A friend of mine has co-created and produced a docuseries about Israel called “Hope in the Holy Land.” He reached out to me a couple of days ago and asked if I could help him to get word out that the next two parts in the series are now available.
I’ve watched both parts and can tell you that they are very helpful to understanding the situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis leading up to October 7, 2023, and then seeing and hearing from those who lived through October 7, which is incredibly sobering.
If you have the time, I strongly encourage you to watch both parts. Part II examines the history of Gaza leading up to October 7, and Part III takes you through that horrible day from those who were there. You’ll see below that Part III is age restricted; that’s because of some graphic violence shown from October 7, including cell phone footage from Hamas terrorists or victimized Israelis.
You may also want to consider watching the first video in the series, which you can find here along with the background on the series. If you’d like to just jump to the trailer, you can click below.
I hope you’ll make time to watch them all. Have a good weekend.
Macron criticises ‘excessive’ civilian casualties in call with Netanyahu
The president of France criticised the “excessive number” of civilian casualties in Israel’s military operation during a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu.
While reiterating Israel’s “right to defend itself”, Emmanuel Macron told Mr Netanyahu there was an “absolute need to distinguish terrorists from the population and to provide effective protection for civilians”, according to a summary of the conversation.
Mr Macron also reiterated “the importance of establishing an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a ceasefire”.
It is not the first time the French president has made comments of this nature, having called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza earlier this month and saying he hoped the US and the UK would join him in appealing for a ceasefire.
How does one measure “excessive”? Does Macron have a number in mind? Is it purely mathematical? In our world of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DIE), is it a life for a life? Or does it include the goal of eradicating the existential terrorist threat presented by Hamas and its groupies in Gaza? When the terrorists build tunnels under hospitals and arranges to protect itself behind civilian human shields, does that somehow make those civilians off limits?
A new opinion poll released by the Ramallah-based Arab World for Research & Development (AWRAD) revealed that the vast majority of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip support jihadist terrorism, and that Palestinians overwhelmingly approve of the October 7 slaughter in southern Israel that was carried out by Hamas.
The Palestinians support the most ferocious jihadi terrorist groups while having nothing but contempt for the United States and even Arab countries that had previously attempted to assist them.
The Al Qassam Brigades, which is supported by 89% of respondents, is the militant arm of Hamas. They are known for carrying out suicide bombing missions and terrorist attacks on civilians.
Islamic Jihad (known in the West as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or PIJ), the second most popular group with 84% approval, is a terrorist organization that operates in Gaza and Lebanon. Their operations also include suicide attacks and indiscriminate violence against civilians.
The Al Aqsa Brigades, which, like the two aforementioned groups, is best known for its suicide attacks, receives an 80% approval rating. They operate mostly in the West Bank.
Hamas comes in fourth place with 76%. In all likelihood, Hamas is taking a back seat to the above groups because they are not committed to enough carnage against Israelis and the greater Western world.
As Jordan Schachtel goes on to note, this poll is not an aberration, but quite in line with other surveys that show a lifetime of radicalization and hatred of Israel and the United States.
If you think “these poor innocent civilians” you’re gravely mistaken. They fully support what Hamas stands for, even if Hamas isn’t as vicious in their terrorism as, say, the Al Qassam Brigades.
I fully recognize that, even if the majority of the civilian population supports Hamas and the atrocities of October 7, that does not qualify them as combatants, per se. However, it puts the lie to the terror apologists who cry about all the “innocent” women and children and grandparents. These are not pure as the driven snow, peace-loving people who just happen to live in a semi-state run by terrorists. They not only voted to put Hamas in power, they support their campaign of terror against the Israeli state.
Unfortunately, that puts them at risk as “collateral damage,” as the war statisticians put it. As General William Tecumseh Sherman put it, “War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”
To that I would add, Don’t want none? Don’t start none.
Circling back to the unfolding war in Israel—we learned yesterday that Gaza-based photojournalists working for CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, and The New York Times were embedded with Hamas during the October 7 slaughter.
You may ask yourself: how did the photojournalists know to meet the attackers early that morning as they accompanied them over the border into Israel? Did they know their assignment was to document a surprise raid on innocent Israelis? Did they let anyone know? If not, why not?
On October 7, Hamas terrorists were not the only ones who documented the war crimes they had committed during their deadly rampage across southern Israel. Some of their atrocities were captured by Gaza-based photojournalists working for the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies whose early morning presence at the breached border area raises serious ethical questions.
What were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet Saturday morning? Was it coordinated with Hamas? Did the respectable wire services, which published their photos, approve of their presence inside enemy territory, together with the terrorist infiltrators? Did the photojournalists who freelance for other media, like CNN and The New York Times, notify these outlets? Judging from the pictures of lynching, kidnapping and storming of an Israeli kibbutz, it seems like the border has been breached not only physically, but also journalistically.
Four names appear on AP’s photo credits from the Israel-Gaza border area on October 7: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.
Eslaiah, a freelancer who also works for CNN, crossed into Israel, took photos of a burning Israeli tank, and then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza.
[…]
Reuters has published pictures from two photojournalists who also happened to be at the border just in time for Hamas’ infiltration: Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih.
They both took pictures of a burning Israeli tank on the Israeli side of the border, but Abu Mustafa went further: He took photos of a lynch mob brutalizing the body of an Israeli soldier who was dragged out of the tank.
Reuters was kind enough to add a graphic warning to the photo caption, but it didn’t prevent editors from shamelessly labeling it as one of the “Images of the Day” on their editorial database.
It seems that the photojournalists knew the attack was coming and participated in it—and then the mainstream media bought the photos.
