‘Proof terror knows no boundaries,’ Israeli envoy in NY says of thwarted terror attack

Menachem Wecker

Anti-Israel protesters gather near the Consulate General of Israel in New York on Oct. 9, 2023, two days after Hamas’s terror attack in southern Israel. Photo by Adam Gray/AFP via Getty Images.

An Egyptian national, who is a George Mason University freshman with reported ties to ISIS, was arrested on Tuesday in Falls Church, Va., and charged with planning a terror attack on the Israeli Consulate General in New York.

Between Nov. 22 and Dec. 4, Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, 18, allegedly distributed “information related to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of commission of a federal crime of violence” of “first-degree murder of internationally protected persons,” per a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is currently going through the process of deporting Hassan, according to a 14-page affidavit that the FBI agent, who arrested the student, filed on Dec. 16 seeking an arrest warrant.

Hassan operated three social media accounts that praised Osama bin Laden and ISIS, per the affidavit, which also alleges that the student wrote on social media that Hamas is an “armed resistance” rather than a terror group, and that the Israel Defense Forces “have been committing war crimes for decades,” and “it’s only time Palestine fight back.”

An FBI agent contacted Hassan on Aug. 24 and posed as a fellow traveler, per the affidavit. On Nov. 15, Hassan shared a pro-ISIS video with the undercover agent “that called for the killing of Jews,” per the affidavit. The agent pledged to follow Hassan’s lead, and in the coming days offered to act on behalf of ISIS locally. 

Hassan told the agent to “aim for government buildings,” and advised him on how to make a martyrdom video and how to “mask his identity, distort his voice and record the video with a blank background,” per the court document. The agent asked Hassan for a target on Nov. 23 and for bomb-making guides.

The defendant allegedly told the agent “that he could find a bomb-making instructions by looking for a specific search term on archive.org” and gave the agent “advice for bypassing Google’s potential censorship of the search results,” the FBI agent stated. Hassan then sent the agent “a direct link to the video with the bomb-making instructions” and “suggested that, based on the size of the bomb,” the agent “should get a backpack to put the bomb in.”

On that same day, Nov. 23, the agent told Hassan that he was in New York, and the student told him that the city was a “goldmine of targets” and told him to attack a site that represents the “Yahud,” or Jews. On Nov. 24, Hassan directed the agent to the address of the Consulate General of Israel, per the affidavit.

The affidavit further alleges that Hassan directed the agent to buy a certain kind of rifle and ammunition using bitcoin, or other untraceable means, and to scout out the site for ways to enter and escape routes, and to make a video that ISIS would publish. He subsequently told the agent to either shoot people on the site or to detonate a suicide vest within a crowd at the consulate. 

Hassan also allegedly told the agent to livestream the attack and how to book a flight to a country without extradition laws, particularly Borno, in Nigeria. He also recommended types of material to put in a bomb, per the affidavit.

“The State of Israel deeply appreciates the swift action and cooperation of the American security services in thwarting the recent attempted attack on our consulate,” stated Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York.

“This attempted attack by terror organizations is an attack on the sovereign soil of the State of Israel in its entirety. It’s proof that terror knows no boundaries and that we must fight it everywhere and every time,” Akunis added. “The threat it poses to the Western world and its values must be fought together by all western democracies alike. Together we will prevail.”

Jonathan Harounoff, international spokesman for the Israeli mission to the United Nations in New York, stated that “Israel will not cower to terror. We will not be silent in the face of hate and violence. We will not stop in our pursuit of justice and peace.”

“We will continue in our fight to return all 100 of our hostages still being held in Hamas terror tunnels in Gaza,” Harounoff added. “Thank you to our American security counterparts for their collaboration in identifying and thwarting this heinous attempted act of terror in New York City.”

George Mason University has banned Hassan from campus, the Washington Post reported.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, wrote that she is “grateful for the quick action taken by the FBI in apprehending the suspect and preventing this cowardly act of antisemitic terror from occurring.”

