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A Doctor Spewed Vile and Defamatory Claims That Israel Intentionally Kills Children; CBS and CNN Aired Them
A boy holds a placard as Palestinian Hamas supporters attend a rally against visits by Israelis to the Al-Aqsa mosque, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, May 26, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Alongside the war in Gaza, Hamas is also waging a propaganda campaign to demonize Israel and Jews in the international arena.
That campaign aims to project Hamas’ genocidal identity and image onto its intended victims: Israel and the Jewish people. The campaign is being executed with the engagement of bad actors and willing dupes from outside Gaza.
The Medical Profession’s Bad Actors
Some of the most dangerous actors engaged in Hamas’ cynical propaganda campaign come from the ranks of medical professionals who have entered the Gaza war zone to care for the injured and sick. No doubt, some are motivated by humanitarian concerns and are disturbed by the medical emergencies, tragedies, and devastation that they witness. They report on the injuries, deaths, and difficulties in delivering medical care in a war zone, but do not go beyond that.
At the same time, however, there are too many bad actors who are motivated by anti-Zionist animus. Beyond reporting on the medical situation in the hospitals they’ve visited, these activists willingly participate in Hamas’ propaganda war, spreading misinformation and falsehoods to demonize the Jewish State and foment hatred of its supporters.
Take, for example, Mark Perlmutter, a physician who travelled to Gaza on a Palestinian American Medical Association mission in April, and who has since been actively engaged in Hamas’ propaganda war. Upon his return to the US, Perlmutter teamed up with Feroze Sidhwa, another participant in the mission, whose anti-Israel activities long predate his becoming a physician.
Perlmutter and Sidhwa did not merely report about humanitarian suffering in Gaza. They launched a media campaign to defame the Jewish State with a salvo of accusations: Israel is guilty of genocide; Israel has committed crimes against humanity; Israel is responsible for the worst cruelty imaginable; the US is complicit in Israel’s crimes. In fact, the only party they did not blame for the situation in Gaza is the party that is responsible for it — Hamas and its affiliated terrorist operatives.
Perlmutter uses his Jewish connection — a Jewish father and surname — to feign expertise on Judaism and endorse tropes that are generally associated with the most vicious, antisemitic circles.
For example, he equates Zionism, which is the idea of Jewish self-determination and an integral part of Judaism, with Nazism. From his X account:
Honesty and truth are cast aside as he spews his extremist, anti-Zionist bile.
For example, to support his false claim that Israel deliberately targets innocent children as part of a genocide, Perlmutter minimizes the number of Hamas combatants, leaders and operatives in Gaza to a preposterous degree, declaring those affiliated with Hamas account for only 0.01% of the Gazan population — i.e. ~200 people:
He falsely casts the war against Hamas as the deadliest conflict for medical workers and journalists that has ever been recorded in history.
But even were one to accept propagandistic casualty counts from pro-Hamas groups at face value, they are still far less than the numbers of medical professionals who were killed in other conflicts such as the Syrian civil war, among others:
What is clear is that Perlmutter is unburdened by the obligation to be truthful; his primary goal is to disseminate anti-Israel propaganda.
The Mainstream Media’s Willing Dupes
Perlmutter would not be able to spread his animus against Israel and Zionists without the willing dupes in the mainstream media who have abdicated their journalistic responsibility to vet pro-Hamas and anti-Zionist propagandists before offering them a platform as authorities on the war. These are the journalists and producers who offer Perlmutter and his ilk a platform to spread false propaganda about an Israeli genocide.
Take, for example the CBS producers who created an entire segment promoting Perlmutter’s claims, or the producers of CNN International’s Amanpour show who, a week and a half later, presented Perlmutter with another platform to increase his audience.
Perlmutter’s Questionable Allegations:
The casualties in Gaza are “almost exclusively children.” (CBS, Sunday Morning, July 21, 2024)
The “focus” is on innocent children, as well as healthcare workers and journalists, who are “specifically targeted.” (CNN’s Amanpour, July 30, 2024)
Even the UN’s OCHA casualty count, which is dependent on Hamas’ debated numbers, show that children account for less than a third of casualties.
Here are some more false claims:
Israel engages “the world’s best snipers” to target Palestinian “toddlers” [as part of its genocidal war]. (CBS, Sunday Morning, July 21, 2024)
“Children were specifically targeted by high velocity rifle bullet wounds.” (CNN’s Amanpour, July 30, 2024)
Perlmutter goes way beyond what’s ascertainable from a medical standpoint. In the absence of any actual evidence, he presents himself as an expert able to determine who the perpetrators are and what their motive is.
