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Reward UNIFIL’s Epic Failure and Corruption in Lebanon by Shutting it Down

UN peacekeeper (UNIFIL) vehicle drives in Bent Jbeil, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher

JNS.orgThe U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has one job: to ensure that no armed groups, including Hezbollah terrorists, operate in a restricted area of Southern Lebanon. Not only did UNIFIL fail to do this job—it facilitated Hezbollah’s rearming of the region by ignoring them and failing to raise red flags.

Indeed, when Hezbollah began attacking Israel from this restricted territory in October 2023, UNIFIL did nothing to stop them—nor did its bosses at the United Nations—for 13 long months. This failure is rivaled in dishonor and damage only by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Now, instead of being condemned for its despicable performance, UNIFIL has been assigned an integral role in the new Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. Its “new” job will be to coordinate and monitor Hezbollah’s compliance in vacating Southern Lebanon, plus help dismantle any unauthorized military infrastructure and ensure that only Lebanese security forces operate in designated zones.

Sound familiar? That’s exactly what UNIFIL has proved incapable of doing. Instead of disarming Hezbollah, UNIFIL allowed it to build a massive terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon’s south.

Scandalously, the media seldom report on UNIFIL’s failures, preferring instead to cover Israel’s “attacks” on UNIFIL installations or otherwise threatening or displacing “innocent” Lebanese villagers. As does Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah terrorists quarter their military operations in towns and cities, often in the shadow of UNIFIL bases. This true story, of course, doesn’t match the media’s narrative of Israel being the bad actor.

In fact, when the Israel Defense Forces entered Southern Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure—intending to ensure the safe return of 70,000 Israeli residents to their homes in Israel’s north—UNIFIL stood in the way, refusing to withdraw, despite pleas from Israeli leaders. Yet the media and U.N. members blamed Israel whenever UNIFIL sites or personnel were struck.

Given UNIFIL’s shameful failure to prevent Hezbollah from arming and occupying Southern Lebanon, plus UNIFIL’s renewed responsibility to rein in Hezbollah, last week’s ceasefire seems bound to collapse.

In short, UNIFIL is simply another multimillion-dollar boondoggle, like UNRWA, that needs dismantling … one more reason for a dramatic cut in U.N. funding by the United States.

Like other U.N. organizations, UNIFIL is well-financed and staffed but ineffective. Initially set up in 1978 to monitor Israel’s withdrawal from Southern Lebanon following an attack by the PLO, UNIFIL’s mandate was expanded following the 2006 Second Lebanon War, which Hezbollah began by invading Israel, killing eight soldiers and taking two hostages. Per U.N. Resolution 1701 in 2006, UNIFIL was to ensure that Southern Lebanon would be “an area free of any armed personnel, assets, and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL.”

Today, UNIFIL has 10,000 soldiers and a budget of $550 million, of which the United States pays one-third. Many of its soldiers come from hostile Muslim countries that have no relations with Israel. Others come from China, Ireland and Spain, which practice anti-Israel policies—hardly forces motivated to protect Jews from Muslim terrorists.

UNIFIL allowed Hezbollah to arm itself to the teeth—amassing a huge arsenal of more than 200,000 rockets and missiles. The Iranian-backed terrorist group planned to use Southern Lebanon as a base from which to launch an Oct. 7-style attack on Israel. Hezbollah placed its armed positions within sight of UNIFIL observation posts, yet the U.N. peacekeepers did nothing to stop them. UNIFIL failed to investigate even one of the more than 3,000 Hezbollah arms depots and other military sites targeted by Israel since October 2023.

UNIFIL served at Hezbollah’s pleasure. The terrorist group prohibited UNIFIL from patrolling broad swaths of territory and routinely harassed, assaulted, and even killed the force’s personnel. In an interview with a Danish news site, a former, unnamed U.N. soldier said UNIFIL was “completely at Hezbollah’s mercy” and that their ability to report anything was extremely limited because Hezbollah terrorists would confiscate their devices if they attempted to collect evidence.

