, F. Hayek warned us. Big Brother Warned us. Alice in Wonderland warned us. Gulliver warned us. Adam Smith Warned us. Eisenhower warned us, Reagan warned us. Khrushchev even warned/told us with is banging shoes. Yes, even Trump warned us. I even warned us, just have and still will. Yet, we refused to collectively heed these omniscient warnings.
Now the bill has come due and we find ourselves, "The United States" deeply divided over who is responsible.
No Majority Speaker, Only Minor Takers.
HOW PATHETIC!
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