“Hate has no place in New York, and we will always stand with our Jewish neighbors,” she added.

Police recently found guns and terror flags in the home of sisters, who led the George Mason chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. The public university banned them from campus, stated Gregory Washington, the school president. A George Mason spokesman told the Post that the two cases appear to be unrelated.

EU Lawmaker: Dual Nationals Must Be Able to Join ‘Palestinian Armed Resistance’ if Allowed to Serve in IDF

Algemeiner Staff

A conference by La France Insoumise MEP and pro-Palestinian activist Rima Hassan was held on Dec. 13, 2024 on the Saint Martin d Heres campus, in the Grenoble suburbs, France. Photo: Benoit Pavan / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect

The Jewish community in France has lambasted a European Union lawmaker for arguing that French-Palestinians must be able to join the “Palestinian armed resistance” if their French-Israeli counterparts are allowed to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Rima Hassan, a 32-year-old lawyer and activist, earlier this year became the first French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament, the EU’s law-making body. On Wednesday, she posted on the social media platform X that the legacy of colonialism would be the only reason to oppose the idea that Palestinians in France should be allowed to join the so-called “resistance” currently fighting Israel in the Middle East.

“If Franco-Israelis are allowed to serve in the Israeli army while enjoying the benefits of dual nationality, any Franco-Palestinian must be able to join the Palestinian armed resistance whose legitimacy is recognized by the United Nations resolutions relating to the right to self-determination of peoples. The only thing that prevents you from considering it is the coloniality of the world,” wrote Hassan, a member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and coordinator of the Human Rights Subcommittee.

Critics were quick to note that several groups describing themselves as part of the pro-Palestinian “resistance” against Israel are designated internationally — including by the EU itself — as terrorist organizations.

The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), the main representative body of French Jews, made this point on Thursday while lambasting Hassan’s argument.

“The organizations that claim to be part of the Palestinian ‘armed resistance’ — Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, etc. — are all recognized as terrorists by the European Union,” CRIF posted on X. “Can you imagine a European MP calling for people to join Al Qaeda or Daesh [ISIS]? If Rima Hassan wanted peace and truly defended the Palestinians, she would fight Hamas instead of defending it without taking responsibility.”

Hassan, who was born in Syria to an Arab family that previously fled Israel during its war of independence in 1948, has falsely accused the Jewish state of “genocide” in Gaza. She has also reportedly accused Israel of being a “nameless monstrosity” and a “fascist colonial entity” which “lies every day,” and has described her keffiyeh as “my superhero cape.”

The EU lawmaker’s political party, the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI — “France Unbowed”), is the largest member of the New Popular Front (NFP), an anti-Israel leftist coalition of political parties that came to power in France’s snap parliamentary elections in July. The coalition gained the most seats of any political bloc but not enough for a majority. Its leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, has been lambasted by French Jews as a threat to their community as well as those who support Israel. He previously suggested that Jews killed Jesus, echoing a false claim that was used to justify antisemitic violence and discrimination throughout the Middle Ages in Europe

“It seems France has no future for Jews,” Rabbi Moshe Sebbag of Paris’ Grand Synagogue told the Times of Israel following the ascension of the NFP in July’s elections. “We fear for the future of our children.”

Shortly after the NFP’s victory, Melenchon — who in a 2017 speech referred to the French Jewish community as “an arrogant minority that lectures to the rest” — called for France to recognize a Palestinian state. Supporters of the hard-left coalition, which includes socialist and communist parties, poured into the streets of Paris waving Palestinian flags. French flags were largely absent from the celebrations.

In the wake of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Melenchon and his party issued a statement declaring the attacks “an armed offensive of Palestinian forces” as a result of continued Israeli “occupation.” Melenchon also failed to condemn a deputy who called Hamas a “resistance movement.”

Last month, CRIF released a survey of the French public that found that 55 percent of LFI supporters adhere to at least six antisemitic prejudices and that a third of LFI supporters indicated they adhere to at least nine such bigoted beliefs.

