När fakta inte längre är det viktiga

 Värt att läsa:

Klartext av Alice Teodorescu:

Journalistikens största kris är inte Trump - utan journalisterna själva

...Ytterligare en dimension handlar om hur ivrigt, och noggrant, man undersöker alternativa förklaringar till sin story, vad som beskrivs vara orsak och verkan, vilka källor man förlitar sig på. När det kommer till rapporteringen av vår tids mest kontroversiella sakfrågor är det uppenbart att det som skrivs oftast säger mer om de som formulerar texterna än om de faktiska förhållandena.

Pikant nog gör sig därmed journalister på etablerade medier sig skyldiga till exakt samma saker som de anklagar alternativmedierna för; det vill säga spridandet av desinformation, vinklade partsinlagor och selektiv faktagranskning. Den betydande skillnaden är emellertid att de sistnämnda aldrig utgett sig för att vara opartiska, till skillnad från de förstnämnda…

...Ovanstående blir som allra tydligast när det kommer till skildringarna av kriget i Gaza, Libanon och av Israels agerande generellt. Denna omständighet är ingen liten sak; beslutsfattare och allmänhetens bild baseras till en stor del på det som rapporteras i medierna, vilket i sin tur formar politikers och väljares uppfattningar kring relevant policy, politisk och diplomatisk press, sanktioner och internationella överenskommelser.

Givet hur Israel porträtterats genom decennierna, och särkilt under de senaste snart tre åren efter 7 oktober, är det då så förvånande att gemene man fått bilden av att landet är exceptionellt diaboliskt, mordiskt och moraliskt depraverat? Nej, faktum är att människor fått just den bild som medierna, via Hamas som varit primärkällan till rådande narrativ, velat att de ska ha. Allt har med andra ord blivit exakt som det var avsett.

För att vara väldigt konkret: varje gång Israel responderar på en attack, initierad av Hamas, Hizbollah eller Iran, är det Israels agerande som betraktas som eskaleringen. Huvudsaken, att Israel attackerats i strid med rådande “vapenvila”, görs ytterst skyndsamt till bisak i den mediala rapporteringen; Attacken blir en fotnot, svaret blir huvudnyheten.

Så när Hamas skjuter raketer mot israeliska städer handlar rubrikerna om Israels vedergällning. När Hizbollah attackerar från södra Libanon handlar rapporteringen om Israels motanfall. När Iran öppet angriper Israel riktas fokus snabbt mot risken att Israel ska “eskalera” konflikten. Det som sker är att den aktör som initierar våldet försvinner ur berättelsen - medan den aktör som svarar på våldet blir berättelsen.

Hur många vet exempelvis att Hizbollah byggt upp en militär närvaro i ett 60-tal byar i södra Libanon, mitt bland civila, längs gränsen mot Israel? Att de därifrån har beskjutit norra Israel i över ett kvarts sekel? Att så är fallet trots upprepade FN-resolutioner som kräver att Hizbollah avväpnas? Att FN:s fredsbevarande insats Unifil, som har patrullerat gränsen mellan Libanon och Israel sedan år 1978, misslyckats med sitt uppdrag?

Frågorna som borde ställas är därför hur ofta svenska läsare erbjuds en sammanhängande, kvalitativ och mångfacetterad bild av Hizbollahs militära infrastruktur i södra Libanon? Hur ofta beskrivs Hamas strategiska användning av civila miljöer? Hur ofta förklaras varför israeliska beslutsfattare uppfattar existentiella säkerhetshot annorlunda än europeiska kommentatorer - och var finns ett initierat resonemang kring hur vi själva hade agerat ställda inför samma hot?

Istället för att ställa dessa frågor har stora delar av rapporteringen utvecklats till ett slags moralisk teater där journalistens egen världsbild blir viktigare än publikens behov av kunskap. Mediernas skildring av konflikten har därmed inte syftat till att glänta på läsarens fönster mot verkligheten, utan om att anlägga ett filter som förändrat ljusinsläppet...

Vad vill PLO "befria"?

Den 28 maj 1964 grundades PLO. Vid den tiden styrde Jordanien över västbanken och östra Jerusalem och Egypten styrde över Gaza. Inga krav riktades mot dem för att skapa en palestinsk stat.

Problemet var att judarna hade en stat och den måste förintas. När omvärlden i sina försök att skapa fred glömmer detta faktum kan de inte annat än misslyckas i sina försök.

May 1964: The day the myth of the ‘occupation’ was born - opinion

The PLO was established three years before the Six Day War, before Israel controlled Judea and Samaria and Gaza. The "occupation" didn't exist yet. So what was the PLO seeking to liberate?

Västvärlden blundar för Turkiets terrorkopplingar

 Erdoğans Turkiet: NATO-medlemmen som sponsrar terrorism (Khaled Abu Toameh)

I åratal har Turkiets president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan bedrivit ett dubiöst dubbelspel: utåt mot väst framställt sig som en regional medlare och en ansvarstagande allierad inom NATO, samtidigt som han har förvandlat Turkiet till en fristad för Hamas terrorister utanför Gazaremsan...

...Trump-administrationen står inför ett avgörande test. Om Washington verkligen menar allvar med att montera ned Hamas infrastruktur och konfrontera den iranska regimen kan man inte fortsätta att bortse från Turkiets engagemang för att göra exakt motsatsen: att skydda och stödja Hamas.

En medlemsstat i NATO, Turkiet, underlättar verksamheten för en iranskstödd terroristgrupp som bär ansvar för massmord på civila, däribland många amerikaner.

Genom att låta Hamas och andra terroristgrupper verka fritt på sitt territorium undergräver Turkiet själva den säkerhetsarkitektur som NATO skapades för att försvara.

Läs hela artikeln här

Önsketänkande får inte ersätta strategisk planering

David Horovitz (Times of Israel) läsvärd som alltid: 

Reported terms of Trump’s Iran deal would confirm the war as an epochal failure

...He knows the regime in Tehran is as dangerous as it ever was, if not more so, but he wants to believe that it isn’t. He knows and says that Iran would use nuclear weapons to destroy Israel if it got them, but has said that a 20-year Iranian “guarantee” to end enrichment would suffice. He “reTruthed” the Iranian president’s willingness to “assure the world” that the Islamic Republic will not seek nuclear weapons, as though such words are of value. Fancifully, to use a polite term, he mused this week that Iran might “perhaps” prove willing to join the Abraham Accords normalization agreements with the Jewish state it has sworn to destroy.