But UNIFIL is not only incompetent, it is also corrupt. Captured Hezbollah terrorists recently testified that their group paid UNIFIL operatives for their cooperation, including the use of their outposts and security cameras to observe Israel’s military movements.

Hezbollah uses UNIFIL as human shields. The IDF recounted multiple incidents when Hezbollah’s fire came from areas next to UNIFIL posts, including one that killed two IDF soldiers. Israeli forces also discovered Hezbollah tunnel entrances adjacent to UNIFIL posts.

Mainstream media won’t report these travesties. Indeed, an NPR article titled “What is the U.N. peacekeeping force stationed in Lebanon?” fails to mention Hezbollah’s bribery of UNIFIL or its use of peacekeepers as human shields.

Israel tried to protect UNIFIL, only to be condemned. Israel’s leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, implored UNIFIL to leave their positions for their own safety, but these appeals fell on deaf ears. It was also the IDF’s policy during the war always to warn UNIFIL whenever Israel operated in their vicinity so they had the chance to move out of harm’s way.

Instead of praising Israel, however, for trying to protect UNIFIL, world leaders condemned it. Italy and France, for example, denounced Israel for firing on UNIFIL positions, calling its actions outrageous.

Originally published by Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME).

The post Reward UNIFIL’s Epic Failure and Corruption in Lebanon by Shutting it Down first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Yale’s Silence Is Allowing Blatant Campus Antisemitism — and Betraying the Promise of ‘Never Again’

Yale University students at the corner of Grove and College Streets in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S., April 22, 2024. Photo: Melanie Stengel via Reuters Connect.

As darkness fell over Yale University on Wednesday evening, Jewish students faced intimidation that echoed history’s darkest chapters. The following day, as the sun rose on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the world solemnly reflected on the devastating consequences of unchecked hatred.

Yet, disturbingly, at Yale, the shadows of that same hatred linger once again.

For several nights now, radical anti-Israel activists, primarily organized by “Yalies for Palestine,” an anti-Israel hate group, have targeted Jewish students at Yale — in many cases, based solely on their outwardly Jewish appearance. 

On Wednesday, protestors blocked walkways, physically intimidated Jewish students, and hurled bottles and sprayed liquids at them — all while campus police stood by and did nothing.

One Jewish student described her chilling encounter with the protesters the night before, on Tuesday: “When I tried to get through, they blocked me, ignored my requests to pass, and handed out masks to those obstructing me. Yale security told me they couldn’t help.”

The immediate trigger for this harassment is the invitation extended by Shabtai, a Yale Jewish society, to Itamar Ben-Gvir, an Israeli government minister. Whether one supports or opposes Ben-Gvir’s politics is beside the point. Notably, Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli prime minister, was also protested and disrupted during a separate campus event in February, underscoring a broader trend of hostility toward Israeli speakers regardless of their political affiliation.

These events signal more than isolated protests; they constitute a redux of hatred that historically escalates when met with institutional silence or indifference. 

Yale’s administration, under President Maurie McInnis and Dean Pericles Lewis, has failed to adequately respond. Though Yale revoked official recognition from Yalies for Palestine, its tepid actions have not halted the dangerous slide toward overt hostility. The silence — from both the university and the Slifka Center, Yale’s center for Jewish life — is deafening.

This isn’t the first troubling instance at Yale. A year ago, similar demonstrators disrupted campus life with vitriolic anti-Israel rhetoric, silencing dialogue and fostering an atmosphere hostile to Jewish students. 

Earlier this year, CAMERA on Campus documented Yale’s Slifka Center pressuring students to erase evidence of anti-Jewish harassment during a pro-Israel event, effectively whitewashing antisemitism and emboldening extremists.

