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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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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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