According to him, the perpetrators are expert Israeli snipers whose motive is to murder Palestinian children and toddlers.
When asked by a credulous Smith to verify that it is indeed snipers who are shooting children, Perlmutter assertively exclaimed, “Definitively!”
As to his evidence, he declared:
I have children that were shot twice … I have two children that I have photographs of that were shot so perfectly in the chest, I couldn’t put my stethoscope over their heart more accurately. And directly on the side of the head in the same child. No toddler gets shot twice by mistake by the world’s best sniper. And they are dead center shots. (CBS Sunday Morning, July 21, 2024)
His CNN testimony repeats the same evidence, adding several additional embellishments:
We found children … that had high velocity bullet wounds, sniper bullet wounds, rifle wounds that were dead center in the chest. I mentioned to other reporters that I couldn’t put my stethoscope more dead center over a heart than the entrance bullet hole was. There was no back to these children. The bullet had removed their entire torso. There was similar bullet hole in two of the children’s temples. So, they were shot twice. Once was certainly a kill shot. The second one was when they were on the ground. And so, no sniper hits a child, and I’m talking toddlers twice by mistake. (CNN’s Amanpour, July 30, 2024)
Beyond his muddled story — how many children and toddlers with two bullet holes were there? — Perlmutter’s testimony raises multiple questions regarding its veracity.
Perlmutter only saw the children in the hospital after their deaths. How was he able to ascertain the identity of the shooters, the circumstances of the shootings, and the victims’ position when they were shot, based only on the size and location of bullet holes in the body?
Why would a professional army engaged in active combat squander their top military assets — trained snipers and ammunition — to target “children” and “toddlers” instead of adult combatants?
Why would “the world’s best snipers” capable of “dead center shots” require additional shots to confirm their victims’ deaths?
If expert snipers aimed so “perfectly” and “dead center” over the heart, why would they need to adjust their angle or squander extra bullets in targeting a separate part of the body?
If victims were found with shots to different areas of their body, wouldn’t a far more likely scenario be that they were caught in crossfire in a combat zone?
CBS reporter Tracy Smith not only readily accepted Perlmutter’s accusations as truth, but tried to validate them, by invoking other doctors in Gaza who also mentioned “gunshot wounds to children,” as if that was proof enough for the outrageous claim that expert snipers were deliberately targeting toddlers.
That civilians in war zones — either adults or children — may sustain gunshot wounds does not indicate who shot them (Palestinian gunmen or Israeli soldiers) and certainly does not indicate deliberate targeting.
To be fair, CNN’s Senior Global Affairs Analyst Bianna Golodryga, sitting in for Christiane Amanpour, was more circumspect in her interview, noting that it is “quite an extreme allegation to make that these civilians were indeed targeted” and citing the IDF ‘s refutation of the allegations that were also made in the CBS News interview. However, this does not absolve CNN producers for having given Perlmutter a platform to air his outrageous claims.
Ricki Hollander is a senior analyst at CAMERA, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, where a version of this article was first published.
The post A Doctor Spewed Vile and Defamatory Claims That Israel Intentionally Kills Children; CBS and CNN Aired Them first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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As Gaza War Continues, Hamas Calls for Global Protests While Israel Marks Breakthroughs in Medical Innovation
A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
As the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas calls for global protests amid stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, Israel has broken new ground despite the ongoing conflict, achieving a major medical breakthrough in synthetic human kidney development.
The contrast illustrates a stark contrast between the priorities of Hamas, an international designated terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, and Israel, the lone democracy in the Middle East that has long been a leader in tech and medical innovation.
On Wednesday, Hamas urged worldwide protests in support of Palestinians, calling on the international community “to denounce Israel’s genocidal war and starvation policy in Gaza.”
“We call for continuing and escalating the popular pressure in all cities and squares on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday … through rallies, demonstrations and sit-ins outside the embassies of the Israeli regime and its allies, particularly in the US,” the statement read.
The Palestinian terrorist group also called to expose what it described as “the terrorism of the Zio-Nazi occupation against defenseless civilians.”
Hamas’s latest move against Israel comes amid stalled indirect negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal, which collapsed last month after the group vowed it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established — rejecting a key Israeli demand to end the war in Gaza.
