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Polio Vaccination Campaign Gives Lie to Claims of Israeli ‘Genocide’

Dr. Jonas Salk, an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. Photo: WIkimedia Commons.

JNS.org – States that commit genocide do not make distinctions between military personnel and civilian populations. They don’t agree to pauses in their military campaigns to allow the delivery of humanitarian relief. They seek to obstruct, rather than cooperate with, international agencies dealing with the emergency housing and medical needs of the targeted population. Should fatal diseases break out among the displaced and dispossessed, as is often the case, they seek to cover these up, instead of acknowledging and countering them.

All of which means one of two things. In the Gaza Strip, Israel is either waging the strangest genocide in the ghastly history of that phenomenon, or it isn’t waging one at all.

Over the last week, Israel has helped the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the U.N. children’s fund, roll out a major vaccination campaign in Gaza against polio following the first case of the virus there in 25 years. More than 1.25 million doses of the vaccine arrived in Gaza on Aug. 25, facilitated by Israel through its Kerem Shalom crossing into the coastal enclave. On Aug. 31, COGAT—the Israeli Ministry of Defense unit responsible for the humanitarian situation in Gaza—formally announced the start of the vaccination campaign aimed at Gaza’s children, specifying both times and locations where the vaccine could be obtained. Israel also transferred cooling equipment into Gaza to preserve the vaccines.

The goal is to inoculate 640,000 Gazan children against the disease. A statement from WHO on Sept. 4 confirmed that in the first phase of the inoculation campaign, in central Gaza, 187,000 children had received the vaccine, exceeding the target for that area by 30,000.

“It has been extremely encouraging to see thousands of children being able to access polio vaccines, with the support of their resilient families and courageous health workers, despite the deplorable conditions they have braved over the last 11 months. All parties respected the humanitarian pause and we hope to see this positive momentum continue,” commented Richard Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative for Gaza, which is probably the closest Israel will get to receiving a vote of thanks from this agency, which is not exactly known for its warmth towards the Jewish state. The campaign has now moved to southern Gaza, where crowds of Palestinian families gathered to receive the vaccines, before being completed in the northern part of the strip in its final phase.

It’s hard to think of another state, particularly one enveloped in a war of survival, which would go to such lengths to protect children in the combat zone from this devastating illness that can paralyze parts of the body. Russia, which has been kidnapping children in Ukraine, certainly wouldn’t do the same. Nor would Turkey, which has sent its armed forces into neighboring Syria and continues its genocidal campaign against its Kurdish minority. Ditto for China, Burma/Myanmar, Sudan and all the other countries where real genocides are underway, prosecuted by political and military leaders whose aim is for the victims they are targeting to die as rapidly and in as great a number as possible.

As befits a movement that places its hands over its ears whenever inconvenient facts crop up, the global pro-Hamas mob has either been silent on the vaccine campaign or promoted ridiculous conspiracy theories accusing Israel of planting the virus and then rolling out a fake vaccine. Ironically, most Palestinians do not seem to share this perspective. When Bisan Owda, a Gazan social-media influencer, warned that the emergence of polio was the consequence of an anti-Palestinian conspiracy, she received short shrift from Nour Alsaqa—another Gazan influencer and hardly a friend of Israel—who pointed out that the first polio case was registered and publicized by the Hamas-run Health Ministry! Alsaqa pointedly asked Owda why her video denouncing the vaccination effort was posted in English “when the targeted population is Gazans who speak Arabic.” She concluded that Owda was simply “seeking attention online … again.” I am not going to disagree with that assessment.

To be crystal clear, I’m not arguing that the vaccination campaign means that Gaza’s Palestinian population suddenly views its Israeli neighbors through rose-colored spectacles. What I am saying is that the vaccine drive, which absolutely would not have been possible without Israel’s consent and practical assistance, is important evidence in countering the monstrous lie that Israel’s goal is to exterminate every last Palestinian. If this was a war on civilians, there would be no vaccine. But it isn’t. It’s a war against Hamas, the terrorist organization that sparked this conflict in the first place with its Oct. 7 pogrom and whose actions have caused misery for the people they claim they want to liberate.

Yet one can hardly expect the Israel-hating protesters on American and European campuses to show some humility when too many of their governments are bolstering the view that Israel is a rogue state deliberately committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. I’m not talking here about Iran or Turkey or Qatar—states whose leaders have fawned over the Hamas rapists for almost a year now. I’m talking about ostensible allies of Israel (and the United States) who have tried to tie Israel’s hands militarily, by unilaterally recognizing Palestinian statehood and cutting off supplies of weapons to the Israel Defense Forces.