To state the blindingly obvious: wishful thinking, disconnected from reality, cannot replace coherent policymaking and strategic planning...

... Since his Saturday announcement was met with derision by Iran and something akin to panic in Israel, Trump has taken to asserting that he is not in fact rushing to an agreement, that there will be a “Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” and that he does not “make bad deals.” Right now would be a very good time to prove that."

Veckans analys av David Horovitz

With Trump conflicted and Iran emboldened, vital bid to end regime’s nuclear drive is being botched

The Islamic Republic retains its highly enriched uranium stockpile, has 10 tons of lower-enriched uranium that nobody’s even asking for, and is holding the world to ransom at the Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump has repeatedly contradicted himself regarding the progress of the Iran war.

He has said that the war is won, just not won enough.

He has said that the Iranian regime has changed, replaced by a leadership that is less radical and very reasonable, but also that the current leadership, if it attains nuclear weapons, would blow up Israel and the region and create a “nuclear holocaust.”

He has insisted that Iran must be prevented from attaining nuclear weapons, and criticized his vice president for offering a deal under which Iran would be prevented from enriching uranium for only 20 years, and subsequently said that a 20-year limitation on enrichment would be sufficient...

...As far as most of the international community is concerned, by extension, the key imperative now is to reach some kind of accommodation with the regime that enables the stable reopening of the strait. But, of course, so long as the regime is in power, there can and will be no credible guarantees of stability.

Far worse, the essential goal with which the US and Israel went to war — ensuring that this regime has no path to nuclear weapons — has not been achieved. To the contrary.

ECI månadsrapport

Utdrag från månadsrapporten från ECI:

 EU:s politik inom de omtvistade territorierna strider mot San Remo-resolutionen

När vi ser tillbaka på betydelsen av fredskonferensen 1920, kan vi konstatera att EU:s politik beträffande de omtvistade territorierna går emot San Remo-resolutionen där Israels land utlovades till det judiska folket baserat på deras mer än 3 000 år långa historiska koppling till landet. Detta beslut ändrades 1921 när Palestinamandatet som utlovats till judarna, delades i ett arabiskt Palestina öster om Jordanfloden, i dag Hashemitiska konungariket Jordanien, och ett judiskt Palestina väster om Jordanfloden, den moderna staten Israel från år 1948. En ytterligare delningsplan presenterades av Förenta nationerna 1947 men den förkastades av araberna som i stället attackerade den nyfödda judiska staten på sju fronter för att driva ut judarna i havet, vilket misslyckades. Från 1949 till 1967 kontrollerade emellertid araberna det som i dag kallas Västbanken och Gaza, men talade under den tiden aldrig om något behov av en palestinsk stat. Det var först efter att Israel befriat östra Jerusalem, Judeen och Samarien, vilka illegalt hade ockuperats av Jordanien, som kravet på en tvåstatslösning fördes fram.

EU:s officiella policy som antogs först efter oljeembargot efter jom kippur-kriget 1973 definierar däremot de omtvistade territorierna som ”palestinskt land” där ursprungsfolket judarna betecknas som ”bosättare”. Enligt detta argument är infödda judar som bor eller ber vid Västra muren i Gamla staden i Jerusalem inkräktare och olagliga bosättare. Detta är en travesti på rättvisan men följer en över femtioårig EU-politik. 

Terrorattacken 7 oktober har inte ändrat denna inställning. Tvärtom, mindre än tre år efter den största pogromen mot det judiska folket sedan Shoan håller EU:s policy på att bli ännu mer anti-israelisk. Den drivs av ett nätverk av anti-israeliska medborgarorganisationer (NGO) som ligger väl inbäddade i EU-systemet. Man finansierar dessa anti-israeliska organisationer som för kampanjer mot all israelisk närvaro inom de omtvistade territorierna, för att sedan citera deras kritik som oberoende expertis när dessa i själva verket är ute på EU:s uppdrag. Detta är ett brutalt antisemitiskt ekosystem som är utan slut. Dessutom går denna policy klart emot de löften som gavs till det judiska folket i den juridiskt bindande San Remo-resolutionen den 25 april 1920.

San Remo-resolutionen hjälper till att avslöja populära myter om Israel och ger juridisk och historisk kontext till Israel-Palestina-konflikten

 Efter 25 år av kontinuerlig dialog med ledande politiker och valda ledare från hela Europa är en sak klar: nivån på kunskapen om de mest grundläggande historiska, juridiska och politiska fakta om Israel-Palestina-konflikten är farligt låg. Medan argument baserade på internationell lag rutinmässigt används mot Israel, står inte representanter för den judiska staten på sig genom att presentera ett omfattande försvar för den lagliga grunden för staten Israel. Det är här organisationer som ECI och andra måste stiga in. 

Det judiska folkets rätt att återuppbygga sitt nationella hem i Eretz Israel erkändes först under internationell lag 1920 vid fredskonferensen i San Remo och föregår Förintelsen med över tjugo år. Detta avslöjar den populära myten om att Israels land togs från palestinierna och gavs till judarna som kompensation för Förintelsen som falsk. Israels land hade lovats till judarna tjugo år tidigare, år 1920, genom ett bindande rättsligt åtagande i Sanremo.  

Fram till år 2010 hade dessa vitala fakta inte presenterats på rätt sätt offentligt. Tack vare dr Jacques Gauthiers (foto nedan) och Howard Griefs banbrytande forskning blev dessa fakta gradvis mer kända genom det arbete som Europeiska koalitionen för Israel gör, men har ännu inte utnyttjats fullt ut. (Organisationen Canadians for Israel's Legal Rights som var medarrangörer till 90-årsjubileet är värda ett speciellt omnämnande.)

San Remo-resolutionen avslöjar också myten om Israel som en kolonialstat genom att bevisa det motsatta. San Remo-resolutionen bekräftade att det judiska folket har en över 3 000-årig koppling till Israels land och därför är landets ursprungsfolk. I motsats till kolonialismen hade de ingen kolonialmakt som sände ut dem. Det var förföljelser och pogromer i olika länder som gjorde att de återvände hem till sina fäders hemland. De hade ingen annan plats att fly till. Återfödelsen av den judiska staten innebar ett slut på en 1 800-årig kolonisation som kulminerat i en 500 år lång period under det Osmanska riket. Israels återfödelse var allt annat än en kolonial satsning, det innebar början på en avkolonialisering. 

