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Expert on Oct. 7 Terrorist Attack Notes the One Positive Outcome of the Hamas Massacre
Some of the thousands of people who gathered in New York City’s Central Park on Oct. 6, 2024, to mark the one year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack and to demand the return of the hostages. Photo: Hostages and Families Forum.
Warning: The following news story contains some details of the atrocities committed during Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel that readers may find upsetting.
An author, journalist, and former Israeli government spokesperson who extensively investigated the deadly Hamas terrorist attack that took place on Oct. 7 of last year told The Algemeiner that he believes the only “positive” outcome of the massacre across southern Israel is that it made Jews worldwide and the nation of Israel more united.
“I’m not sure if people who don’t live in Israel realize how divided the people of Israel were before Oct. 7,” said Alon Penzel, referring to a time when mass anti-government protests were rampant across Israel for several months. “It felt like we were unable to live together having very different ideological thoughts … And right after Oct. 7, and since Oct. 7, there are no people in the world who are more united than the Jewish and Israeli people.”
“I don’t think there has been any other nation in history that has come together so much to volunteer and help its brothers and sisters,” he added. “And for me, I see [Hamas] have not managed to eliminate and exterminate the Jewish spirit, as they tried to do on Oct. 7 … We are overcoming. We are prevailing … It was a national tragedy, but for each and every one of us — either an Israeli citizen or a Jewish person around the world — it felt like an individual tragedy; a personal tragedy. These faces have become our brothers and sisters.”
The grandson of a Holocaust survivor, Penzel formerly served as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson for the foreign press in the Unit for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). His friend, schoolmate and Kiryat Bialik neighbor Matan Angrest, was abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on Oct. 7 and is one of the 101 hostages still held captive in the Gaza Strip a year later.
In June, Penzel published the book “Testimonies Without Boundaries: Israel: October 7th 2023,” which is an uncensored, unfiltered, and verified collection of first-hand testimonies regarding the atrocities that happened last Oct. 7. Penzel spoke to survivors of the attack – including children and elderly, and women and men who faced sexual abuse – volunteers of the Israeli emergency response organization ZAKA, the head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, survivors of the Nova music festival, and many others. The book is dedicated to the victims of Oct. 7 and calls for the immediate release of the remaining hostages taken captive that day.
Among the graphic and difficult-to-read testimonies included in the book, rescue and recovery forces talked to Penzel about finding a completely naked couple tied to a mattress with a metal wire that was inserted into their stomachs. Penzel also documented accounts about children who were murdered using knives and hammers, and civilians who were crucified. “I had to ask difficult, sometimes insensitive questions to get to the bottom of what happened,” Penzel told The Algemeiner. “The conversations might have been challenging, and those interactions are described very genuinely in the book.”
The 50-60 testimonies in the book have all been completely verified by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, as well as women’s organizations that were assigned on behalf of Israel to investigate sexual abuse that took place on Oct. 7. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also distributed the book worldwide to embassies and world leaders.
Penzel told The Algemeiner that the main purpose of his book is to commemorate the testimonies, the families of the victims, the heroes and the survivors of Oct. 7. “These testimonies need to be out, as challenging as they are, and the book is challenging to read, there is no question,” he said. “But if we say ‘this is too hard for us [to read],’ what would those who went through the atrocities say?”
“This is our duty, for the families of the victims and the victims themselves, to make sure that what happened to them is not forgotten and denied,” he added. “I felt the duty to commemorate the atrocities that occurred.”
The author also included only raw, unedited testimonies in his book because he anticipated global denial about the Hamas terrorist attack. “It’s exactly what we experienced with the Holocaust — a worldwide denial,” he said. “And I believe the only way to combat it is with the uncensored, unfiltered testimonies.”
“The purpose from the very beginning was to fight the worldwide denial that I foresaw that we would face very quickly, and unfortunately we are,” he noted. “If people are trying to contradict and refute what we are saying about the atrocities that occurred to us, what’s going to happen 50 years from now if we don’t have all the testimonies, and proofs, and evidence, and the very clear elaborate and specific details of what happened? How are we going to be able to commemorate those brothers and sisters of ours? I think the families of the victims also want the world to know for generations to come what happened to their loved ones.”
Reflecting one year later on the atrocities that took place on Oct. 7, 2023, Penzel said that while Hamas-led terrorists carried out the deadliest attack against the Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust, they were not able to break the Jewish spirit.
“I feel that although [the terrorists] did manage to infiltrate Israel and murder us and take many of us hostage, the fact that we are prevailing with our spirit is what matters,” he said. “The fact that we able to commemorate our loved ones means that we are prevailing and that we are trying to overcome, while remembering our brothers and sisters who were butchered and slaughtered on Oct. 7.”
