On Friday, 3/22, Congress passed, and President Biden signed into law, numerous major pro-Israel provisions in its annual appropriations bills, including more than $3.8 billion in funding for Israel.  Yet the House went on break without passing the bipartisan national security supplemental bill. This week the US also abstained from voting on a ceasefire resolution at the UN. 

Someone should remind world leaders that a ceasefire takes two. Hamas rejected Israel’s 6 week ceasefire offer which was based on exchanging 40 hostages for 700 Palestinian terrorist prisoners. This means that the ground invasion of Rafah will likely start soon.

Afghanistan

U.S. adds 12,000 special immigrant visas for Afghans; advocates say more needed

There are 130,000 applications still unprocessed. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-adds-12-000-special-immigrant-visas-for-afghans-advocates-say-more-needed-/7542185.html

Iran

Iran Update -The Iran Update provides insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored activities abroad that undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and interests

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-march-27-2024

Iraq

Why America is still failing in Iraq: “The groups that Washington targeted [in the Middle East] have not gone away. Instead, they have flourished, becoming even more powerful within their countries and the wider region. Washington has proved itself unable to tackle the true sources of these groups’ power, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/iraq/why-america-still-failing-iraq

Israel

Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare. Why Will No One Admit It? https://www.newsweek.com/israel-has-created-new-standard-urban-warfare-why-will-no-one-admit-it-opinion-1883286

Meanwhile Israeli school buses are bulletproof. Let that sink in... 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/3-hurt-in-west-bank-terror-shooting-attack-on-cars-school-buses/

Damage Done: How Al Jazeera’s Fake News Harmed Israel’s Reputation In Less Than 24 Hours 

https://honestreporting.com/damage-done-how-al-jazeeras-fake-news-harmed-israels-reputation-in-less-than-24-hours/?swcfpc=1

Gaza

Gaza Fatality Data Has Become Completely Unreliable https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/gaza-fatality-data-has-become-completely-unreliable

FYI Islamic Jihad used the maternity ward at Shifa as their HQ. Let that sink in...

Lebanon

Hizbullah Continues Rocket Fire on Northern Israel  (Jerusalem Post) Hezbollah started firing into Israel on 10/7 

The Coming Conflict with Hizbullah  (Center for Strategic & International Studies)

Hezbollah has been shelling Israel almost daily. Over 55,000 Israelis remain evacuated from their homes near the Lebanon border

UK

Mob Rule Shuts British Museum over Palestinians (Daily Mail-UK)

At Manchester Airport: 2 survivors of the Nova Festival were detained by the Border officers, with the unbelievable line “we have to make sure u are not doing in England what your people are doing in Gaza”, is under investigation  https://news.sky.com/story/israel-hamas-war-investigation-after-allegation-two-7-october-survivors-were-questioned-by-border-force-staff-because-they-were-israeli-13101940

U.S. and UK sanction individuals, companies who fundraised for Hamas https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-sanctions-online-site-gaza-now-founder-allegedly-108557254

Gaza Doctors at Center of Harrowing BBC Report Are Long-Time Supporters of Hamas (Mail on Sunday-UK)

BBC refuses to use the word terrorism when covering Hamas but used it to describe Russian attackers. Also, BBC and others have been posting photos of a starving child in Gaza that is actually suffering from a chronic condition

UN

UN appoints Saudi Arabia  as the chair of a UN commission to promote gender equality and empower women around the world.

Switzerland refuses to reinstate funds to terror-infested UNRWA 

https://www.bernerzeitung.ch/blockierte-gaza-hilfsgelder-unrwa-chef-misslingt-befreiungsschlag-344100692374

The Human Rights Establishment For too long, human-rights groups have been granted a free pass to serve as society’s watchdogs without first proving they are fit to bark. https://sapirjournal.org/friends-and-foes/2024/03/the-human-rights-establishment/

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On campuses and in schools this week

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Berkeley Unified School District The wave of antisemitism directed at California children in grades K-12 in Berkeley has resulted in the filing of a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. https://brandeiscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Brandeis-Center-ADL-Complaint.pdf

At Columbia University the heads of Samidoun – an organization that was banned from Germany for its ties with terrorism – held a recruitment event 

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1772078222772949306.html A spokesperson for Columbia said, “We are investigating this matter and will not tolerate violations of university policy.”

