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The Cries of Byai Phu
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo supplied by North Korea’s Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 13, 2021. Photo: KCNA/via REUTERS/File Photo.
JNS.org – Civilians forced to sit in the open for two days, with no sustenance, under a blazing sun. Soldiers handing bottles filled with their own urine to those begging for water. Men bearing tattoos deemed to be politically offensive screaming in agony as their skin is burned off with lighted petrol. Soldiers, many of them drunk, demanding shovels to bury the bodies of those whom they executed. Women, men and children beaten brutally when answering questions barked at them by the soldiers, irrespective of what actually came out of their mouths.
I wish I could give you the details of the demonstration this weekend that’s been organized to protest these foul atrocities, but there isn’t one. These horrors didn’t afflict Palestinians in Gaza, and they weren’t carried out by Israeli troops. They occurred in the village of Byai Phu in the state of Rakhine in the far west of Burma, the East Asian country renamed “Myanmar” following a military coup in 1989. An account of these atrocities—not the first time something like this has happened during the brutal civil war that’s raged for three years and likely not the last—was tucked away in the corner of the BBC News website last week, which I happened to stumble on.
Everyone, it seems, has heard of Rafah, but few people know of Byai Phu, and those who have heard of it now will probably forget its name within a day or two. Yes, life is cruel, and for millions of people around the world, it’s an unceasing struggle to keep themselves and their families alive and afloat amid economic crisis, war and political repression. But that rather trite observation cannot, must not, be the final word.
Instead, let me speak plainly and bluntly. The cause of Palestine has become emblematic of the sickness at the heart of Western culture. It has become a fixation and an obsession, fueled by the ludicrous notion that the presence of a Jewish state and the absence of a Palestinian one “from the river to the sea” is the only explanation for the persistence of conflict and strife in today’s world. The terrible vice that is tunnel vision has become a virtue, something sacred, and challenging this dogma will get you “canceled” in progressive circles.
For the Iranian terror proxies in the Middle East, this state of affairs is cause for delight. “[S]ignificantly, the U.K. youth showed greater interest unfolding of the war on Gaza than in other global conflicts,” the pro-Hezbollah website Al-Mayadeen observed in its report of a June 5 opinion poll showing that 54% of Britons between the ages of 18 to 24 believe that Israel has no right to exist, compared with 21% of the same age group who think the opposite. The same article crowed at the statistic that 38% of young Brits are “very interested” in the war in Gaza, while only 19% feel the same about Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
We’ve periodically seen similarly worrying polls about how Israel is regarded throughout the first quarter of the present century. But what’s different, and what makes the question “why?” more urgent now than before, is that Israel is facing a proximate existential threat from Iran and its regional allies. What’s also different is that the world’s authoritarian states are much more emboldened now than they were 20 years ago, bolstered by the puerile notion among many Westerners that there is no essential difference between a country like the United States and one like North Korea.
If you were to ask the same audience whether they believe North Korea, which I’ve described in the past as “not so much a country, but a concentration camp with a seat at the United Nations,” has the right to exist, my informed guess is that the answer would either be “yes” or bemusement that the question was being asked in the first place. They wouldn’t know and wouldn’t care that North Korea is an artificial entity carved out at the close of the Korean War, or that the state exists to service its unchallenged dictator, Kim Jong-un, and his inner circle. Equally, the fact that one of the most grotesque forms of torture practiced in North Korea involves detainees being forced to watch their families being beaten and raped wouldn’t disturb too many of these Palestine Firsters, especially as North Korea vocally supports the Palestinians.
Part of the explanation for this is, of course, antisemitism, which artfully molds itself to fit in with the political agendas of every new generation. It’s also rooted in the notion that human beings aren’t fundamentally equal and equally deserving of the same human and civil rights, irrespective of where they happen to live. The nasty authoritarian streak that courses through progressive circles these days determines that the state—and not the individual—is paramount. If a persecuted or terrorized individual happens to be a citizen of a state damned as an ally of Western imperialism, then they deserve what’s coming to them. It’s not just Israelis, and by extension, Diaspora Jewish communities, that have suffered from this distinction; Ukrainians, Kurds and Burma’s various ethnicities are among those who have suffered from it, too. “All eyes” turn to Rafah because Rafah is being targeted by Israel, and Israel is, according to this schema, the link between police violence against black people in America, or Muslim communities in Europe, and the Palestinians, who—just like Jesus Christ—suffer for all of us.
