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.

Virtually every school and mosque in Gaza has weapons around

While the IDF operates in Khan Yunis, they found what they've practically discovered everywhere and anywhere else in Gaza:

Guided by precise intelligence, the forces conducted a targeted raid on terror infrastructure where dozens of rocket launchers, explosive devices and intelligence documents were located. The rocket launchers were dismantled.

The IDF emphasized, "There is no area without a tunnel shaft, no school or mosque without weapons."

All these years since Yitzhak Rabin/Shimon Peres/Ariel Sharon enabled these horrors to build up, and now, look at what astonishing damage that enabled by extension. Thankfully, the IDF is now destroying much of it.

Chechnya taking in Muslims from Gaza

Well, this is most intriguing. The autocrat of a region circa Russia that's Muslim-majority is taking in Mohammedans from the Gaza strip:

Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov announced this week that his majority-Muslim Russian republic will construct a "Palestinian village" for refugees from the Gaza Strip.

Kadyrov, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, laid the cornerstone for the establishment of the village that will accommodate the refugees. The hamlet will be built in Chechnya's capital Grozny, in the vicinity of schools and kindergartens, and will include five residential buildings with 35 apartments each with a total living space of roughly 45,000 square feet.

Family members of refugees who do not hold Russian citizenship received a passport and citizenship upon arrival. Kadyrov also announced that each family will receive 100,000 rubles (1,100$) in financial assistance.

According to Russian-born Israeli social activist Alex Tenzer, about 1,124 refugees have arrived in Russia from Gaza so far since the start of the war, with most of them settling in Muslim-majority areas, such as Chechnya and Dagestan.

The first group of refugees has already been taken in by Chechnya, which has announced that it is ready to take in about 250 more refugees. Kadyrov himself met with some of them, and said that 30 refugees have already been accepted for employment in the health sector, while the rest are now taking courses to learn the Russian language.

Last month, Canada announced that it intends to ease the criteria for accepting relatives of Canadian citizens and residents living in Gaza. However, Canada made it clear that the exit from Gaza depends on Israel's approval, and warned that leaving the area could be dangerous. According to Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Mark Miller, hundreds of people will be able to resettle in the country under the program.

Whatever one thinks of Canada, they're certainly less lucky. As is the public in Russia proper, recalling it may have been reported there's some Muslims who went directly there as well. One can only wonder if Putin's preparing a poison "gift" for the Russian populace for after he's gone.

This news does give an idea of what European and other countries who're more realist might want to encourage their own Muslim populations to do, and move to places like Chechnya and Dagestan instead. And who knows, that might be just what'll happen in the future. If the Gazan Muslims move to those areas in the meantime, it's quite fine. We do not need any of the worst Islamic-influenced bigots dwelling here, as Ron deSantis would surely agree.

Here's more on this news at the Jerusalem Post and Jewish Press.

Whoever owns the Empire State Building sold out to Qatar

Robert Spencer at Front Page points to how the management at NYC's Empire State Building is celebrating Qatar National Day, and what makes this bad is that it's a country that's bankrolled Islamic terrorism just as much as Iran, and just as disturbing is that Qatar's got a huge ownership in the veteran NYC tower:

Who loves Hamas? After Hamas jihadis murdered 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, growing numbers of leftists do. Can we now add the Empire State Building to the list?

The iconic New York landmark announced on X Sunday: “Tonight from midnight until sunrise, we will shine in burgundy and white to celebrate Qatar National Day.” Back in 2016, Qatar shelled out $622 million to buy 9.9 percent of the Empire State Building, and so if the building’s managers wants to honor one their principal shareholders, that’s their business. The timing in this case, however, is particularly ghastly, and raises questions about the propriety of having not-quite-friendly states owning a piece of American landmarks.

