The Secretary General of the United Nations announced he will include Israel in a global list of states and militias that harm children.
Israel's Foreign Minister Katz responded to the inclusion of Israel in the report with the following statement:
“Israel rejects with disgust the UN Secretary-General's decision to include the IDF in the blacklist of countries and entities that harm children during conflict. The decision to include the IDF in the list is entirely at the discretion of the Secretary-General and is further evidence of his hostility towards Israel, and his deliberately disregard - and not for the first time - Hamas' attack of October 7th and Israel's right to self-defense. This is the same UN Secretary-General who chose to ignore Hamas' sex crimes, despite the report written on the subject by UN Special Representative Patten.
Hamas is a terrorist organization that deliberately targets Israeli children and civilians and at the same time, deliberately endangers children and civilians in Gaza, turning them into human shields.
The inclusion of Israel in the list is a deplorable act that will strengthen the desire of terrorist organizations to cynically violate international law, while exploiting the civilian population, including with children and by operating from schools, hospitals and other essential facilities.
The Secretary-General's report regarding Israel and the Palestinians is based on unverified and distorted data, part of an industry of biased and distorted reports by organizations such as OCHA, which just recently reduced the number of children and women killed in the war in Gaza by half in one day without any explanation and it relies on data from the Ministry of Health of Hamas. Israel will expose these distortions in these reports to the world.
The Secretary-General's measure will have consequences for Israel's relations with the UN.” ++++ Rescued Israeli hostages were starved, beaten ‘almost every day’ in Hamas captivity: ‘Beyond comprehension’ By Emily Crane
Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv, 41, suffered the horrific abuse after they were all kidnapped from the Supernova desert rave during the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv, 41, suffered the horrific abuse after they were all kidnapped from the Supernova desert rave during the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks. via REUTERS
The four Israeli hostages rescued during a daring military operation over the weekend were starved and beaten “almost every day” by Hamas terrorists during their eight months in captivity, their doctor has revealed.
Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv, 41, suffered the horrific abuse after they were all kidnapped from the Supernova desert rave during the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.
“It was a harsh, harsh, experience, with a lot of abuse, almost every day,” Dr. Itai Pessach, who has been treating the freed hostages at the Tel Hashomer Hospital in central Israel, told CNN.
“Every hour, both physical, mental, and other types, and that is something that is beyond comprehension.”
Dr. Itai PessachDr. Itai Pessach, who has been treating the freed hostages at the Tel Hashomer Hospital in central Israel, said they were starved and beaten “almost every day” by Hamas terrorists. Sheba Medical Center
The hostages opened up about the months-long torture they endured after being saved by Israeli forces during Saturday’s daring rescue in Nuseirat in central Gaza.
The doctor said the hostages had revealed they’d been moved by their Hamas captors several times while in captivity and the harm inflicted on them had “left a significant mark on their health.”
“They had no protein, so their muscles are extremely wasted, there is damage to some other systems because of that,” Pessach said, adding that the food and water supply was at times non-existent.
“There have been periods where they got almost no food whatsoever,” he continued.
“There were other periods where it was a little better, but all in all, the combination of the psychological stress, malnutrition or not getting enough food or not getting the right kind of food, medical neglect, being limited to space, not seeing the sun and all of the other things have [a] significant effect on health.”
The hostages, who the Israeli military initially said were in good health, were all reunited with their loved ones over the weekend after being rushed to the Israeli hospital. Among them was Argamani — the young woman who became the symbol of the Oct. 7 bloodshed when she was filmed shouting “Don’t kill me!” as she was driven into Gaza on a motorbike.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog released a clip of a smiling Argamani speaking to him on the phone from hospital while flanked by her family and friends.
“Thank you for everything, thank you for this moment,” she said in the video.
