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Netflix Epic on Moses Platforms Biased Scholar Who Expressed Joy on Oct.7
A newly-released Netflix documentary series on the Biblical story of Moses has given a platform to an Egyptian scholar who referred to the Biblical Promised Land as “Palestine” and expressed happiness during Hamas’ October 7 massacre in southern Israel, HonestReporting revealed this week.
Testament: The Story of Moses is currently riding high in the Netflix Top 10 in numerous countries, including Israel and others in the Middle East.
But the exposure of one of its interviewees — Dr. Monica Hanna from Egypt’s College of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage — casts a shadow over an otherwise enjoyable and informative documentary drama released just in time for Passover.
In the show, which depicts the saga of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, Hanna shoehorns “Palestine” into the narrative, although it did not exist at the time.
Referring to the Pharaoh at the time, Hanna says that “when he comes to power, he leads several campaigns to the area of Syria Palestine. He conquers areas even as far as Beirut in Lebanon.”
In fact, the Biblical term for the Promised Land during this period was “Canaan,” as mentioned by the series’ narrator himself.
Palestine, or officially “Provincia Syria Palaestina,” was a name invented by the Romans in 135 CE as a replacement for “Judea,” in an effort to eliminate all expressions of Jewry in the region following the defeat of Bar Kohba in the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire.
The period of the Pharaoh in the Exodus story is believed to have been some 1,300 years before that. Put simply, the term “Palestine” did not exist at that time.
As David Levine writes: “The not-so-subtle use of the words ‘Syria’ and ‘Palestine’ is misleading and historically incorrect. She seems to be implying that ‘Palestine,’ and therefore, ‘Palestinians’ date back to at least this ancient period. As an Egyptologist and expert in cultural heritage, she should know better.”
Some may argue that academics use the term “Palestine,” even anachronistically. And some may claim that Hanna tried to use it as a more familiar term instead of “Canaan” (like she did by mentioning Beirut in Lebanon).
But why did she insert a political term into an ancient historical story that connects the Jewish people to the Land of Israel?
The answer seems to lie in Hanna’s posts on X (formerly Twitter), which reveal her underlying anti-Israeli sentiment.
On October 7, as Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped some 240 more, Hanna shared posts reading in English and Arabic: “Sweet October” with a smiley face, and “Beautiful are the gifts of the 50th anniversary,” an apparent reference to the 1973 Yom Kippur war in which Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on the Jewish State.
One of Hanna’s 100k+ followers on X replied in a way that shows the message has been clearly received: “October 6 is Egyptian [The Yom Kippur War] and October 7 is Palestinian,” he exclaimed with a victory mark.
Hanna also declared “Long Live Free Palestine,” in a post she shared last month, after being honored by a Palestinian Authority official for her academic work:
So when Hanna uses the term “Palestine” in a top Netflix documentary, it’s loaded.
Is this a scholar who merits such a respectable and wide-reaching platform?
And couldn’t the Netflix team, whose producers and researchers worked so hard to present a balanced array of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim experts on the show, perform minimal due diligence on their interviewees, or notice when facts have been distorted?
Sadly, it seems they chose to pass over this issue.
HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Netflix Epic on Moses Platforms Biased Scholar Who Expressed Joy on Oct.7 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IDF Denies Troops Fired on Civilians After Incidents of Settler Violence
Illustrative. Israeli troops during counterterrorism activity in Tulkarem, northwestern Samaria, September 2024. Photo: IDF.
i24 News – The IDF released a statement after an incident during which Israeli soldiers opened fire on Israeli civilians in the West Bank on Saturday night, denying that the trooped fired live ammunition.
This comes at the heels of arson incidents by settlers against Palestinian villages, with clashes breaking out. The IDF said that its soldiers had come under attack on Friday as they entered the area of Kafr Malik, the site of the disturbances, by Israeli civilians. “The undermining of the rule of law and the use of violence by a radical minority harm security and stability in the area.”