It was just over two months ago, on Oct. 7, that Hamas leaders including its top leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal and others, were caught on video happily watching news of the Hamas massacres in Israel, and then prostrating themselves in prayers of gratitude to Allah for the killing of Jews. They were in a plush office in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Hamas’ “Political Bureau,” as opposed to its military, i.e. terrorist, wing, has been located in Doha since 2012. Haniyeh and Mashal live not in Gaza, but in sumptuous digs in Doha. Reuters reported that “a bipartisan group of 113 U.S. lawmakers on Oct. 16 sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to put pressure on countries who support Hamas, including Qatar. They asked that Qatar, a major non-NATO U.S. ally and a channel for U.S. dialogue with the Taliban since a U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, to expel Hamas leadership. ‘The country’s links to Hamas…are simply unacceptable,’ the letter said.”

It is emblematic of the Biden regime’s America-Last leadership that the principal response to that letter appears to be the lighting of the Empire State Building in Qatar’s colors for its national day. What’s more, Qatar never should have been allowed to buy a piece of the Empire State Building in the first place. Investigative journalist Daniel Greenfield reminds us of what the 9/11 Commission Report said about Qatar’s role in the 9/11 jihad attacks. The Commission noted that one of the key masterminds of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, like Haniyeh and Mashal, lived in Qatar.

What makes this chilling is that it undermines the ability to combat Islamisation effectively, and if Qatar's bought into the Empire State Building's ownership, there can be no doubt they've invested in plenty more notable properties and locations around the USA, and other parts of the globe. It's disgraceful how various businesses care so much more about moneymaking at all costs, they're virtually willing to throw all common sense to the winds by doing deals with enemy countries. Which in cases like these are going to end up becoming very costly. Those who care must stop doing deals with enemy countries like Qatar.

IDF undermines war against Islamic terror by penalizing soldiers who did Hanuka prayer through mosque loudspeaker

The IDF's made a lot of accomplishments lately in dealing with Islamic terrorism after the Hamas' bloodbath on October 7. But what the Israeli army's doing here does not help matters:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Thursday that it had suspended several soldiers who were seen in a widely-shared video singing Hanukkah songs through the loudspeaker of a minaret on a mosque during a counter-terror operation in Jenin.

Jenin, a Palestinian Authority-controlled city in the West Bank known as a hotbed for violent terrorism, has been the target of an IDF operation lasting for two and-a-half days.

[...] In his evening briefing, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said (via IDF translation):

I wish to address the unusual footage published today from the Jenin mosque. IDF soldiers are required to act professionally in accordance with the spirit of the IDF and its values. This is how the overwhelming majority of soldiers act; we will not compromise the IDF’s conduct. Anyone who does not conduct themselves according to IDF values will face corresponding measures.

The soldiers involved were suspended. Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi also denounced the soldiers’ behavior, according to the Times of Israel, and told the IDF to remind soldiers “that they must not harm the religious sentiments of the adherents of other faiths.”

So they're going soft on the very Religion of Peace that indoctrinated all Islamofascists who took part in the bloodbath to commit heinous crimes. That's simply unacceptable, and the IDF owes the soldiers an apology for resorting to the very same PC narrative many others have made the mistake of committing.

After October 7, some leftists hopefully changed their view of Muslims

In this Wash. Free Beacon article, they interview a leftist "peace activist" who appears to have changed after her experience with the jihadists from Gaza who also invaded her household on October 7:

Irit Lahav, 57, was a peace activist who believed in the decency of the Palestinian people. Then, on Oct. 7, ordinary Gazans joined in a terrorist attack that left more than one in four of her neighbors in Kibbutz Nir Oz dead or abducted.

For many members of Nir Oz and other Israelis, the atrocities of Oct. 7—and particularly the broad participation of the Gazan public in the day—destroyed their faith in coexistence with the Palestinians.

Lahav, a manager at a travel company, long participated in peace demonstrations. In recent years, she volunteered for an Israeli charity called Road to Recovery, driving Palestinian children from the border of the Gaza Strip, less than two miles from her home, to Israeli hospitals for life-saving medical care.

"We thought that Palestinians are good people. All they want is peace and prosperity," Lahav told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview from a hotel in this Red Sea resort city where she and most of her community were temporarily relocated. "It's just that Hamas is forcing them to be in this aggressive situation."