“I am so excited to hear your voice, it brings tears to my eyes … Welcome home,” Herzog responded. ++++ The 10 Commandments, Catalyst for Antisemitism? By Sherwin Pomerantz
Tonight, Tuesday, Jews worldwide will begin the one-day (two days outside of Israel) observance of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks often referred to by Christians as Pentecost because it occurs 49 “counted” days (i.e. seven weeks) from the start of Passover. According to tradition, Shavuot commemorates the bringing down of the Law from Sinai by Moses, symbolized by the ten statements usually called “commandments,” an event we believe occurred 3,500 or so years ago
What is contained in the above is truly remarkable. Consider the fact that the instructions to observe the Passover holiday, the obligation to physically count 49 days from the start of that holiday (the process is called Counting the Omer), and then an instruction to celebrate Shavuot which marks the giving of the law timed to coincide, as well, with the first fruits of the planting season in ancient Israel, all continues to be observed even today. The fact that Jews have followed those instructions for almost four millennia is something no other people on earth have been able to duplicate.
This, coupled with all of the other societal constructs contained in the Torah, the book of laws by which we are enjoined to live, has energized the destructive envy of other religious and ethnic groups ever since the events at Mt. Sinai and may very well make what we celebrate tomorrow one of the catalysts for antisemitism, the oldest hate that mankind has ever known
What Moses brought down from Sinai that day so soon after the exodus from Egypt, was a series of concepts totally out of sync with the practices of the times but which laid out a code of conduct for humanity. If the world had followed them, none of the wars that have been fought could even have been considered as an option. Consider these one by one.
1. I am the Lord thy God who took you out of the Land of Egypt. In a word, understand that all of us are who we are because and as a result of those who went before us and made it possible for us to be here. Give honor to your ancestors for without them you would not be the person you are. And remember to be true to the God that made it all possible.
2. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Here God lays the foundation for monotheism in a world where people generally worshipped many gods. It is a model that has been followed even by those who rejected traditional Judaism and formed their own rituals and observances. Yet the concept of one God remained, the gift of the Jews to humanity.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. For those who believe in God, the name of God is holy and must be so respected and is not to be used furiously.
4. Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. This is a big one. Mankind needs a day of rest every week to rejuvenate the body and the spirit. Long before 24/7 news feeds, incessant emails and whatsapp messages and intrusive e mails, the Law says set aside one day a week to stop, to contemplate, to interface with your family and friends, to disconnect from the stresses of day-to-day life. Previously unheard of in those times and not even so common in western society as recently as 150 years ago when slaves, serfs and others were made to work seven days a week. God knew, in making this demand, that humanity is gluttonous, and without some limits would work non-stop. Sound familiar? Another gift to civilization from us.
5. Honor thy father and mother. Respect parents as they age, understand that they are not to be put on an ice flow and sent out to the arctic to die. A reminder, yet again, that we did not get here on our own and, as such, have an obligation to honor those on whose shoulders we stand.
6. Thou shalt not murder. The instruction is not to “murder.” Killing is sometimes justified especially when someone is trying to kill us. But unjustified killing, or murder, is not permitted as it contributes to the destruction of society.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. The family is inviolate and adulterous relationships destroy the family which is the fabric of society. This was a novel concept at the time it was written because, once again, human beings have a tendency here as well to be gluttonous so this behavior had to have some limits.
8. Thou shalt not steal. The world tends to be in a permanent state of chaos where people and countries do whatever strikes their collective fancy. For example, the Law forbids the willful taking of the property of another. The extension of this law applies as well when one country decides it wants the property of another country. Witness Russia’s land grab in the Ukraine for the national aspect of the Law.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor. Society cannot function if lying is a normative form of conduct. When society slips into that mode and is accepting of people creating their own truths in the face of reality, society itself is threatened.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or servant, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. And here we return to where I started. We are told not to be envious of something that other people have because the good Lord understood what people might do if envy were left unchecked. One can find plenty of examples of how envy has led to robbery, defamation and very often even murder itself.
Through our traditions, our belief in the God who brought us out of Egyptian slavery, our long term commitment to the observance of biblical injunctions (to varying degrees, of course, as we are also still human) and the fact that ours is the only people in all of history who kept their faith even after their temple was destroyed, we should be the envy of the world, where that envy is positive.
But envy is often destructive as the 10th Commandment warns. So, it may be that our success after all the trials, tribulations, expulsions, pogroms and even the attempt to eradicate us from Europe in the middle of the 20th century, has led to a destructive envy that feeds antisemitism. There may be no other understandable reason for people to slip into antisemitic behavior patterns.