The IDF later said that “an initial investigation indicates that IDF forces did not fire live ammunition at Israeli civilians in the area. It should be clarified that the battalion commander’s force operating in the Baal Hatzor area of the Binyamin brigade did not fire live ammunition at all.” On the other hand, the civilians claimed this was false, posting a video that showed shell casings on the ground right next to where the troops were deployed.
Meanwhile, the police requested the remand of six individuals, two of whom are minors, to be extended in connection with the incident.
The IDF later said that, “in another area within the sector, stones were thrown at a military vehicle near the site of the clash by masked individuals from an ambush. The force responded with a warning shot of three bullets.” A possible connection “between this incident and the claim that an Israeli civilian was injured by live fire” is being investigated.
After the incidents late last week, the IDF issued an unusual directive for soldiers to exercise special vigilance and also prepare for scenarios involving nationalist incidents perpetrated by Israeli citizens. The directive was issued after a military vehicle was set on fire inside a Jewish settlement, the tires of an armored David vehicle were punctured, and a community policing caravan near the community of Beit El was also set on fire.
“The security establishment system is highly alert,” a security official told i24NEWS. “We are seeing an escalation on the ground – and if you cannot leave a military vehicle in a Jewish community without it being burned in the sector, it is a sign that the situation is dangerous.”
The post IDF Denies Troops Fired on Civilians After Incidents of Settler Violence first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Orders Evacuations in Northern Gaza as Trump Calls for War to End
US President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza on Sunday before intensified fighting against Hamas, as US President Donald Trump called for an end to the war amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire.
“Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold talks later in the day on the progress of Israel’s offensive. A senior security official said the military will tell him the campaign is close to reaching its objectives, and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining Israeli hostages.
But in a statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, the military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south towards the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a humanitarian area. Palestinian and U.N. officials say nowhere in Gaza is safe.
“The (Israeli) Defense Forces is operating with extreme force in these areas, and these military operations will escalate, intensify, and extend westward to the city center to destroy the capabilities of terrorist organizations,” the military said.
The evacuation order covered the Jabalia area and most Gaza City districts. Medics and residents said the Israeli army’s bombardments escalated in the early hours in Jabalia, destroying several houses and killing at least six people.
At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, relatives arrived to pay their respects to white-shrouded bodies before they are buried.
“A month ago, they (Israel) told us to go to Al-Mawasi (in Khan Younis) and we stayed there for a month, it is a safe zone,” said Zeyad Abu Marouf. He said three of his children were killed and a fourth was wounded in the Israeli airstrike.
“We ask God and the Arabs to move and end this occupation and the injustice taking place against us,” Abu Marouf told Reuters.
NEW CEASEFIRE PUSH
The military escalation comes as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, begin a new ceasefire effort to halt the 20-month-old conflict and secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages still being held by Hamas.
Interest in resolving the Gaza conflict has heightened following US and Israeli bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
There has also been rising concern over how aid is being distributed to Gazans in the ruined enclave. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said.
A Hamas official told Reuters the group had informed the mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks, but reaffirmed the group’s outstanding demands that any deal must end the war and secure an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal territory.
Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, only in a deal that will end the war. Israel says it can only end the war if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
The post Israel Orders Evacuations in Northern Gaza as Trump Calls for War to End first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Russia Launches Largest Drone Attack Yet Against Ukraine, Kills F-16 Pilot
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
i24 News – Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia launched 537 drones and missiles against targets throughout Ukraine overnight between Saturday and Sunday, in what what described as the largest attack of the war.
Poland activated aerial defenses and scrambled jets as the six-hour onslaught continued. One Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed as Kyiv attempted to intercept the missiles and drones, with 475 shot down.
“Tragically, while repelling the attack, our F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, died. Today, he destroyed seven aerial targets,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Ustymenko did everything possible, but his jet was damaged and started losing altitude,” the air force said, as quoted in Politico. “He died like a hero!”
The cities of Cherkasy, Lviv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv were targeted.
The Russia attack came after Ukraine attacked the Kirovske airfield in the Crimean Peninsula, targeting air defenses, drones, and even destroying several helicopters and an air defense system.
The post Russia Launches Largest Drone Attack Yet Against Ukraine, Kills F-16 Pilot first appeared on Algemeiner.com.