Links - 16th August 2024 (2 - Hamas Attack Oct 2023)

'Struggle against Zionist regime': Masked man vows 'rivers of blood' at Paris Olympics - "The man, clad in a shirt adorned with a Palestinian flag, stated, "In the name of God, our struggle against the Zionist regime continues... The video comes amid multiple online threats targeting the Israeli athletes partaking in the games, which are set to be held between July 26 and August 11." With the utmost respect intended, how is it possible for so many average Israelis on sites as this to defend their state's ongoing assault on Gaza, when even such mainstream ' Western ' sources like Oxfam attest to its singular level of brutality? - Pro-Israel - Quora - "I understand where you’re coming from, I genuinely do. It’s very easy to look at the large amount of criticism being leveled from seemingly reliable institutions and think that must be the right side of the issue. I was there once years ago with the UN. The problem is there is a great deal of evidence of that they’re way off base if you look a bit deeper. (And I know very well how hard that is with so much ‘information’ being out there these days.  Let me give you one example: you may have heard/seen an article on CNN a few months ago saying that half of the bombs Israel was dropping were ‘dumb’ bombs, meaning imprecise weapons that would result in greater collateral damage. There was a major uproar about this. I myself wasn’t sure what to think about it, so I tried to wait for the Israeli response to compare the two as best I could.  But it turned out I didn’t need to, because CNN had pulled a fast one, something I knew they do and still fell for it because it takes a lot of time to catch it on every article. They had a US government/military source who said that the US believes that when they use dumb bombs, Israeli bombers dive bomb the target in such a way that those bombs become nearly as accurate as a precision bomb. But almost nobody saw that because it was the 15th paragraph of a 20ish paragraph article. The last research says 70% of people don’t read past the headline, so of course almost nobody saw something buried that far down.  This isn’t a unique case, this kind of thing happens all the time. At the end of the day sifting through the media circus takes a lot of time and effort, and even then you’re still not always gonna find the complete truth" COGAT on X - "Armed terrorists hid in a school near the humanitarian route in Rafah Area, where they tried to take over the route: They would do anything to prevent aid from reaching the people of Gaza."
When you know the whole world will blame everything on Israel, you can be as evil as you want to your own people Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 on X - "Wow. It has been revealed that various American unions have sponsored the defacement of American monuments as well as the American flag burnings in DC yesterday."
Why the left love unions so much Andrew Fox on X - "Just made this point to Admiral Hagari in IDF HQ and I think it’s a good one so I’ll share it.  Even though I have combat experience myself, have degrees in Law, War Studies and Psychology, on first seeing the destruction in Rafah my nanosecond first reaction was: “Fucking hell.”  I *know* why the damage occurred. If you’re destroying Hamas’ capability and infrastructure root and branch, the fact that their infrastructure is in every school, hospital, mosque and house means that those things are all going to be damaged.  If every home contains a booby trap, every home is going to be explosively damaged. No army in the world has sufficient engineers to diffuse every bomb like that in a kinetic clearance operation. The IDF don’t want to damage people’s homes, but they’re taking the only tactical option they have to achieve operational goals.  This does mean two things, though. If I, with my experience and knowledge, am having that reaction, so will the world when they see it. And for the wider world, without the knowledge to rationalise and understand what they’re seeing, that reaction will be enduring.  So the first requirement is for the IDF to explain to world leaders and opinion leaders, simply, what has happened and why.  The second thing is the priority that must be given to reconstruction. Palestinian Arabs cannot stay in tents indefinitely. The wider world needs to step up as they did in Germany in 1945 to create a society that is enduring and can live at peace alongside Israel. It’s going to require billions of currency and huge efforts. Get this right, and Gaza could be a Mediterranean paradise."
Joachim Voth on X - "to stick with the German experience - you would also need total occupation + de-hamasization + re-education for years, foreign administration, gradual transition to local rule; all on the back of total moral, military and reputational defeat. That's a long road." Eyal Yakoby on X - "All charges against four people who assaulted police during the Pro-Palestinian riot in DC have been dropped. If there is no accountability, they will continue to do it."
Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 on X - "Charges against four people who assaulted police during yesterday’s riot were just dropped. People who wandered into the Capitol Building and committed no violence on J6 got years."
When you know what the Regime stands for ‘What happened at Union Station was vile’: Leaders condemn DC protest vandalism - "several national leaders condemned property defacement outside Union Station and the burning of American flags. "What happened at Union Station was vile, offensive, wrong," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told NBC News. Thousands of people filled streets and chanted “Free, free Palestine” on Wednesday as Benjamin Netanyahu visited the District and delivered a speech on Capitol Hill... The most disruptive behavior centered around Columbus Circle, outside Union Station. American flags were replaced with Palestinian flags, and members of the crowd set American flags, Israeli flags and an effigy of Netanyahu on fire. The Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain was still covered with graffiti early Thursday. The words “Hamas,” “Free Palestine” and “Free Gaza” could be seen, in addition to profanity. Some people outside Union Station said they were stunned by what they saw Thursday morning. “Never seen anything like this. It’s pretty bad,” one woman told WTOP... Just 29 U.S. Park Police officers “did everything they could to protect life and property” outside Union Station, the chairman of the department’s police union, Kenneth Spencer, said in a statement. He cited an “officer staffing crisis.” “A small unit of 29 officers arrested 10 individuals while being assaulted by a mob of thousands,” he said. “We simply did not have the resources to accomplish a mass arrest operation.”"
More censorship of pro-Palestinian speech!
It's only wrong if they burn Pride flags, or if they are Trump supporters with fake guillotines for Mike Pence Exclusive | 'Badly understaffed' Park Police assaulted by 'mob of thousands,' pelted with poop at pro-Hamas riot in DC: union chief - "Park Police Fraternal Order of Police chairman Kenneth Spencer told The Post in an interview a day after the unhinged riot that just 29 of his officers had faced down the terrorist-sympathizing mob outside Union Station — which is just blocks from the Capitol.  “We were primarily alone,” said Spencer, a 15-year veteran who revealed that years of “empty promises” to beef up the agency’s shoestring budget have gone unfulfilled by Congress and the Interior Department, which primarily deals with the nation’s rural national parks rather than civil unrest in big cities...   “If you remember in 2020, we were the agency that was in front of the White House, and we had 52 officers injured over those riots,” Spencer recalled of the demonstrations after the death of George Floyd... Rioters tagged monuments with graffiti messages such as “Hamas is coming” and tore down US flags, burning and trying to replace them with Palestinian banners in opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress.   During his speech, the Israeli leader mocked Ivy League university protesters and other anti-Israel demonstrators for playing into the hands of Iran’s terrorist proxies — noting that some have received direct funding to do so.   “When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you — you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots,” Netanyahu thundered... Westerman added that the House Oversight Committee was weighing an investigation into the riot and any potential ties to foreign terror groups, before taking a swipe at Democrats — including Vice President Kamala Harris — for enabling years of destructive demonstrations."
Imagine if a non-left wing supported movement had done any of this. Foreign funding is only bad when it impedes the left wing agenda Wilfred Reilly on X - "There is literally nothing that could make me sympathetic to Hamas.  Following a terrorist group's initiation of a big war by un-provokedly raping and killing 1,200 people, the focus of the mainstream Western media - which is 75+% pro-Hamas, but cannot openly say this - has been on documenting individual Israelis crossing lines, or bombs missing targets, and plaintively asking "Is THIS not ENOUGH?!! Shouldn't they have stopped at just ONE dead CHILD?!!"   Eh. I disapprove of any actual atrocities, but remain ~totally unmoved. Almost every historical leader would have completely obliterated Gaza - leveling every building over two stories, and killing as many people as it took to conquer the place. We all would have understood exactly why, and most of the US population would have anonymously approved. Even today, the criminal government of "Palestine" can either surrender, or continue to reap the hard fruits of its own actions."