In case you missed the Son of Hamas, Mosab Hassan Yousef, event at Columbia, watch the event by clicking on the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAmUh1PbI6I

Stamford University the college is a factory of unreason

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/stanford-israel-gaza-hamas/677864/

Rutgers University facing probe by House Committee on Education & the Workforce for failing to protect its Jewish students, faculty & staff from pervasive antisemitism on its campuses.

https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=410349

University of Manitoba reinstated Students Supporting Israel club. Thanks to all who wrote to the university. https://mailchi.mp/ssimovement/save-the-date-ssis-7th-national-conference-announcement-6277589

Vanderbilt University Suspends Anti-Zionist Protesters After Building Takeover, Multiple Arrests Made

https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/03/27/vanderbilt-university-suspends-anti-zionist-protesters-after-building-takeover/

The Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism awarded AP a photojournalism award for a brutal picture taken by a terrorist that includes Shani Louk's body. To me, it's like awarding Nazi film makers at the concentration camps an award for journalism or giving a medical prize to Mengele. 

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This week, Daniel Gilboa turned 20 today in captivity. She should be celebrating her birthday with her loved ones, not underground in a Hamas tunnel, spending every waking moment in fear.

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Uriel Baruch was kidnapped from the Nova party when he was on his way home. This week, it was learned that he died in Gaza. Uriel left behind his wife Racheli, two children, parents Naomi and Amir, and three brothers. His body is held by Hamas as a bargaining chip!

Following find miscellaneous bits of news and info on what students are experiencing. Just click the blue links for more details. 

 "Son of Hamas" aka Mosab Hassan Yousef: 10/7 is a manifestation of the Hamas charter.

Update: 22 March 2024, Russia and China vetoed the US resolution calling for a ceasefire. Was it because the ceasefire resolution was attached to the release of hostages or simply because it was a US sponsored resolution? Note: Russia and China have still not committed to a resolution condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

The U.S. called for “an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza in a draft United Nations Security Council resolution set for a Friday vote  While Secretary Blinken said negotiations between Hamas and Israel were “getting closer” to reaching an agreement, Hamas spokesperson, Osama Hamdan. said, “In fact, it (Hamas) retracts the approvals it previously provided to the mediators.” The resolution fails to stipulate the surrender of Hamas’s leadership or their exile, effectively allowing them to maintain control in Gaza. Of significant concern, while a ceasefire is deemed “imperative,” the release of the hostages is not. The buffer zone Israel needs is treated as illegitimate. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/21/us-calls-for-immediate-ceasefire-in-gaza-with-draft-un-resolution and https://www.camera.org/article/press-advisory-questions-about-us-draft-un-resolution-for-gaza-ceasefire/

As of March 2024, 71% of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza support the heinous October 7 atrocities. If elections were held today, Hamas would cruise to victory.

https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2091%20English%20press%20release%2020%20March%202024.pdf

https://primarybowman.com/2024/03/21/palestinians-believe-the-world-will-validate-the-ends-justify-the-means/

At the same time, NBC News erroneously says: Gazans increasingly back a two-state solution, as support for Hamas drops https://www.yahoo.com/news/gazans-increasingly-back-two-state-214312606.html

A PEW Poll says 21% of US Muslims said that Hamas’s terror attack on Oct. 7 was “completely acceptable”

https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/03/21/majority-in-u-s-say-israel-has-valid-reasons-for-fighting-fewer-say-the-same-about-hamas/

The majority of the Canadian Liberal Party provided overwhelming support for a final modified version of a Non-Binding Motion that sided with Hamas and is an attempt to force Canada to change its policy regarding the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State.  Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that Canada would ban all arms exports to Israel. Ahmed Hussein, Minister of International Development, announced funding of UNRWA before investigating the disturbing evidence of terrorist infiltration and the documented hate being taught to the next generation. Note: In the past 10 years  Canada has purchased Israeli weapons systems worth billions of dollars to protect Canadian pilots, fighters and navel combatants around the world

Germany arrests suspected ISIS supporters accused of planning terror attack on Swedish parliament https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-detains-two-over-suspected-islamist-attack-plot-swedish-parliament-2024-03-19/

John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point: Facts are facts. Israel has taken more steps to prevent civilian harm in urban warfare than any other military in history and they have been effective despite the challenges to include Hamas’s goal to get as many civilians killed as possible. 

https://www.newsweek.com/israel-implemented-more-measures-prevent-civilian-casualties-any-other-nation-history-opinion-1865613

‘Hamas gambled with our lives’: Gazans are now daring to speak out (Christian Science Monitor) https://apple.news/AfqegKv4BRySpmm8XrMXKfw

The Strategy of Atrocity in the Gaza War  (Gatestone Institute) Hamas is perhaps the first regime in recorded history to fight a war designed to maximize casualties among their own population.

