Eli Sharabi reunites with his family after his release from Gazan captivity. Photo: IDF spokesperson’s unit

Israel’s Energy Minister, Eli Cohen, has announced the halt of Israel’s energy supply to Gaza. According to major Western media outlets — including The Guardian, BBC, ABC News, and others — this decision was supposed to lead to an apocalypse, if not immediately, then very soon.

Here’s what Reuters reported:

The Israeli government’s decision to cut the supply of electricity to Gaza, including to a crucial water treatment plant, has sparked fresh warnings of a dire health crisis in a population already in desperate need of food and medicine https://t.co/yd9HSgLo4l pic.twitter.com/J4oPUVeJcy

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 11, 2025

Then there’s CNN’s coverage:

“There is already water scarcity, and the position of the Israeli government will intensify this crisis in Gaza Strip,” the mayor of Gaza municipality Asem Al Nabih told CNN Monday. “Cutting off the electricity (to) Gaza will increase the need for water, especially drinking water.”

“The decision will still have a severe impact on desalination efforts in the enclave,” according to the mayor of the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, Nizar Ayyash. “In addition to our severed supply line, there will be a 70% reduction in the amount of desalinated water suitable for drinking in the central region and the south,” Ayyash explained.

Or this one in The Guardian:

Hamas accused Israel of “cheap and unacceptable blackmail” over its decision. “We strongly condemn the occupation’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine and water,” Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement, adding it was “a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics”.

Hamas’ concerns are understandable. After all, for years it’s been the terror group’s exclusive right to deprive Gazans of food, medicine and water.

For anyone with a basic understanding of the situation in Gaza, it’s clear that this depiction is a big stretch from the reality.

Israel cut most of its energy supply to Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack. Since then, Gazans have primarily relied on private generators and solar panels. The minister’s latest decision mainly affects the Deir al-Balah desalination plant, which serves more than 600,000 Gaza residents through tankers or the water networks of the Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates. The plant was reconnected to Israel’s electricity grid in December 2024 — an event that attracted almost no media attention. Since then, it has produced approximately 16,000 cubic meters of water per day, according to UNICEF.

Simple arithmetic shows that, assuming that the plant works on full capacity, the halt in Deir al-Balah’s operations accounts for approximately 30% of the clean water supply for Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, while CNN and others used the information from Hamas-appointed officials to report a 70% reduction. Also, the media didn’t emphasize enough or failed to mention completely that this cut would affect only a part of Gaza’s population, equating to about an 8.6% reduction in the total clean water supply for all of Gaza.

Thus, while Eli Cohen’s decision does contribute to the existing water shortage, it is far from the catastrophic, total freeze of electricity that media reports suggest.

How Has Western Media Turned This Into an Imminent Apocalypse?

The answer: unprofessional journalism that fails to exercise basic due diligence. Instead of relying on publicly available data, these reports take at face value the statements of Hamas-appointed officials.

Behind the seemingly neutral titles of “the mayor of the central Gaza city” or “municipality spokesperson” are individuals directly appointed by Hamas. Gaza has been under totalitarian Hamas rule for years, making it virtually impossible for officials not to toe the party line. Asem Al Nabih was appointed by Hamas in 2019, and Nizar Ayyash was appointed in 2024.

Eli Cohen’s decision may well be aimed at his domestic political constituency. However, the Western media are far too eager to frame Israel as committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, and sheer immorality — portraying this decision as if Israel had abruptly stripped all Gazans of electricity overnight.

Meanwhile, consider recent Turkish airstrikes in November 2024 in drought-struck northeast Syria. These strikes cut off access to electricity and water for more than a million people, mostly Kurds. A year earlier, attacks on electricity infrastructure in October 2023 shut down the region’s main water station, Alouk, and it has not been operational since. There is an ongoing conflict between Turks and Kurds, yet Turkey has not suffered an attack from the Kurds equivalent to Hamas’ October 7 massacre.

Despite this, no prolonged international outrage comparable to the case of Gaza followed, no humanitarian organizations launched urgent campaigns, and the International Criminal Court did not issue an arrest warrant for Turkey’s President Erdoğan. BBC, for example, merely noted that “experts say it may be a violation of international law.”

A Media Blind Spot

Returning to Gaza, even international aid organizations estimate that Hamas has enough fuel to run generators for approximately 45 more days. This estimate, however, should be taken with extreme caution, given these organizations’ repeated failures to provide reliable data on famine, their lack of serious efforts to assist Israeli hostages, and their documented links to Hamas.

But even if we assume their numbers are accurate, the real question remains: What would a humane government that genuinely cares about civilians do to avoid the dire consequences of running out of energy in 45 days? And what about the civilians themselves — those who truly care about their lives and the lives of their children?

There is only one answer: They would release the innocent hostages who have now been held for over 500 days. Now think about a government that prioritizes holding 24 live hostages and 35 bodies over providing its own population with food and clean water.

Paraphrasing Golda Meir: The core problem is not that Israel does not care enough about civilians in Gaza. It is that people in Israel care so much about their civilians, they’re ready to release thousands of murderers. In stark contrast, Hamas and its supporters, who constitute a significant part of their population, care much more about destroying Israel than about the wellbeing of their civilians — including children.

And that is how trustworthy media should present it.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post Gaza’s Energy Problem: They Want To Keep Tortured Israeli Hostages More Than Helping Rebuild Their Society first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

An empty classroom. Photo: Wiki Commons.

For many children — and adults — one of the most exciting elements of Purim is the opportunity to dress up in costumes. When wearing a costume, or more specifically a mask, one can pretend to be different people and try on different character traits for the day.

Sometimes, however, a mask is used to conceal and hide what is underneath.