Fredskonferensen i San Remo 1920 innebar även början på en judisk kulturell renässans där det judiska folket började bygga nya institutioner för sin framtida stat. Under år 1920 grundades judiska institutioner som Keren Hayesod, hebreiska universitetet och många andra. Judarna var byggare – i stark kontrast till de palestinska araberna som har gjort allt de kunnat för att sabotera den judiska staten i stället för att bygga sina egna institutioner, trots årtionden av generöst internationellt bistånd. 

Hur klarar man av ett långvarigt krig?

En artikel som beskriver hur det är att leva mellan krig och fred, mellan det normala och det onormala.

Ceasefire nation: Caught between war and peace, can Israelis move forward?

Day to day, most Israelis aren’t living in wartime, but with shaky truces on 3 fronts and the possibility of conflict around the corner, psychologists say that isn’t enough to heal

How do you react to the sound of a motorcycle revving?

If you’ve lived in Israel since October 7, 2023, you might feel a jolt of anxiety, a quickening of the pulse, until, half a second later, it clicks that what you just heard was not, in fact, the beginning of a siren warning of an incoming missile attack. It just so happens that those two things — motorcycles and sirens — sound very similar.

Or maybe you’re out at dinner, or taking a train, or relaxing on a park bench enjoying a sunny day, when you glance around and notice that where you’re sitting — the park bench, the restaurant window, a concrete column on the train platform — is covered in bumper stickers emblazoned with the faces of some of the 2,000 Israelis who have been killed since October 7.

Almost all of them are smiling, and, if you’re an adult, almost all of them are younger than you. You were once their age. They will never be your age.

And yet, there is no war, at least not right now, at least not for most. A ceasefire has been in place in Gaza for more than six months, in Iran for more than a month.

A third ceasefire, in the north, has unraveled, and residents of the embattled border towns remain very much at risk....

Israel- Eurovisionen och lögnerna

 Bland annat Ilta Sanomat har publicerat en rubrik där Israel anklagas för att ha lurat till sig röster i Eurovisionssångtävlingen 2025.

Hatet mot Israel är bland vissa  så stort att också en musiktävling måste användas för att attackera och sprida lögner om Israel.

Här en artikel från Jerusalem Post som behandlar samma artikel som IS utgår ifrån, artikeln är från New York Times.

NYT’s Eurovision ‘investigation’ into Israel misses the point - analysis

The New York Times framed Israel’s Eurovision campaigning as suspicious soft power, despite acknowledging that no rules were broken and other countries engaged in similar promotion.

Europe must remember the reason Eurovision was formed or risk losing it completely - editorial

Hamas vansinniga sexuella övergrepp har dokumenterats i en omfattande rapport

SILENCED NO MORE

Sexual Terror Unveiled: The Untold Atrocities of October 7 and Against Hostages in Captivity

Watch The Trailer:

Sexual violence was ‘systematic, integral’ to Hamas-led October 7 terror assault, study finds

The 300-page study produced by the Civil Commission, an Israeli NGO established to document the October 7 atrocities, detailed 13 types of sexual violence during the attack and against hostages, including rape, gang rape, sexual torture and mutilation, executions linked to sexual violence, postmortem sexual abuse, and sexual assaults carried out in the presence of family members, among other acts.

Inside the 300-page report Hamas hoped no one would uncover

Oct. 7 sexual violence was patterned, documented, prosecutable, new report argues

Medias behandling av Israel

 Professor reveals decades of bias in israel's media coverage

In From David to Goliath, Professor Eli Avraham explores the media’s portrayal of Israel, shedding light on its biased coverage and the effects on international opinion.

...Despite Israel's ongoing efforts in public diplomacy and strategic media engagement, Avraham notes that foreign coverage often ignores Israel's narratives, focusing instead on framing it as the aggressor. This is exemplified by the media’s selective reporting, where Israel is often portrayed as responsible for violence against Palestinians, with little to no context about the complexities of the region or the provocations from adversaries...

Israel står inför stora olösta utmaningar

 Veckans analys av David Horovitz visar vilka stora utmaningar Israel står inför på hemmaplan, förutom alla fiender runt omkring.

Israel heads toward its most fateful elections, with law and order, governance and morality at stake

Deadly Jewish terrorism spiraling in the West Bank, murderous teen gangs terrifying central Israel, ultra-Orthodox youths rampaging nationwide… all these horrors and more stem from a PM who has prized power over national interests and brought two corrosive Jewish supremacists into the heart of government

Hotet från Iran har inte försvunnit någonstans

David Horovitz ger igen  en klar analys av läget. Den gamla regimen sitter kvar vid makten och Iran har fortfarande tillgång till anrikat uran som kan användas till kärnvapen. Om man säger att hotet förvunnit lurar man sig själv.

Netanyahu claims to have prevented an Iranian-wrought second Holocaust. If only we could be so sure

In his Holocaust Day address, the PM asserted that his pledge to ensure the regime in Tehran does not develop nuclear weapons had been fulfilled. He of all people should be more circumspect

...Now, two and a half years later, Netanyahu the politician is assuring the nation that Iran, too, no longer poses a dire threat, that he and Trump have dealt with the danger. And there is a risk to the State of Israel and its people, today as in 2023, that Netanyahu the politician will be swept up by his own bluster and will start to believe his own rhetoric.

“Had we not acted, the names Natanz, Fordo, Isfahan and Parchin might have been remembered eternally in infamy, just like Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek and Sobibor,” he solemnly claimed at Yad Vashem.

But that danger has not, in fact, been alleviated.

And Netanyahu, not the divisive party chief seeking reelection but the Israeli prime minister — who knows full well that there has been no regime change in Iran, and knows exactly what the regime is capable of — has a national obligation to recognize, explain and confront that reality, however politically uncomfortable it may be.

Kapitulerade USA?

 Inga mål som sattes upp för kriget har uppnåtts men Trump tröttnade. Nu har han enligt sina egna uttalande skapat världsfred för åtminstone andra gången under sin mandatperiod.

David Horovitz TOI: US and Israel set out ambitious, vital war goals; as of the ceasefire, none have been achieved

'Everyone' wanted a ceasefire, Trump says. Well, he certainly did

...Fighting halts with the US president hailing what is only a tactical victory, and impossibly expecting a deal in two weeks to impose terms on the weakened but emboldened Iranian regime

...Trump’s semantic games about old and new regimes symbolize the biggest danger of this current, fateful moment. The fighting is at a fragile halt, with the Islamic Republic still oppressing its people and still seeking to destroy Israel, emboldened to have survived an assault led by the world’s mightiest military power, and with no binding agreements in place to ensure that it cannot reconstitute what it has lost.