Tyler J Talks on X - "Taking this one step further, Hamas was fully aware of what they were doing on October 7 and what Israel would do in return. It’s near impossible to feel sympathetic when Hamas basically begged for this, then got it." Peter Daou on X - "Can anyone name a conflict in modern history where calling for a #ceasefire to protect civilians was somehow controversial??"
Idan Schwartz on X - "Can anyone name a conflict in modern history where people are calling for both a #ceasefire and #intifada at the same time?" David Collier on X - "When they say the conflict did not start on Oct 7 - they are right.
Knife intifada in the 2010s
Second intifada in the 2000s
Suicide bombing in the 1990s
The first intifada
Plane hijacking
Munich Olympics
The 1964 PLO
The wars Arabs started
The 1929, 1933 or 1938 massacres etc" Imtiaz Mahmood on X - "A bomb that killed Ismail Haniyeh was planted two months ago. Haniyeh was known to have stayed in before, was detonated remotely once it was confirmed that the Haniyeh was inside the room.  Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, was staying next door to Haniyeh but his room was barely damaged and he was unharmed.  Say what you will about Israel but they pull off some Hollywood style shit every now and then. You wouldn't want to be on their hit list, that's for sure. You'd never be able to guess what kind of inventive plans they have in store for you." Raylan Givens on X - "There is a spicy detail that people keep missing with Haniyeh's assassination. The explosive device was very small (2x4) and was placed underneath his bed. It was detonated minutes after the light went off in his room. In the explosion, his bodyguard was also killed. All I'm asking is, what was his bodyguard doing in his room when the lights were off?" Meme - Hammad Azzam @Humveekhan3: "He lived like a Palestinian and Died like a Palestinian."
"He was born in Egypt and died in Iran."
"I wasn't aware your typical Palestinian has a net worth of $4.5 billion in looted humanitarian aid. 🤣"
"So he is Egyptian just like Arafat. Arafat born in Egypt died in France."
"And buried in Qatar." Meme - dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ @DahliaKurtz: "Please take a moment of silence for the Ottawa Police.  They are mourning the loss of two terrorists — leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah.  It's a hard time for many struggling to determine who will kiII all the Jews now."
Ottawa Police @OttawaPolice: "Recent reports of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders being killed will undoubtedly impact many communities. We remain in close contact with community leaders and institutions. There will be an increased police presence at areas of religious and cultural significance in Ottawa, and at local demonstrations. We urge residents and visitors in Ottawa to remain peaceful and lawful. Police will continue to remain neutral. Any perceived threat or intimidation, theft, property damage, act of vandalism, or other crime, will be taken very seriously. If you or someone you know has been a victim of a hate-motivated incident, please report it by calling 613-236-1222 or filing a report online" Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, group says : r/internationalpolitics - "Very Very Sad day for all over World."
"why is it sad a mass terrorist was killed? you think he was a good guy?"