Penzel also noted that the terrorist attack on Oct. 7 helped Israeli citizens understand “that unity is more important than any political disagreement.”
“It’s proven. We have come together. We have assisted each other,” he said. “People from all around the world; Jews from all around the world have come to Israel to volunteer. Israelis are volunteering, helping each other, no matter from where they are on the political map, no matter where they have come from ideologically.”
“Obviously I wish [Oct. 7] never happened, but it gave us a wake up call of how important unity is among the people of Israel.”
The post Expert on Oct. 7 Terrorist Attack Notes the One Positive Outcome of the Hamas Massacre first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jewish students in Toronto challenge anti-Israel hostilities while marking Oct. 7 anniversary
Hope Schrier was initially scared to go to her downtown Toronto campus on Oct. 7, 2024. But she ultimately decided this would be a day to show her strength—if just […]
The post Jewish students in Toronto challenge anti-Israel hostilities while marking Oct. 7 anniversary appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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A Note From the Editor: The Oct. 7 Massacre, One Year Later
Pro-Israel rally in Times Square, New York City, US, Oct. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
Dear readers,
It is highly unusual for The Algemeiner to post an editor’s note. But we felt the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel required special acknowledgment — and reflection.
You are no doubt familiar with the brutal and unimaginable details: 1,200 murdered, thousands more wounded, and 251 hostages kidnapped in the largest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. Perhaps even more shocking than the brutality itself was the sheer glee and brutality with which the terrorists perpetrated mass murder, sexual violence, and other acts of hate too horrible to relive here.
The Hamas-led pogrom had echoes of past persecution that resonated with Jews to their core.
And then there’s what happened afterward. Not just the Gaza war, which has brought an infuriating amount of international pressure on the world’s lone Jewish state to stop defending itself and remain a victim-in-waiting to genocidal terrorists. Perhaps more striking has been the global surge in antisemitism, with Jews around the world being harassed, intimidated, and even assaulted simply for being Jewish.
Those who don’t think the fate of the Jewish state and the Jewish people are intertwined should answer a few simple questions. Why was a Jewish woman beaten and raped in a suburb of Paris as “vengeance for Palestine”? Why are synagogues and Jewish restaurants being defaced with messages of “Free Gaza”? Why do Jewish students at universities across the US and beyond face physical assault, threats, and harassment?
If it was not obvious before, it should be now: anti-Israel animus and antisemitic hate are often one and the same. The former has fueled a historic surge in hate crimes against Jews over the past year.
It has been a difficult last 12 months, full of pain, anguish, and fear. But the past year has also revealed remarkable strength, courage, and resilience. New Jewish and Israeli heroes have emerged, and despite what other media outlets may lead you to believe, I have largely observed unity and solidarity among the Jewish people and their allies, not division.
One year later, Hamas is decimated, Hezbollah is — against all odds — being dismantled as I type this, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the regime in Iran is about to suffer a major blow. There is a real sense that the tide is turning. Even the campus protests are dying down, being kept alive now by a small band of unsuccessful radicals rather than the masses of “activists” who filled the encampments last spring semester.
Here it is worth noting that the anniversary of Oct. 7 is taking place right after Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, a time to think about the year that just happened and the one to come.
As we enter the year 5785, Israel’s deterrence has been restored, and there is a real sense that the Jewish state is achieving a victory. Arab states afraid to expand the Abraham Accords in this current political moment may see an opening to pursue normalization once the fighting slows.
In short, I believe we are transitioning from a time of tragedy to one of optimism.
Of course, we must never forget the 101 hostages still in Gaza and continue pushing for their release. It is unimaginable that they have suffered in captivity for 365 days. The soul of the Jewish world cannot heal until they are home.
And we must remain vigilant as antisemitic outrages continue to spike in the US, Europe, South America, and beyond. Not to mention anything could happen in the Middle East, such as another major Iranian-led attack on Israel, to change the regional equation.
But if the last year has been one of agony, the next year could be one of promise and opportunity.
We can all play a part to make this happen, even armed with nothing but a laptop. Indeed, The Algemeiner is more committed than ever to covering the stories that you care about and impact both the Jewish people and the world at large.
The meaning of “Algemeiner” is “universal.” The main reason for this publication’s name is to reference our mission of reaching as many people around the world — both Jewish and non-Jewish — with our journalistic work as possible. But another reason, I think, is that Jewish values are Western values that, when put into practice, make the world a better place. However, when they are spurned, everyone loses. As the journalist Vasily Grossman observed in his book Life and Fate, “Tell me what you accuse the Jews of — I’ll tell you what you’re guilty of.”