And yet the US president is telling the world, and himself, that he is dealing with “reasonable” people — indeed that he has received “a 10-point proposal” from them, believes it to be “a workable basis on which to negotiate,” and expects that a two-week ceasefire period “will allow the agreement to be finalized and consummated.”

In another post late on Tuesday night, Trump declared that the ceasefire marks “A big day for World Peace! Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else!”

It’s the “everyone” in that post that’s most troubling, and most revealing.

Iran grymma behandling av demonstranter

Några exempel på vad som sker i Iran. Människor i en hopplös situation på grund av den grymma regimen.

Iran's stolen futures: The arrested Iranians at risk of execution by the regime

IRAN AFFAIRS: Since protests began on December 28, more thousands of Iranians have been arrested for “crimes against the state,” and many face long-term imprisonment or worse, execution.

Since protests began on December 28 – and since the horrifying days of January 8 and 9, when the regime unleashed a deadly crackdown on protesters across the country – more thousands of Iranians have been arrested for “crimes against the state,” and many face long-term imprisonment or worse, execution.

Some of these people went to protest for their future. Some posted anti-regime messages online. And some simply belonged to the wrong generation at the wrong moment in the Islamic Republic.

Rapport från Israel

 

En rapport på finska från Israel av Sanna Haikala- Reyes kan ses här!

Veckans analys av David Horovitz

 Som tidigare sagt, det är värt några minuter att läsa vad David Horovitz skriver.

Seeking a deal with different faces of the same regime, Trump risks subverting his own vital war goals

When the bombs stop, he promised Iranians, your government ‘will be yours to take.’ But it won’t be. And as for his talk of potential ‘guaranteed peace for Israel’ – well, would that it were so

It took Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more than seven hours to formulate a response on Monday to US President Donald Trump’s bombshell announcement that his emissaries were negotiating indirectly with the “top man” in Iran on a deal to end the war, and that the sides had reached agreement on some 15 key points.

And no wonder the prime minister struggled to find the words. He needed to somewhat dissociate himself and Israel from the US president’s gambit, without sounding like he was doing so...

...But if he indeed strikes a deal with the regime — and especially if it turns out that the “top man” with whom he is interacting is, in fact, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf — a “Death to America”-shouting former commander in the terror-exporting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and murderous suppressor of anti-regime protests at home — Trump risks subverting the very goals of the war he and Netanyahu launched against the Islamic Republic less than four weeks ago.

Denouncing the regime on February 28 as “a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Trump accurately accused it of menacing the US and its allies worldwide for 47 years, promised to “raze their missile industry,” vowed to ensure Iran would never attain a nuclear weapon, and told Iranians that “the hour of your freedom is at hand.” When the bombs stop, he urged, “Take over your government. It will be yours to take.”

Instead, he is negotiating with that vicious, cynical and completely untrustworthy regime, whether or not he claims its latest representatives are somehow distinct from their recently eliminated predecessors. And thus, by definition, he is legitimizing its retention of power and narrowing the promised path for the Iranian public to oust it...

...Trump’s assertion that the US has obtained broad agreement from its Iranian interlocutors to a 15-point plan for ending the war carries shades of the way he put forward his 20-point peace plan for Gaza last September.

Ignoring the fact that Gaza’s terrorist rulers had submitted a caveat-filled semi-rejection of his proposal, he declared that Hamas was ready for peace, and brokered a deal that, near-miraculously, enabled the release of the last 20 living hostages from more than two years of horrific captivity in Gaza.

But six months later, Hamas is still governing most Gazans, has not disarmed, is currently regrouping and rearming, and remains determined to destroy Israel.

Gaza is a nightmarish military and diplomatic challenge, because so many of its people loathe Israel more than they loathe the terrorist rulers who place them in the line of fire, and because there is no dependable alternative Palestinian leadership.

Iran could have been — and still could be — very different. Most of its people revile the regime that has been oppressing them for almost half a century. They have been crying out for international assistance in ridding themselves of the ayatollahs, have repeatedly resorted to mass protests, and been gunned down by the tens of thousands.

Trump’s reported 15 conditions for ending the war — including permanently stripping the Islamic Republic of its nuclear weapons program, constraining its missile capabilities, and severing it from Hamas, Hezbollah and its other terrorist proxies — would indeed deprive it of the capacity to menace Israel, the region, and the rest of the world, and could indeed spell its merciful demise… if those conditions are implemented.

But for precisely that reason, there is no way on earth that the regime will agree to them...

...In a TV report on Monday night, an Israeli security source was quoted saying, “We do not know if there will be a deal in the near future or if this is a characteristic ‘Trump maneuver.’ But if there is a deal, and it does not involve the removal from Iran of its [450-kilograms of 60%] enriched uranium, any big words about ‘devastation’ and ‘degraded capability’ will not be true. The truth will be that it is an epic failure.”

That’s for sure.

And again, Trump told Iranians on February 28, “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”

Well, it won’t be, will it, if he cuts a deal with people who are merely different faces of the same regime?

And finally, as for Trump’s vision of this agreement, if it happens, bringing “peace for Israel, long-term peace, guaranteed peace” — that carries historical echoes that I’d prefer not even to express and dearly hope will never have to.

Läs hela artikeln här! 

Analys av David Horovitz

 David Horovitz ledare i Times of Israel.

Regimes are ousted from within, but the US and Israel must not let up until that happens in Iran

Trump and Netanyahu now allow that their confidence in the Iranian people rising up when the bombings stop may be misplaced. But they cannot end this war without the removal of Iran’s uranium stockpile, and a commitment to keep returning until the regime is gone

Verkligheten i Israel idag

 Det David Horovitz, Times of Israel skrivet, är ofta värd att läsas.

Seeking clarity, and safety, in a war marked by incoherent leadership and a momentous goal

Work and worry under missile attack * Searching for truth in a sea of misinformation * Intellectual problems for Israel-haters * Is Trump all-in?

Kriget mot Iran är lagligt

 Här en analys jag långt kan hålla med om.

Det finns de som säger att kriget mot Iran gör världen till en osäkrare plats och att kriget är olagligt. Lagligheten behandlas i följande analys som publicerats i Times of Israel. 