When terrorists first shook the door of her safe room on Oct. 7, Lahav was sure that she and her 22-year-old daughter were about to be killed. But a makeshift lock she had fashioned out of an oar and a vacuum cleaner thwarted three separate break-in attempts. The women lay in the darkened room for about 10 hours listening to sounds of automatic gunfire and grenade explosions. At one point, they heard a group of teenagers robbing their house.

Later, Lahav learned from other Nir Oz survivors that Gazan women and children as young as 10 years old had followed Hamas terrorists into the kibbutz, looting, helping the armed terrorists, and apparently enjoying themselves.

"Basically it was sort of an invasion of a community," Lahav said. "That's why for me, I cannot say this was a Hamas action. No, for me, this was a Palestinian action. A whole community had come to our kibbutz, took our things, stole stuff, killed people, and kidnapped others."

"Am I thinking about myself being foolish until now?" Lahav added. "Maybe. But more is that I'm disappointed in them, that they're so cruel, have no values, really lost their human values."

During Israel's ongoing war to destroy Hamas, 40 of the hostages taken from Nir Oz have been released, while 30 remain in Gaza. Several other hostages have been declared dead in recent weeks, bringing the total number of people killed from Nir Oz to 46.

While it's good to know she's changed her mind about what people like her still call a "palestinian people", it remains to be seen if any of these presumably no-longer-peace-activists recognize that Islam played a very horrific major role in the bloodbath of October 7. And what would Lahav say if "settlers" of background more religious than hers were the victims? Lahav should publicly renounce all associations with anyone who until now supported Islamic savages. And she'd do well to consider how many women in Europe, in example, have fallen victim to Islamofascism as well. Many on the left now owe a serious apology.

Turkish MP dies after delivering anti-Israeli tirade

Looks like a most antisemitic member of Turkey's pseudo-parliament paid for his vulgar screeds big time:

Turkish lawmaker Hasan Bitmez of the hardline Islamist Saadet Party (SP) died in the hospital on Thursday, two days after he collapsed during a fiery tirade against Israel at the Turkish National Assembly.

Bitmez, 54, collapsed at the climax of a 22-minute speech on Tuesday in which he criticized the government of Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP Party for not taking a strong enough stance against Israel in the Gaza war.

[...] The parliament was reportedly debating the national budget at the time of his remarks. It is not clear from Turkish media reports if Bitmez’s anti-Israel attack was germane to the budgetary considerations at hand.

For many of these Islamofascists, nothing is ever enough. But here's one scumbag who sure wound up potentially facing the Lord's wrath due to his offensive tirade.

More news coverage of the horror of sexual violence Hamas inflicted on October 7

Here's another report (via Front Page), repulsive as can be, about the sexual violence the Hamas committed along with graphic gore on October 7 this year:

Israeli investigators probing the fallout of the brutal October 7 attacks have found evidence that men as well as women suffered sexual violence and rape at the hands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad attackers, activists have claimed.

Yael Sherer, a spokeswoman for Israel's Survivors of Sexual Violence advocacy group, said there was physical evidence as well as eyewitness accounts of sexual violence perpetrated against both sexes amid the attacks.

'There was sexual violence and rape in these communities in the south of Israel... we have a few living survivors - not a lot - of both genders. It didn't only happen to women, it happened to men as well,' she told BBC Radio 4.

'Aside from finding bodies of people who were murdered, a lot of the bodies were mutilated... terrorists made sure to disgrace these people and dishonor them,' she added.

It comes as Israeli police opened up the biggest investigation into sexual violence and crimes against women ever in the nation.

The leader of the investigation, Shelly Harush, said: 'It's clear now that sexual crimes were part of the planning and the purpose was to terrify and humiliate people.'

Police have collected thousands of statements, photographs and video clips that have been called unbearable to watch from a mother's perspective and include 'girls whose pelvises were broken they had been raped so much'.

The irony in this is that those Hamas jihadists who raped men were bound to be homosexual. In which case, there's definitely a contradiction when it comes to homosexuality and Islam. Is that why some of the most antisemitic LGBT ideologues aren't against the Religion of Peace?