By comparison, nearly half (46 percent) of French people overall said they adhere to more than six anti-Jewish prejudices, and 52 percent of those who support the far-right Rassemblement National (RN — “National Rally”) said the same.

The survey also found that 20 percent of LFI supporters consider the departure of Jews from France desirable, compared to 15 percent of those who back RN and 12 percent of France’s general population (up from just 6 percent in 2020). The number increases among people under the age of 35, of whom a striking 17 percent think that the departure of Jews from France would be good for the country.

Similarly troubling, the results showed that 25 percent of LFI supporters have “sympathy” for Hamas, and 40 percent refuse to label the Palestinian Islamist group as a terrorist organization.

The survey noted that one in two French people now suspect their Jewish fellow citizens of “double allegiance” to Israel — a reality that CRIF president Yonathan Arfi blamed in part on LFI’s fierce anti-Israel opposition.

“LFI has given antisemitism a political endorsement,” he told Le Point. “We observe this toxic porosity between criticism of Israel and the ostracization of French Jews. The Palestinian cause becomes a license to hate.”

As for people aged 18 to 24, only 53 percent think that the majority of Jews are well integrated into the population, compared to 84 percent of French people more broadly, the survey found.

Meanwhile, almost a quarter of those surveyed think that Jews are not really French like the rest of their countrymen, an uptick of more than six points. The findings also showed that, among the French people surveyed, 64 percent believe that Jews have reason to be afraid of living in France, and 70 percent believe that the country has experienced an increase in antisemitism.

The survey results came as France has experienced a record surge of antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’s atrocities last Oct. 7, amid the ensuing war in Gaza. Antisemitic outrages rose by over 1,000 percent in the final three months of 2023 compared with the previous year, with over 1,200 incidents reported — greater than the total number of incidents in France for the previous three years combined.

This year, anti-Jewish hate crimes and demonstrations in France have continued to skyrocket.

In August, then-French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin warned that incidents targeting the country’s Jewish community spiked by about 200 percent since Jan. 1.

“Two-thirds of anti-religious acts … are against Jews,” he added, according to French broadcaster BFM TV.

Darmanin appeared to call out the hard left for fostering a hostile environment for Jews during his remarks.

“There is hateful political speech against the Jews of France and it must be denounced,” he said, according to France Info. “We can clearly see that part of the left, unfortunately, is making this speech of encouragement of hatred toward our Jewish compatriots.”

Darmanin’s comments followed him stating weeks earlier that antisemitic acts in France have tripled over the last year. In the first half of 2024, 887 such incidents were recorded, almost triple the 304 recorded in the same period last year, he said.

The now-former interior minister also called out Melenchon during his remarks, asking, “How can politicians think antisemitism is residual?”

Darmanin was referring to a blog post published in June in which Melenchon wrote that antisemitism in France was “residual” and “absent” from anti-Israel rallies. Critics argued that Melenchon was downplaying the significance of antisemitism in France.

Under pressure from Melenchon and Hassan’s LFI party, the French Foreign Ministry quietly announced in March its intention to pursue legal action against any French-Israeli soldiers implicated in alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Obłąkana krucjata, by uznać Izrael za winnego ludobójstwa

Brendan O’Neill
Tłumaczenie: Małgorzata Koraszewska

Irlandia chce zmienić definicję ludobójstwa, by można było uznać państwo żydowskie za winne takiej zbrodni.

Rzadko wstydzę się, że jestem Irlandczykiem. Ale dziś wstyd mi. Ponieważ irlandzki rząd knuje coś tak oślizgłego, że aż trudno w to uwierzyć. Twierdzi, że zaapeluje by w poronionym i z gruntu wadliwym procesie sądowym z oskarżenia przez RPA przeciw Izraelowi „rozszerzyć” definicję ludobójstwa. Martwi się, że „wąska interpretacja tego, co stanowi ludobójstwo” pozwala Izraelowi uniknąć kary. Odrzuć prawniczy żargon, przekłuj rozdmuchane wyobrażenia dublińskiej elity o sobie jako o dzielnym zbawcy Palestyny, a mamy tu rząd wzywający do zmiany prawa wojennego, aby jedyny na świecie naród żydowski mógł w końcu dostać za swoje.