När det gäller påverkan av världsläget kan man med säkerhet inte veta vad som i längden  är farligast. Men något farligare än Iran med kärnvapen och ännu bättre rustad än idag är svårt att föreställa sig. En regim som utan att tveka dödar sina egna medborgare är säkert beredd att använda alla medel mot dem som de betraktar som sina fiender. Om de allierade slagit till mot Hitlers regim 1938 hade antagligen miljoner mänskoliv räddats. Kriget mot regimen i Iran kan på samma sätt rädda ett okänt antal liv i framtiden. Ingen vet med säkerhet men det skulle antagligen vara oförsvarligt att inget göra.

Yes, Israel's war with Iran is legal

After decades of proxy war and direct missile attacks, this response is not a violation of international law — it is what the right of self-defense was meant to allow

Vladimir Putin, of all people, along with several European leaders, has declared that “the US- Israel war against Iran is illegal under international law.” So does Israel’s military action in Iran, with all its ramifications, meet the test of international law? After the past two and a half years, and the relentless mistreatment of Israel by international bodies, many may find the question beside the point. But it still matters.

The short answer is yes. Throughout this difficult period, Israel has acted in accordance with international law, and it is doing so now. The fundamental rule of customary international law – also reflected in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter – prohibits the use of force. The exception to this rule, and the basis for any state’s legitimate use of force, is the right of self-defense (Article 51 of the UN Charter). That right arises when a state is subjected to an “armed attack.”

As we all know, Iran has been acting against Israel for many years. It deploys Hezbollah and the Houthis against us, and Hamas has effectively been armed and enabled by Iran. Since these forces are subordinate to Iran and operate under its direction, that in itself amounts to an Iranian armed attack on Israel.

But Iran has also attacked Israel directly, without Israel attacking Iran first. In April 2024, Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, and it attacked Israel again in October 2024. These direct attacks establish, in the clearest possible way, Israel’s right to self-defense...

Kriget mot Iran

 Kriget mot Iran var oundvikligt. Det är man långt överens om bland politiker i Israel. Irans uttalade mål att utplåna Israel gör att man inte kan låta landet rusta upp så att det kan förverkliga målet.

Dessutom anser USA , enligt Trump, att Iran som är en av världens största sponsorer av terrorism utgör ett hot mot USA och hela den fria världen.

Den iranska regimen är ju bevisligen också ett hot mot den egna befolkningen.

För att följa med krigshändelserna kan man läsa t.ex. Jerusalem Post eller Times of Israel.

Israelhatare från höger och vänster

 Tucker Carlson’s anti-Zionism shows horseshoe theory nearing a circle (TOI)

Conservative US commentator borrows talking points from the left, highlighting how anti-Zionist discourse is finding a home on both sides of the spectrum

In December, the right-wing US media personality Tucker Carlson hosted the far-left UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, on his show.

The two outspoken personalities, from opposite corners of the political spectrum, found themselves in agreement, with Carlson deferring to Albanese’s explanations of the conflict.

“A lot of us have spent a lot of time doing our best to ignore what’s happening in Gaza,” Carlson said during a preamble to the interview. “The idea that they’ve killed tens of thousands of women and children, non-combatants, accidentally, is a lie. No, they murdered them.”...

Läs hela artikeln här!

Värt att läsa är också: Facing Trump, Hamas bet on survival and is being vindicated; Iran’s regime has the same game plan

In his State of the Union, Trump had good reason to claim success against both Gaza’s terror rulers and the Islamic Republic. But neither is finished. In fact, both intend to long outlast his presidency

…In Gaza, as my colleague Lazar Berman detailed in a deeply troubling report earlier this week, Hamas retains control of the half of the enclave where most of the population lives. And it is furtively ensuring that it will continue to hold sway even if and when the Palestinian Authority-affiliated National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, ultimately overseen by Trump, begins ostensibly taking administrative control of parts of the Strip...

Finland fördömer Israels agerande utan att bry sig om vad som är rätt

 YLE och andra rapporterar att Finland tillsammans med 18 andra stater i ett gemensamt uttalande  fördömer Israels agerande på västbanken. Finland gör här gemensam sak med arab- och muslimstaterna och den palestinska myndigheten. Är det verkligen där Finland hör hemma?

Suomi ja joukko muita maita tuomitsevat Israelin pyrkimykset Länsirannalla

Parikymmentä maata tuomitsee Israelin pyrkimykset alueliitoksiin Länsirannalla – Suomi mukana yhteislausunnossa

Det som är intressant med uttalandet är att Finland hör till de stater som vill hålla fast vid det gamla regelbaserade världsordningen. Man vill att internationella avtal och överenskommelser skall hållas och styra staters agerande. Men det gäller som känt inte när man behandlar Israel.

Enligt internationella avtal tillhör västbanken  det område som gavs till judarna för att de där skulle återupprätta sin nationalstat. (San Remo deklarationen och stadgarna för Palestinamandatet)

Om Israel förändrar lagar som berör området borde det inte vara något att  bråka om.

Det kan vara intressant att i sammanhanget läsa vad Alan Baker skriver om saken i Jerusalem Post:

These government measures are not de facto annexation 

(Alan Baker heads the International Law Program at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. He is an expert in international law and former ambassador of the state of Israel to Canada.)

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a set of administrative changes affecting day-to-day governance and law enforcement in the territories. Predictably, the response has been split between celebration and outrage. Supporters have hailed the measures as “de facto annexation.” Critics have denounced them as exactly the same. Both camps are wrong.

...In the territory under its administration, Israel is duty-bound to ensure public order and to prevent arbitrary obstructions – whether by Israeli or Palestinian residents, or by local municipal and other authorities – that disrupt day-to-day life.

Streamlining legal and administrative procedures, improving planning and oversight, ensuring transparent property purchase and registration, and protecting archaeological sites are all part of Israel’s responsibilities under the existing framework. Respect for private property in the territories, including in the context of Israel’s settlement policies, was affirmed in 2012 by an expert, government-established legal commission headed by Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy, which sought to protect private ownership and regulate settlement activity.

At the same time, nothing prevents private, legitimate, and transparent property transactions conducted lawfully by willing parties. In that context, the decision to enable lawful land transactions and not to apply in the territories a distinctly discriminatory and antisemitic Jordanian-era law that barred the sale of land to Jews cannot reasonably be described as “de facto annexation.”