As if to underscore how closely aligned these “photojournalists” are with the enemy, here’s one of them literally embracing Hamas.
#DontLookAway but this is @AP photographer Hassan Eslaiah, getting a kiss and a hug from head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, who ordered the massacre of Oct 7, in which over 1,400 people were slaughtered, raped, burnt, mutilated, shot and decapitated. @APMiddleEasthttps://t.co/4VwdsAthM7
You can’t trust the mainstream media. They’re part of the Left and the mouthpiece of the Democrats. They no longer function as a check on government. They function as an extension of government.
I am urging you. I am pleading with you. I am imploring you. Wake up! The irrational hatred of the Jewish people and the demonizing of Israel is reaching proportions so dangerous that if people of conscience do not stand up, speak out, and push back, Jewish blood will start flowing in America, England, and many other countries around the world. Wake up!
When Muslims in Sydney Australia are chanting, “Gas the Jews” you know that violence is near.
When Jewish students at a university here in America have to hide in a library in fear for their lives, you know that violence is near.
When Jewish children in Germany are afraid to go to school and parents warn their children not to wear the Star of David in public you know that violence is near.
When I post an image of the Israeli flag on Facebook and draw comments like, “Children killer. Hospital bombers” you know that violence is near.
When a BBC headline reads, “British Jews are ‘full of fear, like I’ve never seen before’,” you know that violence is near.
When Rep. Rashida Tlaib can post a 2024 election warning to President Biden, featuring crowds chanting “From the river to the sea” – meaning, no more State of Israel – you know that violence is near.
Wake up!
What I think he was referring to is the possibility of full-on worldwide Jewish persecution like the Holocaust under Adolph Hitler in World War II. I don’t think he was thinking his prophetic words would be fulfilled that very day—in America, of all places.
A 69-year-old man demonstrating in support of Israel died Nov. 6 after sustaining a head injury during a fight with a pro-Palestinian protester at a weekend rally in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
This is the only report I’ve found that says Mr. Kessler’s injuries were the result of “a fight.”
The Ventura County medical examiner has ruled Paul Kessler’s death a homicide, and the county sheriff’s office has not ruled out a hate crime. Mr. Kessler was Jewish, according to the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
Officials say Mr. Kessler was attending the rally Sunday afternoon when he became involved in an altercation with a counter-protester who was demonstrating nearby at a pro-Palestinian event.
Below I link to a post from Red State reporting that the pro-Palestinian protestor who assaulted Kessler was led to the corner where Kessler was counter-protesting on behalf of Israel. in other words, this wasn’t the chance encounter of two groups meshing in the same spot.
The incident happened at the intersection of Westlake Boulevard and Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Ventura County.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office responded to the altercation after several citizens called 9-1-1 to report a battery at about 3:20 p.m.
Deputies arrived to find Mr. Kessler suffering from a head injury. Witnesses told police he fell backwards during the fight and struck his head on the ground. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries Monday, the sheriff’s office reported.
The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Mr. Kessler died from blunt-force head injury, according to the sheriff’s office.
Here’s a clip of Mr. Kessler lying on the ground after the assault and LE had arrived.
A Jewish man named Paul Kessler was killed while peacefully supporting Israel at a protest in Westlake Village, CA. A pro-Palestinian attacker reportedly hit the 65 year old man over the head with a megaphone. The man hit his head on the ground and died at the hospital of a brain… pic.twitter.com/E3tBgGqt2O
Over at Red State there’s a more in-depth report with several videos.
During the November 5 protest, eyewitnesses say that [a known agitator] led an older gentleman over to the corner with the Shell station (across from where the bulk of the pro-Hamas faction were located), to where Mr. Kessler was, as if he was pointing Kessler out to the older gentleman.
The pro-Hamas faction were located on the southwest corner of the intersection, in front of Paul Martin’s American Grill.
Eyewitnesses, who have shared this information and their photos and videos, say the attack happened within five minutes of the time the agitators went to the corner where Kessler was. The eyewitness doesn’t have video of the moment the attack occurred, but says that the gray-haired, bearded man in khaki pants is the man who confronted Kessler then hit him in the head with the bullhorn.
The man who allegedly assaulted Mr. Kessler is the heavyset guy in the blue-ish shirt below. He apparently called 9-1-1 and was cooperative with authorities. And while there’s no video of the incident made public (yet) the report in Robby Starbuck’s post says police have seized his phone.
In the screengrab the alleged assailant stands with an officer as Mr. Kessler is prepped inside the ambulance for transport to the hospital. The man is reportedly “a college professor and ardent Muslim.”
Mr. Kessler’s death has been ruled a homicide, which means it was caused by another person. Whether or not it will become a “murder” has yet to be determined. In ultra-liberal California, it’s anybody’s guess.
So now we have the death of a Jewish man in the streets of America. It’s happened before, but not in an environment as hostile as this one. We’ve imported thousands of Middle Eastern Muslim Arabs and Palestinians who are doing what they do in every country they inhabit: agitate and protest in a mob that demands the death of the ultimate Out-Group: the Jews.
#DiversityIsOurStrength
And don’t forget that after the Jews, it’s the Christians. You may want to heed Dr. Brown’s warning:
In light of all this, and with tremendous urgency in my spirit, I urge every person of conscience, every lover of justice, everyone who fears and honors God.
Please, today, speak out against the demonization of Israel and the Jewish people.
Categorically denounce Hamas and distance yourself from those who support Hamas (and Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah and the rest of these terrorist groups).
[…]
But without hesitation and without shame, you must raise your voice in support of Israel and the Jewish people now, letting the haters know that when they come against Israel, they are coming against you. It really is a matter of life and death.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem—and for peace here in the United States.