To Micheál Martin, wicepremier Irlandii, przedstawił podstęp, dzięki któremu da się wrobić Izrael przez zdefiniowanie na nowo słowa „ludobójstwo”. Irlandia, jak powiedział, złoży interwencję w Międzynarodowym Trybunale Sprawiedliwości w Hadze pod koniec tego miesiąca, aby wzmocnić „sprawę RPA przeciwko Izraelowi na mocy Konwencji o ludobójstwie”. Poprosimy, jak powiedział, aby MTS „rozszerzył swoją interpretację tego, co stanowi popełnienie ludobójstwa”. Narzekał, że obecnie dominuje „bardzo wąska interpretacja”, która w praktyce przyznaje „immunitet” morderczym państwom, takim jak Izrael. Krótsza wersja: Nie możesz udowodnić, że Izrael popełnia ludobójstwo? Nie ma problemu, po prostu zmień znaczenie słowa ludobójstwo!

Bezczelność irlandzkiego wtrącania się i jej cynizm, są zdumiewające. Zgodnie z Konwencją o ludobójstwie, ludobójstwo jest definiowane jako akty masowego zabijania lub niszczenia, które są dokonywane z „zamiarem zniszczenia, w całości lub w części, grupy narodowej, etnicznej, rasowej lub religijnej”. Powodem, dla którego sprawa RPA przeciwko Izraelowi przeciąga się, jest brak dowodów na „zamiar ludobójczy” ze strony Izraela. Jedyne, co Izrael „zamierza” zniszczyć, to Hamas – nie „grupa etniczna”, ale armia antysemitów, która zgwałciła i zamordowała ponad tysiąc Żydów 7 października i która pragnie gwałcić i mordować ich więcej. Ci z nas, którzy nie dali się nabrać na obrzydliwą izraelofobię, wiedzą to – że „zamiarem” Izraela jest pokonanie wroga, a nie wymazanie narodu.

Zamiar jest kluczowy dla zbrodni ludobójstwa. Jak przypomina nam Chatham House, nawet „szczególnie krwawa wojna, w której popełnianych jest wiele zbrodni wojennych i ginie wielu cywilów”, nie jest równoznaczna z „zbrodnią ludobójstwa, jeśli nie ma zamiaru ludobójstwa”. Jest to oczywiste dla wszystkich, z wyjątkiem najbardziej zaciekłych izraelofobów, tych ludzi, którzy spędzają każdą minutę swojego życia, wyjąc: „Ludobójstwo!” Wojna w Wietnamie, wojny w Kongo w latach 90., wojna domowa w Syrii – były to wojny, w których zginęły setki tysięcy ludzi, których okrucieństwa przyćmiewają te z Gazy, których zbrodnie są niemal niewyobrażalne. Ale nie były to ludobójstwa, ponieważ żadna ze stron nie miała zamiaru zniszczenia narodu. Ludobójstwo nie jest wojną – jest ludobójstwem.

Wygląda na to, że Irlandia szuka sposobu na obejście tej definicji, na obejście irytującego uporu ludzkości w utrzymywaniu moralnego rozróżnienia między tragedią wojny a zbrodnią ludobójstwa. „Pogląd Irlandii” na ludobójstwo jest „szerszy” niż MTS, deklaruje Micheál Martin z niesłychaną pompatycznością. Nasza definicja ludobójstwa, mówi, obejmuje „priorytetowe traktowanie ochrony życia cywilnego”. Jego pełne pychy paplanie jest nie tylko władcze i zwodnicze – jest również niejasne. Powiedziałbym, że celowo. Mówienie o „ludobójstwie” w tym samym zdaniu, co o zagrożeniach dla „życia cywilnego” rozwadnia nieszczęście ludobójstwa do niewybaczalnego stopnia. Czy każdy, kto zagraża „życiu cywilnemu”, jest ludobójcą? Strzelający w szkole? Wariat z nożem? To absurdalne. I niebezpieczne.