As CAMERA’s Ricki Hollander has powerfully documented, the rhetoric of anti-Zionism today often revives the antisemitic patterns of the past, particularly those propagated by the Nazi regime in the 1930s. These tactics, she explains, echo Nazi-era propaganda that portrayed Jews as subhuman, sinister, and uniquely malevolent — a narrative used to justify marginalization and, ultimately, genocide.

These dynamics — scapegoating, dehumanizing, and ostracizing Jews under the guise of “anti-Zionism” — are not relics of history. They are alive and active across elite American campuses. And now, unmistakably, they have taken root at Yale.

McInnis must break the silence and condemn the open harassment and assault of Jewish students. She must also hold the perpetrators of the heinous actions and those responsible for the safety of students accountable for their inaction. 

This week has revealed a grave failure of moral and institutional duty on many fronts. When law enforcement stands by as Jewish students face intimidation and assault, it sends a chilling message: their safety matters less.

We must demand a full investigation and real accountability. Condemnations of antisemitism are not enough. Policies must be changed to ensure Jewish students and organizations can freely exercise their right to free expression without being subject to harassment and assault. Anything less would betray Yale’s stated values — and the promise of “never again.”

Douglas Sandoval is the Managing Director for CAMERA on Campus.

The post Yale’s Silence Is Allowing Blatant Campus Antisemitism — and Betraying the Promise of ‘Never Again’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Russia to Fund New Nuclear Power Plant in Iran as Bilateral Ties Deepen Amid US Talks

Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad met with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow on April 24, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

Russia has pledged to fund the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Iran as part of a broader energy agreement that also includes a major gas deal between the two countries, as relations between Moscow and Tehran continue to deepen.

On Friday, Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad traveled to Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Tsivilev, as part of the 18th Joint Economic Cooperation Commission.

Paknejad announced that Moscow and Tehran are strengthening their bilateral ties in what he described as “peaceful” nuclear energy, with the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Iran, to be financed through Russian funding.

“Iran and Russia will continue their cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the construction of new nuclear energy facilities and the completion of phases two and three of the Bushehr power plant using Moscow’s credit line,” the Iranian minister said during the closing ceremony of the commission.

According to Iranian state media, the two countries also agreed to a 55 billion cubic meters gas transfer deal.

Despite holding the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia, Iran continues to import gas due to severe under-investment in its energy sector, caused by mounting US sanctions targeting Tehran’s oil industry under President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign, which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

As part of the energy agreement, Paknejad also announced that Iran will sign a $4 billion deal with Russian companies to develop seven oil fields across the country.

“Multilateral cooperation between Iran and Russia through membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, and OPEC+ has led to the provision of common interests, peace, stability, and international security, and I am confident that this cooperation will deepen,” the Iranian minister said during his speech.

Tehran became a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) — a Eurasian security and political group — in 2023 and also joined the BRICS group in 2024 — a bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa that positions itself as an alternative to economic institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

These energy deals and expanding nuclear cooperation between Russia and Iran come as the Iranian regime prepares for a third round of nuclear talks with the US in Oman this weekend.

Tehran has previously rejected halting its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, despite Washington’s threats of military action, additional sanctions, and tariffs if an agreement is not reached to curb Iran’s nuclear activities.

However, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that any deal with Iran must require the complete dismantling of its “nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.” Witkoff’s comments came after he received criticism for suggesting the Islamic Republic would be allowed to maintain its nuclear program in a limited capacity.

With both Iran and Russia under Western sanctions and Russia’s oil and gas exports to Europe sharply reduced since the start of the war in Ukraine, the two nations have increasingly strengthened their bilateral ties.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law officially ratifying a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Tehran, further deepening their military cooperation.

As an increasingly close partner of Iran, Moscow’s diplomatic role in the ongoing US-Iran nuclear talks could be significant in facilitating a potential agreement between the two adversaries. Russia can leverage its position as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a signatory to a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that imposed temporary limits on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Russia could reportedly be considered a potential destination for Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and a possible mediator in any future nuclear deal, particularly in the event of breaches to the agreement.