By the end of this year, if not sooner, Israel may well find itself mired in a new war in Lebanon since Hezbollah shows no sign of ending its terror campaign to make the north of Israel an unlivable zone. There lies the rub; Israel’s first responsibility is to protect its citizens, but each time it does so, its reputation takes another pasting. As the tentacles of the Iranian octopus—Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Islamist militias in Syria and Iraq—squeeze around Israel’s neck, the bitter reality is that many of our own neighbors will enjoy the spectacle. The discourse of peace and equality has been replaced by a fetish for war (“resistance”) and hierarchies of race and religion (“liberation”).
That’s bad news for us, but even worse news for the people of Byai Phu.
The post The Cries of Byai Phu first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Sharaa Says Talks With Israel Could Yield Results ‘In Coming Days’
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks at the opening ceremony of the 62nd Damascus International Fair, the first edition held since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”
He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.
Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.
Reuters reported this week that Washington was pressuring Syria to reach a deal before world leaders gather next week for the UN General Assembly in New York.
But Sharaa, in a briefing with journalists including Reuters ahead of his expected trip to New York to attend the meeting, denied the US was putting any pressure on Syria and said instead that it was playing a mediating role.
He said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since Dec. 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa said Israel’s actions were contradicting the stated American policy of a stable and unified Syria, which he said was “very dangerous.”
He said Damascus was seeking a deal similar to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a demilitarized zone between the two countries.
He said Syria sought the withdrawal of Israeli troops but that Israel wanted to remain at strategic locations it seized after Dec. 8, including Mount Hermon. Israeli ministers have publicly said Israel intends to keep control of the sites.
He said if the security pact succeeds, other agreements could be reached. He did not provide details, but said a peace agreement or normalization deal like the US-mediated Abraham Accords, under which several Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, was not currently on the table.
He also said it was too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because it was “a big deal.”
Reuters reported this week that Israel had ruled out handing back the zone, which Donald Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli during his first term as US president.
“It’s a difficult case – you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” Sharaa told reporters, smiling.
SECURITY PACT DERAILED IN JULY
Sharaa also said Syria and Israel had been just “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security pact in July, but that developments in the southern province of Sweida had derailed those discussions.
Syrian troops were deployed to Sweida in July to quell fighting between Druze armed factions and Bedouin fighters. But the violence worsened, with Syrian forces accused of execution-style killings and Israel striking southern Syria, the defense ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace.
Sharaa on Wednesday described the strikes near the presidential palace as “not a message, but a declaration of war,” and said Syria had still refrained from responding militarily to preserve the negotiations.
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Anti-Israel Activists Gear Up to ‘Flood’ UN General Assembly
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel groups are planning a wave of raucous protests in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the next several days, prompting concerns that the demonstrations could descend into antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation.
A coalition of anti-Israel activists is organizing the protests in and around UN headquarters to coincide with speeches from Middle Eastern leaders and appearances by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstrations are expected to draw large crowds and feature prominent pro-Palestinian voices, some of whom have been criticized for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, in addition to calling for the destruction of Israe.
Organizers of the demonstrations have promoted the coordinated events on social media as an opportunity to pressure world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with some messaging framed in sharply hostile terms.
On Sunday, for example, activists shouted at Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
“Zionism is terrorism. All you guys are terrorists committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and Palestine. Shame on you, Zionist animals,” they shouted.
BREAKING: PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTORS CONFRONT “ISRAELI” AMBASSADOR DANNY DANON AT THE UNITED NATIONS
1/5 pic.twitter.com/4G1VYEMGzV
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) September 14, 2025
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned on its website that the scale and tone of the planned demonstrations risk crossing the line from political protest into hate speech, arguing that anti-Israel activists are attempting to hijack the UN gathering to spread antisemitism and delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Outside the UN last week, masked protesters belonging to the activist group INDECLINE kicked a realistic replica of Netanyahu’s decapitated head as though it were a soccer ball.
