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Countering the Oct. 7 Deniers
Neo-Nazis from the so-called “Goyim Defense League” display a Holocaust denial banner in San Antonio, Texas. Photo: Twitter.
JNS.org – Jews have long been accustomed to being history’s double victims. We are victims of its most murderous currents and the victims of subsequent attempts to revise, play down or even outright deny these episodes of bloodshed, usually emanating from the perpetrators themselves or their fellow travelers.
The most glaring example of this trend is Holocaust denial. And the one thing we have learned from dealing with the deniers is that they are impervious to fact and reason. They engage in denial because their hatred of Jews predisposes them to conspiracy theories about Jewish power and Jewish dishonesty. You can patiently explain the milestones of the Nazi genocide—the anti-Jewish legislation of the 1930s, the Wannsee Conference convened by the Nazis in 1942, the shift in the method of killing from extermination by gunfire to industrialized slaughter in gas chambers and the obsessive antisemitic ideology underlying all this—but you’d be wasting your breath on these people.
There are other examples outside of the Holocaust. In the Arab and Islamic worlds, where antisemitism ironically runs rampant, the myth that Jewish communities lived in peaceful harmony with their Muslim neighbors until the Zionists began “colonizing Palestine” prevails. Among Communist apologists—sadly, a growing trend today, more than 30 years after the Cold War ended—the Soviet wartime dictator Josef Stalin is seen as a symbol of anti-fascism, whose postwar antisemitic campaign, reminiscent of the excesses of Russia’s imperial czars, is portrayed in these circles as a willful “Zionist” attack on his reputation.
The Hamas-led pogrom in Israel on Oct. 7, has not been spared from these efforts. But while the methods are much the same as the examples I cited—especially by taking small nuggets of fact and turning them into full-blown conspiracy theories—the context is different. Technology now provides a platform for anyone to declare himself or herself a “historian” or a “journalist,” and to purvey lies by turns monstrous and ridiculous using those professions as a cover. The Wall Street Journal’s Gerard Baker put it best in a recent opinion piece analyzing the spread of antisemitic tropes on the nationalist right: “Our culture is dominated by people with epic levels of historical, economic and scientific ignorance.”
When it comes to the Oct. 7 atrocities, there have been similarly epic levels of social media posts denying the gang rapes, mutilations and mass slaughter that took place on that dark day. One popular theme spread by organizations like “Code Pink,” a pro-Russian advocacy group based in the United States that masquerades as a peace movement, and online publications like the Grayzone, which functions as an outlet for Russian and Iranian propaganda, is that Israel itself was responsible for the vast majority of civilian deaths, rather than the Hamas terrorists and the thousands of ordinary Palestinians who joined them for the onslaught.
The underlying claim here is that the so-called “Hannibal Directive”—an Israeli military protocol introduced in 1986 to prevent the capture of Israel Defense Forces personnel by terrorist groups, which was abandoned by the military’s top brass in 2016—was operational during the assault. “The Hannibal Directive,” noted the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an independent organization that monitors political and religious extremism around the world, “has been central to false claims that Israeli security forces killed as many or more civilians than Hamas, and in downplaying well-documented war crimes against civilians.”
Last week, a report prepared for the British parliament on the Oct. 7 pogrom entered this melee. Written by Lord Andrew Roberts, the eminent historian whose output includes magisterial biographies of Napoleon Bonaparte and Winston Churchill, the harrowing report is the most comprehensive account of the Hamas land invasion issued so far. It painstakingly documents the unfolding of the slaughter across more than 40 distinct locations. It spares no details, and so we learn, inter alia, how 3-year-old Abigail Idan, daughter of the murdered Ynet journalist Roee Idan, “crawled out from under her father’s body and took refuge at a neighbor’s house.” Or how Bar Kislev, a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, watched from hiding as a squad of killers, some as young as 14, broke into apartment after apartment screaming “Kill the Jews!”, pausing for snacks and cigarettes along the way. Or how the body of Itai Hadar, a 28-year-old attending the Psyduck festival (a smaller psychedelic trance music party that took place at the same time as the better-known Nova festival a few kilometers away), was booby-trapped with grenades after his murder. Indeed, the 381 pages of the report are replete with stories like these, all of them forensically accounted for.
Yet, as Roberts explains in his foreword to the report, its purpose was not simply to provide a comprehensive record of what happened. “Holocaust denial took a few years to take root in pockets of society, but on 7 October 2023 it took only hours for people to claim that the massacres in southern Israel had not taken place,” he wrote. The report, therefore, was prepared “to counter such pernicious views and to lay down incontrovertible proof—for now, and for the years to come—that nearly 1,200 innocent people were indeed murdered by Hamas and its allies, and very often in scenes of sadistic barbarism not seen in world history since the [Imperial Japanese Army’s] Rape of Nanjing in 1937.”
In the days since the report was released, Roberts’ social media accounts have been inundated with abuse from Oct. 7 deniers. “This is the kind of thing we’re up against, and why people should read the Report and decide for themselves if it’s ‘Zionist propaganda,’ or detailed, fully footnoted and irrefutable proof of the atrocities from multifarious impeccable sources,” he posted in response to one such missive. I don’t believe that Roberts seriously thinks that his report will change the minds of those in thrall to the denial agenda. The abiding value of his work is that, when it comes to the detail and quality of his research, it offers an impressive counterweight for undecided readers who will encounter the deniers as they seek the truth.