But what about the invisible masks that children wear daily in the halls of our schools and classrooms? What are they trying to conceal?

In our 18 years working closely with Jewish day schools and observing students in schools across the country, we have observed the many ways children try to disguise their struggles by donning a mask to hide what is really going on beneath the surface.  These masks are a silent call for help, their way of coping. As educators, we need to look beneath the mask to figure out what they are trying to communicate.

A recent case in one of our participating schools involved a fourth-grade student named Emma (not her real name). Emma often acted out, addressing her fellow students and teachers with violent comments, drawing graphically disturbing images, and intentionally shocking her classmates.

Such behavior is often dismissed as a sign that a student is “mentally unfit for a mainstream classroom,” with teachers and administrators insisting that the child find a different framework or school to address their issues.

But the truth is that this child was not mentally ill. Far from it. Beneath her violent speech and “outrageous” behavior, our teacher discovered that this student was compensating for severe learning disabilities, including dyslexia and dysgraphia. Through work with one of our coaches, the school recognized that Emma was an extremely bright student who had been masking her academic struggles with disruptive behavior to compensate and divert attention from the real problem.

Understanding the root cause of her actions helped the school shift its approach from counseling her out of the school to implementing strategies and support systems to help her succeed. Emma was able to remove the mask and thrive in school.

Johnny, another child we observed in a different school, is a third grader who regularly complained to his teacher that he was being picked on by his classmates. After taking the time to observe the child, our teacher was able to determine that the child didn’t have the necessary skills to engage his fellow classmates. With our coach’s guidance, the teacher began creatively working with the child to build up his social cognition skills, allowing him to see how small changes in his own behavior can make a positive impact on how others perceived him.

There are also cases where children are acting out because they are being mistreated at home — again, a sign that a mask is concealing what is truly happening beneath the surface, outside the vision of polite society.

“Behavior communicates and we have to figure out what they are trying to communicate” explains Hollis Dannaham, a learning expert.

Through observing and working with students in the classroom and elsewhere, we can find and embrace the hidden spark within each child and create opportunities for each student to shine. When we find ways to meet the needs of diverse learners, to allow our students to take off their masks and be comfortable in their own skin, the entire class environment can change for the better.

Answering that call is not always easy, particularly for teachers standing in front of a full classroom of students, each with his or her individual needs, talents and sometimes learning obstacles. But the Purim story, full of hidden motives and hidden identities, reminds us to peel back the layers and remove the masks so that we can hear what struggling students are trying to say and help them succeed.

Debbie Niderberg serves as Executive Director of Hidden Sparks. Rabbi Elisha Hus serves as Director of School Services for Hidden Sparks.

The post Purim, and the Masks Our Students Wear first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Anti-Israel agitators disrupting an Israeli history class at Columbia University, New York City, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

In a move that is shaking up the academic world, the Trump administration has revoked $400 million in Federal funding from Columbia University. Announced on March 7, 2025, this decision is not just about financial penalties — it’s about setting a precedent. As a Jewish high school student preparing to apply to college, I see Trump’s funding cut as a powerful stand against the antisemitism that has been ignored for too long.

For years, Jewish students at Columbia have reported harassment, intimidation, and outright hostility. From professors pushing anti-Israel rhetoric to student groups targeting Jewish peers, the environment has become toxic. Yet, despite countless complaints, Columbia’s administration failed to act decisively. Policies weren’t enforced, and antisemitism was allowed to thrive unchecked.

This isn’t just about Columbia. It’s about elite universities becoming breeding grounds for hate, while hiding behind the shield of academic freedom. Jewish students across the country have felt abandoned, and left to fend for themselves in hostile environments where their safety takes a backseat to political agendas.

Some argue that cutting funding will hurt students, but the reality is that Columbia had every opportunity to fix this issue before it came to such drastic measures. Federal funding comes with responsibilities. Universities that take taxpayer dollars must ensure a safe learning environment for all students. If they refuse, they shouldn’t continue receiving government support.

This isn’t about censorship. Columbia still has the right to teach what it wants, host any speakers, and allow protests. But when hate escalates into harassment and threats, there must be consequences. If a university chooses not to protect its students, it doesn’t deserve Federal funding.

For Jewish students like me, this move is personal. I’ve watched friends hesitate before applying to certain colleges, worried that their faith will make them a target. I’ve seen Jewish students hide their identities out of fear. That is not the America we should live in. Yet, it has become the reality on far too many campuses.

That’s why Trump’s action is necessary. The administration’s decision makes it clear: universities that tolerate antisemitism will face real consequences.

Columbia isn’t the only school that should be worried. Other elite universities that have allowed antisemitism to grow unchecked should see this as a warning sign. If they continue tolerating hate, they too could lose funding. No institution is too powerful to be held accountable.

I’ve heard numerous commentators in the media call this move extreme. But what’s truly extreme is allowing Jewish students to be harassed, to be attacked verbally and physically, and made to feel unsafe in their own classrooms. What’s extreme is ignoring systemic antisemitism on university campuses.

As a high school student looking toward the future, this decision gives me hope. It tells me that someone in power is finally listening. That Jewish students won’t be ignored anymore. That universities will be forced to take real steps to protect all students.

The message is clear: if universities want Federal support, they must protect all students. No exceptions. No excuses. Columbia learned that the hard way. And hopefully, the rest of academia is paying attention.

Gregory Lyakhov is a high school student whose writing has been published by The New York Post and several Jewish news sites, he has also made appearances on Fox & Friends and Newsmax.

The post I’m a Jewish Student; President Trump Was Right to Cut Funding to Columbia first appeared on Algemeiner.com.