110th year since the Armenian Genocide by Turkey's Islamic Ottoman empire

This year marks the 110th since Turkey committed the Armenian Genocide during WW1, a horrifying history that Turkey and even Azerbaijan still won't clearly acknowledge and definitely haven't apologized for:

April 24 marked the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, during which up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottman Empire.

Tensions always rise between the Armenians and the modern Turkish government at this time of year, and many Armenians are now taking time during the day to reflect on Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh region in late 2023.

Modern historians look upon the events of 1915-1916 as the first of several genocidal events in the 20th Century, while Turkey disputes the allegation that its Ottoman predecessors were attempting to systematically eliminate the Armenian people, as Nazi Germany would later treat the Jews, or the Hutus of Rwanda would treat the Tutsis.

[...] There were numerous international witnesses to these atrocities, including foreign reporters and military officers. Modern Turkish politicians are generally willing to admit that Armenian civilians were killed and abused in great numbers, but they insist there is no documented proof that the Ottoman government was deliberately trying to exterminate the entire Armenian people.

The Armenians say the Ottomans wanted to eliminate them because they were an inconvenient Christian people standing in the way of the Young Turks’ vision for a mighty Turkic empire that would stretch from the Caucasus all the way to China.

[...] Many Armenians today accuse Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing – eliminating a people by forcibly relocating them, rather than murdering them all – after its military conquest of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2023.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a swath of territory that fell inside the borders of Azerbaijan after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but most of its inhabitants were ethnic Armenians, who had dwelled in the area they called the “Republic of Artsakh” for centuries, ever since the height of the greater Armenian kingdom.

If the aforementioned Hen Mazzig were really concerned about forced relocation, he would've taken up topics like this, and thrown his support behind the community that really needs backing, here being Armenia's. Instead, he took the side of the savages.

Writing at the Christian Post last Sunday, religious freedom advocate David Curry urged the U.S. government to hold Azerbaijan accountable for abusing Armenians and other Christians, including the ethnic and religious cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The above columnist is absolutely correct. And it's vital to note that Armenia's current premier has to shoulder blame for much of what's befallen the country lately:

Some in the Armenian diaspora have criticized the government of Armenia for stepping back from its efforts to get the other nations of the world to formally recognize the 1915 genocide, in part because the government believes it is making diplomatic progress with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

In March, Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan told Turkish reporters that obtaining international recognition of the Armenian Genocide “is not among our foreign policy priorities today.” He hinted that insisting on recognition of the event was an obstacle to signing a treaty with Azerbaijan or normalizing relations with Turkey.

So not only did he allow Azerbaijan to take over Arsakh without a genuine fight, he's also selling out on the issue of recognition of a serious issue. This too is very chilling, and Pashinyan doesn't deserve to be a politician.

Here's some more history (via The Daily Wire) of some of the most obscene incidents during tragedy:

While the death toll is in dispute, photographs from the era document some mass killings. Some show Ottoman soldiers posing with severed heads, others with them standing amid skulls in the dirt. The victims are reported to have died in mass burnings and by drowning, torture, gas, poison, disease and starvation. Children were reported to have been loaded into boats, taken out to sea and thrown overboard. Rape, too, was frequently reported.

Just one more reason it's a disgrace anybody lets countries governed by the Religion of Peace off the hook. Of course, CNN is still making things worse by using that line "death toll in dispute". It is most definitely not.

Hen Mazzig's offensive moral equations

About 2 months ago, the leftist homosexual journalist Hen Mazzig, who already did something bad enough by attacking Abigail Shrier for defending girls, Jewish or otherwise, from LGBT operations similar to the violence Hamas committed on October 7, 2023, wrote apologia for Muslims in Gaza in the Jewish Exponent where he says they shouldn't be "displaced" from the Gaza strip, obscuring that they disqualified themselves of the privilege of remaining:

I grew up on stories of exile. My family was forced out of Iraq and Tunisia for being Jewish — homes stolen, communities erased and history rewritten. To this day, too many people insist it was “voluntary migration,” as if nearly a million Jews in Arab lands simply woke up one morning and decided to leave behind centuries of roots, culture and history.

I’ve spent years pushing back against that erasure, making it clear that my family — and so many others — were forced to leave. And yet, today, I see a disturbing echo of that same denial. The same people who overlooked Mizrahi Jews’ suffering are now casually advocating for the forced displacement of Palestinians as “the only option” to deal with Hamas’ terror.

I get the disgusted feeling he's implying right-wingers "overlooked" eastern Jews' plight? Well that's awfully rich coming from somebody who doesn't seem to have much respect for women. This certainly obscures how the Menachem Begin government did its best to help people of such backgrounds, and suggests Mr. Mazzig's political leanings are impeding his ability to appreciate that. Of course, it's also possible he's implying the left as of now is advocating for moving out what Mazzig blatantly calls "palestianians", and can't stand if anybody on his end of the spectrum is supporting what's best worked on, which is to send away products of Islamic indoctrination who tragically were all on Hamas' side 2 years before, to a distance that would be best remained at.

Reactions to President Donald Trump’s statement last week about removing Palestinians from Gaza ranged from some voices applauding it as a necessary step — one online commentator even told me it was time to “try something new to solve this conflict” — to anti-Israel activists using it as “evidence” of Israeli intentions, to extremists on both sides seizing it to justify their absolutist solutions for this conflict.

I see things differently, because I don’t have to imagine what forced displacement does to a people. I see it in my own family, even 75 years later. My grandmother still speaks of Baghdad — not just as a city, but as her other homeland that was taken from her. The trauma of being uprooted never left her, nor did the deep pain of knowing that an entire world of Jewish life in Iraq was erased in a single generation. Yes, we rebuilt. Yes, Israel gave my family refuge. But what was lost can never be fully regained.

This is what’s missing from the argument that Palestinians would be “better off” leaving Gaza — that they would have safer, more comfortable lives if they were resettled elsewhere. It’s the same logic that was used to justify the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands. And while my family may have found security in Israel, that doesn’t mean the original trauma was justified. Nor does it account for the cultural and communal annihilation that came with it.

This entirely obscures the evils of Islam, which I sadly guess Mr. Mazzig isn't even the slightest bit willing to acknowledge, and even if he studied the Koran's contents, chances are it makes no difference to him. He continues with his shoddy obfuscations:

The destruction of Gaza under Hamas’ rule is undeniable. But forced displacement doesn’t solve that problem — it only ensures that the pain and resentment of this war will last for generations. I am not blind to the fact that anti-Zionists today demand the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel. Not only is that hateful, but it fundamentally denies the Jewish people’s historic connection to the land of Israel. That’s racism. And it’s unacceptable.

Indeed, the loudest voices in the “Free Palestine” movement aren’t calling for a two-state solution. They’re not talking about peace. They want Israel gone. They want Jewish sovereignty erased. They don’t see Oct. 7 as an atrocity — they see it as a model.

But you don’t fight anti-Zionist eliminationism with eliminationist rhetoric of your own. You don’t counter the fantasy of erasing Israel by proposing the same for Gaza.

That’s not strength. That’s surrender — to the idea that this is a zero-sum war where one side must be erased for the other to survive.

And I guess it's weakness to look for the cause of the hatred driving Muslim adherents, right?