Reflecting on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, I could not help but think of a quote by the great American writer Mark Twain. In an 1899 essay titled “Concerning the Jews,” Twain noted that, despite comprising such a small percentage of the global population, the Jewish people somehow not only overcame great empires seeking to destroy them but also thrived in fields as wide-ranging as art, music, literature, finance, and science.
Marveling at the ability of Jews to survive and prosper against all odds without exhibiting “decadence” or “infirmities of age” despite their ancient heritage, Twain concluded, “All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
And with that, let us always remember the atrocities of Oct. 7 and also look forward to a new year in which both the Jewish people and the Jewish state will not only survive but thrive.
Sincerely,
Aaron Kliegman, managing editor
The post A Note From the Editor: The Oct. 7 Massacre, One Year Later first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Treasury Department Targets International Charities, Individuals Fundraising for Hamas
Palestinian supporters protesting outside a Scotland vs. Israel match at the a UEFA Women’s European Qualifiers at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland on May 31, 2024. Photo: Alex Todd/Sportpix/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has identified three individuals and one charity as having significant financial ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
In a statement released on Monday, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, OFAC announced new sanctions against the entities spotlighted by its investigation and noted they play integral roles in funding Hamas’s terrorism ventures under the guise of “charitable work.” The department said that the investigation was part of its efforts to surface abuses by self-described “charity organizations” really working to financially support terrorist groups.
“As we mark one year since Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, Treasury will continue relentlessly degrading the ability of Hamas and other destabilizing Iranian proxies to finance their operations and carry out additional violent acts,” US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said in a statement. “The Treasury Department will use all available tools at our disposal to hold Hamas and its enablers accountable, including those who seek to exploit the situation to secure additional sources of revenue.”
“Treasury is committed to exposing terrorists and terrorist organizations that abuse the NPO sector. By publicly identifying a sham charity, this action reduces the overall risk of the NPO sector and helps preserve access by legitimate humanitarian organizations to financial services,” OFAC added in a statement.
The Treasury Department identified Hamid Abdullah Hussein al Ahmar (al Ahmar), a Yemeni national living in Turkey, as an influential and prolific financier of Hamas. According the US government announcement, al Ahmar has served as the chairman of the Al-Quds International Foundation, a charity organization controlled by Hamas. In addition, OFAC identified nine entities controlled by Ahmar — Al Ahmar Trading Group, Al Ahmar Oils Supply and Distribution, Sama International Media, Al Salam Trading and Agencies General Establishment, Saba, Trade & Investment S.R.O, Sabafon International SAL, Sabaturk Dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Vivid Enerji Yatirimlari Anonim Sirketi, Investrade Portfoy Yonetimi Anonim Sirketi — as potentially having ties to Hamas’s operations.
The agency also flagged a cohort of Hamas funders based in European countries. Italy-based Hamas member Mohammad Hannoun runs the “Charity Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” according to OFAC, which said the so-called “charity” actually operates as a fundraising effort for Hamas’s military wing. Hannoun has been designated by OFAC for “having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, Hamas.”
Germany-based Hamas member Majed al-Zeer helps spearhead the terrorist group’s European fundraising initiatives, OFAC claimed, adding that he has “appeared publicly with other senior Hamas members in order to generate funding and other support for Hamas.”
Adel Doughman leads Hamas’s Austrian activities and is “one of the most prominent Hamas representatives in Europe,” according to OFAC. Doughman has also maintained high-ranking positions in Europe-based organizations that have allegedly funneled money to the terrorist group.
Both Al-Zeer and Doughman “are being designated for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Hamas,” OFAC wrote.
OFAC also highlighted Hamas’s use of “unlicenced” financial institutions such as Al-Intaj Bank to help facilitate their activities. The Hamas government in Gaza granted the alleged terrorist-supporting bank a “permit” to operate in the Palestinian enclave. The bank “provides financial services for Hamas despite not being connected to international banks,” OFAC said.
OFAC levied sanctions on the implicated actors, banning their organizations and transactions from operating in the United States and mandating their reporting to the agency.
“As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above, and of any entities that are owned directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,” the agency wrote.
In the year following Hamas’s Oct. 7 slaughter of 1,200 individuals in southern Israel, US federal agencies have identified a flood of terrorist-tied fundraising and information efforts on American soil. In July, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warned that “actors tied to Iran’s government” have encouraged and provided financial support to rampant protests opposing Israel’s war against Hamas.
Iran has for years provided Hamas with weapons, funding, and training.
The post US Treasury Department Targets International Charities, Individuals Fundraising for Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.