Joe Sacco's anti-Israeli graphic novel is going back to press

The UK Guardian, a very bad MSM outlet themselves, published a puff piece about Joe Sacco's GN titled "Palestine", which was intended as anti-Israel propaganda, and is now seeing new print, clearly for the sake of obscuring the Hamas' savagery on October 7, and pandering to the crowd of creeps supporting them:

An acclaimed nonfiction graphic novel about Gaza, which pioneered the medium of “comics journalism”, has been rushed back into print after surging demand since the fresh outbreak of the conflict two months ago.

Palestine, by Joe Sacco, was originally released in comic book form by the American publisher Fantagraphics 30 years ago, then published as a single volume by the company, and by Jonathan Cape in the UK in 2003.

It was created by Sacco, a Maltese American journalist and cartoonist from Portland, Oregon, as a record of his own journeys around Gaza in 1991, and has since then won a clutch of awards and been included on university courses as a primer for the whole conflict. Edward Said, the Palestinian American academic and critic, said in his introduction to the book: “With the exception of one or two novelists and poets, no one has ever rendered this terrible state of affairs better than Joe Sacco.”

Gary Groth, the co-founder of Fantagraphics, said that after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and the subsequent bombing of Gaza demand for the book had soared.

He said, “We blew out of our inventory of several thousand copies quickly and are reprinting now. Retailers and wholesalers began ordering the book in far greater quantities than in the recent past, which indicates that every element down the chain – consumers and retailers – are expressing demand for it.”

Well, this is certainly telling about Groth to boot, the same disgrace and shame who did a sugarcoated interview with Maurice Sendak years ago. Of course, one must also wonder where any and all comic retailers stand on a subject involving Stan Lee, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Will Eisner and Gil Kane's Israeli brethren. If any are seeking to capitalize on the tragedy that struck many Jewish women and children in particular, that's offensive in the extreme, and they have no business associating even remotely with the creations of famous Jewish artists. Sacco, along with the article writer, makes clear he remains sympathetic to followers of Islam, and shows no sign of horror over what followers of the Religion of Peace in Gaza did to innocent and defenseless women and children. That's what really makes this Guardian article repulsive. Unshockingly, they didn't even see fit to mention that Edward Said falsified his history. None of which matters to Sacco, sadly, nor to Groth. I absolutely do not want to buy from Fantagraphics if this is the kind of graphic novels they're going to market.

And Sacco's GN didn't so much pioneer comics journalism as it did propaganda, and exploiting the medium for that specific goal. It's sickening to think how many GNs of this sort came down the pike in the past 2 decades that did more harm than good for the comics medium's image overall regarding political issues.

Female hostages of Hamas were imprisoned in cages, as were infants

More unshocking news on the horrible treatment of Israeli hostages has been reported, and the Hamas' misogyny comes into focus:

Women who were abducted from Israeli territory and held hostage by Hamas in Gaza were kept in cages, according to a report by Israeli media, citing a statement from a member of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

This claim is not the first of its kind: In the days immediately following the October 7 attacks, videos from Hamas's Telegram channel showed child hostages being kept in cages for the majority of their time in captivity.

Hamas distributed a letter on Monday allegedly written by Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped alongside her 5-year-old daughter Emilia and held in captivity. In the letter, written in Hebrew and translated into Arabic, she reportedly thanked Hamas for the "extraordinary humanity" provided to her daughter, who "felt like a queen."

The letter also read, "I will forever be a prisoner of love because [Emilia] did not leave here with psychological trauma forever." The Aloni family has not confirmed this letter nor the statements made in it, though it has been widely distributed on social media by the Hamas terror organization.

This letter is one of many that hostages were forced to write, according to Israeli media reports.

Survivors reported being provided with limited food while being held hostage, without clear reports of physical abuse or torture. Of the small rations they received – sometimes only rice and pita at best – the hostages were often left to cook the food for themselves and for the children held with them. They also said how their final two weeks had seen supplies running low.

Supplies running low

Merav Mor Munder, the cousin of Keren Munder who was released on Friday, told N12 "There were days when there were no supplies, so they only ate pita bread. They were not tortured, but there were days when they barely had any food, in the last few days they only ate very little rice."