I am not talking about efforts — if they exist — to give Gazans who wish to seek refuge elsewhere the ability to do so. That is their right. I am talking about the fantasy that all Palestinians in Gaza will be wiped out or relocated to some as-yet-undetermined place, as if that were a serious solution.

Of course, the plan to displace Gazans that Trump floated, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, is unlikely to end up getting carried out.

Let’s be honest: Relocating Palestinians from Gaza is never going to happen. No Arab country will get on board. Saudi Arabia rushed to release a statement making it clear they won’t normalize relations with Israel without a Palestinian state. Egypt and Jordan have always said they won’t take in Palestinians from Gaza. No American administration — least of all one that ran on ending wars and tightening borders — will commit troops to enforce it or open the gates to Palestinian refugees.

This is political theater.

And this is defeatism on Mazzig's part. Mainly because the Jordanian king has so far shown the willingness to take in children of families who need medical care, and there are more who'll be relocating to Indonesia. But Mazzig, in all his moral equivalence, won't show any appreciation, will he? And of course, he avoids any reference to the Religion of Peace. He definitely doesn't speak of it negatively. And he doesn't seem particularly interested in making a case for sending a message to Arab countries that they should take in these so-called palestinians, whose very name draws from one given to Israel by the Roman empire, and Mazzig obscures that entirely.

We’ve seen this play before. Netanyahu and Trump previously dangled West Bank annexation only to “concede” it in exchange for the Abraham Accords. Now, Trump is floating this logistical insanity — likely knowing it will never happen — to position himself as the only one who can “negotiate it down.”

But here’s the real danger: While world leaders understand this is just bluster, the people watching — especially online — think it’s real. And that’s a serious threat to us.

Because Mr. Mazzig wants it to be. He's obviously anti-Trump, just like he's anti-Netanyahu. And if he thinks western conservatives are the root cause of all evil, and can't acknowledge even liberals make mistakes, that's just the problem Mazzig has failed to prove he can rise above.

Because when these extreme ideas enter the mainstream, they don’t just fade away. They stick. They fuel conspiracies. They get used to paint all Jews as complicit in a plan that doesn’t even exist. And once again, we become the scapegoat.

Political leaders pushing these ideas aren’t protecting Jews. They’re making us targets. Jews deserve better than to be associated with unrealistic, cruel proposals that will almost certainly never happen but will absolutely be used against us.

And if there’s one thing I know from my family’s history, it’s that displacement only creates new wounds; it does not heal old ones. The Jews who were expelled from Arab lands never found justice, and Palestinians won’t either if they are forcibly removed from Gaza.

Hamas started this war. Hamas is responsible for this war. But the people in Gaza shouldn’t have to pay for a tyranny that rules over them with an iron fist. Many of them, as we’ve seen from footage throughout this war, oppose Hamas and do not want to live under their control.

And we deserve better than to have leftists like Mazzig lecture us with cowardice. This reeks of blood libels anti-Israel propagandists use, to imply that Israel is literally guilty of tyrannizing Gazans entirely without justification. And ignores all the barbaric acts committed in the name of the Religion of Peace, to say nothing of how many Muslims in Gaza were indoctrinated with Hitler's Mein Kamph, translated into Arabic. That Mazzig apparently obscured such horrific discoveries speaks volumes, and the same goes for how he obscures the celebrations the Gazan Muslims had after October 7, 2023. The Islamofascists in Gaza also celebrated September 11, 2001, and Mazzig doesn't dwell on that either. What does that say about what kind of person Mr. Mazzig is?

The more we entertain the idea that one side must be erased for the other to live, the further we get from any future that isn’t defined by endless war.

There are no magic wands here. No shortcuts. And no amount of forced migration — of Jews or Palestinians — will bring the peace we all deserve.

The only way forward is to dismantle Hamas, empower Palestinian leaders who reject extremism and invest in a long-term solution where both peoples can live with security, dignity and self-determination — without adding to the traumas that must be overcome another episode of ethnic cleansing like what my family experienced.

And the more we vehmently refuse to discuss the content of the Koran/Hadith, and vehemently refuse to acknowledge that the modern claim of a "palestinian state" was an anti-Israel fabrication, the less likely we are to solve a terrible problem. Oh, and has Mr. Mazzig ever spoken in defense of black Africans who were victim of Islamofascism in Africa? Or victims of honor murders? He also doesn't seem particularly concerned about Islamic hostility to homosexuality, this despite Mazzig himself being homosexual. He also obscures how Gaza is really Israeli land, and this makes him no better than say, the phony conservative Ed Morrissey.

Mazzig has only proven himself one of the biggest hinderances to Israel, and if he hasn't apologized to the aforementioned Shrier, that's another serious error he's made.

Minister Miri Regev makes farce of her right-wing credentials by inviting transsexual singer to attend Independence Day ceremony

Miri Regev, the government minister who already made a farce of herself by wearing a modest dress in the UAE a number of years ago, has now additionally embarrassed her right-wing standings by inviting Dana International, the transsexual Israeli singer, to attend the Israeli Independence Day ceremony:

Minister Miri Regev, who is overseeing the official state Israeli Independence Day events, has notified the singer Dana International that she has been selected to light a torch at the official opening ceremony of the holiday on Mount Herzl.

Regev's office stated, "Dana International, an international singer and cultural icon, was a trailblazer and brought Israel to victory in the 1998 Eurovision with the song 'Diva.' Beyond her musical achievements, Dana became a symbol of acceptance, equality, and pride, and led a change in perceptions regarding the LGBT community and gender in Israel and around the world."

Minister Regev stated: "Dana International is a groundbreaking figure, one of the most beloved singers in Israel, and one of the most successful in the world, who contributed a lot to promoting values of tolerance and acceptance in Israeli society. Choosing Dana to light a torch is a recognition of her special contribution and her ability to unite hearts around the values of equality and mutual respect."

The decision was met with opposition by those in conservative circles due to International (whose real name is Sharon Cohen) being transgender.

Note though, that Israel National News isn't helping by using female pronouns, when here, they could be sending a much clearer message and showing some courage by referring to this pretentious singer according to his biological sex. For now, this is an utter humiliation, right down to how Regev uses left-wing style talking points, and Dana did not change any perceptions, in Israel or anywhere else. What is clear is that Dana is an embarrassment with what he's taken up, and even the feminine name becomes an embarrassment as a result.

In a Hebrew opinion column in Arutz Sheva, Itamar Segal attacked the decision, saying he could not watch the ceremony since partakeing in the ceremony is "something no less than an idol in the Temple - a man, a singer who decided he's a woman, an Israel 'trailblazer' to one of the biggest crazinesses known to mankind since it appeared on earth. Anyone who is familiar with this phenomenon from up-close and knows what it means and its the consequences, even before the halachic prohibition and the Torah's outlook, knows how crazy and bad it is, and how it is chametz that must be destroyed from this earth so it is not seen or found."

He added: "What will we do with the shame if a minister in a right-wing government is the one to decide on such a disgrace?"

This is another ill-advised attempt by an Israeli delegate to "prove" to the non-Jewish world they're not against specific ideologies, not even Islam, even though the Religion of Peace is hostile to LGBT ideology. It's a very sad example of how some on the right have tripped all over themselves in attempts to convince antisemites to change their opinion, which is not going to be the case. And Regev even hurt women's dignity almost a decade ago, by supporting "modest dress" at government-sponsored concerts, which beggars the query: women dressing skimpily is bad, but LGBT practices are completely okay? That's what has since come to be known as wokeness, and now Regev has really shown some true colors.

