RSS
‘Hamas Is Coming’: Anti-Israel, Anti-US Protests Erupt in Washington, DC With Netanyahu in Town
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel rallies have erupted across Washington, DC this week in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the city and speech to a joint session of the US Congress.
Outside of Union Station, rioters vandalized numerous statues and landmarks, including The Freedom Bell, which is a replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The phrase “Hamas is coming,” written in all capital letters, was spray-painted on a monument, along with an upside-down red triangle, a symbol used by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas when attacking Israeli targets.
“These images are deeply disturbing. The glorification of Hamas — a terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime and holding over a hundred hostages in Gaza — is unacceptable and has no place in our country,” US Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) posted on Twitter/X on Wednesday as images of the protests began to emerge.
These images are deeply disturbing. The glorification of Hamas – a terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime and holding over a hundred hostages in Gaza – is unacceptable and has no place in our country. https://t.co/WWf0mwniPJ
— Senator Jacky Rosen (@SenJackyRosen) July 24, 2024
“F—k Israel” was also spray-painted at various spots in the US capital city.
Meanwhile, video emerged on social media showing rioters attacking police officers and burning American flags. They also tore down the American flag in front of Union Station and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. They subsequently set the American flag on fire.
Anti Israel protesters burn the American flags they removed from flag posts at Union Station in DC https://t.co/C7eeionfhI pic.twitter.com/Q8OcYSHvKO
— Timcast News (@TimcastNews) July 24, 2024
On Wednesday night, a group of Republican lawmakers — including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) — visited the spot where the American flag was burned and said the Pledge of Allegiance.
The protests, which were sponsored by more than 15 organizations, had an explicitly pro-Hamas message.
Anti-Israel demonstrators protest, on the day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of the US Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Seth Herald
Posters handed out by the US Palestinian Community Network read, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied. #AlAqsaFlood,” referring to the name Hamas gave to its Oct. 7 attack, in which it led some 3,000 Palestinian terrorists in murdering 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages during an onslaught across southern Israel. The poster also includes a photo of armed men on a type of military vehicle.
A number of Hamas flags were also seen at the protests. One woman, waving a Hamas flag, dressed as Abu Obeida, the alias of the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, with a red keffiyeh covering her face, a green headband, and a military jacket.
Another person, waving a black flag that has the words of the Islamic creed known as the Shahada on it — traditionally understood to be the flag under which the Muslim prophet Muhammad began his conquests — held a separate sign reading, “Allah is gathering all the Zionists for the ‘Final Solution.’” The poster included a large bomb being exploded in the middle of an Israeli flag.
Just seen on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/dGiGxpQufz
— Christina Hoff Sommers (@CHSommers) July 24, 2024
Earlier this week, protesters gathered outside of the Watergate Hotel, where Netanyahu was staying while in Washington.
Video emerged of one person screaming, “Jewish motherf—kers. We’re gonna kill all of you. We’re gonna burn you. Allahu Akbar. Hamas!” When the same man later saw a person with an Israeli flag, he confronted him, saying, “Jewish coward motherf—ker!”
The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) released a video on Instagram saying protesters released maggots and crickets into the hotel where Netanyahu was staying. “BON APPETIT!! MAGGOTS REPORTEDLY RELEASED ON THE CRIMINAL ZIONIST’S WAR TABLE!” it wrote.
“Mealworms and maggots (not talking about Netanyahu) were reportedly left on their banquet tables, and crickets were released on multiple floors of the hotel,” PYM continued. “Fire alarms were triggered for over 30 minutes on multiple floors to ensure that there will be no rest before Netanyahu and Congress disgrace themselves in front of the world for failing to achieve any of their military and political objectives.”
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) lambasted the demonstrators and called on US authorities to do more in response to what appeared to be outright hatred of both Jews and the Jewish state.
“These mobs were not pro anything; they were just filled with violent hate and rage, and many seemed to have a bloodlust for anything Jewish or Israeli,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa said in a statement. “They crossed all lines and now it is the responsibility of the US authorities to clamp down on them and take immediate and forceful action. Yesterday, the true face of terror in the US revealed itself.”
Roytman Dratwa argued the demonstrators’ actions show they are not pro-Palestinian but anti-American and anti-Western, adding, “Writing ‘Hamas is coming’ on an American national monument, is more than an idle threat; it is an aspiration, and they are openly calling for an Oct. 7-style massacre to take place in the US, inciting for genocide against Jews.”
