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The Mob’s Efforts to Colonize the American Mind
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
A few days before Israel began Operation Rising Lion, Facebook blocked my account. I cannot thank Mark Zuckerberg enough for that mitzvah. Instead of having to watch neo-Hellenistic Jews do anything possible to hide their Judaism and people try to to steal the spotlight, I got to witness an endless array of Iranian dissidents thanking Israel on X.
They post Persian graffiti blessing Israel, the horrific history of the 46-year-old Islamic Republic, as well as what little protests they are able to engage in. And they remain as stunned as the rest of us at the protests both here and in Europe — which are in favor of the sociopathic, homophobic, misogynistic regime in Iran that is stifling not just their people’s freedom, but the lives of their families.
Qatar, China, Russia, and Iran have been unquestionably successful at one thing: the colonization of the American mind. Through antisemitic professors, “ethnic studies,” infiltration of leftist media (hello, Washington Post), and an intense disinformation campaign on social media, leftists have been fed a steady stream of lies and propaganda to the point that the protesters are ardently embracing a regime that kills women for showing their hair in public, hangs gay people, and considers child rape sacred.
In 2018, Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff published The Coddling of the American Mind. They discussed how a culture of “safetyism” interferes with social, emotional and intellectual development. In retrospect, that seems to have been Stage I of what’s now called the red-green alliance.
Stage II is a complete colonization — OK, obliteration — of brain cells. Disinformation so steeped in anti-facts it makes the Soviets look like amateurs. All of which led to a cognitive dissonance so septic some protesters simultaneously hold up posters celebrating both gay pride and the mullahs who would hang them.
It also led to a mass conformity during precisely the period when most healthy teens and 20-somethings rebel. There is only one word for this level of mass conformity: cult.
But for the moral inversion to be complete — for young women in the West to support the most evil patriarchy that has ever reigned — something else had to happen: a complete soullessness. Morality begins in our souls. If you choke off the soul — through a negation of spirituality, creativity, nature — you can easily be convinced to do anything and feel nothing. Thus, the increasing political violence here and in Europe.
Meanwhile, on the far right, Qatar has exerted a different sort of disinformation trap: buying off “influencers” to mouth jihadist talking points without even flinching. A recent exchange between Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald over an alleged Osama bin Laden letter is truly jaw-dropping. The mastermind of 9/11 didn’t hate the US or the West, according to these two pundits. Three thousand Americans lost their lives because of US support for … Israel.
I would say that they both should win Academy Awards for their performances — but I actually think they believe it. We always knew that the Arab world excelled at propaganda. But this surpasses the KGB in its ability to turn formerly mildly intelligent men into Islamist puppets.
All of this will no doubt get far worse, even after Iran is freed. But we’re already seeing hopeful signs in Gen Z. Yes, older Gen Zers can barely be distinguished from their millennial teachers. But at least in New York City, millennials took leftism to such an extreme — trying to use Gen Z as their own puppets — that younger Gen Zers have begun to rebel: pushing back against the lies even in the classroom.
But the onus for real change begins in the home, where morality is either learned or spat on. And, of course, houses of worship, which needed to be depoliticized yesterday. We need to return to a world that privileges values over politics, education rooted in facts not opinions, a media that returns to objectivity.
A millennial here recently said to me: “There’s no such thing as objectivity.” I responded: “Is this a table?” She nodded. “Is it made of wood?” She reluctantly nodded again. “So can we agree on the fact that this is a wooden table?” She got angry. “Yes, but so what? That’s basic.” Yes, I said. But that’s where we are: returning to the basics. Facts, values, morality — all represent the foundation of this great country. And if we’re ever going to return to it, we need to start there.
Just as the Iranians are about to do.
Karen Lehrman Bloch is editor in chief of White Rose Magazine. A version of this article was originally published by The Jewish Journal.
The post The Mob’s Efforts to Colonize the American Mind first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.