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Leading Anti-Israel Group Slammed for Mentioning Dead Israelis in Oct. 7 Statement
Anti-Israel protesters take part in a demonstration hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America, IfNotNow Movement, and Jewish Voice for Peace that turned violent in Washington, DC, Nov. 15, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
Anti-Israel activists are slamming a prominent anti-Israel group for mentioning the death of Israelis in a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
In a lengthy statement which condemned Israel for causing “genocide, death, and destruction” in Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) also mourned “every life taken in the past year — Palestinian, Israeli, Lebanese.” The group also said that “our commitment to Palestinian liberation is grounded in our belief that every human must have the right to live in safety and freedom.”
JVP, a so-called “anti-Zionist Jewish advocacy organization,” was emphatically condemned by pro-Palestinian activists for showing sympathy to the Israeli people in its official statement. Some of these commenters on social media directly compared Israeli Jews to Nazis — an antisemitic trope known as Holocaust inversion.
“‘Every German life taken during the Auschwitz Uprising was valuable and a loss’” one commenter sarcastically posted on X/Twitter.
“You are the Jewish voice for fascism not for peace. caring for the Nazis makes you a Nazi,” another commenter wrote on the social media platform.
“This is a poorly crafted statement, perhaps not with [malice] but all the same,” an X user said.
“We really should really only be centering Palestinians here and not Israelis! This lessens the impact of any activism, and while I don’t think this is an intentional misstep or attempt at counterinsurgency we still have to take responsibility for our own habits!” another commenter posted.
“Your leadership is going to be hauled in front of a military tribunal when all your fellow Zionists are made to answer for their crimes,” one individual wrote.
JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The organization;s explicit anti-Zionist stance places it among an extreme fringe within the Jewish community.
The group argued in a recently resurfaced 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing””to Palestinians.
JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel while expressing praise for terrorists such as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. JVP has also argued that the Israeli state should be dissolved, asserting that its existence actually makes Jews less safe.
Critics of the organization often point out that many JVP chapters do not possess a single person of Jewish faith. The organization does not require a Jewish person to found a chapter and has even helped orchestrate anti-Israel demonstrations in front of synagogues.
The post Leading Anti-Israel Group Slammed for Mentioning Dead Israelis in Oct. 7 Statement first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Harris Says Won’t Give Up Pushing for End to Israel-Gaza War
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks before participating in a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House in Washington, U.S., May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday repeated her call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza and said it was important to seize the opportunity provided by the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack.
Harris acknowledged challenges ahead but told reporters she would continue to push for an end to the conflict.
“This creates an opening that I believe we must take full advantage of – to dedicate ourselves to ending this war and bringing the hostages home,” she said.
“As it relates to the issues in the Middle East and in particular in that region, it has never been easy. But that doesn’t mean we give up. It’s always going to be difficult. We can’t give up.”
Harris dodged a question on whether Arab American and Muslim anger over US support for Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza and more recently in Lebanon could cost her the election in the battleground state of Michigan, but said she would continue speaking out about the tragic loss of innocent lives.
“I speak publicly all the time about the fact that there are so many tragic stories coming from Gaza,” Harris said, also referencing the initial Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“What’s critically important as we look at this moment, is … acknowledging the tragedy of what has happened in Gaza, in terms of the extraordinary number of innocent Palestinians that have been killed, and taking that seriously and speaking truth about that,” she said.
Harris and Trump are essentially tied in the most competitive states like Michigan, with just 17 days until the Nov. 5 election.
Harris will need strong results in the majority non-white cities of Detroit and Atlanta and their surrounding suburbs – both of which have large Arab American and Muslim populations – to repeat US President Joe Biden’s 2020 wins in Michigan and Georgia. Trump won Michigan by 11,000 votes in 2016. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by 155,000 votes.
Harris on Friday won the endorsements of 50 prominent Lebanese-Americans, who said the US had been “unrelenting” in its support for Lebanon under the Biden administration and that they expect additional backing if Harris wins in November.
The endorsement came amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon that have killed at least 2,350 people over the last year, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with more than 1.2 million people displaced. Hezbollah attacks have killed 50 Israeli soldiers and civilians, according to Israel.
The post Harris Says Won’t Give Up Pushing for End to Israel-Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu: ‘The Agents of Iran Who Tried to Assassinate Me and My Wife Today Made a Grave Mistake’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Feb. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – The private residence of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, came under attack early on Saturday from Hezbollah drone, a brief statement from the leader’s office stated:
The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake. This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future. I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil: Anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price. We will continue to eliminate the terrorists and those who dispatch them. We will bring our hostages home from Gaza. And we will return our citizens who live on our Northern border safely to their homes. Israel is determined to achieve all our war objectives and change the security reality in our region for generations to come. Together, we will fight, and with God’s help – together, we will win.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara were not at the residence at the time of the attack, and no one was hurt, the statement added. The extent of damage caused was not clear.
The post Netanyahu: ‘The Agents of Iran Who Tried to Assassinate Me and My Wife Today Made a Grave Mistake’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran FM Meets with Hamas Delegation Headed by Muhammad Darwish
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Photo: Reuters/Raheb Homavandi.
i24 News – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday met with a Hamas delegation in İstanbul, followed by a meeting with his Turkish counterpart.
The Hamas delegation was headed by Muhammad Ismail Darwish, the Head of Hamas Shura Council and included members of the jihadist group’s politburo. A well-placed source told i24NEWS Darwish was the strongest man in Hamas following the assassination of the group’s leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.
The post Iran FM Meets with Hamas Delegation Headed by Muhammad Darwish first appeared on Algemeiner.com.