At the same time, many of those on the left voiced criticism of the singer's decision to agree to attend the event organized by the government, which they despise, and in light of the fact that International herself called on fellow LGBT singer Ivri Lider not to participate in last year's event to protest the fact that the hostages were not released.

The singer responded to the criticism, writing on social media: "Regarding the hostages -there is no bigger pain than this. Since the war began, I've been screaming this at every possible place. During the first year of the war, I could bring myself to get up on stage. I canceled my Purim concert because I felt I couldn't. We live many long months in this tragedy, and we try to function, live, and scream.

"Last year, I published a post calling on Ivri Lider not to go to the ceremony while there are still hostages. That's how I felt then. I admit that now, it doesn't sound good. Should I tell you what excites me the most now? That I'm going to hug Eli Sharabi and Emily Damari, who during last year's ceremony were in captivity and this year will stand on the stage to light a torch. How we've waited for this moment, for them to be here. Together with them, we will make heard the voice that calls for them all to be released - until the last hostage."

Among the others invited to light a torch at the ceremony is Jewish-American political commentator Ben Shapiro, who is known to often criticize the transgender community. In this regard, Dana International quipped: "I want to see from up close who this Shapiro guy is."

I hope he's not going to go easy on Dana International just because he's Israeli. And while the singer may support efforts to free hostages, that doesn't make his lifestyle practice any more legitimate. I myself would rather not watch this year's Independence Day ceremony as a result of this wokefest that does hurt Israel's common sense image, and what Regev did does not need to be done just to send a message to Islam's monsters, who happen to have double-standards on LGBT practice as it is.

Tom Holland, How the Christian Revolution Remade the World

Some holiday reading, folks.

Have a wonderful Easter. 

An awesome tome, perfect for Easter.

At Amazon, Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. #AmazonSales #CommissionEarned

Islam rising in Russia

Giulio Meotti warns that the Religion of Peace has gained considerable traction in Russia over the past 3 decades, something overlooked by many:

There are 25 million Muslims in Russia, or 17 percent of the total population. They are the majority in 7 of the 21 republics of the Federation. Not only does Russia have a far greater percentage of Muslims than any other European country (almost double that of the UK), but China and the Islamic Ummah have only to watch the war in Ukraine and alternately root for both sides while waiting for a historical phenomenon ignored by Western newspapers to run its course.

The Telegraph reveals that “Rybar”, alias Mikhail Zvinchuk, a former Russian officer with 1.3 million followers and founder of one of the most followed Telegram channels “Z”, blacklisted by the European Union and the Kiev government, has just published a scathing analysis of demographic changes in Russia, using the Moscow suburb of Kotelniki to illustrate the point: “In schools, only 50 percent are Russian”.

Responding to Rybar, Ria Katyusha, another nationalist channel, compared the situation in Kotelniki to “similar stories about Paris, Hamburg or British cities”. Boris Rozhin, a blogger with over 850,000 subscribers, says Moscow’s transformation is reminiscent of “minority-dominated neighborhoods in Marseille and Paris.”

St. Petersburg in recent days: 150,000 Muslims gathered for prayers at the walls of the central mosque, near the Gorkovskaya metro station. The mosque could not accommodate everyone who wanted to come, streets were closed, changes were made to the operation of public transport, and tram service was suspended.

Political scientist Yuriy Podorozhniy says: “The Muslim population of Russia is growing. In a certain period, the share of Slavic and Muslim populations will change. Russia will naturally turn into a Muslim country. That is why Putin is negotiating with them, this will be a significant topic in the future.”

Sergey Mironov of the Duma said in December that Russia’s demographic rates were driving the country to “extinction.” Extinction.

By the middle of this century, Russia could have a Muslim majority.

According to Paul Goble, a leading analyst of Russian affairs, Moscow will be Islamic in 20 years.

Last year, more than 8.5 million migrants arrived in Russia, including more than a million from Tajikistan. And that’s not counting the growing number of Russians who have converted to Islam.

Russia imported 11 million migrants between 1991 and 2023 (officially, 11 more are needed million by 2040), while the population of the federation has shrunk by 16.7 million.

The Atlantic Council, a US think tank, said: “Vladimir Putin’s war has virtually guaranteed that for generations to come, Russia’s population will not only be smaller, but also older, frailer and less educated. It will certainly be less ethnically Russian and more religiously diverse.”

In 1991, 120 mosques. In twenty years, they have built 8,000. The largest mosque in Europe is in Moscow.

And the imam of the Great Mosque of Moscow, Ildar Alyautdinov, said: “Muslims have a great demographic mission: because of the high birth rate, to make Russia a Muslim majority country.”

Well just look at that. Only so much incompetence indoctrinated by communism has now resulted in what'll lead to replacement by a more demonic ideology. One that'll lead to a situation worse than the Cold War. One of the reasons this situation's come about, one could argue, is because nobody insisted or demanded that Russia improve their political system to abolish communism altogether, and it resulted in Putinism knocking it all back by more than a century. Now, Putin's own wrongdoing is making things much worse.

Air force reservists contribute to dhimmitude

A disturbing number of IAF reservists penned an absurdly defeatist letter opposing the war against the Hamas, and have let down the main staff:

In a missive to members of the Israeli Air Force, IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar slams a letter signed by some 1,000 veterans, most of them retirees, demanding the return of the hostages even if it comes at the cost of ending the war against Hamas entirely.

“The manifesto that was published weakens the solidarity and leads to generalizations that affect servicemembers who are not partners to these views, as well as the entire [IAF],” Bar writes.

“It is not appropriate for active reservists to call to stop the war, which they themselves take part in. We cannot allow this in any unit that participates in the war, including the Air Force,” he says.

Bar says that he is “forced to act and declare that active reservists who signed the manifesto cannot continue to serve in the IDF.”

What the reservists are doing makes it sound like they're okay with jihadists striking again. And that's offensive. Of course freeing the remaining hostages is vital. But we can't allow a situation where jihadists could strike anew and murder more people in ways seen on October 7, 2023.

The army staff announced they'll be firing the bad apples:

Israel’s military said Friday it will fire air force reservists who signed a letter condemning the war in Gaza and claiming it only serves political interests instead of bringing the hostages home.

In a statement to The Associated Press, an army official said there was no room for any body or individual, including reservists in active duty, “to exploit their military status while simultaneously participating in the fighting,” calling it a breach of trust between commanders and subordinates.

The army said it decided that any active reservist who signed the letter will not be able to continue serving. It did not specify how many people that included or if the firings had begun.

Interesting some of them include retirees. But one thing's certain - they undoubtably include people with lenient views on Islam, and that's why this is so horrific and sad.

New graphic novel about October 7, 2023 features moral equivalence

The Times of Israel reported about a graphic novel being developed with a Canadian academic, and it looks like this product, unfortunately, relies on moral equivalence, blurring the differences between Jewish victims and Islamic aggressors, despite any claims to the contrary:

In the annals of graphic novels being written about the stories of those affected by the Hamas terror onslaught of October 7, 2023, “Echoes of October” may be the first in which the creators wish to remain mostly anonymous.