US activist group plays soccer with Bibi’s mock decapitated HEAD right outside NYC UN HQ
Peep shot at 00:40
Footage posted by INDECLINE collective just as UN General Assembly about to kick off
‘Following the game, ball was donated to Palestinian Genocide Museum’ pic.twitter.com/TQ84sgZhKr
— RT (@RT_com) September 9, 2025
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical anti-Israel activist group, has vowed to “flood” the UNGA on behalf of the pro-Palestine movement.
WOL, one of the most prolific anti-Israel activist groups, came under immense fire after it organized a protest against an exhibition to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. During the event, the group chanted “resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “Israel, go to hell!”
“We will be there to confront them with the truth: Their silence and inaction enable genocide. The world cannot continue as if Gaza does not exist,” WOL said of its planned demonstrations in New York. “This is the time to make our voices impossible to ignore. Come to New York by any means necessary, to stand, to march, to demand the UN act and end the siege.”
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), two other anti-Israel organizations that have helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza, also announced they are planning a march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on Friday.
“The time is now for each and every UN member state to uphold their duty under international law: sanction Israel and end the genocide,” the groups said in a statement.
JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The group argued in a 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians. JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel
Similarly, PYM, another radical anti-Israel group, has repeatedly defended terrorism and violence against the Jewish state. PYM has organized many anti-Israel protests in the two years following the Oct. 7 attacks in the Jewish state. Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) called for a federal investigation into the organization after Aisha Nizar, one of the group’s leaders, urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced US military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.
The UN General Assembly has historically been a flashpoint for heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous gatherings have seen dueling demonstrations outside the Manhattan venue, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups both seeking to influence the international spotlight.
While warning about the demonstrations, CAM noted it recently launched a new mobile app, Report It, that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.
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Nina Davidson Presses Universities to Back Words With Action as Jewish Students Return to Campus Amid Antisemitism Crisis
Nina Davidson on The Algemeiner’s ‘J100’ podcast. Photo: Screenshot
Philanthropist Nina Davidson, who served on the board of Barnard College, has called on universities to pair tough rhetoric on combatting antisemitism with enforcement as Jewish students returned to campuses for the new academic year.
“Years ago, The Algemeiner had published a list ranking the most antisemitic colleges in the country. And number one was Columbia,” Davidson recalled on a recent episode of The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast. “As a board member and as someone who was representing the institution, it really upset me … At the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
Host David Cohen, chief executive officer of The Algemeiner, explained he had revisited Davidson’s remarks while she was being honored for her work at The Algemeiner‘s 8th annual J100 gala, held in October 2021, noting their continued relevance.
“It could have been the same speech in 2025,” he said, underscoring how longstanding concerns about campus antisemitism, while having intensified in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, are not new.
Davidson argued that universities already possess the tools to protect students – codes of conduct, time-place-manner rules, and consequences for threats or targeted harassment – but too often fail to apply them evenly. “Statements are not enough,” she said, arguing that institutions need to enforce their rules and set a precedent that there will be consequences for individuals who refuse to follow them.
She also said that stakeholders – alumni, parents, and donors – are reassessing their relationships with schools that, in their view, have not safeguarded Jewish students. While supportive of open debate, Davidson distinguished between protest and intimidation, calling for leadership that protects expression while ensuring campus safety.
The episode surveyed specific pressure points that administrators will face this fall: repeat anti-Israel encampments, disruptions of Jewish programming, and the challenge of distinguishing political speech from conduct that violates university rules. “Unless schools draw those lines now,” Davidson warned, “they’ll be scrambling once the next crisis hits.”
Cohen closed by framing the discussion as a test of institutional credibility, asking whether universities will “turn policy into protection” in real time. Davidson agreed, pointing to students who “need to know the rules aren’t just on paper.”
The full conversation is available on The Algemeiner’s “J100” podcast.