Journalist Douglas Murray does a better job of exploring all of this than I can do in a brief article and it would be worth watching him here……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7X1gEHioQ4
But tomorrow, as we once again read the narrative of the ten commandments and rise to give honor to their words, let us hope that all of us will live long enough to see the scourge of antisemitism neutralized. We can only dream of what a really wonderful world all of us would be able to inhabit if people lived by those 172 Hebrew words that make up the original text. 172 words the form the basis of mutual respect, caring, concern and hope. May it be so. To all my Jewish readers, chag sameach, have a happy and meaningful holiday observance. ++++ World Plays 'Pretend' as Iran Burns Down Middle East Israel Is NOT the Problem by Robert Williams
Iran's terrorist proxy Hezbollah, having fired thousands of rockets, guided anti-tank missiles and exploding drones into Israel since October, has lately ratcheted up its attacks even more, killing and wounding Israelis and igniting massive wildfires that have so far consumed more than 3,500 acres of farmland, forest, brush. Pictured: A firefighter works to put out fires sparked by rockets launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah, on June 4, 2024, near Alma, Israel. (Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
For months, a steady stream of world leaders has flocked to Israel to pressure it not to defend itself. Israel has now been attacked incessantly for eight months by Iran and its proxies in Gaza and Lebanon: Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Since October 7, 2023, they have rained down more than 10,000 rockets, missiles and attack-drones on a democratic country smaller than New Jersey, presumably in attempts to obliterate it, or at least cause mass slaughter.
Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron came to Jerusalem, where he told Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza. "The ordeal of the Palestinians in Gaza must end," Macron said, without even bothering to demand the release of the remaining hostages as a precondition for his fever-dream of a ceasefire. So far, Hamas has rejected all proposals but one, and that came only after extreme military, not diplomatic, persuasion.
World leaders like Macron play a game of "pretend." According to it, the situation in the Middle East is an issue between Israel and the Palestinians; and if just that is resolved by establishing of a new Palestinian terrorist state, "peace" will drift down upon the region. Of course, the idea is demented, as the world leaders are undoubtedly aware, but they continue to propose it – but only to the victim, Israel, which was attacked without provocation and is still being attacked; never to Hamas, Qatar or Iran, the parties that ignited the war. The ceasefire that the world claims it wants could be delivered this week if Iran and Qatar seriously ordered their proxies to stop, and Hamas and Hezbollah laid down their weapons.
Clearly Iran and Qatar have no intention of doing any such thing: they undoubtedly see their job as keeping their proxies in power to be able to strike again.
The current war in the Middle East is at its core a war on Israel and the United States. The conflict was reportedly planned by Iran (here and here) and executed by its web of proxies in the region: Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Iraqi Shiite militias, managed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Since October, Iranian-sponsored forces have fired on American troops in Syria and Iraq more than 150 times, presumably to finish driving the US out of the region to be able to continue dominating it without Western supervision. Iran launched, from its own territory, more than 300 ballistic- and cruise-missiles and drones at Israel on April 13-14.
World leaders, however, are not demanding that Iran or its proxies stand down. The main reason Ireland, Norway and Spain have recognized a borderless Palestinian terrorist state is that they do not have to live with the consequences. Maybe Spain would also like to recognize a State of Catalonia? Ireland, even at the height of the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, never demanded that all the Welsh, Scots and English leave Britain, to have it peopled only by Irish Catholics.
World leaders, however, are not demanding that Iran or its proxies stop. Worse, US President Joe Biden has reportedly been pressing European leaders not to prevent Iran from acquiring its bombs. No one is even knocking on Iran's door, to ask it even to keep Hamas, Hezbollah or any of its other proxies in check.
Conspicuously, the same Macron who is ordering Israel to lay down its weapons in Gaza has been silent when it comes to asking that of Hamas and Iran.
The same can be said about virtually every other leader, as well as the United Nations, the European Union, NGOs and the media, which suspiciously all play the same tune, that the main problem is Israel's self-defense against the constant massacres and rocket attacks. The Biden administration, notably, has done virtually nothing since October 7 but put pressure on Israel to limit its military operations and airstrikes, while wholly discouraging Israeli leaders from addressing the constant cross-border missile attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon, which began October 8, 2023.