The fictional, kids-geared upcoming graphic novel has four child narrators — from Gaza City, Toronto, Tel Aviv, and the Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel — each one telling their stories leading up until October 7, the day on which each of their fathers was killed.

The Jewish Israeli father from Tel Aviv was killed at the Nova desert rave, where he was working as a DJ, while the Druze boy’s father, an elite IDF soldier, was killed fighting near Gaza, defending the kibbutz communities.

The Palestinian girl’s father was killed as part of the wave of Gazan civilians who entered Israel on that day through the security fence to join the brutal assault, and the Canadian girl’s father — they’re not Jewish — was murdered during the onslaught at the kibbutzim, where he had been staying to help aid Palestinians.

So we're supposed to care about somebody who's father participated in a mass jihadist attack on defenseless women and children, not to mention also men, and, in allusion to what's further discussed below, we're also supposed to believe quite literally that he was dragged into this? I'm sorry, but this entirely obscures what influence the Islamic religion had in the whole tragedy, and how severe its indoctrination was all these years in the Hamas/PLO enclaves. Not to mention how taqqiya (deception) and naive conduct of specific victims made it possible for the jihadists to betray many of said victims.

To that end, and to avoid bias as much as possible, three of the four creators — including one of the two writers, the artist and the colorist — have opted to remain anonymous and together chose a pseudonym, Ami Adan, as the author name.

“We wanted to have as few preconceived notions as possible and we chose the name Ami Adan as an amalgamation of identities,” said Omri Rose, a professional voice actor who is Israeli and is one of the novel’s two writers, the only team member who opted to identify himself.

The idea for the graphic novel came about after October 7, when a Jewish Canadian academic who had previously been in touch with Rose began reaching out to him in solidarity following the Hamas terrorist attack.

“He wanted to do something, especially because things were so tough in Canada,” said Rose.

Rose’s Canadian co-creator particularly wanted to create something that would represent all sides affected by the conflict, but without authors whose names and origins would lead readers to draw their own assumptions.

“He sees this as a labor of importance,” said Rose.

The two began tossing around ideas for a graphic novel based on children, but with the focus on multiple perspectives and authenticity.

“It is pro-peace,” said Rose. “We firmly believe in Israel’s right to exist and also that the Palestinian people deserve respect and their own say, free of Hamas. It is anti-Hamas.”

Unfortunately, this just sounds like another effort to legitimize the whole fabrication of a Palestinian Moslem/Arab state at Israel's expense, obscure that many of the Gazan Islamists had nothing but hatred for the hostages, kept Arabic-translated copies of Mein Kamph in their households, don't accept Israel's existence no matter what they think of the Hamas, and "multiple perspectives" is little more than clue of defeatism involved. Not to mention that again, if they won't question whether the Religion of Peace had any influence in the horror of October 7, 2023, then what good will this GN be? The following notes that:

None of the deaths are explicitly explained, including the Gazan father, who is not a member of Hamas and instead is described as someone pulled into Hamas activities, without much say in the matter. [...]

Rose said that he and the other writer spoke with Gazan journalists and other Palestinians, as well as members of the Druze community, to create authentic storylines.

Umm, is that meant to imply he was merely coerced? Because as surviving hostages have testified, there were even journalists who were involved in the evil, and do the artists and writers of this GN take anything by Islamists in Gaza at face value? I'm sorry, but there's many clues here that this GN, if any, will not offer any meat-and-potatoes perspective, and will toe a PC line that forbids any objective view of the issues involved. Such moral equivalence is simply unacceptable.

Muslim adult man marries 8-year-old girl

Robert Spencer points to an awful incident of recent where a grown Muslim man forcibly married an 8-year-old girl, using the Koran to justify his actions:

Yet another child has been married because of Islamic laws that no one wishes to admit exist, much less counter in any way.

The BBC reported recently that “an eight-year-old girl, who had been missing for six months, was found living with a man who said he was her husband.” This man, identified as Sheikh Mahmoud, “initially said he was solely teaching the girl the Quran. But after legal complaints were filed, he changed his statement, saying he had married the girl with her father’s consent.”

He did this based on Islamic law: “When asked by the BBC how he justified marrying an eight-year-old, Sheikh Mahmoud said that the traditions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, along with that of the Shafi’i school of thought, allowed child marriage.” The BBC, as woke as ever, and thus determined to defend the image of Islam in every possible way, begged to differ: “After the BBC questioned his reasoning – citing opposition from numerous Somali Islamic scholars – Sheikh Mahmoud maintained that he would not abandon the marriage.”

The BBC’s “opposition from numerous Sunni Islamic scholars” notwithstanding, Sheikh Mahmoud is not some extremist or eccentric. He is acting upon standard, basic Islam. Islamic tradition records that Muhammad consummated his marriage with (i.e., raped) Aisha when she was nine, and the resultant fact that child marriage and the sexualization of children are taken for granted in wide swaths of the Islamic world: “The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)” (Bukhari 7.62.88). Muhammad was at this time fifty-four years old. Numerous other early Islamic traditions state the same thing.

Marrying young girls was not all that unusual in Muhammad’s time. But because, in Islam, Muhammad is the supreme example of conduct (cf. Qur’an 33:21), he is considered exemplary in this even today. For that reason, Article 1041 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran states that girls can be engaged before the age of nine, and married at nine: “Marriage before puberty (nine full lunar years for girls) is prohibited. Marriage contracted before reaching puberty with the permission of the guardian is valid provided that the interests of the ward are duly observed.”

Don't expect the BBC to actually champion the girl in distress, however. It's an almost forgone conclusion news outlets like them will soon sweep this under the rug again, and in doing so, allow repulsive perversions like these to continue unopposed for years to come. This is utterly disgusting, and it must be addressed by anybody who seriously cares about the well being of young girls.

Haredi schools visit Poland's Holocaust memorial sites

For the first time possibly, Haredi schools in Israel are organizing delegations to visit the Holocaust memorial sites in Poland:

Every year, tens of thousands of Israeli students walk through the gates of Nazi death camps and visit former Jewish ghettos. These trips have traditionally been attended primarily by students from the state and state-religious school systems.

Now, for the first time in Israel, an organized delegation of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students has traveled to Poland. The trip, initiated by the Netzach education network—the ultra-Orthodox division of the Education Ministry—along with the municipalities of Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, marks a historic shift in the ultra-Orthodox community’s engagement with Holocaust remembrance and collective national memory. Although the participants came from religious high schools rather than traditional Haredi yeshivas that avoid core secular studies, they are still ultra-Orthodox students from Haredi homes.

Rabbi Menachem Bombach, founder of the Natzach network, emphasized the national significance of the trip. “When ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students follow a path that was previously reserved for students in state schools, it symbolizes that the memory of the Holocaust belongs to all of us. The Holocaust did not distinguish between Haredi, religious or secular Jews, and its memory should be shared by everyone.”

Shai Calderon, head of the Education Ministry’s ultra-Orthodox division, echoed this sentiment: “This is an important journey that every young man should experience. Confronting the memory of the Holocaust and connecting to the national story of the Jewish people are essential parts of our Jewish and Israeli identity. This trip allows yeshiva students to become part of the collective memory that unites all segments of Israeli society.”