...Exaggerated condemnations by international leaders have relied on selective and misleading framing. They accuse Israel of annexation without engaging seriously with the nature of the measures themselves.

Förslag till konstitution för Palestina ger inget hopp om en bättre framtid

 Den palestinska myndigheten har kommit med ett utkast till konstitution för självständighet.

Jag har inte läst utkastet men det verkar inte ge hopp om en bättre framtid för palestinierna eller för relationerna till Israel.

So much for the two-state solution: PA proves to be its own worst enemy TOI

The Palestinian Authority’s new draft constitution for statehood ignores reconciliation – in fact, the document erases Israel and Jewish history

The draft should be a must-read for the 157 countries that recognize a Palestinian state. They’ll find that their perception of a future Palestinian democracy ready to accept the state of Israel next door is a fiction. There is no talk of living alongside Israel. Instead, the draft asserts that Jerusalem will be the capital of Palestine and that Islamic and Christian holy sites will be maintained and protected. No mention is made of the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the land since the days of the Bible; no recognition that Judaism is rooted in the Holy Land and that for thousands of years Jewish prayer has been deeply and inextricably linked to it.

In effect, the 53-page document erases Israel and Jewish history. It proposes a state that rejects “colonial settlement occupation… ethnic cleansing … and continued genocide,” to be governed not by democracy but Islamic Shariah law. It legalizes terror by promising to continue the PA’s “pay-for-slay” policy, calling for providing “protection and care for the families of martyrs, wounded and prisoners, and those released from the occupation prisons and the victims of genocide.” So much for a spirit of compromise or confidence-building required to prepare both Arabs and Jews to live as neighbors.

Reading the draft, with its emphasis on victimhood, I was reminded of Abba Eban’s most oft-quoted comment. Two months after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Eban, as Israel’s UN Ambassador and golden-toned orator, noted that Arab leaders “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” He was referring to frustratingly stalled peace efforts...

YLE förvånar med artikel om Gaza

En ganska ovanlig artikel från YLE . I artikeln finns också en video från Gaza som japanska radiobolaget NHK spelat in. I videon ser man inga svältande människor, tvärtom ser de välmående ut. Bra med lite omväxling.

Mitä ihmettä tapahtuu Gazassa? Hamas piti riisua aseista, nyt se vain näyttää vahvistuvan

Äärijärjestö Hamas ja Israel sopivat sotatoimet lopettavasta tulitauosta Gazassa viime lokakuussa.

Yhtenä sen ehdoista oli, että Hamas luovuttaa aseensa eikä Hamasilla ole enää roolia Gazan kaistaleen hallinnossa.

Kumpikaan näistä ei ole toteutunut.

Kun Israel veti joukkonsa pois, on Hamas näyttänyt tiukentavan otettaan.

Utrikesminister Valtonen i Israel och Ramallah

 Här kan man läsa  vad utrikesminister Valtonen skrev på Facebook efter sitt besök till Israel och Ramallah på västbanken. (https://www.facebook.com/elinamariavaltonen)

Kort kan man säga att hon inte skriver ett ont ord, ingen kritik av den palestinska myndigheten. Israel får däremot kritik på flera områden. Palestinierna är som vanligt offer och Israel angripare. Sorgligt men  inte oväntat. 

"Det får inte finnas någon plats för terrorism", skriver hon. Varför kritiserar hon inte då palestinska myndigheten som betalar lön till  terrorister som angriper judar, som prisar och förhärligar terrordåd mot judar (t.ex Fatah glorifies Munich Olympics massacre ahead of 2026 Winter Olympics) och som i skolorna lär barnen att hata judar?

Vierailin maanantaina Ramallahissa, Länsirannalla.

Israelin siirtokuntalaajentuminen ja siirtokuntalaisten väkivalta tuntuvat palestiinalaisten arjessa päivittäin eri puolilla Länsirantaa, myös Itä-Jerusalemissa. Monen palestiinalaisen elämä on täynnä rajoituksia maan, toimeentulon ja peruspalvelujen saatavuudessa – ja samanaikaisesti turvattomuus ja väkivalta ovat lisääntyneet. 

Eräs nuori nainen kertoi, että hän on pahimmillaan joutunut odottamaan neljä tuntia Israelin asettamalla tarkistuspaikalla - siis palestiinalaisalueiden välillä - ainoastaan päästäkseen ajamaan työpaikaltaan kotiin. Arjen pyörittäminen vaikeutuu kaiken aikaa.

Tapasin Ramallahissa pääministeri Mohammad Mustafan. Keskustelimme Länsirannan heikentyneestä tilanteesta, Gazan humanitaarisista olosuhteista sekä siitä, miten kansainvälinen yhteisö voi parhaiten tukea Palestiinalaishallintoa ja sen paluuta Gazaan. Hamas on riisuttava aseista ja sen on väistyttävä vallasta. Terrorismille ei pidä olla minkäänlaista tilaa.

Vierailin matkan yhteydessä Punaisen Puolikuun avustuskeskuksessa ja tapasin palestiinalaisia kansalaisyhteiskunnan toimijoita. Varastossa odotti rekkalavoittain avustuspaketteja Gazaan, joita ei vielä oltu saatu toimittaa.

Suomi on Palestiinalaishallinnon kumppani. Jatkamme kehitysyhteistyötä ja tuemme poliittista näköalaa, joka vie kohti kahden valtion ratkaisua.

Vierailin sunnuntaina Israelissa. Kenttämatka alkoi vierailulla Kibbutz Nir Oziin sekä Nova Music festivaalialueelle, jotka olivat Hamasin 7. lokakuuta tekemien iskujen surullisia kohteita. Yhteensä satoja ihmisiä sai surmansa tai heidät kaapattiin panttivangeiksi.

Vierailin myös Holokaustin muistokeskus Yad Vashemissa kunnioittamassa kuuden miljoonan holokaustissa murhatun juutalaisen muistoa. Menneisyyden muistaminen on yhteinen velvollisuutemme. Meidän on puolustettava ihmisarvoa, torjuttava antisemitismiä ja suojeltava siviilejä kaikkialla.

Tapasin Jerusalemissa Israelin ulkoministerin Gideon Sa’arin ja presidentin Isaac Herzogin. Keskustelimme maidemme välisistä suhteista sekä Lähi-idän tilanteesta: Israelin ja Palestiinan välisestä konfliktista, rauhansuunnitelmasta ja Iranista.