The Problem in Gaza Is Hamas, Not How to Provide Aid  (JNS)

What Happened at Shifa Hospital: Israel captured Mahmoud Qawasmeh, a senior Hamas member and mastermind behind the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel. Qawasmeh was arrested along with 650 terrorists by IDF soldiers in the Shifa Hospital. The IDF captured the entire leadership of the PIJ in Gaza & many senior Hamas members. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-792770 and https://www.ifcj.org/news/stand-for-israel-blog/idf-arrest-650-kills-140-terrorists-in-shifa-hospital

Ester Cunio, 90, says talking about Messi saved her on Oct. 7. Now she wants the soccer star to help free her grandsons. https://www.jta.org/2024/03/08/israel/ester-cunio-90-says-talking-about-messi-saved-her-on-oct-7-now-she-wants-the-soccer-star-to-help-free-her-grandsons

“The sooner Hamas is defeated, the sooner elections come and the sooner Netanyahu almost certainly falls… If Democrats don’t understand that, he’ll run circles around them…” https://tinyurl.com/25op44td

Biden administration is pushing Israel to replicate the U.S.'s failed Afghan war strategy in Gaza (IPT) https://www.investigativeproject.org/9364/post-10-7-looks-a-lot-like-post-9-11-only-worse

U.S. Renews Iran Sanctions Waiver that Unlocks $10 Billion for Regime   (Washington Free Beacon)

White House: Hamas Should Not Be Allowed a Safe Haven in Rafah or Anywhere Else  (White House)

Hezbollah Terrorist Arrested at U.S.-Mexico Border (NY Post) https://nypost.com/2024/03/17/us-news/illegal-migrant-from-lebanon-admitted-terror-ties/ See also: What You Need to Know About Hezbollah (AJC) https://www.ajc.org/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-hezbollah-the-anti-israel-terror-group-with-more-firepower-than

Voice of America Whitewashes Terror Backgrounds of Gazan Journalists https://honestreporting.com/voice-of-america-whitewashes-terror-backgrounds-of-gazan-journalists/

U.S. Congress Bars Funds to UNRWA until March 2025 - (Reuters)

UN Has Flown More Than $2.9 Billion in Cash to Afghanistan Since the Taliban Seized Power, Diverting U.S. Funds https://www.propublica.org/article/united-nations-cash-afghanistan-following-taliban-takeover

House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 36-13 to approve a bipartisan bill to review and potentially downgrade U.S.-South Africa relations. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-03-21-bill-that-calls-for-full-review-of-us-relations-with-sa-crosses-first-hurdle-in-us-congress/ and https://x.com/SiaKordestani/status/1770849897136136478?s=20

‘US taps Hamas ally Qatar to build port in Gaza’ Qatar agreed to take charge of the port on condition that the construction work go to the Al-Hisi firm, "a company controlled and sponsored by Hamas," according to Israeli journalist Baruch Yedid https://www.jns.org/us-pegs-hamas-ally-qatar-to-build-port-in-gaza/

 

Playing With Proliferation: How South Korea and Saudi Arabia Leverage the Prospect of Going Nuclear 

https://carnegieendowment.org/2024/03/19/playing-with-proliferation-how-south-korea-and-saudi-arabia-leverage-prospect-of-going-nuclear-pub-91978

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ON CAMPUS
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Hamas: Latest Darling of Social Justice Undergrads

 https://cameraoncampus.org/blog/hamas-latest-darling-of-social-justice-undergrads/

Top French university, Sciences Po, rocked by antisemitism allegations Some 100 students at Paris’ Sciences Po, an elite university, reportedly blocked a Jewish student from entering a lecture hall, yelling  “Don’t let her in, she’s a Zionist.” The incident sparked condemnation from the French govt, with President Macron calling the incident “unspeakable and perfectly intolerable.” https://tinyurl.com/22b2mfyj

Pro-Hamas Student Arrested During Protest of IDF Soldiers at Florida International University. Charged with Battery https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-791950

Pro-Palestinian faculty sue University of Pennsylvania over files in antisemitism probe https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/pro-palestinian-faculty-antisemitism-university-of-pennsylvania-penn-israel-hamas-war/3802510/  

‘Everyone in Danger’: Concordia University Refuses to Investigate, Punish Antisemitic Assault and Harassment, Students Say https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/03/18/everyone-danger-concordia-university-refuses-investigate-punish-antisemitic-assault-harassment-students-say/