This option would allow Russia to “return the handed-over stockpile of highly enriched uranium to Tehran” if Washington were to violate the deal, ensuring that Iran would not be penalized for American non-compliance.

Some experts and lawmakers in the US have expressed concern that a deal could allow Iran to maintain a vast nuclear program while enjoying the benefits of sanctions relief.

On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi expressed his willingness to engage in talks with European powers regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, indicating that the country is keeping its options open. In response, France also signaled that European nations were open to dialogue if Iran showed it was seriously engaged.

Despite Iran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapon development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”

The post Russia to Fund New Nuclear Power Plant in Iran as Bilateral Ties Deepen Amid US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Rescued Hamas Hostage Noa Argamani References Coachella While Urging Public to Visit Nova Exhibit

Noa Argamani attends the TIME100 gala, celebrating the magazine’s annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, in New York City, US, April 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

Noa Argamani urged the public on Thursday night to visit the Nova Festival exhibit commemorating the Hamas terrorist attack at the music event on Oct. 7, 2o23, while also calling for the release of the remaining hostages being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The 27-year-old, who is featured in the 2025 TIME100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, attended the 19th annual TIME100 Gala on Thursday night in New York City. During a red carpet interview with TIME, she spoke about her emotional visit to the exhibit “Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” months earlier when it was open in New York City. The large-scale traveling exhibit about the Nova attack recently opened in Toronto after successful runs in Tel Aviv, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.

Argamani was abducted by Hamas terrorists during their deadly rampage at the Nova Music Festival in Re’im, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2023. She was held captive in Gaza for 245 days until she was rescued by the Israel Defense Forces during a heroic operation in June 2024.

“Because I was at the Nova music festival and a lot of my friends were murdered, it was really difficult for me to come [to the exhibit] and see what happened to them,” Argamani said. “Because I carry a lot. I know my story and the story of my friends who have been murdered in captivity. It was too much to handle. Too much to carry.”

Nevertheless, she encouraged every person to visit the exhibit, before mentioning another major music event – the recent Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. She said about the exhibit: “I think it’s something everybody should [visit] because, as you saw what happened now in Coachella, these kids, I’m part of them, I come to the Nova music festival just to have fun, to dance, to enjoy my life … it’s definitely a pure situation. A party for peace and love.”

During the second weekend of Coachella earlier this month, the Irish rap trio Kneecap performed and at the end of their set, they projected three screens that featured anti-Israel messages. “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” said one such message, followed by, “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.” A third screen displayed the text: “F–k Israel. Free Palestine.” Also during the performance, band member Mo Chara talked about Palestinians being “bombed from the … skies with nowhere to go.” The band additionally led the audience to chant, “Free, free Palestine.”

On Thursday night, Argamani suggested that music festivals, like Coachella and Nova, should not get political. She said, “It’s important for people to come visit the exhibition and see that we just want to have fun. We’re not armed, we’re not political. We don’t get right [wing] or left [wing], we all just want to have fun. That’s the main idea of those festivals.”

When asked how she is dealing with the trauma of the Oct. 7 attack and her captivity, Argamani said, “It’s really hard for me because my partner is still in captivity.” Argamani’s boyfriend, Avinatan Or, was also taken hostage at the Nova music festival by Hamas terrorists. He recently turned 32, his second birthday in captivity, and is one of 24 Hamas hostages whom Israel believes is still alive.

“I never saw him in captivity,” Argamani said about Or. “I asked about him everywhere I went, but they didn’t tell me nothing. I didn’t know if he’s alive or just kidnapped … I didn’t want to know the answer because it was too much for me.”

“But until Avinatan will come home, and all those 59 [remaining] hostages will come back, I will not heal,” she concluded. “I will push forward, and I will fight as much as I can so everybody will come back home.”

The post Rescued Hamas Hostage Noa Argamani References Coachella While Urging Public to Visit Nova Exhibit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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