Wygląda na to, że Irlandia chce „wyzwolić” MTS od jego osobliwego przywiązania do moralnie uzasadnionego przekonania, że ludobójstwo wymaga ludobójczego zamiaru. I nie jest w tym osamotniona. W zeszłym tygodniu Amnesty International „doszła do wniosku”, niczym sąd kapturowy złożony z najbardziej zarozumiałych ludzi, jakich można sobie wyobrazić, że „Izrael popełnia ludobójstwo”. A w raporcie, w którym wysunięto to oskarżenie – oskarżenie, którego nigdy nie wysunięto przeciwko Arabii Saudyjskiej w związku z Jemenem, Ameryce w związku z Irakiem ani Turcji w związku z Kurdystanem –jęczała, że zbyt często występuje „nadmiernie ograniczona interpretacja” zbrodni ludobójstwa. Takie wąskie interpretacje mogą „skutecznie uniemożliwić stwierdzenie ludobójstwa w kontekście konfliktu zbrojnego”, stwierdziła.

Rzeczywiście pragną uznania Izraela za winnego ludobójstwa, prawda? Nawet jeśli oznacza to całkowitą redefinicję ludobójstwa. Nawet jeśli oznacza wyrzucenie dziesięcioleci prawoznawstwa o tej najcięższej zbrodni. Nawet jeśli oznacza to poświęcenie samej prawdy. Żadna cena nie jest zbyt wysoka, jak się wydaje, w gorliwej krucjacie, aby wytknąć palcem naród żydowski jako naród najbardziej ludobójczy. Obłąkana nienawiścią przedstawicielka ONZ, Francesca Albanese, mówi, że Izrael jest winny „domobójstwa, miastobójstwa, edukacjobójstwa, medykobójstwa, kulturobójstwa i… ekobójstwa”. To religijny bełkot, którego celem nie jest udowodnienie żadnej sprawy przeciwko Izraelowi, ale po prostu oczernienie go przyrostkiem „bójstwo”, aby ludzie mogli pomyśleć: „Oj, to jak nazistowskie Niemcy”. Albanese mówi, że czasami zbrodnia ludobójstwa może dotyczyć „w ogóle nie zabijania”. Ja mówię: ci ludzie są szaleni.

Zdefiniowanie ludobójstwa na nowo, ponieważ chcesz zobaczyć Izraelczyków w więzieniu, jest bardzo poważną sprawą. Potencjalnie doprowadzi to do uznania Izraelczyków winnymi przestępstwa, którego nie popełnili. Osłabienie wymogu ludobójczego zamiaru w wojnie Izraela z Hamasem pociągnęłoby za sobą oskarżenie Izraelczyków o ludobójstwo, podczas gdy wszystko, co zrobili, to walka. Co gorsza, stosowanie luźniejszej definicji ludobójstwa do działań Izraela niż ta, którą zastosowano, powiedzmy, do niedawnych wojen w Sudanie lub rzezi w Syrii pod rządami Assada, jest żywą, dyszącą definicją stronniczości. Osądzanie Izraela nie tylko według innych standardów moralnych, ale także według innych standardów prawnych jest, moim zdaniem, nieskażoną bigoterią. Ludzie będą wściekli, jeśli nazwiesz to antysemityzmem, ale czy mogą podać inne wytłumaczenie tego przekręcania konwencji i zmiany zasad, aby naród żydowski mógł zostać uznany za winnego zbrodni, która kiedyś została haniebnie popełniona na samych Żydach? Zamieniam się w słuch.