She relates how one of the hostages, Hannah Katzir, who was also released, learned of her son’s murder on one of the few occasions they would be permitted to listen to Israeli radio. It was upon her own release that she found out that her husband had also been kidnapped and remains in Gaza.

Some of the hostages spoke of their worry about last-minute attempts by Hamas or Gazans – who had thrown stones at the vehicles taking them to Egypt – to attack them before they got home. "Until the last moment we weren't sure," a hostage said: "We thought they would lynch us on the way to Israel."

This is going to stand out as some of the worst hostage abuse of the century.

Update: in the meantime, a fifth group of hostages has been released from captivity. Here's some more about what they went through.

Update 2: it's also important to note that more lies are being spread about Israel, and even the UK Guardian is one of the biggest defenders.

MSM outlets had reporters embedded with Hamas during terrorist attack

Some very horrific discoveries have been made about the AP Wire and Reuters, demonstrating just how evil journalists can be:

Photographers from the Associated Press and Reuters appear to have been embedded with Hamas terrorists as they executed terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, according to a new report from Honest Reporting, a media watchdog.

Photos posted by the news agencies of the surprise terrorist attack on Israel include ones showing terrorists breaking the gates to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where residents were caught completely off guard and dozens were murdered. Photos also show that photographers were on the scene as terrorists took civilians such as Shani Louk hostage, and attacking Israeli tanks on the other side of the Gaza border.

The photos raise serious questions about whether the news agencies had advance knowledge that the terrorist attacks were taking place. The four individuals credited by the Associated Press for images of the attacks — Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali — are all photographers based in Gaza, where it was revealed in 2021 that the Associated Press shared office space with the terrorist group.

One of the photographers, Hassan Eslaiah, has reportedly been pictured getting kissed by a top Hamas operative who is said to be one of the chief architects of the deadly terrorist attacks, which killed over 1,400 and have led to a massive war with Israel.

This is seriously offensive, and any and all reporters involved are guilty of participation in a crime, not to mention failure to report/prevent one. This whole catastrophe even led to the recent murder of a USA-born policewoman in the past week. The AP/Reuters reporters who were part of the massacre must be arrested and imprisoned for being party to a heinous crime. This recent horror practically makes clear journalists and photographers are more than fully capable of committing evil in their own ways, and if the 2 aforementioned news agencies won't weed out these monsters from their staffs, they should be boycotted and ostracized.

Update: speaking of the policewoman, it turns out a colleague of hers abandoned his post when this occurred, and enabled the tragedy to take place more easily. He's been removed from his position, as a result.

The official entry begins, and could last a considerable amount of time

The IDF's official entry into Gaza has begun, and will obviously not end within a fortnight:

They’re heading into Gaza. Israeli forces, which have been amassing along the border for days, finally went into the Hamas-controlled area to wipe out the terror group. This operation goes beyond past ground assaults—Israel seems poised for the long haul, occupying the area until every Hamas terrorist is eliminated.

The IDF announced today that the next phase has begun and that ground troops are now operating in Gaza.

Make no mistake, this will be a long war. It could last years, as there are reportedly 40,000 Hamas terrorists waiting in terror tunnels to attack IDF forces. Israeli military units had conducted raids into Northern Gaza ahead of the main assault, taking out terrorists, defensive structures, and anti-tank positions. The latest incursions involved tanks and heavy equipment that laid the groundwork for the larger invasion force. This massive operation comes in the wake of Hamas' brutal invasion earlier this month.

With Iran's assistance, the invasion comes after Hamas launched a devastating and barbaric terror attack from Gaza on October 7. Over 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Torture, rape, and kidnapping were also inflicted upon the civilian population, where we saw whole families slaughtered by these radical Islamic animals. Babies were beheaded and set on fire.

It's firmly clear this operation will last a considerable length of time. But the end result will hopefully be one we can be relieved and proud of, and the tunnel network is one of the biggest problems other than the troglodytes dwelling there that must be eliminated. And we must avenge the sadistic murders that occurred on October 7.