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The World’s ‘Triple Standard’ Against Israel Endangers Global Security
The personal belongings of festival-goers are seen at the site of an attack on the Nova Festival by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Oct. 12, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
It is a sad and sobering reality that in Israel’s war against Hamas, the Jewish State is being subjected not just to a double standard, but a triple standard.
During this war, it has become increasingly obvious that the Arab countries that profess to care about Palestinian lives, aren’t doing much to help the situation. Despite Egypt having an actual physical border with Gaza, and despite Jordan’s population being something in the realm of 70% Palestinian, according to some statistics, both countries have barely made an effort to address the humanitarian issue.
Egypt, in response to the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, is building a large concrete wall along the Gaza border to prevent Palestinians from leaving. Qatar, meanwhile, continues to host the “brave” leaders of Hamas in luxury hotels, while Gaza’s civilians suffer.
Yet, the world doesn’t criticize or demand anything from these countries, even though America gives billions of dollars to Jordan and Egypt each year.
Then there is the West, which values freedom, democracy, human rights, LGBTQI rights, and so forth. After the October 7 terrorist invasion by Hamas, many countries correctly stood by Israel — a fellow democracy that embraces the same values they do. France even suggested the world should build a coalition, similar to what it did to defeat ISIS.
But six months later, there is no sign of any such coalition, and France has lost its courage and joined calls for an immediate ceasefire that would leave Hamas in power.
Focusing entirely on the plight of Gazan civilians suffering under a war their leaders started — France along with many Western countries, including Australia — is actively trying to prevent Israel from defeating Hamas. Letting Hamas retain power would invite future October 7 assaults (something Hamas leaders have promised to carry out), and make it harder to secure the release of the Israeli hostages still being held at gunpoint in Gaza.
So, the question needs to be asked, what would these countries do if they were attacked by dozens of brutal death squads, encompassing thousands of terrorists, who inflicted mass murder, torture, and rape on 22 civilian towns?
The answer is clear. When America was attacked on 9/11, the world understood that basic international freedom, security, and prosperity were at stake. The UN Security Council even passed resolution 1368 the very next day, unanimously condemning the “horrifying terrorist attacks.”
America, NATO, and the free world soon launched a war on terrorism. America’s number one priority was to get the terrorists, and no one questioned its right or purpose. And they certainly didn’t demand a ceasefire before the threat to American civilians was removed.
The same thing happened in the war against ISIS, which caused massive destruction and loss to civilian life. Again, it was understood that this was an unavoidable part of the tragedy of war.
There were no demands to negotiate with ISIS, the Taliban, or Al Qaeda, because of the universal understanding that you cannot negotiate with terrorist groups or terrorist regimes.
Israel is fighting a similar evil — not one located thousands of kilometers away, but an evil just hundreds of meters away, which has sworn to repeat the October 7 attacks again and again and again.
This time, however, the world is not standing by Israel, but instead criticizing its every action, despite its unprecedented efforts in trying to protect the civilians that Hamas uses as human shields. The world is holding Israel to a standard that no Western country would be held to.
The death of any innocent person in a conflict, be it in Gaza or Afghanistan, is indeed a tragedy, but it is a terrible consequence of war, the responsibility for which lies solely with the aggressors who initiated it, not those who are defending themselves.
Instead of applying an impossible standard to Israel, the world needs realism and courage. While the suffering and destruction in Gaza is hard to watch, if the world does not support Israel in winning this war now, it will inevitably lead to further wars later on, and suffering that will only be repeated and intensified.
If these “triple-standards” continue to be applied against Israel, then a terrorist army, using human shields, would have gotten away with mass murder. How can any freedom-loving democracy tolerate that outcome?
Justin Amler is a Policy Analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).
The post The World’s ‘Triple Standard’ Against Israel Endangers Global Security first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday
US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump’s order banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States goes into effect at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, a move the president promulgated to protect the country from “foreign terrorists.”
The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.
Trump, a Republican, said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security, have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, as well as inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.
He cited last Sunday’s incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which an Egyptian national tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. But Egypt is not part of the travel ban.
The travel ban forms part of Trump’s policy to restrict immigration into the United States and is reminiscent of a similar move in his first term when he barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned expressed dismay and disbelief.
Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said he had instructed his government to stop granting visas to US citizens in response to Trump’s action.
“Chad has neither planes to offer nor billions of dollars to give, but Chad has its dignity and its pride,” he said in a Facebook post, referring to countries such as Qatar, which gifted the U.S. a luxury airplane for Trump’s use and promised to invest billions of dollars in the U.S.
Afghans who worked for the US or US-funded projects and were hoping to resettle in the US expressed fear that the travel ban would force them to return to their country, where they could face reprisal from the Taliban.
Democratic US lawmakers also voiced concern about the policies.
“Trump’s travel ban on citizens from over 12 countries is draconian and unconstitutional,” said US Representative Ro Khanna on social media late on Thursday. “People have a right to seek asylum.”
The post Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a member of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.
Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa accountable.
Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.
A little known group named “Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades,” an apparent reference to Hamas’ military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.
The post Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg
FILE PHOTO: Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen .. does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist terrorists launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave.
Katz said the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to eliminate Hamas.
“The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.
FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was currently some 160 nautical miles (296 km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.
Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
Israeli media have reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that was leading a small flotilla towards Gaza.
The post Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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