The latest example of this shameful behavior involves the newly elected Labour government in the United Kingdom, whose foreign secretary, David Lammy, announced on Sept. 2 that 30 of 350 arms export licenses to Israel had been suspended out of concern that the Jewish state would use this materiel in violation of international humanitarian law. Lammy made the announcement as Israeli troops discovered the bodies of six hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, after they were brutally executed by their Hamas captors in Gaza, as well as in the wake of Israel’s announcement that it was transferring the polio vaccines as a matter of urgency. Hiding this shabby political maneuvering behind the excuse of impartial legal advice, both Lammy and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have distinguished themselves by rounding on Israel in a moment of excruciating pain for the entire nation. Israelis are unlikely to forget that insult for a long time, if at all.

The United Kingdom, which happily supplies weapons to abusers like Turkey and China without worrying about legal advice, has joined a list of other countries that have implemented similar restrictions, among them Spain, the Netherlands and Canada. None of this will have much impact on Israel’s fighting capabilities since more than 90% of the IDF’s imported weaponry comes from the United States and Germany. The threat these measures represent is political, encouraging neutral observers to draw an equivalence between the IDF and Hamas, and to reinforce the view that while Israel may theoretically have the right to defend itself, in practical terms it doesn’t. At the same time, such measures suggest to Israel’s implacable enemies that their positions are essentially correct and that the power of the “Zionist lobby” is what prevents their governments from endorsing their line wholesale. That Israel rises above the fray and makes the right decisions regardless is to its eternal credit.

The post Polio Vaccination Campaign Gives Lie to Claims of Israeli ‘Genocide’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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X marks the spot where Elon Musk’s gesture is being debated, derided, defended and disputed

Hours after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, many Jewish groups sounded the alarm when Elon Musk appeared to twice deliver a Nazi salute at the Presidential Parade.

But the Jewish group most famous for fighting antisemitism had a different take.

“It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute,” the Anti-Defamation League wrote Monday in a statement on Musk’s own social media platform X, referring to Musk’s outstretched-arm movement that came as he was thanking his supporters.

The ADL added, “In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning.”

Musk replied, “Thanks guys,” adding a laughing emoji.

Others were less grateful for the ADL’s response. A range of groups on the left have long opposed the ADL for what they say is an improper focus on policing pro-Palestinian speech and advocating for Israel—and they criticized the group’s reaction to Musk’s gesture. But they were joined by others who have aligned in the past with the ADL, including the pro-Israel group Zioness, which said it “vehemently disagreed with ADL’s take on Elon Musk’s behavior today.”

“When we see what is clearly a Nazi salute—without apology or clarification—we must unequivocally call it out. Orgs committed to fighting antisemitism must do so no matter where on the political spectrum it comes from,” the New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive group that has collaborated with the ADL, wrote on X. “If we can’t, we’re not ready for what’s coming.”

At a time when the ADL itself has documented historic levels of antisemitism, how did it decide to give the world’s richest man the benefit of the doubt? The group declined to say on Tuesday.

An ADL spokesperson said CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was unavailable for comment, saying he was at the global economic summit in Davos, Switzerland. Greenblatt is scheduled to speak on a Thursday panel at the forum entitled “Confronting Antisemitism amid Polarization,” alongside teachers union leader Randi Weingarten and former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, both of whom are Jewish. On X, he refrained from commenting on Musk even as he posted to thank multiple airlines for resuming flights to Israel.

The ADL also declined to elaborate on its statement or explain how it was crafted in response to inquiries from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. But in its symbolic pardon of a billionaire who had enthusiastically bankrolled Trump’s campaign, it appeared to contradict its own definition of a Nazi salute, which states that the gesture “consists of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down.”

The statement also raised questions among many about how the ADL plans to fight antisemitism during the second Trump administration—when a growing number of people in the president’s inner circle, including Musk, have track records that include rhetoric and actions the ADL usually condemns. Shortly after defending Musk, the group condemned Trump’s decision to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters, a group that included members of far-right extremist groups, and also praised his newly sworn-in secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

Into the void created by the ADL’s statement, Jewish and non-Jewish figures alike are deciding how meaningful Musk’s salute really is. The ADL’s own former director, Abraham Foxman, wrote on X that he considered Musk’s actions “very disconcerting,” writing, “Elon Musk may be the world’s richest man but that does not excuse his thanking the Trump supporters with a Heil Hitler Nazi salute.”

