Amazon is no longer selling a book by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after being informed by a group of pro-Israel lawyers in the United Kingdom on Thursday that the sale of the book is illegal in the UK and in breach of Amazon’s own policies.

“Thanks for bringing this to our attention,” Amazon said on Friday in response to a letter it received from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) about Sinwar’s self-published book The Thorn and the Carnation.

“We’ll investigate further to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Amazon added. “In the meantime, the item may be temporarily unavailable to buy from Amazon.co.uk, though it may still be available from merchants on the Amazon.co.uk website.” The book is also no longer available for purchase in the US.

According to UKLFI, the description of Thorn and the Carnation on Amazon said the book is a “compelling novel” that “offers a profound window into the resilience and the ethos” of Sinwar. The book also allows readers to “traverse the corridors of his mind, possibly where the seeds for the ‘Flood of Al-Aqsa’ operation initiated on October 7, 2023, were sown.” It was published in hardback on March 22, 2024, and in paperback on April 8, 2024.

Sinwar was the mastermind behind the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel that took place on Oct. 7. Hamas terrorists murdered about 1,200 people that day and took more than 250 others as hostages back to the Gaza Strip. Mounting evidence has revealed that the Palestinian terrorists systematically perpetrated sexual violence, including torture and mass rape, against the Israeli people during the Oct. 7 onslaught, which Hamas named “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.” The terrorist attack was the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Amazon employee Sasha Trufanov is one of the hostages currently being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attacks, according to UKLFI. Trufanov is an engineer at the Israeli microelectronics company Annapurna Labs, which Amazon owns.

“Sinwar is likely using him as a human shield and or subjecting him to torture,” UKLFI said. The group of lawyers added that Amazon “should be well aware of the book’s offensive and insulting content and the nature of Hamas and Sinwar’s crimes and views.”

UKLFI told the e-commerce giant that selling The Thorn and the Carnation is in violation of the UK’s anti-terrorism legislation. In November, Sinwar was included in the UK’s counter-terrorism regulations as a leader of Hamas, making him subject to financial sanctions. His assets are frozen, and it is illegal in the UK to make funds or economic resources accessible to him.

In addition to contacting Amazon about the book, UKLFI reported the company to the police. Many Amazon customers also left reviews on the website slamming the book before its removal, saying it “incites hatred,” should no longer be sold, and is “nothing more than a terrorist indoctrination manual.” Amazon’s selling of Sinwar’s book appears to further breach many aspects of the company’s policy regarding “offensive and controversial materials” and “content guidelines for books.”

After Amazon removed The Thorn and the Carnation from its website, UKLFI Director Caroline Turner expressed gratitude that the website “acted quickly to prevent money being illegally channeled to Hamas’ leader, who is currently holding over 130 Israelis hostage, including one of their own employees.”

Over 100 of the hostages abducted on Oct. 7 have been returned to Israel.

The Jewish state has arrested Sinwar, the Hamas terror group’s leader in Gaza, numerous times. Most recently, Israel released him, and other Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for Hamas’ release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.

In September 2015, Sinwar was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the US Department of State.

The post Amazon Pulls Book by Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar Referencing Oct. 7 Attacks After UK Lawyers Intervene first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Israel on Friday approved an amendment to a law providing payments to returned hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, increasing the aid the former captives are due to receive.

The original law, which was passed in 2005, stipulates monthly payments to “a person who was captured by the enemy.” This week’s amendment increases the monthly stipend given to Israelis who were released from captivity from 1,375 NIS ($365) per month to 2,600 NIS ($691) per month.

“The change in the legislation is welcome, and there is no doubt that it brings another layer of assistance to the abductees and their families,” said Zvika Cohen, the director-general of Israel’s National Insurance. “As those who take an essential part in the care of the victims of terrorism, this comprehensive envelope brings immediate help both financially and mentally, saves bureaucracy, and helps in the recovery process that we all wish for.”

Yaron Cohen — who leads the Hostages, Missing Persons, and Returnees Division in the Prime Minister’s Office — said his team worked with the “Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice to provide an appropriate response to the kidnapping of citizens from their homes and their captivity in inhumane conditions, with the understanding that they face physical and mental difficulties which have no precedent in the history of the State of Israel.”

He added, “We will continue to work together with the families and all government officials to study the needs and gaps and do everything to give them a proper and supportive environment.”

Alongside the monthly stipend, all released hostages will become eligible for disability status, meaning they will receive substantial discounts on housing, car purchases, and medical care.

The approved change in the law came over six months after Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, murdering 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 others as hostages.

The legal changes only apply to those captives who have been released. So far, 112 hostages have been returned alive to Israel, though not all of them are Israeli citizens and therefore not eligible for the payments.

Mounting evidence, including testimonies from some of the released captives, has revealed that many hostages endured sexual abuse at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

It is unclear how many of the hostages still in Gaza are alive. Egypt, Qatar, and the US have been mediating talks between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining abductees. Hamas has to this point rejected several ceasefire proposals.

“The disaster of Oct. 7 brought with it human and civil complexities that the State of Israel has never known before,” Israeli Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur said of the latest amendment. “Redemption of captives is not only a Jewish obligation, but a human obligation, and this law is intended to provide relief for those who returned to Israel after a severe trauma and to ensure that they receive not only financial assistance but a package of rights and treatments that will help them return to normal as much as possible.”

Now that the changes have been approved by the relevant government bodies, including the Defense Ministry, the measure will be sent to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, for a vote. The change is expected to be passed into law.

It is stipulated in the wording that the payment changes will apply retroactively, meaning that the released hostages will see an extra payment from the months they were released until now.

The post Israeli Government Approves Increased Payments to Returned Gaza Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

There’s a poster I’ve hung on to from just a couple of days before Oct. 7. It reminds me how much has changed in what I do as a Jewish journalist—and as a Jewish person in general, too. The poster was promoting a Toronto visit by Swell Ariel Or, the Israeli star of the television […]

The post War reporting from the heart: Ellin Bessner on how her Jewish journalism mission changed forever appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.