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Destroying Hamas Is Not Genocide; It Is Self-Preservation

Hamas leader and Oct. 7 pogrom mastermind Yahya Sinwar addressing a rally in Gaza. Photo: Reuters/braheem Abu Mustafa

The Arab term for catastrophe is Nakba. The Hebrew word for catastrophe is Shoah — which is also used to refer to the Holocaust.

Since 1948, Israel has been nourished and sustained by the Jews who were violently evicted from Arab countries, by the Jews who fought for the right to leave the open-air prison called the Soviet Union, by the Jews of Ethiopia and more recently, by Ukrainians seeking shelter from Putin’s onslaught. Melting pots are complex. Israel is complex, but it is not an apartheid or racist country. It is not a “white settler-colonial state” that is engaged in the “genocide of Palestinians.”  These are all accusations that compose the modern blood libel used to delegitimize and then destroy Israel.

The initial Palestinian catastrophe was self-inflicted when the decision was made to destroy Israel in 1948, and has been continually compounded by the catastrophic decisions of Palestinian leaders in 1967, 1973, by their rejection of the Clinton Parameters in 2000, by their green light for the Second Intifada between 2000 to 2005, and by their decision to invade, rape, and pillage Israel on October 7. The Palestinian leadership must stop making catastrophic decisions that keep Israelis and Palestinians locked in a dance of death.

Israel’s resistance to Palestinian and Arab violence has saved millions of Jews from death — from another Holocaust. This is the gas and violence that antisemites today are hysterically chanting for and salivating over (shouts to “gas Jews” ). After October 7, there were tears of joy and excitement from around the world that Hamas had delivered a blow that rocked Israel, and would force it to make concessions that would further weaken its ability to survive and thrive.

Israel resists to avoid the next catastrophe, and their resistance is called genocide.

On December 11, 2023, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) stated:  “We didn’t turn out in huge numbers to elect President Biden to have him supply the bombs for a genocide.”

Israel is now defending itself in the International Court of Justice from South Africa’s accusation of genocide. The accusation states: “Israel, since 7 October 2023 in particular, has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide,” and that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide ratified by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948 states that the following acts constitutes genocide. (UN Genocide Prevention):

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its

physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Why isn’t Hamas being charged with genocide? Which of these five acts has Hamas not committed, and is not now committing? Hamas kills Israeli civilians, they mentally and physically torture women and children, they viciously murder women, children and the elderly, and Hamas’ brutal rape and torture of Israeli women is a way of preventing these women from having children. Their kidnapping of Israeli children is a forcible transfer. Hamas advocates for the genocide of Israelis between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It is their raison d’être (See the Hamas Charter).

Every time that Hamas or Hezbollah launches barrages of missiles at Israel, they are in violation of the law of genocide that Israel is accused of violating. When more than 200,000 Israelis are forced to evacuate their villages to escape Hezbollah missiles, it is Hezbollah that is violating the United Nations law on genocide. The objective of the blame, shame, defame movement is to delegitimize Israel and starve it of the resources it needs to resist annihilation.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) voted “present” not “nay” to fund Israel’s Iron Dome defense system when the “Iron Dome Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022” was introduced to Congress, but she let everyone know that she should have voted no. If every one of the Hamas and Hezbollah and Houthi missiles hit Israel — instead of being knocked out of the sky by Iron Dome — would Hamas then be brought before the International Court of Justice?

Would those who hate Israel accuse Hamas of committing genocide? I doubt it.

Israel’s resistance saves lives. When the IDF destroys Hamas and Hezbollah missile launchers, it saves lives. Hezbollah’s and Hamas’ missiles deliver death and destruction to the Muslims, Christians, Jews and Druze of Israel — and even to Palestinians when the rockets misfire. The weapons of Hamas and Hezbollah kill and wound and destroy a racially and religiously diverse population. But Israel is slandered as a racist and apartheid country.

Robert Frost in his poem “Mending Wall” asks the question, “Why do Fences Make Good Neighbors.” To answer this question, Frost advises us to reflect on “what is being walled in and what is being walled out.” The context of Frost’s poem is two orchards in the pristine New England countryside, not Gaza or the West Bank. October 7 has made it crystal clear what and who is being walled in and out.

Israel’s war on Hamas is not genocide it is terrorcide. Israel should not have to apologize for wanting to live apart from terrorists. Creating a space so that you can live apart from terror is not apartheid it is self-preservation.

Charles A. Stone is a Professor at Brooklyn College, CUNY.

The post Destroying Hamas Is Not Genocide; It Is Self-Preservation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Says ‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism’

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi attends the annual festival of Greek Communist Youth in Athens, Greece, Sept. 22, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Costas Baltas

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi said on a podcast earlier this month that she is fighting Jews, not Zionism, and that she wishes for World War III.

“I was raised [to believe] that Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism [should] be presented to the children of Palestine – children of my age and younger – as occupation, and that we are fighting the Jews, not Zionism,” Tamimi, now 24, said on “The Enlightenment Podcast” on YouTube on Aug. 8.

Tamimi’s comments were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reported on and translated her remarks.

“The whole world needs to shut up, when a Palestinian is talking,” she said. “We are superior to the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the expense of our lives, and the expense of our humanity.”