Powróćmy do Irlandii. Co napędza tę dziwną wrogość irlandzkich elit do Izraela? Dlaczego dublińscy liberałowie i lewicowcy wściekają się na państwo żydowskie jeszcze głośniej i bardziej absurdalnie niż inni gęgacze w Europie? Wydaje mi się, że po przejściu z religii katolickiej na religię „przebudzonych”, Irlandia rzeczywiście jest podatna na urok izraelofobii. Obie te religie mają bowiem problemy z Żydami. Pierwsza miała tendencję do postrzegania ich jako zabójców Chrystusa, druga przedstawia ich jako zabójców Palestyny. Pierwsza bała się rozlewu krwi chrześcijańskiej, druga ma obsesję na punkcie „upuszczania” krwi palestyńskiej. Irlandia powinna zostawić Izrael w spokoju, by mógł pokonać antysemitów, którzy chcą go zniszczyć, spojrzeć w lustro i osądzić sama siebie.

Brendan O’Neill – brytyjski dziennikarz, główny komentator polityczny magazynu „Spiked”, autor głośnej książki A Heretic’s Manifesto: Essays on the Unsayable.

Don’t expect any humor about antisemitic ‘genocide’ smears

Jonathan S. Tobin

A close-up of the neon sign for the Stand Up NY Comedy Club on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, May 8, 2013. Photo by Oliver Morris/Getty Images.

Give the organizers of a proposed “Don’t Hate. Debate.” at a New York City comedy club credit for good intentions. When comedy entrepreneur Dani Zoldan, the owner of Stand Up NY, and marketing executive Robin Lemberg sought to invite performers who were supporters of both Israel and the Palestinians to be part of an evening of “Comics for Conversation,” they discovered something that should have already been obvious.

Whether they are comedians or anyone else, those who identify as “pro-Palestinian” are not any more interested in dialogue about the situation than the Hamas terrorists who started the current conflict with their attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Rather than convening a gathering that would allow those on both sides of the divide to hear each other out and perhaps even share a few laughs at the expense of their own cause, the organizers were forced to confront a stark fact about the conflict. Jews like Zoldan who organized a “Comics for Kamala” group during the presidential election may be willing to listen to opposing views in an effort to find common ground and perhaps even a path towards compromise and peace. But those who hate Israel and who have spent the last 14 months since the Oct. 7 massacres spreading lies about the war that aren’t so different from traditional antisemitic blood libels view such opportunities differently. They are incapable of viewing the conflict as anything but a zero-sum game in which supporters of Israel are malevolent individuals to be shunned and denounced as backers of “genocide.”

An unbridgeable gap

The response from the comedians who were invited and others who publicly sided with them was as discouraging as it was emphatic. As the New York Post reported, 21 comedians were invited to join the conversation from the Palestinian side, and all refused. As a result, the show has been canceled.

Palestinian comedian Eman El-Husseini responded by saying, “Thanks for reaching out, but I cannot share the stage with zionazzzis while my people and Arabs in the region are being decimated and genocided so Israelis can have beach houses in more land that’s not theirs.”

Libyan comedian Mohanad Elshieky said in an Instagram post that the event was “a “little debate about why m*rdering children is wrong.”

Others on the left who were invited to attend as audience members were similarly uninterested in being part of anything that might normalize discussions with supporters of Israel.

New Yorker magazine food critic Helen Rosner, who describes herself on her Instagram profile page as “Just another Jew who wants to free Palestine,” poured scorn on the organizers of the event in a thread on the left-wing social media site Bluesky. “Some comedy club in NYC is apparently putting on a “both sides” night about Israel’s annihilation of Gaza,” Rosner wrote. She went on to proclaim that though the invitation expressed the hope that, “My presence would “add to our efforts in building a more inclusive community” … I have zero interest in building an inclusive community that’s inclusive of people whose position is “mass slaughter and dispossession is fine actually.”

The positions expressed by this trio sound extreme, but they are very much in sync with the sort of things said and/or chanted at pro-Hamas rallies on college campuses and in the streets of cities like New York. Moreover, they are a direct reflection of the ideology that drives opponents of Israel. As their comments indicate, the “pro-Palestine” cause is not about seeking a Palestinian Arab state living in peace alongside Israel. It is one that opposes the existence of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders are drawn, because it doesn’t recognize the right of Jews to any part of their ancient homeland.

