RSS
Trump’s Question for Arab Rulers
Jordan King Abdullah II visits Trump at White House (Source: Reuters)
JNS.org – More than 6 million Syrians fled their homeland during that country’s almost 14-year-long civil war. Other nations took them in. It was the humanitarian thing to do, and it fulfilled their obligation under international law.
Since Hamas initiated a full-blown war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, almost no Gazans have managed to flee because no countries—not even Egypt, whose Sinai Peninsula borders Gaza—were willing to take them in.
Was that because the value of Gaza’s civilians as Hamas’ “human shields”—sacrificial pawns in the jihad against Israel—overrode humanitarian and legal concerns? I report, you decide.
Prior to the current conflict it could be credibly argued that “the Palestinian cause” could be achieved with the creation of a Palestinian state.
It’s now become obvious that, for Hamas and its supporters, the Palestinian cause is and always has been the extermination of Israel, the resurrected Jewish homeland, a tiny island amid an ocean of Arab and Muslim states.
“Two-state solutions” were offered to Palestinian leaders in 1937, 1947, 1967, 1978, 2000, 2001 and 2008. Palestinian leaders declined them all and proposed no alternatives.
However, if you think about it, a kind of two-state solution was in effect the day before Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border and staged the worst orgy of murder and other atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust.
Gaza has been ruled by Palestinians since 2005, when Israel withdrew from the territory without preconditions in the hope of securing peace. Initially, that meant Palestinian Authority, dominated by the Fatah movement, governed. Two years later, Hamas ousted Fatah and established its unfree one-party rule with no further elections.
Gazans have been among the largest recipients of aid from the “international donor community” on a per capita basis.
Food, medicine and construction materials were routinely transported from Israel each day into Gaza. Israel supplied Gazans with electricity. Thousands of Gazans were permitted to enter Israel to take jobs.
Hamas delegated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and other UN agencies the provision of most social services. Hamas gave the UN orders, and the UN agreed without complaint—even when munitions were stored in schools and command-and-control centers set up in hospitals.
Had Hamas been willing to peacefully coexist with Israel, Gaza could have become a successful nation-state confederated in some way with the Palestinian entity on the West Bank.
Instead, Hamas built an army and spent hundreds of millions of dollars constructing a subterranean fortress in which its troops would hide during the war it planned to launch.
Early in the conflict, as innocent hostages were being held and tortured by Hamas, the Biden administration demanded that Israel not just deliver aid—food and fuel that Hamas would of course steal—but also formulate a plan for “the day after.”
How odd those demands seem in any historical context. Can you imagine Roosevelt and Churchill providing aid to Germany and formulating the Marshall Plan before the Nazis surrendered?
It’s against this backdrop that President Trump has now raised an audacious idea for post-war Gaza. “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it,” Trump announced last week.
He said the almost 2 million Gazans—who self-identify as “refugees from Palestine” even though they live in a Palestinian territory—should relocate to other countries. At the same time, the United States would dismantle “all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons” in the Strip. He added that, at present, Gaza is “a demolition site,” with “nothing to move back into.”
The feasibility of this proposal notwithstanding, I strongly suspect it was a way of saying to Arab rulers, particularly Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II: “You don’t get to just watch and kibitz. If you don’t like my idea, come up with a better one!”
Remember that following the 1948 British withdrawal from Mandatory Palestine, Egypt ruled Gaza. That rule ended in 1967 after Egypt launched and lost a war against Israel. Note: Egypt never attempted to establish a Palestinian state in Gaza.
As for Jordan, it was carved from the British Mandate for Palestine in 1921. In that new polity, then named Transjordan, the British installed an emir—a Hashemite, a member of a noble clan resettled from Arabia.
The territory remained a British protectorate until 1946, when it was granted independence as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Two years later Jordan conquered Judea and Samaria, expelled all the Jews, renamed those territories the West Bank, and annexed them. Jordan lost them in the 1967 war.
Most Jordanians are Palestinians. Among them is Queen Rania, wife of the current king of Jordan, Abdullah II. If their son, Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, succeeds to the throne, he will be the first Palestinian king in history.
The Egyptian and Jordanian responses to President Trump’s proposal have so far been unhelpful. They have reiterated their opposition to taking in Palestinians, even temporarily. They insist that Palestinians lead Gaza’s reconstruction, neglecting to specify which Palestinians would be up to the task.
Though Trump is famously unpredictable, I wouldn’t be astonished—based on remarks he’s made over recent days—if he were to tell Sissi and King Abdullah something along these lines:
“You receive huge amounts of American aid along with vital security assistance. These are not entitlements.
“I’m trying to put an end to endless wars in the Middle East. That requires that Gazans not be ruled by Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, or the mullahs in Tehran.
“So, are you with me or against me? Are you an ally? Because I expect America’s allies to contribute to the collective security and give at least as much as they take. Is that you or not?
They should think hard before answering.
The post Trump’s Question for Arab Rulers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’
Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The US State Department has revoked the visas for the English punk rap duo Bob Vylan amid ongoing outrage over their weekend performance at the Glastonbury Festival, in which the pair chanted “Death to the IDF.”