Nostin esille Gazan siviiliväestön jatkuvan humanitaarisen hädän ja näköalattomuuden. Tuemme rauhansuunnitelman toimeenpanoa. Suomen tuki alueelliselle vakaudelle ja kahden valtion ratkaisulle on horjumaton. Emme hyväksy Israelin toimia Länsirannalla, jotka pyrkivät siirtokunta-alueiden annektointiin osaksi Israelia. Israel on viime kuukausina tehostanut siirtokuntien rakentamista.

Israel har inte annekterat Judéen och Samarien

 These government measures are not de facto annexation  (Alan Baker TOI)

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a set of administrative changes affecting day-to-day governance and law enforcement in the territories. Predictably, the response has been split between celebration and outrage. Supporters have hailed the measures as “de facto annexation.” Critics have denounced them as exactly the same. Both camps are wrong...

…Exaggerated condemnations by international leaders have relied on selective and misleading framing. They accuse Israel of annexation without engaging seriously with the nature of the measures themselves.

...In this context, the condemnation by UN Secretary-General António Guterres calling for the reversal of these measures reflects extreme bias and a superficial reading of the facts and legal framework underlying them...

…As an international official, the Secretary-General should be reminded that the “UN Charter and Staff Rules” require senior officials to act with impartiality. His consistently slanted statements, which single out and condemn Israel while disregarding Palestinian violations and incitement, undermine the integrity of his office – and any last shreds of credibility that the United Nations may still have.

Låt inte lögnen vinna: Fördöm påståendet om folkmord i Israel, oavsett vem som framför det (Jerusalem Post)

 Att stämpla Israels krig i Gaza som folkmord är inte kritik utan ett modernt blodsförtal, ett påstående som förvränger det som hände den 7 oktober, som underblåser antisemitism världen över och måste konfronteras direkt.

Don't let the lie stand: Denounce the Israeli genocide claim, no matter who raises it - editorial

Labeling Israel’s war in Gaza as genocide is not criticism but a modern blood libel, one that distorts October 7, fuels antisemitism worldwide, and must be confronted head-on.

...Thankfully, the issue is coming to the forefront, thanks to an online campaign initiated by a group of respected Jewish thinkers, teachers, and writers not generally associated with the Right’s allegiance to the notion that Israel can do no wrong. Among the Israeli signatories are Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg, journalist and teacher Yossi Klein Halevi, and Rabbi Micha Odenheimer of Tevel b’Tzedek, an Israeli nonprofit.

They plainly but eloquently stated the obvious, which has been either ignored or disputed.

They wrote: “The unprecedented combat conditions of the war – hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, thousands of booby-trapped homes – the conflating of combatants with ‘journalists’ and ‘human rights workers,’ the ratio of civilian-to-terrorist casualties, considered low for asymmetrical urban warfare, the absence of mass starvation despite repeated claims of imminent catastrophe, the warnings given to civilians before attack: All these factors were erased in the eagerness to indict Israel for genocide.

“A crucial difference between war as tragedy and war as genocide is intent. In this war, only one side intended to commit genocide, and that is Hamas.

“To accuse Israel of genocide, the massacre of October 7 has been systematically downplayed, while Israeli actions have been distorted and amplified. Israel went to war on October 8, not out of vengeance, as its detractors claim, but to break the Iranian-led siege of terror enclaves on its borders, and to restore its deterrence, without which it cannot survive in the long term in the Middle East. Thousands of rockets and missiles were fired at Israel in the weeks following the massacre, while Hamas starved and tortured 250 Israelis, some of whom were murdered in captivity.”...

Så ser palestinierna på UNRWA

Palestinian Authority again admits UNRWA is political

The Palestinian Authority has again admitted—three times in two weeks—that UNRWA is all about politics as it seeks to preserve the organization so it can keep alive the demand to flood Israel with "returning refugees."

Last month, a column in the official PA daily defined what it views as the very mandate of UNRWA:

"The Fatah Revolutionary Council… emphasized… that all the patriots must… defend UNRWA and its mandate because it is a testimony to the Nakba (i.e., "the catastrophe," the Palestinian term for the establishment of the State of Israel) and the sanctity of the refugees' right of return."

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 11, 2026]

This is the PA admitting, openly, that the central value of UNRWA is ideological and political. It is why the PA frames challenges to UNRWA as an Israeli plot to erase the refugee issue and the dream of "return" into Israel. In the following statement by a PA spokesman on official PA TV, the claim is taken a step further and tied directly to Israel's sovereignty and to Jerusalem, again showing clearly that this is not actually a humanitarian issue for the PA but a political one, with the mission of UNRWA being to ultimately undo Israel through "return."

PA Jerusalem District Spokesman Ma'arouf Al-Rifai: "Since Oct. 7, [2023], Israel has started a campaign of incitement against UNRWA to eliminate the refugee issue, to eliminate what we Palestinians are dreaming of, namely the right of return and compensation. Israel is attempting to impose full sovereignty over Jerusalem and annex it to the cities of the occupation (i.e., Israel) like any city that was occupied in 1948."

[Official PA TV News, Jan. 20, 2026]

Note that the PA spokesman reiterated what Palestinian Media Watch has stressed many times, which is that the PA sees all of Israel as "occupied in 1948."

A senior PLO official also made a similar admission on official PA radio several days later:...

Jämförelse mellan YLE:s och Jerusalem Posts rapportering

 Israeliska armen gav i onsdags en uppskattning om hur många invånare i Gaza som dött i kriget.

Här under en liten jämförelse av hur YLE och Jerusalem Post rapporterade om händelsen.

Israelin armeija tunnustaa Gazan terveysministeriön ilmoittamat uhriluvut

Israelilaiset mediat, muun muassa The Times of Israel ja Haaretz uutisoivat, että Israelin armeija hyväksyy Gazan terveysministeriön uhriluvun: lokakuussa 2023 alkaneessa sodassa on kuollut ainakin 71 000 gazalaista.

Tarkka luku on nyt 71 667 kuollutta. Luvussa ei ole mukana mm. nälkään tai puutteellisen terveydenhoidon takia kuolleita. Myös kadonneita ei ole luvussa.

Armeija analysoi nyt, kuinka suuri osa kuolleista on Hamas-järjestön asemiehiä.

YK, avustusjärjestöt ja mediat ovat tähänkin asti pitäneet Gazan terveysministeriön uhrilukua luotettavana, Israel on väittänyt sitä epäluotettavaksi.