While Palestinian groups like Hamas openly proclaim their desire to carry out the genocide of the Jews, something that was made clear by the atrocities terrorists undertook on Oct. 7: The “Free Palestine” crowd smears the Israelis for carrying out a fictional genocide. And they view Zionism—the national liberation movement of the Jewish people—as akin to Nazism, which like their genocide claims is a classic inversion of the truth and textbook definition of antisemitism.

What Palestinians want

It’s easy to dismiss this story as a minor kerfuffle about a misguided effort to inject comedy into the debate about the Middle East. But it should be seen as providing more insight into the gap between the two sides than perhaps many liberal Jews who are still seeking dialogue have been willing to admit. The failure of this initiative speaks volumes about how toxic leftist ideas like critical race theory, settler-colonial theory and intersectionality have made dialogue or efforts to promote compromise solutions on a whole range of topics—of which Israel is just one—impossible. It also shows how the pervasive influence of this destructive intellectual fashion is more or less killing comedy.

If the debate about the Middle East were really, as liberals have long insisted, about the imperative for Israel to trade “land for peace” or its need to avoid building homes in Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria, then dialogue intended to build trust on both sides would be not only possible but necessary. But as decades of Palestinian rejection of every compromise offered to them have shown, if that would mean recognition of the legitimacy of a Jewish state in the Middle East, that is a price they are not willing to pay. Meaning, the conflict is not about borders or settlements.

The Palestinian Arabs and their supporters abroad who have rallied to their cause since Oct. 7 have made no secret of the fact that what they desire is turning back the clock to 1948 or 1917 and the elimination of Israel. Being so quick to manufacture lies about Israeli actions and intentions is not just a manifestation of Jew-hatred, though that’s part of it. Those who buy into the myth that Israel is a manifestation of a “settler-colonial” imperialism are drawn inevitably to the conclusion that there is nothing at all to talk about with Israelis or their supporters.

The anti-Israel movement’s adoption of this frame of reference is reflected in more than just the intolerant invective employed in the social-media ravings of those comics and others who believe that even a debate with Zionists would compromise their moral standing as progressives. Much like the best-selling book by anti-Zionist author Ta-Nehisi Coates, their accusations hurled against Israel are not merely divorced from the facts of what has actually happened in Gaza; they ignore the genocidal goals of the Palestinians, their embrace of terrorism and their unwillingness to compromise.

Such sentiments have, due to the progressives’ adoption of woke ideologies that falsely label Jews and Israelis as “white oppressors,” migrated from the ivory towers of academia to the political grassroots. This was made apparent as first President Joe Biden and then Vice President Kamala Harris spent the 2024 presidential campaign trying to placate their party’s left-wing base, which has grown increasingly intolerant of any stand on the Middle East that isn’t resolutely opposed to Israel.

Woke is killing comedy

The impact of these toxic ideas is not limited to politics. It is also a major reason why comedy—or at least the sector of it that is pitched to appeal to the half of the country that didn’t vote for Donald Trump—is dying.

For years, comedians have decried the stultifying impact that a spirit of political correctness has had on their craft. As anyone who has watched the political skits that appear on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” or the monologues of the late-night comedy shows that don’t appear on Fox News, liberals can only accept humor that pokes fun at their political foes or those who hold different views about religion and culture. Edgy humor that doesn’t respect the shibboleths of woke sensibilities about certain protected minorities is no longer tolerated. Groundbreaking comedians of the past, like Lenny Bruce, had to navigate the intolerance of established society and the conservative values of the 1950s and early 1960s. Today, someone like him doesn’t have to worry about being arrested for offending decency codes. But they would surely be canceled by the left that dominates popular culture.

The result of this cultural trend is that much of what is now considered comedy is humorless virtue-signaling, essentially a nod to audiences’ shared contempt for those outside of their group.