In its statement, Hamas demanded the opening of all border crossings to allow immediate aid into the war-torn enclave and urged a global condemnation of “the international community’s inaction on the Israeli crimes.”
Amid mounting international pressure to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Israel announced new measures to facilitate the delivery of aid, including temporary pauses in fighting in certain areas and the creation of protected routes for aid convoys.
Israeli officials have previously accused Hamas of diverting aid for terrorist activities and selling supplies at inflated prices to civilians, while also blaming the United Nations and other foreign organizations for enabling this diversion.
Hamas’s statement also emphasized that the “global resistance movement must continue until Israeli aggression on Gaza ends and the siege on the coastal strip is lifted.”
Meanwhile, as Israel faces escalating hostilities and the heavy toll of war, the Jewish state continues to push the boundaries of innovation and resilience, achieving new medical breakthroughs while confronting ongoing challenges.
In a major medical breakthrough, scientists at Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv University have successfully grown a synthetic 3D miniature human kidney in a lab using specialized stem cells derived from kidney tissue — one of the most promising advances in regenerative medicine.
Dr. Dror Harats, chairman of Sheba’s Research Authority, described this achievement as a reflection of Israel’s leading role in global medical innovation.
“Despite growing efforts to isolate Israel from international science, breakthroughs like this prove our impact is both lasting and essential,” he said.
In a landmark study, a team from Sheba’s Safra Children’s Hospital and Tel Aviv University’s Sagol Center for Regenerative Medicine created synthetic kidney organs that matured and remained stable for 34 weeks — the longest-lasting and most refined kidney organoids developed to date.
Nearly a decade ago, the research team became the first to successfully isolate human kidney tissue stem cells — the cells responsible for the organ’s development and growth.
Previous attempts to grow kidneys in a lab using general-purpose stem cells were short-lived, typically lasting only a few weeks and often producing unwanted cell types that compromised research accuracy.
However, this Israeli research team used stem cells taken directly from kidney tissue — cells that naturally develop into kidney parts — allowing them to create a much purer and more stable model with key features found in real kidneys.
This medical breakthrough could have far-reaching implications, redefining the current understanding of kidney diseases and advancing the development of innovative treatments.
Researchers believe the model could help assess how medications impact fetal kidneys during pregnancy and move science closer to repairing or replacing damaged kidney tissue with lab-grown cells.
The discovery came days after researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and international partners discovered a way to boost the immune system’s cancer-fighting ability by reprogramming how T cells, which are white blood cells critical to the immune system, produce energy.
The researchers explained in a study published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications that disabling a protein known as Ant2 in T cells greatly enhances their effectiveness against tumors.
“By disabling Ant2, we triggered a complete shift in how T cells produce and use energy,” Prof. Michael Berger of Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine, who co-led the study with doctorate student Omri Yosef, told the Tazpit Press Service. “This reprogramming made them significantly better at recognizing and killing cancer cells.”
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Netherlands to Push EU to Suspend Israel Trade Deal but Won’t Recognize Palestinian State ‘At This Time’
Netherlands Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on April 1, 2025. Photo: ANI Photo/Sanjay Sharma via Reuters Connect
The Netherlands is spearheading efforts to suspend the European Union-Israel trade agreement amid rising EU criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, while simultaneously refusing to recognize a Palestinian state, contrasting with other member states as international pressure mounts.
On Thursday, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced that the Netherlands will push the EU to suspend the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement — a pact governing the EU’s political and economic ties with the Jewish state.
This latest anti-Israel initiative follows a recent EU-commissioned report accusing Israel of committing “indiscriminate attacks … starvation … torture … [and] apartheid” against Palestinians in Gaza during its military campaign against Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group.
Following calls from a majority of EU member states for a formal investigation, this report built on Belgium’s recent decision to review Israel’s compliance with the trade agreement, a process initiated by the Netherlands and led by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
According to the report, “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations” under the 25-year-old EU-Israel Association Agreement.
While the document acknowledges the reality of violence by Hamas, it states that this issue lies outside its scope — failing to address the Palestinian terrorist group’s role in sparking the current war with its bloody rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli officials have slammed the report as factually incorrect and morally flawed, noting that Hamas embeds its military infrastructure within civilian targets and Israel’s army takes extensive precautions to try and avoid civilian casualties.
In a Dutch parliamentary debate on Gaza on Thursday, Veldkamp also announced that the government would not recognize a Palestinian state for now — a position that stands in sharp contrast to the recent moves by several other EU member states to extend recognition.
