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Teen Vogue’s Anti-Israel Narratives Amplify Hamas Talking Points

The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Once known as a publication offering beauty, fashion, and lifestyle advice to teenage girls, Teen Vogue has evolved into an outlet that frequently platforms one-sided narratives, featuring writers who have openly expressed their support for terrorism and anti-Israel rhetoric online. 

Esraa Abo Qamar’s piece, “Scholasticide in Gaza Means There Are Almost No Schools or Colleges Leftis just the latest to be published in Teen Vogue’s new anti-Israel mission.

The story of Esraa Abo Qamar — who goes by Esraa Sameer on social media — is undoubtedly emotional and likely resonates deeply with Teen Vogue’s target audience. As a student at the Islamic University of Gaza, Esraa had to halt her studies in October 2023 due to the outbreak of the war. Any student passionate about their education would be heartbroken to learn that a girl the same age would be forced to abandon their studies because of conflict. 

Esraa frames Israel as the perpetrator in this story, leveraging her op-ed to falsely accuse Israel of not only committing genocide, but also “scholasticide,” whereby Israel is framed as deliberately destroying the education system in Gaza. 

The term “scholasticide” was termed by none other than a former Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official,

Karma Nabulsi. Nabulsi worked as an international spokesperson for the PLO from 1977-1990, when the organization was at its height of launching attacks against Israel. Using an emotionally charged and baseless term coined by a former member of a terrorist organization raises serious doubts about its credibility.  

Not once does Esraa mention the real culprit of the destruction of Gaza’s educational system — Hamas. Esraa fails to acknowledge that Hamas has hijacked the education system in Gaza to promote its own extremist agenda that prioritizes the destruction of the State of Israel over providing youth with a meaningful education. 

This education system has clearly worked to indoctrinate Esraa, who gleefully celebrated the Iranian regime’s October 1 missile attacks on her social media, writing “God is the greatest” over a video of missiles and calling it the “best view of my life.” 

Esraa’s Instagram story on the night of the Iranian regime’s missile attack, October 1, 2024.

Apparently, the education of Israeli students is less important, as Esraa omits that one of those missiles hit a school in Gedera.

Of course, the Hamas-run education system in Gaza doesn’t teach accurate history. Otherwise, Esraa would remember that Israel has not ruled Gaza for most of her life. While Esraa writes that Gazans have suffered under “violent military rule and apartheid” since 1948, her emotionally charged perspective on the history of Palestinians overlooks critical historical facts.

Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip from 1948 until 1967, when Israel took over the territory in a defensive war. Esraa further omits that Israel has not governed Gaza since 2005, when Israel disengaged from the territory. Since 2007, Gaza has been under the control of Hamas, which has imposed a brutal and oppressive regime that focuses on terrorizing Israelis and uprooting the Jewish State rather than taking care of its own civilians.   

Part of Hamas’ terrorism strategy comes from embedding themselves in civilian locations. In fact, Hamas has systematically taken advantage of the Islamic University of Gaza since the institution’s founding, using it as an outpost to indoctrinate students with the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. On multiple occasions since October 7th, Hamas has used the university to manufacture weapons and launch anti-tank missiles. In other instances, Hamas’ own misfired rockets have hit schools in Gaza. 

The accusations that Israel destroyed Gaza’s water and sanitation sites and “weaponized starvation” similarly fall short when all the facts are presented. Since the start of the war, Israel has coordinated more than 1.3 million tons of aid to be distributed in the Gaza Strip and has worked to increase the supply of clean water throughout the war. 

However, these facts don’t matter to Esraa, who merely states in passing the reason for the war starting in the first place — Hamas’ vicious terror attacks on October 72023, which stole the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis, many of whom were students and young adults. 

If facts don’t matter to Esraa, then neither do definitions, as she purposefully misrepresents Zionism to be a “religious nationalist ideology,” rather than the desire for the Jewish people to live in their historic national homeland.

Students protesting this in the US aren’t simply “activists” as Esraa claims but are rather denying the Jewish people of a basic right. Moreover, the pioneers of Israel were largely secular Zionists and founded the state on that approach rather than on religious ideals. 

Esraa does get one thing right in her article — war kills dreams. Unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to perpetuate a prolonged conflict against the Jewish people, depriving innocent individuals of their right to education and peace. 

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post Teen Vogue’s Anti-Israel Narratives Amplify Hamas Talking Points first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays

A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 NewsAhead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.

The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.

“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.

“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.

The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”

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Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives

Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.

Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.

The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.

Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.

“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.

ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK

He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.

US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.

Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.

Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.

It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.

Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.

Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.

Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.

“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.

Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.

Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.

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Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

i24 NewsAn Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.

Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.

Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.

On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”

A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”

Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.

Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.

Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.

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