"The fact that this comment got downvoted says a lot about the crowd in this echo chamber"
"When bin laden died was it a sad day?" Yashar Ali 🐘 on X - "Shaun King has just issued this statement (not a joke):   “The United States and Israel have just assassinated the dear brother Ismail Haniyeh - who was the political head of Hamas. This comes after they already murdered virtually every member of his family. In the face of this, Brother Ismail remained steadfast to Islam and to a free Palestine.   He was working hard, day and night, on the ceasefire even though these genocidal monsters had murdered his own kids and grandchildren. I never understood how he had such strength to push forward. But he knew and said that he was no different than the average Palestinian who has lost so much.   These genocidal monsters think that this weakens Hamas, or weakens the resistance, but it does neither. It will only strengthen both.   I must admit that I am furious, because they murder people with impunity. It’s absurd. But you can never destroy a people who do not believe that death is the end.   I am sending prayers to his remaining family and to the leaders who must now rise up in his place.”" Dr. Eli David on X - "Yesterday I posted a joke that the name of Mossad agent who killed Haniyeh is “Amit Nakesh”, which in Hebrew literally means “assassin”. Today the Turkish press ran with it, and some even referred to him as Colonel Amit Nakesh 🤣 👇" Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was an UNRWA teacher - former agency official - "Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh worked as a teacher for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the past, former UNRWA official Ahmad Oueidat revealed in an interview with the London-based Al-Hiwar TV channel last week, according to footage translated by MEMRI... "The Israelis, the Americans, and the Western politicians felt that as long as UNRWA upholds its goals, it constitutes a source of danger. This is why [they decided] to corrupt it."... UNRWA’s schools have consistently been found to use material directly inciting students to terrorism and antisemitism.  The IMPACT-SE watchdog noted in its most recent report on the matter in November that UNRWA textbooks are “openly antisemitic and continue to encourage violence, jihad, and martyrdom while peace is not taught as preferable or even possible. Extreme nationalism and Islamist ideologies proliferate throughout the curriculum, including in science and math textbooks.”  Some examples of incendiary and antisemitic educational material include a reading comprehension exercise celebrating a Palestinian firebombing attack on a Jewish bus as a “barbecue party” and material glorifying Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist who murdered 38 Israeli civilians in the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre, as a role model for children"
Ironic, given that UNRWA promotes terrorism. But if you are pro-terrorism, of course it's "corruption" to promote neutrality Shaiel Ben-Ephraim on X - "There is a lot of concern over the Iranian response to Israel after the Hanyieh assassination, and understandably so. However, the Israeli position is now much better than before the strike.   To understand why, we need to break down the concept of deterrence. Israeli attacks on Iran and its proxies (except Hamas) are not meant to destroy them since that is not possible. They are meant to deter.   Deterring an actor involves making them believe they will pay a higher price for attacking you than they are willing to pay. Deterrence is based on three elements:
1) Your ability to punish the enemy.
2) The credibility of your threat to punish the enemy.
3) Your ability to prevent the enemy from causing you harm.
Israel has gained in all those metrics. Here is the breakdown:
1) Its intelligence abilities and ability to work with local opposition groups in Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza have allowed it to kill the most senior targets conceivable. Israeli abilities are sharper than ever.
2) The rash of assassinations has made Israel seem irresponsible and crazy in its use of force. That might sound like a bad thing. But in deterrence, it's the best thing. It enhances your credibility immeasurably.
3) Israel has a significant ability to prevent the worst damage from an Iranian attack. It has any country's most sophisticated technological systems in that regard (Arrow, Sling of David, Iron Dome). And it has retained support of its international coalition, which has proven capable o shooting down targets on their way to Israel.