It's also something women have to study, and there's a vital point to make that women were some of the biggest victims of the National Socialists' tyranny at the time too. Something that certain past Haredi movements refused to attend museums dedicated to the topic based on, and one NYC museum also capitulated to. If this is changing, this trip being made by Haredi schools to Poland is certainly a good start. Let's just hope they recognize the legitimacy of women who were victims, and also those who fought against National Socialists at the time.

Don't be misled by fake demonstrations in Gaza

An analyst for i24 News says the demonstrations against Hamas in the Gaza strip are actually organized by the same jihadist organization:

i24news Arab affairs commentator Zvi Yehezkeli claims that the protests against Hamas were actually orchestrated by the organization.

"I can't say what is behind them, but I suspect. My gut doesn't feel good about it, because I know the Gazans. The movements against Hamas were immediately suppressed. I think there is an interest for Hamas for these protests to come out, because Hamas is currently not concerned about its rule. These are not protests that threaten its rule. These are protests that come to show the world: we want to stay in Gaza and we agree that Hamas should not rule Gaza. That's the story," Yehezkeli claimed.

He stated, "If the world buys this, Hamas has done its part because it is essentially looking ahead. It sees Trump's plan that threatens to remove it and the Gazan citizens from the Gaza Strip and comes and says to the world: look, there are people who oppose me, there are sane people in Gaza - leave them alone. When they hear Israel's threats to evict everyone from the northern Gaza Strip - these protests serve Hamas and do not threaten it."

He added that there may also be anger in the Strip towards Hamas - but it does not stem from support for Israel. "Those who are currently protesting against Hamas are the same ones who are referred to in quotes as 'unaffiliated.' If there were an October 7th situation now, they would break the fence and do exactly what their predecessors did. Gaza is Gaza."

"My gut feeling is that this is too good to be true, and one should not rely on it. And let no one think that there are now complete partners in the Gaza Strip. There are only partners for what we saw on October 7th, to slaughter and murder," he concluded.

This is a very vital observation, and a point must be made that what was seen is little more than taqqiya (deception). When these monsters are such savages in the first place, it's clear they haven't really changed, and definitely not if they haven't abandoned Islam. Nobody should allow Hamas' minions to deceive them. This is just one more reason why they must leave the Gaza strip.

Egypt willing to relocate Gazan Muslims

If this information has anything to it, then it looks like Egypt's premier is willing to take in Muslims from Gaza:

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that his country was ready to temporarily host half a million Gazans who would be evacuated from the Gaza Strip, according to a Friday report by Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

According to the report, the Gazans would be allocated a city in the North of the Sinai Peninsula.

The comment reportedly came during a conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the situation in the Middle East, in which the Egyptian leader was present, among other attendees.

Let's hope this is correct, because such a barbaric community has no place anywhere in or near civilized societies. If El-Sisi's willing to do this, then he's coming around to agreeing with Donald Trump, whose own plan for the Gaza strip is the more positive one.

The mask falls off Syria's new sharia-dictatorship

The Islamofascists now running Syria committed a slaughter against Christians and Alawites in the country, and now, they're further imposing sharia law:

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the jihadist terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), signed into law a “constitutional declaration” that imposes an Islamist “temporary” constitution on the country intended to create a legal framework that allows it to function while its new rulers rebuild from the civil war.

[...] In their declaration, the constitutional drafting committee emphasized the independence of the judiciary, suggesting that Sharaa will have little input in how the new government’s sharia courts behave. While that emphasis suggests robust separation of powers, it also indicates that Islamist clerics will have outsized power in the country. Sharaa himself indicated this may be the case in an interview with the BBC in December when asked if his regime would allow alcohol sales, answering that this was a “legal issue” he would not have power over.

The constitution also mandates that the president of the country be Muslim, a provision that also existed in the Assad-era constitution, according to the Associated Press.

There's plenty of signs that, despite suggestions to the contrary, they intend to establish a modern caliphate. Coupled with their recent murder of Christians and Alawites, this spells much bad news in Syria.

Debra Winger disappoints

The veteran actress Debra Winger, in her old of age and apparently no longer getting work in Hollywood, decided to throw away her reputation by participating in an attack on Donald Trump's NYC estate, taking part in a demonstration for the sake of an anti-Israel activist:

Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead protests against Israel at Columbia University.

The Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, who carried banners and wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel,” chanted “Bring Mahmoud home now!”

After warning the protesters to leave the Fifth Avenue building, officers arrested 98 of them on various charges including trespassing, obstruction and resisting arrest, a police official said at a news briefing. [...]

Among those who took part in Thursday’s protest was actor Debra Winger, who has discussed her Jewish faith and upbringing over the years.

Winger accused the Trump administration of having “no interest in Jewish safety” and “co-opting antisemitism.”

“I’m just standing up for my rights, and I’m standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location,” she told The Associated Press. “Does that sound like America to you?”

Does that sound like somebody who's pro-Israel being interviewed by the AP Wire? Nope. It just sounds like somebody who had a phony upbringing in the Judaist religion. She's as bad as actor/playwright Wallace Shawn, who's also signaled his support for terrorists, and after this, it'll be exceedingly difficult for me to watch any past films and TV programs with Winger again. I'm not sure she was ever particularly successful in the long run anyway as a Hollywood actress, so that could explain why years later, she's turned to this kind of atrocious behavior, when here, she had a chance to do something better like be a book writer. Instead, she threw it all away for the sake of leftist politics and supporting terrorism.

Florida files indictment against Andrew Tate and his brother

The influencer Andrew Tate, who's notoriously a convert to Islam, and recently supported Hamas, is now facing charges of abuse in the state of Florida:

Florida has opened a criminal investigation into Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate after the brothers arrived in the state last week. The Tates had left Romania after the country lifted travel restrictions on them following an indictment.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier revealed the investigation during remarks to a reporter on Tuesday afternoon.

“These guys have themselves publicly admitted to participating in what very much appears to be soliciting, trafficking, preying upon women around the world, many of these victims coming forward, some of them minors,” he said. “You know, people can spin or defend however they want, but in Florida, this type of behavior is viewed as atrocious. We’re not going to accept it.”

“They chose to come here and set their feet down in this state, and we’re going to pursue every tool we have within our legal authority to hold them accountable,” he continued. “So we are in the process today, we have secured and executed subpoenas and warrants, and we’re going to continue to move forward with full force of law.”

This can be a good way to make clear conservatives don't find these two monsters even remotely acceptable. It wouldn't be shocking if the other Tate were also a convert to Islam. They should serve a prison sentence for their crimes, though it's regrettable that so far, any connections they have to the Religion of Peace are being obscured. That's wrong, and anybody who cares should point out that most disturbing detail about them.

Marvel's bizarre combination of Muslim Ms. Marvel with dogs

Recently, Marvel published a special titled "Marvel Mutts", starring the Muslim Ms. Marvel who was created as a propaganda vehicle. Here's the information Comic Book Club Live provides:

Join the Marvel Mutts in their very first comic book adventure! Collecting issues #1-12 of the Friday Funnies series, these heartwarming tales – and wagging tails – are sure to elicit a round of a-paws. Featuring Lockjaw, Lucky, Cosmo, Bats and Ms. Marvel’s dearest doggie, Mittens, this pack is packing the cute. So fetch yourself a copy and have a ball with Marvel’s Mightiest Mutts!