The post ‘Hamas Is Coming’: Anti-Israel, Anti-US Protests Erupt in Washington, DC With Netanyahu in Town first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Beersheba Resident Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage for Iran
Doron Bokobza, who was indicted after Iran recruited him to collect intelligence Photo: i24/ Social media / 27A
i24 News – An indictment was filed against a resident of Beersheba, Doron Bokobza, who contacted Iranian intelligence and offered to sell them information including secrets to the nuclear research facility in Dimona.
In February, Bokobza was arrested on suspicion of committing security offenses, involving contact with Iranian police intelligence agents and carrying out tasks for them in exchange for money. He claimed to have access and knowledge of the nuclear facility.
According to the indictment filed against him, last December, Bokobza approached an Iranian recruiter via the Telegram app, writing: “I am Israeli, I want to cross over to you.” When asked by the recruiter why he was interested in doing so, the defendant replied that it was due to the government and his difficult financial situation.
Bokobza allegedly photographed military installations and transferred information to the Iranian handlers several days later.
The post Beersheba Resident Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage for Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Captive IDF Soldier Nimrod Cohen Identified from Horn Video Hamas Released
Nimrod Cohen, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, by Gazan terrorists and has been held for more than 500 days. Photo: Hostages and Missing Families Forum
i24 News – The family of the Israeli soldier Nimrod Cohen, held captive in the Gaza Strip, said on Saturday that they had identified their son in the video published the day before by Hamas.
In this recording, Eitan and Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and other hostages whose faces have been blurred can be seen. The Cohen family says they recognized Nimrod, who appears wearing a t-shirt and bearing a characteristic tattoo.
In the video broadcast with the agreement of the Horn family, brothers Eitan and Iair are seen embracing. Iair Horn, freed on the 498th day of the war, declares: “They are making me leave my little brother here, to die,” while his brother Eitan, still in captivity, adds: “It is illogical to separate families in this way.”
“Get everyone out and don’t separate families, don’t destroy our lives,” Eitan said in the video. “Tell mom and dad to continue the protests and for this government to sign phase two to bring us all home.” He addressed the Prime Minister directly: “[Benjamin] Netanyahu, if you have a bit of heart, sign, sign today.”
Father Yehuda Cohen said during a demonstration of hostage families that his “son Nimrod is a soldier who was kidnapped from a burning tank. He is alive and he, like all the hostages, begs us from this hell to save them now. All of them, and all at once.”
“We are addressing President Trump – there are still 59 hostages in Gaza who are living a Holocaust,” he added. “Netanyahu is trying to sabotage your agreement, Mr. President. He is the one creating the current crisis in the negotiations. Don’t let him fail the agreement.”
About two weeks ago, Cohen revealed in an interview with Channel 12 that the family had received a message from Nimrod. “We got news from him last week, from two hostages who spent eight months with him in the tunnels,” the father explained. “I’m doing fine, don’t worry about me. I love you,” Nimrod conveyed to his parents through the former captives.
The post Captive IDF Soldier Nimrod Cohen Identified from Horn Video Hamas Released first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel’s Right-Wing Camp Hails Order to Block Goods from Entering Gaza
Jewish Power party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks following the announcement of exit polls in Israel’s general election, at his party headquarters in Jerusalem November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Corinna Kern
i24 News – Israel’s right wing hailed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision on Sunday to halt goods and supplies from being brought to the Gaza Strip, demanding that hostages continue being released.
“I welcome the decision to halt the humanitarian aid, if it is implemented,” said former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “The decision has finally been made – better late than never. This should be the policy until the last of the hostages is returned. Now is the time to open the gates of hell, to shut off the electricity and water, to return to war, and most importantly, not to settle for just half of the hostages, but to return to President Trump’s ultimatum all the hostages immediately or hell will break loose on Gaza.”
Ben Gvir referred to US President Donald Trump’s warning that “all hell” would break out if all the hostages are not returned, while saying that it was ultimately Israel’s decision.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another right-wing firebrand, said that “the decision we made tonight to completely halt the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas is destroyed or completely surrenders and all our hostages are returned is an important step in the right direction.”
He called for Israel to continue until “complete victory.”
Meanwhile, the far-right Order 9 movement, which opposed the entry of goods including humanitarian assistance into Gaza, said that its activists “reached the Kerem Shalom crossing area and it is indeed closed. We will stand guard that it will indeed remain so until the last of the kidnapped are returned”
“The transfer of aid that has strengthened the murderous terrorist organization Hamas for the past year and a half will stop until all the kidnapped are returned,” the movement said. “For many months, we have fought tooth and nail against the terrible failure to transfer aid to the enemy, which has now become clear that it will strengthen it for many months to come. We are now on the ground and will continue to stand guard well, and to ensure that this severe harm to the kidnapped will stop.”
The post Israel’s Right-Wing Camp Hails Order to Block Goods from Entering Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.