Until mainstream culture shakes itself free of this leftist orthodoxy, efforts to arrange such joint events will always fail. Conversations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian comics, as well as their audiences, are impossible in a cultural context where progressives in America have declared that we are all locked in an endless race war between oppressors and victims.

Under these circumstances, pursuing dialogue across the unbridgeable gap between those who want to destroy Israel and those who work to support it is a fool’s errand. And that’s no joke.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

While Houthi missile inbound, IAF jets flew to strike Yemen

SHIR PERETS, YONAH JEREMY BOB, AMICHAI STEIN

Smoke rises from a fire following an Israeli air strike in Hodeidah, Yemen in this handout photo released on July 20, 2024. / (photo credit: HOUTHI MEDIA CENTRE/Handout via REUTERS)

Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jets struck Houthi terror targets in the capital of Sana’a in Yemen during the early hours of Thursday morning, as 14 aircraft were already in the air as Yemen fired a ballistic missile towards Israel, the military announced.

The IDF added that the targets Israel struck were used by the Houthis for military purposes, which included smuggling Iranian weapons into the country. The IDF also confirmed that ports and energy infrastructure in Sana’a were hit during the strikes.

A source close to the matter told The Jerusalem Post that Israel gave the US notice prior to the strike in Yemen and that the purpose of the strike was to disable all three Houthi ports in Yemen.

The IDF cited that the US has also attacked Yemen recently, but that given ongoing attacks from the Houthis, “We decided to counter-attack.”

According to the IDF, the Houthis have fired over 200 ballistic missiles and over 170 drones at Israel, with most being shot down by the US or Israel but 22 having penetrated into Israel.

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In July, one Israeli was killed in Tel Aviv by a Houthi drone from Yemen.

The IDF decided to attack before the Wednesday overnight attack, and in fact, the 14 aircraft that attacked Yemen were already on their way for the 1,800-kilometer flight to Yemen at the time that the ballistic missile came close to Israel’s territory.

The aircraft appears to have left Israel around 1:00 a.m.

The IDF was unclear on whether the Houthis detected the attack but said there was no clear evidence that this had occurred.

At 3:15 a.m., the first wave of the air force’s attack hit the Yemen coastal area.

At 4:30 a.m., the second wave of the air force’s attack hit the Houthi capital of Sana.

All 14 aircraft returned safely.

The IDF said it had attacked dozens of targets in five main areas.

There were attacks in Hodeidah, Ras Isa, other coast areas, and many smaller ports, such as Al-Salif. Each target area had dozens of targets, especially Sana’a, regarding Houthi electricity and oil.

In addition, eight special large ships were attacked.

Destroying those ships could shut down those ports because these ships can block certain areas and also are often required to pull in other ships to port.

The IDF said that it could take time for the Houthis to find replacements for such unique ships.

Further, the IDF said all the areas attacked helped the Houthis fund their war items and weapons.

The strikes on the terror group were carried out with the direction of the Intelligence Directorate and the Israeli Navy, the IDF said.

Notably, it added that the airstrikes began shortly after the Houthis fired a projectile from Yemen toward central Israel during the early hours of Thursday morning. The projectile was then intercepted by the IAF.

The airstrikes in Yemen reportedly killed nine, Houthi-controlled Al Masirah TV said.

Seven were killed in a strike on the port of Salif and the rest in two strikes on the Ras Issa oil facility, said Al Masirah, both located in the western province of Hodeidah.

The strikes also targeted two central power stations south and north of the capital, Sana’a, it added.

Katz threatens whoever plans on harming Israel 

Katz later reiterated his commitment to operating against all threats posed to the citizens of Israel.

“Last night, we struck the Houthis in Yemen,” the defense minister said.

“I warn the leaders of the Houthi terrorist organization: Israel’s long arm will reach you as well. Those who raise a hand against the State of Israel will have their hand severed, and those who harm us will be struck sevenfold.” 

“We will strike with force and will not allow attacks or threats against the State of Israel.”

Reuters contributed to this report.