Even so, given the epistemic crisis that envelopes public discourse these days, we would be naïve to expect that everyone will be persuaded of the truth. Like the struggle against antisemitism, the struggle against denialism has no end in sight.
The post Countering the Oct. 7 Deniers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hezbollah Says Lebanon Move on Army Plan Is ‘Opportunity,’ Urges Israel to Commit to Ceasefire
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and members of the cabinet stand as they attend a cabinet session to discuss the army’s plan to disarm Hezbollah, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, September 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that the group considered Friday’s cabinet session on an army plan to establish a state monopoly on arms “an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown.”
Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah and said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities.
But it said continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon would hamper the army’s progress. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally approved the plan.
Qmati told Reuters that Hezbollah had reached its assessment based on the government’s declaration on Friday that further implementation of a US roadmap on the matter was dependent on Israel’s commitment. He said that without Israel halting strikes and withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s implementation of the plan should remain “suspended until further notice.”
Lebanon’s cabinet last month tasked the army with coming up with a plan that would establish a state monopoly on arms and approved a US roadmap aimed at disarming Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
Qmati said that Hezbollah “unequivocally rejected” those two decisions and expected the Lebanese government to draw up a national defense strategy.
Israel last week signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the army took action to disarm Hezbollah. Meanwhile, it has continued its strikes, killing four people on Wednesday.
A national divide over Hezbollah’s disarmament has taken center stage in Lebanon since last year’s devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim group.
Lebanon is under pressure from the US, Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah’s domestic rivals to disarm the group. But Hezbollah has pushed back, saying it would be a serious misstep to even discuss disarmament while Israel continues its air strikes on Lebanon and occupies swathes of territory in the south.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem last month raised the specter of civil war, warning the government against trying to confront the group and saying street protests were possible.
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UK Police Arrest Dozens at Latest Protest for Banned Palestine Action
Demonstrators attend the “Lift The Ban” rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
British police arrested dozens more people on Saturday under anti-terrorism laws for demonstrating in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organization.
Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Police have arrested hundreds of Palestine Action supporters in recent weeks under anti-terrorism legislation, including over 500 in just one day last month, many of them over the age of 60.
On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near parliament in central London to protest against the ban on Saturday, with many holding up signs that said: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers had begun arresting those expressing support for Palestine Action. Police did not say how many arrests were made but a Reuters witness said dozens of people were detained.
Palestine Action’s ban, or proscription, puts the group alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS and makes it a crime to support or belong to the organization, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
“I can be unequivocal, if you show support for Palestine Action – an offense under the Terrorism Act – you will be arrested,” Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said on Friday. “We have the officer numbers, custody capacity and all other resources to process as many people as is required.”
Human rights groups have criticized Britain’s decision to ban the group as disproportionate and say it limits the freedom of expression of peaceful protesters.
The government has accused Palestine Action of causing millions of pounds worth of criminal damage and says the ban does not prevent other pro-Palestinian protests.
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Macron’s Meeting with American Jewry ‘Won’t Happen’ Amid Palestinian Recognition Drive, Surge in Antisemitism
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference in Paris, France, June 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
i24 News – French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to set up a meeting with American Jewish leaders later this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
i24NEWS has learned that the meeting won’t happen, firstly because Macron was only available for the meeting ahead of the UN General Assembly during Rosh Hashanah, and yet, a person invited to meet with Macron and who has knowledge of the discussions told i24NEWS the sit-down simply wasn’t going to happen, anyway.
“I think the organizations, for the most part, would not have participated,” the person said, adding that AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee would have likely received invitations, among other entities.
“The guy has a 15% popularity rating in France. It’s not our job to help him out,” the person said.
Asked by i24NEWS whether Macron’s push for greater Palestinian state recognition or his lack of action in tackling antisemitism at home led to the stance of organized American Jewry, the person said it’s more of “the climate” which allows one to say ‘Look, the American Jews met with me,’ regardless of the content.”
The person said they are sure, if a meeting would have happened, that everybody in the room would have taken a hard line with Macron, including his “statements on Israel, the failure to respond to antisemitism” and France’s announcement this summer that it will recognize a Palestinian state later this month, and is leading an effort to get more countries to do the same.
But, the person told i24NEWS they are convinced that, in the end, while no final decision actually had to be taken, there was enough pressure that a consensus would have been reached to decline the meeting.
Of the timing of Rosh Hashanah allowing for leadership to not be forced to officially say no to Macron, the person said “G-d saves us every time.”
Another source familiar with the matter noted that it cannot be ruled out that Macron may eventually succeed in arranging a meeting with certain representatives, as the organizations are not a single unified body. However, he is unlikely to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of groups representing American Jewry.
i24NEWS has also learned that French President Emmanuel Macron explored the possibility of visiting Israel ahead of the convention, but was advised by the Prime Minister’s Office that the timing was inappropriate. The message came as Macron continues to push for recognition of a Palestinian state, a move Israel strongly opposes. Sources further told i24NEWS that Israel is weighing additional retaliatory measures against Macron, including the potential closure of the French consulate in Jerusalem, which primarily serves Palestinians in the West Bank.