The State Department’s decision to cancel their visas would preclude a planned fall concert tour of the US by the British rappers.
“The [US State Department] has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X/Twitter on Monday.
During a June 28 set at Glastonbury Festival, Bob Vylan’s Pascal Robinson-Foster ignited a firestorm by leading the crowd in chants of “Death, death, to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. He also complained about working for a “f—ing Zionist” during the set.
The video of the performance went viral, sparking outrage across the globe.
The BBC, which streamed the performance live, issued an on‑screen warning but continued its broadcast, prompting criticism by government officials for failing to cut the feed.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and festival organizers condemned the IDF chant as hate speech and incitement to violence. The Israeli Embassy in London denounced the language as “inflammatory and hateful.”
“Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive,” the BBC said in a statement following the event.
“These abhorrent chants, which included calls for the death of members of the Israeli Defense Forces … have no place in any civil society,” Leo Terrell, Chair of the US Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, declared Sunday in a statement posted on X.
Citing the act’s US tour plans, Terrell said his task force would be “reaching out to the U.S. Department of State on Monday to determine what measures are available to address the situation and to prevent the promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States.”
British authorities, meanwhile, have launched a formal investigation into Bob Vylan’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they are reviewing footage and working with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether the performance constitutes a hate crime or incitement to violence.
United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the premier entertainment talent agencies, dropped the duo, claming “antisemitic sentiments expressed by the group were utterly unacceptable.”
The band defended their performance on social media as necessary protest, stating that “teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.”
The post US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
US House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) urged Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani to “aggressively address the rise in antisemitism” if he wins the general election in November.
“‘Globalizing the intifada’ by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s This Week. “He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.”
“With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,” he added.
Jeffries’s comments come as Mamdani has been receiving an onslaught of criticism for defending the controversial phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Mamdani first defended the phrase during an appearance on the popular Bulwark Podcast. The progressive firebrand stated that he feels “less comfortable with the banning of certain words.” He invoked the US Holocaust Museum in his defense, saying that the museum used the word intifada “when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means ‘struggle.’”
The Holocaust Museum repudiated Mamdani in a statement, calling his comments “offensive.”
Mamdani has continued to defend the slogan despite ongoing criticism, arguing that pro-Palestine advocates perceive it as a call for “universal human rights.”
Mamdani, the 33‑year‑old state assembly member and proud democratic socialist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other candidates in a lopsided first‑round win in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor, notching approximately 43.5 percent of first‑choice votes compared to Cuomo’s 36.4 percent.
The election results have alarmed members of the local Jewish community, who expressed deep concern over his past criticism of Israel and defense of antisemitic rhetoric.
“Mamdani’s election is the greatest existential threat to a metropolitan Jewish population since the election of the notorious antisemite Karl Lueger in Vienna,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in New York City, said in a statement. “Jewish leaders must come together as a united force to prevent a mass Jewish Exodus from New York City.”
Some key Democratic leaders in New York, such as US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have congratulated and complimented Mamdani, but have not yet issued an explicit endorsement. Each official has signaled interest in meeting with Mamdani prior to making a decision on a formal endorsement.
The post Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel Eyes Ties With Syria and Lebanon After Iran War
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a press conference with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (not pictured) in Berlin, Germany, June 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
Israel is interested in establishing formal diplomatic relations with long-standing adversaries Syria and Lebanon, but the status of the Golan Heights is non-negotiable, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday.
Israeli leaders argue that with its rival Iran weakened by this month’s 12-day war, other countries in the region have an opportunity to forge ties with Israel.
The Middle East has been upended by nearly two years of war in Gaza, during which Israel also carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah, and by the overthrow of former Syrian leader and Iran ally Bashar al-Assad.
In 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco became the first Arab states to establish ties with Israel since Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979. The normalization agreements with Israel were deeply unpopular in the Arab world.
“We have an interest in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization, while safeguarding Israel‘s essential and security interests,” Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
“The Golan will remain part of the State of Israel,” he said.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 after capturing the territory from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. While much of the international community regards the Golan as occupied Syrian land, US President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over it during his first term in office.
Following Assad’s ousting, Israeli forces moved further into Syrian territory.
A senior Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syria would never give up the Golan Heights, describing it as an integral part of Syrian territory.
The official also said that normalization efforts with Israel must be part of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and not carried out through a separate track.
A spokesperson for Syria‘s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The 2002 initiative proposed Arab normalization with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from territories including the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza. It also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Throughout the war in Gaza, regional power Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that establishing ties with Israel was conditional on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel‘s Saar said it was “not constructive” for other states to condition normalization on Palestinian statehood.
“Our view is that a Palestinian state will threaten the security of the State of Israel,” he said.
In May, Reuters reported that Israel and Syria‘s new Islamist rulers had established direct contact and held face-to-face meetings aimed at de-escalating tensions and preventing renewed conflict along their shared border.
The same month, US President Donald Trump announced the US would lift sanctions on Syria and met Syria‘s new president, urging him to normalize ties with Israel.
The post Israel Eyes Ties With Syria and Lebanon After Iran War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.