This has the effect of being unintentional comedy, or laughable for all the wrong reasons, because anybody who knows what Islam is like knows the Religion of Peace abhors dogs, and look what trouble it's led to in Britain. In the Arabic language, the synonym for dog "kalb", is even used as a slur. It's clear at this point Marvel's not even trying to draw in the followers of the ummah they supposedly coveted in their bizarre leftist attempts to "please everyone" in the past decade or so, because if they did, they wouldn't have made a character with a Muslim background the star of such a vehicle, nor would they have written her owning a dog for a pet.

In the end, the whole premise first concocted over a decade ago has certainly become very dated at this point, and one must wonder how much longer Marvel's going to keep repeatedly wasting money on a political vehicle that nobody's interested in. The same can be said for DC, if they're still depicting Geoff Johns' own Islamic propaganda concoction, Simon Baz, as such a practitioner. It could actually benefit badly developed characters if they put them in limbo for some time, then wrote out the part about their being Islamists and trying something like depicting them as Arab/Pakistani Christians and/or Buddhists instead. Unfortunately, chances they're willing to do that are very slim.

Minister for diaspora affairs says Muslim migration in Europe is main source of antisemitism now

Also the main source of sexual violence on the continent. Here's what Amichai Chikli says about both the hostage situation and Europe's own crisis:

Chikli linked the rise in antisemitism in Western European countries with their failure to combat rising Islamist violence as a result of mass immigration.

"Antisemitism is a growing problem in Europe due to Muslim immigration,” he said. “The European right wing parties have a point, because they realise the problem and are presenting a solution.

"They understand the challenge of radical Islam and they are willing to take the necessary steps. So many countries have it completely wrong. Look at the UK, for example, I'm not sure that what is happening there is reversable. These countries need to get a hold of the problem."

According to Chikli, figures like Marine Le-Pen in France proved their support for Israel by participating in pro-Israel events and promising not to enable legislation that could block Kosher slaughter.

Chikli was asked whether he was concerned that the erosion of democracy in Europe, characterized among others by xenophobia and Islamophobia, would eventually lead to a threat against Jews. The minister responded that he did not believe there to be a problem of islamophobia since there was a “very good reason to worry” about the rise of Islamism in Europe.

Chikli expressed support for immigration policies in Hungary and Poland, as examples of places where Jews can walk around freely. The comment drew murmurs from the crowd, with one person claiming that Hungary had a fascist government.

Chikli also warned against the spread of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria via its new regime, which is backed by Turkey. Erdogan and Turkey had the “exact same ideology” as Hamas, and therefore the Syrian front was one Israel should be concerned about.

Hugh Fitzgerald followed up on the news, and notes:

Chikli is deeply suspicious of Abu Muhammad Al-Julani, Syria’s de facto ruler, and of the rebel group he headed, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Al-Julani claims that he years ago broke all his ties to Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and is now intent on rebuilding the broken nation-state of Syria, not in furthering a pan-Islamic caliphate. But the schoolbooks just adopted in Syria contain worrisome changes in their texts, that stress Islamic themes and anti-Israel propaganda.

As some people were rightly worried, the current Syrian autocrat is another example of going from bad to worse, and cannot be recognized as a valid politician.

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.

Jordan's king agrees to take in Gazans

It looks like Donald Trump's efforts to get a country like Jordan to take in Gazans is beginning to bear fruit:

King Abdullah II of Jordan visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, where the Jordanian king agreed to accept refugees into his country.

The meeting comes after Trump made repeated demands for Jordan and Egypt to take in refugees, despite both countries declining. Trump and Abdullah met to discuss issues including Trump’s Gaza proposal, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ISIS and al-Qaeda, and economic cooperation.

The king and crown prince of Jordan arrived at the White House around noon Tuesday afternoon, where they both attended a bilateral meeting and lunch with the president. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended the meeting — the first official encounter between the King of Jordan and the President of the United States since Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire. [...]

King Abdullah said he is open to coming up with solutions that serve the interests of all parties.

“I think the point is how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody. Obviously, we have to look at the best interests of the United States, of the people in the region, and especially my people of Jordan.”

Abdullah offered to take 2,000 sick children from the Gaza Strip almost immediately.

Trump called the gesture “beautiful.”

“We really appreciate it,” Trump said. “It’s music to my ears.”

King Abdullah said he wants to wait for the Egyptians to present their plan on how to address the challenges in Gaza.

Trump said he believes there is a 99% chance he will work something out with Egypt. The president previously threatened to withhold aid to the two countries unless a deal could be made, but backed down during the meeting, stating “I do think we’re above that.”

So far, Egypt's premier, Al-Sisi, has been balking at cooperating. But hopefully, that too will be worked out, and Egypt should by all means start accepting Muslims in Gaza into their country. And if aid needs to be withheld to make clear what they should do, then perhaps that's the best thing to do.

3 hostages of Hamas were kept underground

New details of 3 more hostages freed from the captivity of Hamas tells of the horrible situation they were in:

What happened to the hostages during 491 days in hell of Gaza? With the return of Ohad Ben Ami, Ori Levi, and Eli Sharabi from Hamas captivity on Saturday, new details are emerging about their harrowing ordeal, both psychologically and physically, as evidenced by the images that shocked the world.

The three hostages were held in severe conditions, according to their testimonies. For most of their captivity, they were given very little food kept in underground tunnels without exposure to daylight. They stated that they had no way of knowing whether it was summer or winter outside.

Their access to media was extremely limited, with Al Jazeera being the primary source of news they were exposed to. They were given very little food, and even when they did receive meals, the nutrition provided was insufficient to meet their bodily needs, leading to extreme weight loss.

The hostages recounted that in the days leading up to their release, they were given slightly more food in an apparent attempt to create the illusion that their captivity conditions had been adequate. However, when they emerged, they appeared frail and emaciated, reflecting the true reality of their ordeal.

According to a source at Sheba Medical Center, Levi and Sharabi were unaware that their family members had been murdered. Levi's wife, Einav, was killed in the "death shelter" at the Nova festival, while Sharabi's wife and three daughters were also murdered. The body of his brother, Yossi, is still in Gaza. The two were informed of their loved ones' fate by psychologists who spoke to them at the reception point in Re'im.

It's all absolutely abominable.

Why Steve Witkoff cannot remain an envoy

Melanie Phillips has taken valid issue with Donald Trump's middle east envoy, Steve Witkoff, who's already led to the rightfully controversial release of convicted jihadists for freeing Israeli hostages of Hamas:

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, has called the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal an “inflection point” for peace in the Middle East.

He told Fox News that he hopes to broaden the Abraham Accords by bringing in every state in the Middle East, including Qatar and Egypt, which he praised for their key roles in negotiating the Gaza ceasefire.

Qatar, he said, had been “enormously helpful in this,” and the communication skills of its prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, had been “indispensable”.

While the commitment of the new administration to expanding the Abraham Accords — signed in 2020 under the first Trump administration — is a welcome sign, Witkoff’s remarks should provoke no little unease among those who properly understand what Israel is facing.

Qatar can never be a solution in the Middle East because Qatar is the problem. Far from being instrumental in bringing peace and security to Israel, Qatar has been instrumental in bringing it mass slaughter.

For Qatar is behind Hamas. It created it, funds it and protects its leaders. Qatar promotes the Muslim Brotherhood — the jihadi parent of Hamas — and hosts the Islamist propaganda news outlet Al Jazeera.