Foxman declined to comment to JTA on how the organization he helmed for decades responded to Musk. “The situation is too serious to engage in Jewish internal debates at this time,” Foxman said.

And Deborah Lipstadt, who served as the Biden administration’s special envoy combating global antisemitism until this week, downplayed the incident.

“I believe we have much, much bigger things to worry about regarding contemporary antisemitism than this particular issue,” Lipstadt told JTA, saying she was referring both to Musk’s salute and the ADL’s response. (Lipstadt separately told The Forward she accepted the ADL’s reading of the gesture as “awkward.”) The U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum did not respond to a request for comment on Musk’s gesture.

Others, including many progressives, were quick to denounce Musk, the ADL, or both.

“Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and a high-ranking member of the new Trump administration, gave an unambiguous Nazi salute at a post-inauguration Trump rally,” the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, a progressive group, wrote in a fundraising email topped with an image of Musk’s gesture. “We need to be prepared to call out and fight back against hate and extremism wherever we see it.”

One of the most widely shared condemnations came from Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent progressive voices in Washington.

“Just to be clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity,” she wrote in response to the ADL. “People can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now. You work for them.”

That, in turn, drew backlash from a range of voices chiding Ocasio-Cortez, who is not Jewish, for discounting the voice of a prominent Jewish group.

Zioness, which stated its “vehement” disagreement with the ADL, also accused Ocasio-Cortez of engaging in “exploitation of this moment to openly attack the most identifiable Jewish organization in America.” But it also said, “There is no such thing as an accidental Nazi salute.”

Some people encouraged each other to flood the ADL’s own antisemitic incident reporting system with reports of Musk’s gesture. Jewish actor and former “Unorthodox” podcast co-host Josh Malina, a frequent tweeter, remarked that he would “report the ADL to the ADL,” adding, “Shame on you, ADL.”

IfNotNow, a progressive Jewish group that has been a prominent voice accusing Israel of genocide, said it was “appalled that the Anti-Defamation League—which purports to be the leading organization fighting antisemitism—glossed over Musk’s Nazi gesture, admonishing those of us who were aghast at the Hitler salute to give Musk ‘the benefit of the doubt’—even as the ADL assumes the worst intentions of those in the movement for Palestinian human rights.”

The group added that the ADL’s statement “marks the completion of the ADL’s transition from a civil rights organization to a willing partner in the neo-fascist governing coalition.”

This is far from Musk’s first brush with accusations of antisemitism. Recently, he has promoted the German far-right AfD party, whose politicians have downplayed the Holocaust, along with anti-immigrant figures and causes in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory shared on X as “the actual truth,” prompting many advertisers to flee the platform. He later mounted a rehabilitation effort, visiting Auschwitz (where he opined that X could have saved Jews from the Holocaust) and advocating on behalf of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

In recent months he has also praised a Tucker Carlson X interview with a Holocaust denier (though later deleted his endorsement of the video) and invited avowed antisemites, including Nick Fuentes, back onto the platform after they were banned by the site’s previous owners.

Fuentes, for his part, expressed confusion about the ADL’s post, writing, “Is there something else going on?” He did not elaborate on what he was thinking.

But some pro-Israel and conservative influencers rushed to Musk’s defense, accusing Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives of hypocrisy for not loudly condemning Nazi sympathizers and salutes at pro-Palestinian protests.

“TODAY, because Musk’s gesture looked like a Nazi salute, TODAY was the day they finally decided that Nazi salutes are BAD,” pro-Israel activist Jordyn Tilchen wrote on Instagram, in one representative post. Yet Tilchen also noted that “Musk should make a statement” about his gesture, “because there are far right extremists on neo-Nazi Telegram channels RIGHT NOW who believe it was” a Nazi salute.

Also defending Musk was Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, who made a name for herself by condemning university presidents for their response to antisemitism. Stefanik took part of her Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday to deny Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy’s charge that Musk had performed “two Heil Hitler salutes.”

“No, Elon Musk did not do those salutes,” Stefanik responded. “The American people are smart. They see through it. They support Elon Musk. We are proud to be the country of such successful entrepreneurs.”

Musk, for his part, pinned a video of his speech with the salute to the top of his X page. He also mocked his critics without explicitly clarifying the salute’s intent, writing on X, “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” He called a Wikipedia page mentioning his salute “an extension of legacy media propaganda.”