Tamimi continued, “Every night when I go to sleep, I put my head on the pillow, and I pray to God to protect the humanity left inside me, because I don’t want to become a killer. In this West of yours, if a mother screams at her child, he grows up to become a serial killer.”

“I have reached a point where I wish for a World War III. Whoever dies, dies, and whoever lives, lives. The important thing is that we will be over with this. I have reached this point,” she said. “Let the whole world be destroyed, I don’t care. Let them drop nuclear bombs, and destroy the whole world, so it won’t be just the Palestinians.”

These recent comments are the most recent in a long string of radical remarks by Tamimi. In November 2023, she wrote, in an Instagram post, “Come on settlers, we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin – we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke.”

Speaking about Israelis who live in the West Bank, she said, “We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on, we are waiting for you.”

Tamimi became famous internationally in 2017 when a video of her, then just 16 years old, slapping, kicking, and yelling at Israeli soldiers went viral as a symbol of both Palestinian resistance to Israel, and the asymmetric nature of the conflict. The soldiers did not retaliate but did later arrest her.

Tamimi was convicted on four counts of assaulting an IDF officer and soldier, incitement, and interference with IDF forces in March 2018, and was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months of probation.

She was released a few months later, in July 2018. Since then, Tamimi has been hailed as a Palestinian human rights activist, received a book deal from Penguin Random House, and consistently received sympathetic coverage from Western news outlets.

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Trump Administration Reaffirms Opposition to Turkey Rejoining F-35 Program

A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

The Trump administration has reaffirmed its opposition to Turkey’s rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing Ankara’s possession of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to US Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a senior State Department official reiterated that Washington remains committed to enforcing the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which penalizes countries with financial ties to Russia’s defense sector.

“The Trump administration is fully committed to protecting US defense and intelligence assets and complying with US law, including CAATSA,” the letter read

The message, signed by Paul Guaglianone of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, stated that Washington’s position “has not changed” and that Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-supplied S-400 remains incompatible with US law and defense requirements. The official stressed that the Trump administration was fully committed to protecting American defense and intelligence assets while maintaining its obligations under the National Defense Authorization Act.

Despite the strained relationship, the letter emphasized that Turkey remains a longstanding NATO ally. US officials framed the relationship as critical to the security interests of both countries and signaled a willingness to maintain dialogue with Ankara.

In 2017, despite several US warnings, Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, leading to Turkey’s expulsion from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.

“The United States seeks to cooperate with Turkey on common priorities and to engage in dialogue to resolve disagreements,” Guaglianone wrote, while maintaining that Washington has “expressed our disapproval of Ankara’s acquisition of the S-400 and clearly conveyed steps that would need to be taken” in the sanctions review process.

The letter came after a bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law. Members of Congress warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington had begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.

Under Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon is prohibited from transferring F-35 jets or related technology to Turkey unless Ankara no longer possesses the Russian-made S-400 system and provides assurances it will not acquire such equipment in the future. Because Turkey continues to retain the S-400, US officials are legally barred from approving its participation in the F-35 program.

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Israel Responds to Norway Donating Profits From World Cup Qualifying Matchup to Aid Gaza

Alexander Sørloth of Norway scores the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier football match between Israel and Norway on March 25, 2025, in Debrecen. Photo: VEGARD GRØTT/Bildbyran/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

The Israel Football Association has issued a statement in response to a decision by its Norwegian counterpart to give profits from their mutual World Cup qualifiying match to support humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.

Norway will host Israel on Oct. 11 at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, in the next round of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On Tuesday, the Norwegian Football Association said it “cannot remain indifferent” to humanitarian suffering in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war, and announced that it will donate profits from the Oct. 11 game to aid humanitarian causes supporting Gaza.

“Neither we nor other organizations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been exposed to for a long time,” said Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness. “Israel is part of FIFA’s and UEFA’s competitions and we have to deal with that. But we want to give the profit to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and that contributes with active emergency aid on the ground.”

The Norwegian Football Association said it will reveal at a later date which humanitarian organization it will donate to. The association added that it is working with local police and UEFA to ensure the safety of players and fans at the Oct. 11 match in Oslo and will be taking “some extra security measures,” such as limiting capacity at the game. Tickets go on sale next week.

The Israeli Football Association responded on Wednesday in a statement to Telegraph Sport. It urged the Norwegian association to “make sure the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” for which Norway has been criticized internationally. Israel also said it “would be nice” if the Norwegian Football Association would condemn the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

“We do not usually advise associations regarding the use of match revenue, even if it is obtained thanks to a match against our proud national team, but we will deviate from our custom this time: it would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to finding a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the Oct. 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children, or action in favor of the release of 50 hostages – and please, make sure that the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” the Israeli Football Association said in a statement. It also said it aims to gain 3 points at the October match.

Israel has been unable to host matches on its home soil for international competitions because of security concerns related to the Israel-Hamas war. It competed in a qualifying match against Norway in Hungary in March, which Norway won 4-2.

The Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is demanding that Israel be suspended from international competitions ahead of Italy’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Jewish state that are set for September and October. Italy is set to play Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sept. 8, before hosting Israel in Udine on Oct. 14.

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