It’s an enemy of the west because it is governed by an Islamist regime that allies itself with other Islamist enemies of the west including Al-Qaeda, ISIS —and Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who had until last month a $10 million US bounty on his head.

Even Daniel Greenfield's taken issue with Witkoff's conduct:

In my article early last week, “Trump Should Pull Out of Gaza Nation Building”, I warned that this was coming.

If the Trump administration backs the deal, it will be forced to act as a ‘guarantor’ which will not only mean protecting Hamas, but an extended terrorist nation-building program bigger even than Iraq or Afghanistan. Phase 3 of the deal reportedly calls for a 3-5 year rebuilding program.

That timetable would have President Trump spend his whole second term rebuilding Gaza.

And the UN’s actual numbers are far worse. The UN Development Program is estimating $50 billion in costs to rebuild Gaza by 2040

Steven Witkoff, the real estate guy with a history of previous dealings with Hamas’s state sponsors in Qatar, appointed by President Trump to act as his Middle East envoy, is now parroting the UN’s numbers.

Witkoff, a real estate developer, assesses that the demolition and moving of the debris alone will take five years.

“There has been this perception we can get to a solid plan for Gaza in five years. But its impossible. This is a 10 to 15 year rebuilding plan,” he said.

That 15-year plan would put it at… 2040.

What that means is the U.S. would be dragged into this nation-building project in Gaza for President Trump’s entire second term and for, if he should get them, J.D. Vance’s two terms in office.

Madness.

It would also be abuse of the USA citizenry's taxpayer dollars. Witkoff cannot remain in the position he's been given. He's an embarrassment and has already caused plenty of damage that can be avoided. Not to mention that people as barbaric as the Muslims in Gaza turned out to be don't deserve to live there.

More hostages released, but not without horrifying abuse along the way

Some more hostages were freed from Hamas, including non-Israelis from Thailand, but the Hamas allowed violent crowds to abuse the prisoners along the way:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped the hammer in response to what he described as "shocking scenes" when terrorists released hostages on Thursday.

Terrorists released Israeli and Thai hostages on Thursday, but Israeli President Isaac Herzog noted in a post on X that "the scenes of abuse and terror towards the hostages as they were transferred to the Red Cross were horrifying …"

Netanyahu responded by ordering a delay in the planned release of terrorists, demanding assurance regarding the release of hostages, but the prime minister's office later indicated that the demand had been satisfied.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with Defense Minister Israel Katz, has ordered that the release of the terrorists slated to be released today be delayed until the safe exit of our hostages in the next phases is assured. Israel demands that the mediators see to this," the office noted on X.

But it later seemed to indicate that the issue had been resolved, stating, "Pursuant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand, the mediators have conveyed a commitment, according to which the safe exit of our hostages who are due to be released in the next phases has been assured." It added, "Israel insists that the lessons be learned and that strict care be taken in the next phases regarding the safe return of our hostages."

Netanyahu had indicated there were "shocking scenes" when the hostages were released.

"I view with utmost severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages. This is additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organization," Netanyahu noted, according to the prime minister's office. "I demand that the mediators make certain that such terrible scenes do not recur, and guarantee the safety of our hostages. Whoever dares to harm our hostages will pay the price."

This is just one more reason why all these Mohammedans, as they were once described even by George Washington, cannot remain in the area.

Here's more on the subject by Brendan O'Neill.

Update: Donald Trump continues to make important points why Jordan and Egypt should take in these Muslims from Gaza. And here's more about freed hostage Arbel Yehud, and the Thais who were freed as well.

Released hostages receive recovery treatment, and 4 more were released too

The 3 hostages released in the past week are now undergoing recovery treatment for returning to regular life:

On their second day of freedom at Sheba Medical Center, three recently released hostages – Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari, and Romi Gonen – are undergoing a carefully orchestrated reintegration process, beginning with the restoration of their official identities through new biometric documentation.

The Interior Ministry has established a mobile processing station within the hospital, where the three will have their photographs taken and fingerprints collected for new identification cards. This procedural milestone follows scheduled sessions with hairdressers and aestheticians, marking their transition back to civilian life.

Authorities have implemented comprehensive security protocols at the facility, maintaining a controlled environment where immediate family members – parents and siblings – are accommodated overnight. Access remains strictly limited, with conventional smartphones prohibited; only basic "kosher phones" without cameras are permitted within the complex.

Medical staff report that the released hostages, who shared their captivity experience, have maintained the close bonds formed during their ordeal. They occupy adjacent rooms in a secured wing of the facility, dividing their time between family visits and group interactions. Sleeping arrangements have been customized to individual preferences, with some choosing to have family members nearby while others opted for separate accommodations.

Now, it also appears 4 out of 5 more hostages who were army officials were released:

Four of the five IDF lookouts kidnapped during the October 7 massacre from the Nahal Oz military post were released from Hamas captivity on Saturday.

Liri Albag (19), Naama Levy (20), Karina Ariev (20), and Daniella Gilboa (20), were brought to Israel from Gaza by the Red Cross - the same Red Cross which refused to visit them during the 15 months they were held in captivity.

In a cynical and brutal act by the Hamas terror organization, the four hostages were turned over to the Red Cross at the center of Falastin Square in Gaza, as the square was full of terrorists watching. [...]

A fifth lookout, Agam Berger, is still held by Hamas.

Agam's family said, "We thank the people of Israel for their warm embrace. We are overjoyed and moved by the return of our four girls home - we are all one big family! We eagerly await embracing Agam, God willing, in the coming week. We will not rest until all hostages are safely returned home."

It remains to be seen what Levy thinks of Islam now, recalling she was reportedly an apologist and perpetuated the "palestine" fabrication that's meant to delegitimize Israel. Why, what does she even think of those Muslims in Gaza who celebrated September 11, 2001?

Update: everyone's still rightfully worried about the fate of the family of Kfir Bibas.

3 female hostages released

Finally, 3 hostages of Hamas in Gaza were released:

6:24 p.m.: The IDF has confirmed that the three released hostages have arrived at the initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will be reunited with their mothers.

IDF officers from the Manpower Directorate and IDF medical officials are accompanying the released hostages during an initial medical assessment.

IDF representatives are accompanying their families at the hospital and updating them with the latest available information.

According to this article, one of the hostages, Emily Damari, lost 2 of her fingers on her left hand:

Damari and the other two hostages Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher, released after 471 days in Hamas captivity, are undergoing initial medical assessments at the army facility, and they will soon be taken to a hospital.

The images show a bandage on Emily’s hand after she was wounded during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Smiling, she holds up her bandaged hand as she waves.

According to Damari’s family, Emily lost two fingers after being shot by Hamas terrorists during the onslaught.

It's terrible that happened, and she and the 2 others freed are lucky to have survived over a year in captivity.

Jean-Marie Le Pen dies at 96

The French politician who was sadly one of the most antisemitic creeps of his time has died at age 96:

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the former leader of the French National Front party, presidential candidate, member of the European Parliament, and patriarch of the Le Pen political family dynasty, has died at the age of 96.

A figure who loomed large over French politics over the past five decades, Mr Le Pen was hailed Tuesday by his supporters as a fearless “patriot” and derided by his detractors as a fascist and an antisemite.