“The Netherlands is not planning to recognize a Palestinian state at this time,” the Dutch diplomat said.
“This war has ceased to be a just war and is now leading to the erosion of Israel’s own security and identity,” he continued.
This latest decision goes against the position of several EU member states, including France, which has committed to recognizing Palestinian statehood in September.
The United Kingdom has likewise indicated it will do so unless Israel acts to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and agrees to a ceasefire.
For its part, Germany said it was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term, and Italy argued that recognition must occur simultaneously with the recognition of Israel by the new entity.
Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia all recognized a Palestinian state last year.
Israel has been facing growing pressure from several EU member states seeking to undermine its defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
On Thursday, European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera strongly condemned Israel’s actions in the war-torn enclave, describing the situation as a “grave violation of human dignity.”
“What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death,” Ribera told Politico. “If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning.”
Until now, the European Commission has refrained from accusing Israel of genocide, but Ribera’s comments mark one of the strongest European condemnations since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
She also called on the EU to take decisive action by considering the suspension of its trade agreement with Israel and the implementation of sanctions, while emphasizing that such measures would require unanimous approval from all member states.
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Graduate Student Unions Promoting Antisemitism, Reform Group Says
Students listen to a speech at a protest encampment at Stanford University in Stanford, California US, on April 26, 2024. Photo: Carlos Barria via Reuters Connect.
Higher-education-based unions controlled by United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) are rife with antisemitism and anti-Zionist discrimination, according to a new letter imploring the US Congress’s House Committee on Education and the Workforce to address the matter.
“Tracing its roots to communism in the 1930s, the UE is a radical, pro-Hamas labor union that has a long history of antisemitism,” the National Right to Work Foundation (NRTW), one of the US’s leading labor reform groups, wrote on July 30 in a message obtained by The Algemeiner. “The UE openly supports the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which is designed to cripple and destroy Israel economically. Today, the UE furthers its antisemitic agenda by unionizing graduate students on college campuses and using its exclusive representation powers to create a hostile environment for Jewish students. The hostile environment includes demanding compulsory dues to fund the UE’s abhorrent activities.”
NRTW went on to describe a litany of alleged injustices to which UE members subject Jewish student-employees in the US’s most prestigious institutions of higher education, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to Cornell University. At MIT, the letter said, “union officers” aided a riotous group which illegally occupied a section of campus with a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” participating in the demonstration and even denying access to campus buildings. UE members at Stanford University, meanwhile, allegedly denied religious accommodations to Jewish students who requested exemption from union dues over that branch’s supporting the BDS movement. And Cornell University UE was accused of denying religious exemptions in several cases as well and followed up the rejection with an intrusive “questionnaire” which probed Jewish students for “legally-irrelevant information.”
The situation requires federal oversight and intervention, NRTW said, including Congress’s possibly clarifying that student-employees are not traditional employees and are therefore afforded protections under sections of the Civil Rights Act which apply to the campus.
“These continuing patterns of antisemitism are illegal, immoral, and must be stopped,” the letter continued. “We encourage you to do all that is in your power to investigate and help bring an end to the UE and its affiliates’ nonstop harassment and intimidation of Jewish students … The Trump administration can also use tools available to it under Title VI and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act against colleges who work with unions to create a hostile environment for Jewish students.”
July’s letter is not the first time NRTW has publicized alleged antisemitic abuse in unions representing higher education employees.
In 2024, it represented a group of six City University of New York (CUNY) professors, five of whom are Jewish, who sued to be “freed” from CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress (PSC-CUNY) over its passing a resolution during Israel’s May 2021 war with Hamas which declared solidarity with Palestinians and accused the Jewish state of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and crimes against humanity. The group contested New York State’s “Taylor Law,” which it said chained the professors to the union’s “bargaining unit” and denied their right to freedom of speech and association by forcing them to be represented in negotiations by an organization they claim holds antisemitic views.
That same year, NRTW prevailed in a discrimination suit filed to exempt another cohort of Jewish MIT students from paying dues to the Graduate Student Union (GSU). The students had attempted to resist financially supporting GSU’s anti-Zionism, but the union bosses attempted to coerce their compliance, telling them that “no principles, teachings, or tenets of Judaism prohibit membership in or the payment of dues or fees” to the union.
“All Americans should have a right to protect their money from going to union bosses they don’t support, whether those objections are based on religion, politics, or any other reason,” NRTW said at the time.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.