RSS
Jewish Infighting Is Having Real and Negative Consequences in Today’s World
Members of the United Nations Security Council meet on the day of a vote on a Gaza resolution, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, March 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
We are in the middle of the nine days preceding Tisha B’Av, a precarious time for Jews. One important warning during the nine days is not to engage in baseless hatred among Jews that led — or at least made a major contribution to — the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Unfortunately, we are doing the opposite, and infighting in the Jewish community is rampant. It is right against left and left against right, Zionists against anti-Zionist, Reform rabbis against Orthodox rabbis, haredim vs. the rest of Israel, etc.
Right now, Jews worldwide — and especially Israel — are under attack. Many in the European Union and UK want to impose sanctions on Israel over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. These moves are easier for Europeans to plan when they sense infighting in Israel and among Jewish organizations. Antisemitic and pro-Palestinian groups are very astute in taking advantage of discord among us, and it is causing real harm on the ground.
Contradictory news is coming out of Gaza about who is stealing food, not delivering aid, and starving people. Many US and European media outlets go into detailed descriptions of inhumane treatment of Gazans by Israel. Does anybody mention the hostages suffering in Hamas tunnels who have not received real food since October 7 — along with no medical care? And who is talking about the problems with the aid being delivered by the UN or stolen by Hamas?
Yes, it is troubling to see the photos coming from Gaza — and Israel is responding by increasing the amount of aid and access to it. Is this going to be appreciated or acknowledged? It’s highly unlikely.
The accusations made by the UN about famine in Gaza a few months ago were retracted later by UN officials themselves. Whether that will happen again this time, we do not know. And yes, we don’t want civilians to starve. But why isn’t it also reported that Hamas started the war, and gives food to its fighters but not to the population?
Does anybody realize that the EU and UN encourage Hamas in sabotaging hostage release talks and imposing more demands and conditions to seal the so-called deal when all they do is amplify this coverage?
This week, I read a statement by Khalil al-Hayya, one of the exiled chiefs of Gaza, that “ceasefire negotiations were meaningless under continuing blockade and starvation.” The irony of this statement cannot be missed, but it is ignored by Western sources. Don’t European governments, and various Jewish groups, organizations, and prominent personalities, realize that they should press Hamas (and Qatar) to reciprocate Israeli increased humanitarian aid with pressure for an unconditional release of the hostages ?
By the way, I wonder how many people demonizing Israel know about the IDF protecting the Syrian Druze population from assaults and massacres by the new Syrian regime — or are paying attention to more acute crises involving food insecurity across the world, like what is happening in Sudan.
Dr. Jaroslava Halper has been a professor of pathology at The University of Georgia in Athens, GA for many years. She escaped from communist Prague because of antisemitism, and lack of freedom and free speech. The gradual increase of antisemitism and anti-Zionism in certain circles in her second homeland, and the devastating October 7 massacre by Hamas, led her to realize that more active engagement is necessary to combat antisemitism, including anti-Zionism.
The post Jewish Infighting Is Having Real and Negative Consequences in Today’s World first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.