Tragically, he was. And despite any claims to the contrary, he wasn't really opposed to Islam any more than Jean-Luc Melanchon was. As a result, his supposed opposition to mass migration was all a sham, and besides, when somebody like that gets chummy with despots like the late Saddam Hussein, something is terribly wrong.

In a moment of historical coincidence, Le Pen’s death was announced on the day that France marked the tenth anniversary of the Islamist attack on the offices of the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine, in which two Algerian jihadists shot and killed 12 people and injured 11 more in reprisal for the magazine publishing a caricature of Mohammed.

After reiterating his belief that the Holocaust was a “detail” in 2015, the party he founded voted to expel him, and two years later, his daughter Marine Le Pen renamed the party to the National Rally (Rassemblement National) in a bid to distance herself and the party from her father’s legacy. Their relationship never fully recovered after the split.

While he cast the move as politically suicidal, Marine Le Pen has grown the party to the largest in the French parliament. She currently stands as the frontrunner to replace Emmanuel Macron as president of the republic when his second and final term ends in 2027. [...]

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said that “respect for the dignity of the dead and the grief of their loved ones does not erase the right to judge their actions,” accusing Le Pen of spreading “hatred, racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.”

Also notice how Melenchon repeats the morally equivalent cliche of blurring the difference between "islamophobia" and antisemitism, which he himself has been just as guilty of. There's just no excuse.

Julian Jackson notes how Jean-Marie Le Pen did little more than poison French/European politics, and unfortunately, he did do only so much to damage efforts to oppose the spread of Islamofascism. I seriously doubt he even wanted to defend Charlie Hebdo's own freedom of speech. He won't be missed, and it's to be hoped his departure will help improve the landscape again one day.

The Death of the 'Progressive Moment'

I don't know if we're talking about just a "moment." We should be burying a movement. And they're not "progressives." They're leftists, communists. Let's see them decimated over the next four years --- and beyond.

At the Wall Street Journal, "The Progressive Moment in Global Politics Is Over":

Weak economic growth and record immigration are driving gains by the right, especially populists.

The progressive moment is over—at least for now.

This past year showed that the progressive politics that dominated most industrialized countries over the past two decades or more is shifting to the right, fueled by working-class anxieties over the economy and immigration, and growing fatigue with issues from climate change to identity politics.

The return of Donald Trump to the White House is the most dramatic and important example—but it is far from the only one.

Across Europe, where economic growth has largely stalled, conservatives and populist right-wing parties are making unprecedented gains. Three-quarters of governments in the European Union are either led by a right-of-center party or are ruled by a coalition that includes at least one.

The shift is set to continue. Canada appears poised to kick out a deeply unpopular progressive prime minister and Germany is expected to dump its center-left government. Polls show the top two parties in Germany represent the center-right and the far-right.

Part of the shift is the normal pendulum of politics swinging back and forth between established parties on the left and right. The difference this time is a strong strain of populism and a growing rejection of traditional parties.

In country after country, many working-class voters—especially those outside the biggest cities—are signaling the same thing: They mistrust the establishment—from academics to bankers to traditional politicians—and feel these elites are out of touch and don’t care about people like them.

Years of increased migration and trade, coupled with low economic growth, have led to a backlash and a rise in nationalism, where people want more of a sense of control, political analysts say. The rise of social media has exacerbated divisions and led to an upsurge in antiestablishment parties.

“It’s a broad shift that goes across countries,” said Ruy Teixeira, a lifelong Democrat who now works for the center-right American Enterprise Institute think tank. “Working-class people are just pissed off—about immigration, about all the culture war stuff, and the relatively poor economic performance that has shaped the working-class experience in the 21st century.”

While one of the two establishment parties won in the U.S., the Republicans have largely been taken over by the insurgent figure of Trump, who clearly has a mandate from voters to shake things up, said Teixeira. He said he doesn’t see either the left or conventional right easily recapturing Trump’s populist, multiracial working-class majority.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s center-left Liberal Party looks to be careening toward a decisive election loss, trailing the Conservative Party by roughly 20 points in opinion polls. Trudeau must hold a vote by October 2025...

More.

And for Canada, see, "Trudeau to Resign as Voters Sour on His Vision for Canada."

Plus, at Instapundit, "WELL, BYE." 

And BCF, "Justin Trudeau Has Quit. Will The Legacy He Built Survive? … Well It Will Take Time To Rebuild The Ruined Nation He Leaves Behind So There’s That."

NYC allows march supporting intifada

Just a short time after the terrorist attack in New Orleans, a march by Islamic terror supporters took place in New York City at Times Square, calling for another intifada (via Breitbart):

Several hundred demonstrators called for an intifada on Wednesday at an anti-Israel protest in New York City’s Times Square to mark New Year’s Day.

Attendees chanted “Resistance is glorious — we will be victorious,” “We will honor all our martyrs,” and “Gaza, you make us proud.” They carried signs that said “Zionism is cancer,” “No war on Iran,” and “End all US aid to Israel.”

“There is only one solution — Intifada revolution,” they chanted, using a common refrain at anti-Israel rallies in the US. “Intifada,” Arabic for “uprising,” is associated with the Second Intifada, a period of terror attacks in Israel in the early 2000s marked by suicide bombings.

Speakers at the Wednesday rally urged attendees to recommit to anti-Israel activism in the new year.

“2024 was a year of struggle against the crime of Zionism,” a speaker told the crowd. “We will be here every single year for generation after generation until total liberation and return.” [...]

A handful of pro-Israel counter-protesters showed up to wave Israeli and American flags on the sidelines of the demonstration, while heckling the anti-Israel activists. A Jewish retiree led chants of “Get a job” directed at the protesters.

Arguments broke out between the two sides situated on opposite sides of a metal barrier. One anti-Israel protester shouted “Hamas,” “Go back to Europe” and “You’re all white people” at the pro-Israel demonstrators, and hurled racist slurs at a Black member of the pro-Israel group.

NYC, as it's been in the last decade or so, has really sunk to new lows if they allow this, which amounts to little more than exploitation of "free speech rights" as an excuse to espouse pro-violence slogans. All the officials in charge of the Big Apple have done is let their city become infested with vermin, much like Europe itself. This will have tragic consequences in the future.

A jihadist from Texas committed a terrorist attack in New Orleans

A terrorist attack occurred near Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a Muslim from Texas murdered 10 people celebrating New Year's Eve with a Ford truck (Hat tip: Breitbart):

The suspect accused of plowing a truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning has been identified by a law enforcement source and confirmed by the FBI as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Police fatally shot him after the attack, which killed 10 people and injured 35.

The FBI said in a statement midday Wednesday that Jabbar is a U.S. citizen from Texas.

The FBI confirmed that Jabbar was carrying an ISIS flag in the truck, and authorities have said he was dressed in military gear. The FBI said they also found weapons and a potential IED were located in his vehicle.

Jabbar was driving a Ford pickup truck. The FBI said the truck appeared to be rented.

Law enforcement said they are investigating the possibility that the attack involved multiple suspects. They are looking into whether a different suspect rented the truck used in the attack.

A prominent FBI official used the now classic cliche that it "wasn't a terrorist attack". Even though some explosive devices were found, and the mayor of New Orleans made clear it was a terrorist attack. This is absolutely terrible, and makes clear the USA must combat the problem of jihadists living within.

Update: The Daily Wire found that the criminal donated to Democrats.