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A Middle East Cow Tale
Members of the Hamas terror group’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza in January 2017. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
JNS.org – The Jan. 14 edition of The Palestine Chronicle, edited by Ramzy Baroud, featured an English-language translation of a televised speech made by Abu Obeida, the military spokesman for the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades, on the 100th day of the Gaza war.
As the site notes, for nearly seven weeks, his messages were either audio recordings or written statements. At one point, he disappeared for weeks, raising speculations that he may have been killed.
Abu Obeida, whose real name is Huzaifa Samir Abdullah al-Kahloot, spoke of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation as “this historic and pivotal battle in the present of our people and our nation.” Israel was described as “Nazi” and a “most grotesque entity.”
He then explained that an Israeli “aggression” was being directed against Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa. And what was it? It was “the start of [the Temple Mount’s] actual temporal and spatial division, and the bringing of red cows as an application of a detestable religious myth designed for aggression against the feelings of an entire nation in the heart of its Arab identity.”
Before analyzing his propaganda charge and preposterous excuse for massacring many hundreds of civilians, including women, children and the elderly, it should be illuminating to cast a look over to India, where Muslims face a “cow vigilantism” phenomenon.
The cow possesses a sacred status for Hindus. It became an object of veneration from the fourth century BCE, representing Mother Earth, as it is a source of goodness. There is a “cow holiday” called Gopastami. India was invaded by Muslims already in the seventh century, and as they slaughtered cows for their Eid al-Adha, a problem arose.
Cow protection societies were founded in 1882 as a “fundamental antagonism between Hindus and Muslims” arose, as SOAS Shabnum Tejani scholar has described it. There were cow-related riots in 1893, and major ones again between 1900 and 1947. Even Mahatma Gandhi championed cow protection. Multiple post-state riots in which the killings of Hindus and Muslims in the 1950s and 1960s occurred involved the trigger of cow slaughter.
Between 2010 and 2017, 28 Indians—24 of them Muslims—have been killed and 124 injured. In February last year, two charred bodies were found in a burnt vehicle in India’s Haryana state. They were Muslim men, killed by right-wing Hindus suspecting them of cow-smuggling.
All of this raises a question. If Muslims suffer needless acts of murderous violence for their religious beliefs in the Asian sub-continent, would they not be more empathetic to another religion and its cow-related theology?
And there is another parallel. Muslims are now engaged in a campaign for their right to pray in a cathedral in Spain. The church, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, had been established in the fifth century, turned into a mosque in the seventh century following the Muslim conquest and occupation of that country, but reverted to a Christian place of worship in 1236 after the Reconquista.
The Islamic Council of Spain had lodged a formal request with the Vatican to pray in the building. In 2010, eight young Austrian Muslims were acquitted of responsibility for an altercation when they prayed in front of the Qibla wall, which the church had forbidden. Perhaps fearful of the fate of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, where a Turkish court revoked its status as a museum and Muslim prayer practices have taken place therein, Catholic Church officials have resisted any change in Cordoba.
Again, cannot Hamas exhibit a less ferocious opposition to religious customs and the opposition to them that they themselves seek to promote? But let us now return to Jerusalem and the Hamas claim of concern over an aggression of red heifers and recognize that that is a reverse mirror-image of Cordoba and Istanbul.
Two Jewish Temples existed for 1,000 years on Mount Moriah. Then, in the seventh century, Muslims—following the Roman, Byzantine and Persian empires that ruled Judea under conquest and occupation—built a mosque on the site and prohibited any semblance of Jewish worship, a ban Israel’s governments have upheld.
Between the 13th and the late 19th centuries, no Jew could even enter the compound, where previously Jewish kings, priests and prophets, judges and millions of pilgrims were at home, worshipping their God and teaching the world morals and ethics.
At a news website published by Jordan United Press based in Amman, we learn that five red heifers were “imported from Texas,” placed “in a secret farm” and “kept for the imminent arrival of the Messiah and the subsequent construction of the temple on the Al-Aqsa mosque ruins.” These actions are “perceived as preparatory for the Gog and Magog battle.”
Besides the fact that for a period those cows were kept at the Ancient Shiloh site (very publicly and visited by thousands), this is probably the fifth time red heifers have been brought to Israel over the past three decades. Why the belated but bestial invasion now? Why the rocket firings and terror when there were no red heifers?
In 1929, the Mufti Al-Husseini claimed that Jews were intent on storming Al-Aqsa, so his hordes slaughtered more than 70 Jews. The 1948 war that the Arabs launched, as Israeli historian Benny Morris has researched, was carried out according to the Dec. 2, 1947 call of the ulama, the chief scholars of theology, of Cairo’s Al-Azhar University for a “worldwide jihad.”
Arab terror, apparently, requires no excuse. It will interpret any event to serve its ultimate purpose: the end of Israel and the death of Jews. Indeed, it possesses no human logic that can be assuaged, neither by man nor beast.
The post A Middle East Cow Tale first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
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