Greenblatt himself has a long and tangled history with Musk, who threatened to sue the ADL when the group pledged to track hate speech on the site formerly known as Twitter after Musk first purchased it. The two appeared to make up after Oct. 7, when Musk began openly supporting Israel, visited Auschwitz and pledged to curtail anti-Zionist speech on X.

Greenblatt praised such measures even as many corporations were fleeing the platform over a spike in antisemitic content. In November 2023 he told JTA, “I will call out Elon Musk and X, like every other platform, when they get it wrong. And I will credit Elon Musk and X and every other platform when they get it right.”

The post X marks the spot where Elon Musk’s gesture is being debated, derided, defended and disputed appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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Moroccan Tourist With US Green Card Carries Out Stabbing Attack in Tel Aviv, Wounding 4

Israeli police officers respond after a Moroccan national with a US green card carried out a stabbing attack in central Tel Aviv on Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpaare/dpa via Reuters Connect

A Moroccan national with a US green card, who entered Israel three days ago, carried out a stabbing attack in central Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening, wounding at least four people before being shot and killed by an off duty border guard.

Abdelaziz Kaddi, 29, was found with a permanent US resident card after a female officer shot and killed him. According to Israeli reports, he entered Israel on Jan. 18 with a tourist visa with the intention to carry out a terrorist attack. It was later revealed that he had a history of inciting posts on social media.

The off duty border guard who killed Abdelaziz Kaddi after he carried out a stabbing attack in central Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 21, 2024. Photo: Courtesy of volunteer police officer Rani Shilat

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel disclosed that Israeli immigration officials had initially raised concerns about the suspect upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport. The Population and Immigration Authority, Arbel said, identified Kaddi as a potential risk and recommended denying his entry.

Border officials at Ben Gurion Airport reported that Kaddi was unable to provide clear details about the purpose of his visit to Israel, including who he was meeting or whether he intended to work in the country. Following his initial questioning, authorities denied him entry and referred him to the Shin Bet security agency for further review. Despite the initial concerns, security officials ultimately decided to grant him entry after conducting their own assessment.

“I urge Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar to thoroughly investigate this incident and implement necessary measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future,” Arbel said in a statement.

In response to Arbel’s remarks, the Shin Bet stated that Kaddi underwent a thorough security assessment upon his arrival in Israel. This “process included an interrogation and additional checks, after which no security concerns were found that would justify denying him entry,” the security agency said, adding that the incident was under review to ensure proper procedures were followed.

The attack unfolded in two locations, Nahalat Binyamin Street and nearby Kalisher Street, a bustling area adjacent to the Carmel market frequented by locals and tourists.

Emergency responders from Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service, said that four people — three in their twenties and one in his fifties — were listed in moderate and light condition after sustaining stabbing wounds.

Witnesses described scenes of panic as the attack unfolded. “We heard a burst of gunfire, saw people running, and rushed into a bathroom,” an eyewitness who was near the scene of the attack told Israel’s Channel 12 News. “We stepped out briefly to check if it was just the sound of a motorcycle, but then we heard another loud bang — and ran to the nearest shelter. All the while, we could hear the sound of many vehicles arriving.”

Warning: Viewer discretion is advised, as the brief clip below shows Kaddi’s dead body.


Authorities urged residents to stay away from the area as police combed the streets, searching for possible accomplices or any additional threats. Volunteer police officer Rani Shilat said the attacker arrived on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice who fled the scene and is still at large.

According to Shilat, the area quickly returned to its usual bustling state shortly after the attack.

The attack comes amid heightened security concerns in Israel, with an ongoing wave of violence in major cities including Tel Aviv, which has been the target of several attacks in recent months. Hundreds of volunteer police officers have been deployed to support the city’s law enforcement.

Israeli police patrol the streets of Tel Aviv after a stabbing attack on Jan. 21, 2024. Photo: Courtesy of volunteer police officer Rani Shilat

Shilat expressed concerns that Tel Aviv could face more attacks in the near future, attributing the threat to a growing sense of confidence among terrorists following the recent Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas as well as the fact that “so many murderers are now roaming the streets free.” The deal, which stipulates the release of 33 hostages from Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners, has, according to Shilat, also emboldened other potential attackers.

“It reinforces their sense of victory,” Shilat said. “Their mindset now is that even in the worst-case scenario, they’ll eventually be freed in another deal somewhere down the line.”

Security forces are working to determine whether Kaddi acted alone or had connections to extremist groups.