The world's leniency in letting Iran's proxies run rampant has had severe consequences, especially in northern Israel, where Hezbollah has been attacking almost non-stop since October 8 – assaults generally ignored by international policymakers and pundits. For eight months now, around 100,000 residents of northern Israel are currently internal refugees in Israel, thanks Hezbollah's attacks and menacing presence on the border, and facing an uncertain future. As of November 1, 2023, around 253,000 Israelis had been evacuated from their homes in Israel after Iran's proxy attacks -- a situation that is rarely if ever mentioned in mainstream media reports on the war.
Hezbollah, having fired thousands of rockets, guided anti-tank missiles and exploding drones into Israel since October, has lately ratcheted up its attacks even more, killing and wounding Israelis and igniting massive wildfires that have so far consumed more than 3,500 acres of farmland, forest, brush. Many of Israel's now-abandoned farms are located in both the north and the south near Gaza, where evacuated farmers are unable to tend their crops.
While the world has been gripped by seemingly crocodile-teary mass hysteria over the plight of Gazans – where are they for the Ukrainians the Uyghurs, the Kurds, the Armenians, the Syrians, the Haitians, the Nigerians, the Sudanese and other North Africans? The northern areas of Israel bordering Lebanon have become a burning, living hell, disregarded by all. The displacement of the area's 100,000 residents has been caused by an undeterred Hezbollah, thanks to the Biden administration, which continues to do everything it can to empower the terrorist-sponsoring Qatar, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Iran's many militias and proxies.
Biden's presidential envoy Amos Hochstein has visited Israel and Lebanon repeatedly since October 7 to prevent Israel, in the words of the Israeli-American journalist Caroline Glick, "from removing Hezbollah forces and missiles from Southern Lebanon, where they pose an existential threat to Israel through military means."
"For the past four months, Hochstein has been seeking to force Israel to accept a 'diplomatic solution' to Hezbollah's military threat. Hezbollah, with its tens of thousands of battle-hardened terrorists perched along Lebanon's border with Israel and its arsenal of 150,000 missiles, rockets, drones and mortars poses such a clear and urgent threat to Israel that immediately after Hezbollah began shelling northern Israel without provocation on Oct. 8, the government rightly removed 80,000 Israeli residents from border communities in the north."
The solution proposed by Hochstein, on behalf of the Biden administration, was basically for Israel to surrender to Hezbollah: Hezbollah would remain intact, but, in Glick's words, "move its forces 8-12 km from the border and be replaced by UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)."
Both UNIFIL and LAF have proven worthless in preventing Hezbollah from carrying out Iran's aggression -- meaning that Israel's residents of the north would never be able to return to their homes. In addition, Hochstein has advocated handing over territory to Hezbollah, even though the areas under discussion "include strategic points from Rosh Hanikra on the coastline in the west to Mt. Dov along the Syrian border in the east."
Hochstein unconvincingly claims that solving border disputes between Israel and Lebanon with a "land boundary" agreement would somehow dramatically reduce Iran's influence in Lebanon. There already is such an agreement, the UN's "Blue Line," which Hezbollah was reportedly planning to violate well before October 2023.
Iran's proxy Hezbollah already is the main power inside Lebanon; a new ineffectual border agreement will not change that. Furthermore, a border agreement is not what Biden wants. Biden's policies, like Obama's, are all about strengthening Iran in every way, including allowing it to fully realize its nuclear ambitions. As noted recently by the Iranian-born scholar Majid Rafizadeh:
"Sanctions that the Biden administration has lifted or ignored, including secondary sanctions -- notifying other countries that if they trade with Iran, they will be prohibited from trading with the US -- have enabled the Iranian regime to profit by an estimated $100 billion; more, according to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, than 'the annual budget of Greece or Ireland.'... Most importantly, these profits have enabled Iran to accelerate completing its nuclear weapons program, if it has not already done so and is not just being paid to stay quiet before the US presidential election this November."
Robert Williams is a researcher based in the United States. ++++ | 
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