MIT Refused To Host Dennis Ross. It Invited a Hamas Apologist Instead.
https://freebeacon.com/campus/mit-refused-to-host-dennis-ross-it-invited-a-hamas-apologist-instead/

King’s College London Israel Society was forced to cancel a speaker meeting due to security concerns about threats to an Israeli speaker  https://roarnews.co.uk/2024/breaking-kcl-israel-society-cancel-controversial-event-over-security-concerns/

In Utah, the Park City School District signed an agreement with the Department of Education in response to accusations the district did not adequately respond to repeated harassment of students, including 27 antisemitic incidents over two school years from 2021-2023 https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-educations-office-civil-rights-announces-resolution-addressing-responses-harassment-based-race-sex-and-disability-and-antisemitic-harassment-park-city-school-district-utah

From the Edges of a Broken World This moving essay in Guernica Magazine doesn't paper over Palestinian suffering at the hands of the Israeli government and civilians, but it also humanizes Israelis, and so elicited outrage and resignations. It was retracted, and a "fulsome apology" will follow. The author lives in Jerusalem and the comments call her a genocide supporting settler.

China

China, Russia, and Iran stage naval anti-piracy drills as Red Sea attacks escalate (South China Morning Post)

England

Jewish Students Flee Exeter University Campus after Abuse from 100-Strong Mob (The JC)

EU

EU backtracks on previous suspension of Palestinian development aid (AlJazeera) aka EU Rejects Oversight on Donations to Palestinians 

Iranian bombs dropped on Israel are transported on ships using European ports (The Telegraph)

Palestinian Authority textbooks funded by Europe feature gender biases, glorification of violence, and troubling narratives (JPost)

Israel

Israel can't afford to let Hamas win, no matter what Joe Biden says (National Post)

What’s Behind the Propaganda War Against Israel. (WSJ)

The Hypocrisy Of America And The UN On Criticism Of Israel’s Urban Warfare (1945) published 11/23.

How has Israel been going above and beyond to flood Gaza with food, medicine, and other humanitarian aid? How has Israel ensured that it reaches civilians? See this link from AJC

Italy

Italian police arrest three Palestinians on terrorism charges (Reuters) The three men are a part of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades — a terror group based in the West Bank

Lebanon

Hezbollah Fires Rocket Barrage (Over 100 rockets)at Israel in Escalating Fight (Bloomberg)

40 yrs After PLO Withdrew From Lebanon, Hamas Working To Build Military Infrastructure There With Hizbullah's Encouragement (MEMRI)

The U.S. is Losing in Lebanon (Providence Mag)

Palestinians

Hamas fakes casualty figures: ‘The numbers are not real’ (JNS)

Hamas executes Gaza clan ‘prince’ in message to potential ‘collaborators (I24) See Also: Major Gazan clan says all Hamas members legitimate targets after assassination (Times of Israel)

What the New York Times Left Out of Its ‘Starving Gaza Children’ Story (Algemeiner)

Panama

U.S. urges Panama to stop Iranian ships from flying its flag to evade sanctions (VOA)

Peru

Peru captured an Iranian and Peruvian — a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Corps Quds Force — planning a terror attack (AP)

Saudi Arabia

A U.S. diplomatic trip to Saudi Arabia was cut off Monday after a Saudi official asked a Jewish member of the group to remove their kippah  (USCIRF)

South Africa

South African minister: We will arrest citizens who return from IDF service (Jerusalem Post)

USA

U.S. Strikes Have Stopped Iran Proxies in Iraq, Syria, but Not Houthi Attacks on Ships  (Stars and Stripes)

Representative Hakeem Jeffries: Hamas is a "brutal terrorist organization" that must be "decisively defeated" – otherwise a "just and lasting peace" is not possible between Israelis and Palestinians.

https://x.com/SiaKordestani/status/1767995764293382494?s=20

On April 17, 2024, the Committee will hold a hearing with the President and Board Chairs of Columbia University to answer for how they have mishandled antisemitic incidents on their campus. At the same time, Columbia University is persecuting Dr. Shai Davidai for standing against Jew hate; Columbia University recently decided to open an investigation into his advocacy for the Jewish and Israeli students, faculty, and staff at the university. Petition in support of Professor Davidai https://www.change.org/p/defend-davidai-demand-that-columbia-end-its-persecution-of-jewish-professor-shai-davidai