He had a history of expressing pro-terror sentiments on social media, frequently sharing content in support of Gaza and against Israel. Kaddi accused Israel of starving northern Gaza and posted a video praising Islam with the caption “free Palestine,” along with an image of Ibrahim Nablusi, a Palestinian Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades commander killed in Nablus who is hailed by pro-Palestinian groups as the martyr and “Lion of Nablus.”

Following Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Kaddi wrote about martyrdom in Islam, posting that “what is happening now may be the reason for the doubling of the number of martyrs for Islam.” His Facebook account was deleted on Tuesday evening, shortly after his identity as the attacker was revealed.

The post Moroccan Tourist With US Green Card Carries Out Stabbing Attack in Tel Aviv, Wounding 4 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Elise Stefanik Calls Out ‘Antisemitic Rot’ At United Nations, Vows To Stress ‘The Importance of Standing With Israel’

US Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) speaks during a House Education and The Workforce Committee hearing titled ‘Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism’ on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, Dec. 5, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

During Tuesday’s Senate confirmation hearings, Rep. Elise Stefanik (D-NY), President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as United Nations (UN) ambassador, lambasted the “antisemitic rot” in the UN, vowing to restore “moral clarity” at the intergovernmental organization. 

“If you look at the anti-Semitic rot within the United Nations, there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis combined,” Stefanik said.

Stefanik continued by pointing out that members of the UN have refused to emphatically condemn the widely-corroborated and evidenced claims of systemic rape of Israeli women on Oct. 7 by the Hamas terrorist group. The congresswoman said she was “overjoyed” at the recent return of three Israeli female hostages—Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari—from the clutches of Hamas, which was made possible by the recent ceasefire deal between the Jewish state and the terrorist group. 

“We need to stay committed to ensuring every hostage is brought home. I’ve met with many hostage families. This position, we need to be a voice of moral clarity on the UN Security Council and at the United Nations at large, for the world to hear the importance of standing with Israel, and I intend to do that,” Stefanik said. 

Stefanik, one of the most stalwart allies of the Jewish state in Congress, reflected on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the controversial and “disgraceful” UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 which defined Zionism as “a form of racism and discrimination.” 

“At the time, our UN ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynahan spoke out strongly against that disgraceful resolution. That is the type of leadership that I hope to bring if confirmed to the United Nations,” Stefanik said. 

Beyond the UN, Stefanik also discussed her views on potential West Bank annexation. Stefanik fielded questions from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), one of the most vociferous critics of Israel in the Senate, regarding her view on the West Bank. Van Hollen asked Stefanik whether she agrees with right-wing Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that the Jewish state has a “biblical right to the entire West Bank.” 

“Yes,” Stefanik replied. 

Van Hollen responded that expanding Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank would prevent “peace and stability” in the Middle East. He encouraged her to rethink her position, urging her to consider the existing UN Security Council resolutions regarding the West Bank. 

Van Hollen and Stefanik also tusseled over whether Palestinians deserve “self determination” in the form of their own state. Van Hollen asserted that Stefanik privately expressed her support for a Palestinian state. However, Stefanik accused the Senator of misrepresenting her viewpoint, instead Palestinains “deserve so much better than the failures they’ve had from terrorist leadership.” 

In the year following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Isarel, Stefanik has established herself as one of the most vocal allies of the Jewish state. 

While serving on the Education and the Workforce Committee, Stefanik has lambasted administrators of elite universities for their mealy-mouthed condemnations of antisemitism and tolerance of anti-Jewish violence on campus. In December 2023, Stefanik engaged in a fiery back-and-forth with the presidents of Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology over  purported antisemitic campus atmospheres.

During the 2024 presidential election, Stefanik cut a video with Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), encouraging Jewish voters to throw their support behind Donald Trump. 

“This is the most important election cycle in our lifetime, and as we have seen on college campuses, the rot of antisemitism is real in the Democratic Party,” Stefanik said.

RJC—an organization which works to enhance ties between the Republican party and the Jewish community—praised Stefanik’s performance during the confirmation hearings. 

“By nominating Rep. [Elise Stefanik] to be the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, President Trump has sent a clear message: that we will stand by our cherished ally Israel and fight back against the vile antisemitism running rampant in Turtle Bay,” RJC wrote on X/Twitter. “RJC is proud to support Rep. Stefanik’s nomination, and strongly urges all US Senators to swiftly confirm her,” RJC continued. 

 

The post Elise Stefanik Calls Out ‘Antisemitic Rot’ At United Nations, Vows To Stress ‘The Importance of Standing With Israel’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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