In addition, Israel has chosen to communicate that it will respond to any attacks with aggressive countermeasures. In other words, they will bomb the bejesus out wherever attacks come from. This raises the specter of Israel causing Iran and its proxies a lot of damage without sustaining much itself. The Israeli rash of assassinations means the enemy doesn't doubt Israel means it.   That means Israel has achieved "escalation dominance." That is a situation where you have “the ability to respond appropriately to any level of potential attack and to pose the risk of escalation to higher levels of conflict.” Your enemy is likely to sustain more pain in those higher levels than you.   Obviously, it is preferable not to have to deter your enemy at all. It is not a reliable mechanism. But Israel has been at war with Iran and its proxies for months now. The difference is that now Israel has the upper hand. If it plays its cards right, it can keep it." Alicia Segovia on X - "It’s ironic that Israeli intelligence is operating successfully at the highest levels, yet what started this war was a huge failure in intelligence"
Shaiel Ben-Ephraim on X - "They learned a lot of lessons. I have talked to some people about it. It is no coincidence." Thread by @sfrantzman on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "INSIGHT into why the loss of Haniyeh matters most of all for Hamas. Hamas wanted to leverage Oct. 7 to come to power in Ramallah. The Iranian axis was working to bring Haniyeh and Hamas to power and replace the PA. China was brokering the talks with the 14 factions to accomplish it Ankara and Doha were working closely to coordinate this goal. The reason Doha dragged out the hostage talks was to bring Hamas more clout and enable it to survive in Gaza and then get a deal that would let it release hostages slowly, to take over the West Bank. Haniyeh was key to the Hamas plans. It knew he had popularity in the West Bank and among other Palestinian factions. There were increased whispers among the Palestinian factions that they could work with him...including from PFLP and others considered "moderate" and on the "left" Before Haniyeh could swoop back into the West Bank on the back of some kind of long slow hostage release where Hamas would release one hostage a week or one a month...Haniyeh met with an accident in Tehran and was killed. This DERAILS the Tehran plan that came along with Oct. 7. Iran's plan was to use Oct. 7 as the first shot in a large regional war that was designed to bring about a new regional and new world order, part of the multi-polar world Iran is working on with China-Russia-Turkey. Turkey was playing a key role, preparing the way to also push for Hamas to take power in the West Bank with Russian and China's backing. Now Haniyeh is gone. The other Hamas leaders in Doha don't have the clout. Who else is left? Sinwar, Marzouk, Ghazi Hamed, Mahmoud Zaher, Khaled Meshaal, Zaher Jabareen, Basem Naim, Osama Hamdan, Mahmoud Zaher, Sami Abu Zakhri...  Haniyeh had support and respect of other groups and even regional leaders. He was known. His removal, removes a key person who might have led Hamas back to power. The real story of the elimination of Haniyeh is not about the ceasefire talks or necessarily defeat for Hamas in Gaza, it's actually about the day after and not having Hamas take over the West Bank with any kind of popular leader. also this guy, Khalil al-Khayya If you’d like to know the background and story behind Oct 7 and how we got here, as well as more about Iran’s plans, you can check out my just released book on the war that also looks at Iran and Hamas’ plans" Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, group says : r/internationalpolitics - "How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side? It should be clear to everyone that by now, Israel wants a prolonged and protracted war. It's only through war Zionism can complete it's aims of creating and securing a Jewish state in what was the mandate of Palestine. Let's be honest: October 7th was an opportunity for Israel. And Israel seized it with both hands. The only peace Israel wants is another piece of Palestine."
"Hamas really wanted mediation? This was the leader of a terrorist organization that vows to commit 10/7 again and again. A person that is a billionaire by stealing aid meant for Palestinians. Rather than commit to peace he he teaches and practices martyrdom."
"What “mediation” bro? Hamas wants Israel wiped off the map. Israel wants Hamas wiped out. Any mediation is nothing more than a temporary “timeout” in a death match."
"I don’t know ask Japan, Germany, and Italy. Peace seemed to magically happen when their leaders got toe tags. Now that we are talking about it, which peace treaty was created without at least one leader from either side being killed? I’m going to guess a few but I personally can’t think of any.  You weirdos want a fairytale war and a fairytale peace agreement. Have a critical thought for once in your life. Please 🙏" AG on X - "Remember when Ismail Haniyeh went on a rant on the need for dead Palestinian civilians to help spur on the war effort… "The blood of the women, children, and elderly...we are the ones who need this blood so it awakens within us the revolutionary spirit...”"
Why do the monstrous Zionists want Palestinians to die?! Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Falls Down After Loud Popping Noises | Babylon Bee Andy Kaczynski on X - "POLITICO writes about this guy taking over Hamas like he got a promotion in the lobby shop at Covington."
Fatigue and frustration could hinder Israel’s attack response - POLITICO - "YAHYA SINWAR will assume leadership of Hamas in the wake of Haniyeh’s assassination, the militant group announced today. Sinwar previously led Hamas in the Gaza Strip."