IDF confirms some 70,000 Gazans died in Israel-Hamas war, none from starvation

The IDF, for the first time on Wednesday, confirmed that approximately 70,000 Gazans were killed during the Israel-Hamas War, while disputing the percentage of civilian deaths claimed by the UN and declaring that no healthy persons died from starvation.

While various international groups have claimed that the overwhelming majority of those who died were civilians, the IDF continues to contest that number and has said that around 25,000 were Hamas terrorists. Further, the IDF has presented evidence that, through early 2024 – the period when Hamas was firing large daily rocket salvos – around 13% of their rockets were misfires, leading to the killing of many Palestinians.

There have also been other periods of time where Hamas executed large numbers of Palestinians whom it viewed as political opponents or civilians whom it was trying to prevent from fleeing an area that the IDF said needed to be evacuated. While the IDF said on Thursday that it is working on a fuller evaluation of the breakdown of civilians to combatants and estimates of those killed by Hamas, no Israeli official has provided a set estimate on that to date...

Får en kristen glädjas åt och stöda judarnas återkomst till sitt hemland?

 Frågan kan verka absurd men det finns de som anser att så får man inte göra.

Jerusalem's Armenian church leaders say Christian Zionism is 'damaging,' warn of harm to unity

The Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Jerusalem, in a Saturday statement claiming to be from the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land, condemned Christian Zionism as a “damaging” ideology.

ICEJ challenges church leaders’ claim that Christian Zionism is 'damaging ideology'

ICEJ Response to Patriarchs’ Statement denouncing Christian Zionism

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem takes issue with the recent Statement from the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem on Unity and Representation of the Christian Communities in the Holy Land (January 17, 2026) concerning its charge that Christian Zionism is among the “damaging ideologies” being advanced by unnamed local individuals to “mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock.”

As Christians, we adhere to a Zionism that is purely biblical in origin, belief, scope and practice – reflecting our sincere faith convictions and not shifting political objectives. The promised restoration of Israel in modern times enjoys ample biblical credentials in both the Old and New Testaments. The Jewish return to the Land of Israel both reflects and affirms the faithful nature and character of God to always keep His sworn covenant promises, thereby strengthening the Christian faith rather than damaging or undermining it...

…The respected Catholic prelate Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, Archbishop of Vienna, once expressed his support for Biblical Zionism, maintaining that it was doctrinally important for Christians to recognize the Jewish people's deep connection to their ancestral homeland, and adding that Christians should rejoice in the Jewish return to the Land of Israel as a fulfilment of biblical prophecy. We could not agree more....

Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Nicolas Maduro, och Hugo Chavez hjältar och förebilder för palestinska myndigheten

 Top Palestinian Authority honors given to Putin, Xi Jinping, Maduro, and Chavez: "Star of Palestine" to enemies of the West

The Palestinian Authority's highest decoration, known as the Star of Palestine, is not awarded to just anyone. Outside of Arab heads of state, this award has been given by the PA only to its closest ideological allies – all notorious dictators in the anti-Western axis: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Nicolas Maduro, and Hugo Chavez. The award—a sign of the PA's deep ideological affinity with China, Russia, and Venezuela—has not been given by the PA to any leader of a Western democracy.

Israel kommer att försvinna, säger palestinska myndigheten

 Bara en påminnelse om vad den "moderata" palestinska myndigheten står för: (från PMW)

“Israel is doomed to perish” – Palestinian Authority admits its goal

Ephraim D. Tepler and Itamar Marcus|Jan 18

The Palestinian Authority consistently indoctrinates Palestinians to believe that Israel's demise is inevitable and is an inherent form of justice. This message is delivered by senior PA leaders and is reinforced repeatedly across official PA media, including news programs, children's education, political commentary, poetry, and international forums broadcast to the Palestinian public.

This doctrine has been articulated again recently by Abbas Zaki, a senior Fatah leader and member of the Central Committee, the PA's ruling party:

Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki: "In the end, the winner is the one who remains on the land... and those who will remain are the ones with the idea, the idea that says there is no escaping the fact that this land will be liberated, and that the land of peace cannot be based on revenge. Israel is doomed to perish."

[Arabi 21, London-based Arab news website, Jan. 9, 2026]

Zaki's statement presents Israel as a temporary presence and Palestinians as the enduring owners of Israel's land, so that justice will ensure Israel's disappearance. This is a foundational belief promoted systematically by the PA.

PA/Fatah education teaches children to see Israel as temporary:

"Palestine fell under the Zionist occupation [in 1948], which continues today… The occupation will cease to exist just as what was before it ceased to exist..."

"All of the invaders were defeated, and Palestine returned to be free and Arab."

"[Israel] the evil occupation state… this artificial state… It is artificial because it is foreign..."

"The liberation of Palestine will only be achieved through armed struggle."

"The Zionist invaders will go to the garbage can of history."

"Palestine will be liberated and purified from the occupation's (i.e., Israel's) defilement.

"Palestine is destined for full liberation (i.e., all of Israel)… from the yoke of Zionist colonialism"

"Algeria's experience [of the French leaving] assures that the Jewish settlers in Palestine will disappear in the end."

[Fatah's Waed Magazine for children ages 6-15]

On official PA television, Israel's demise is conveyed as fact. PA TV narrators repeatedly describe Jewish presence as a transient colonial episode destined to end, with this specific script reiterated every two years on average:...

Intervju med Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

 Intressant intervju som behandlar flera aktuella saker i det israeliska samhället!

Leading Religious Zionist rabbi: Extremist settler violence must be stopped from the pulpit

Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, co-head of Yeshivat Har Etzion in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut, discusses the challenges facing his community and the country as a whole

- ...Now, if you ask me what I think the Torah wants from us, the fact that I’m in hesder says it all, and I obviously do not accept their attacks upon the ability to both learn [Torah] and serve [in the army], or to observe mitzvot in the army.

-... In recent times, the general public has often heard about the Religious Zionist community because of the hilltop youth and the violence connected to it. What is your perspective?

The violence that is going on is horrible and is morally and ethically wrong. We can debate exactly where the line between violence and self-defense runs, but there is no doubt whatsoever that a lot of [what is happening] is violence.

...   What is needed for the future of Israel?

We must reduce the polarization in society. There needs to be much more dialogue, much more willingness to compromise, also internally. We are now reading the Book of Genesis, and the main message is that you can overcome external threats, but internal divisions send you to exile.