11.01.24

Editorial Note

Eran Shayshon, a researcher and founder of Atchalta, a non-partisan Zionist leadership group focusing on national resilience in Israel, detailed in a new report how the threat that Hamas poses “extends beyond its military capabilities.” The threat encompasses a global “ideological warfare that challenges the core values and foundations of Western democracies.” Atchalta states that “recognizing this global dimension is crucial for developing a comprehensive strategy to counteract Hamas.” Atchalta recommends that in order “To effectively counter Hamas, Israel requires a multifaceted strategy that not only combats Hamas militarily in Gaza but also undertakes a global campaign to dismantle Islamist influence in the West. This challenge is intensified by the strategic alliance between Western Islamists and leftist organizations – including progressive groups in the US and socialist groups in Europe. This phenomenon, known as the red-green alliance, significantly bolsters Hamas’ soft power on a global scale.”

 A recent example of the Islamist influence in the West, in particular in Israel, was demonstrated recently when, three days ago, a South African news outlet, Eyewitness News, reported that hundreds of Israeli citizens, including academics, have signed an online petition submitted to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, in support of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. The petitioners believe South Africa’s case is credible and that Israel’s conduct in Gaza is a violation of its obligations under the UN’s genocide convention. South Africa approaches the International Court of Justice on Thursday, pledging for an immediate order for Israel to stop its military operation in Gaza. 

The petition’s initiator, Tel Aviv University Philosopher Dr. Anat Matar, spoke on South African TV, the SABC News.

Matar said, “We are almost with 700 signatures by now, and we’re going to send it out in a couple of minutes, I mean just right after our talk, so I suppose this will be the number 700, although people keep signing. Our motivation was to make clear to the court in the Hague that not all Israelis are the same, think the same, and not all support what happens now on behalf of them, in their name, in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Army. I’m not a legal expert; I’m a philosopher, I’m an activist, so I don’t know whether, you know, the formal definition of genocide is applicable to this particular case; what I see are horrible pictures, what we read are horrible data about children dying about limbs being cut, about operations being done without anesthesia, about women giving birth just on the street without water, so this is something that is totally unbearable. We’re talking now about 23 thousand people dying, and I’m sure the number is much higher because there are many who are still buried under the rubble. People cannot even bury their dead, and I speak with people I know from Rafah and from other places in Gaza; I have friends whose relatives are in Beit Hanun or in Gaza City, and I’m getting the impression both by the media, the reliable media, which is not the Israeli media, and by their own testimonies, so I just felt, you know, we cannot be silent, it is done in our name and so we wanted to sound another voice.”

She continued: “What happened on October 7th made us, you know, numb. I was just sitting, I think, for 3 or 4 days without even moving; it was such a shock. It was so terrible. I knew someone who was murdered there on 7th October; he was actually a member of my organization, Academia for Equality. I’ve indirectly known several others who were murdered or kidnapped, and of course, it was shocking, and what we heard, the stories we heard about what happened that day, what was done by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad and other organizations, was horrible. But it doesn’t justify in any way what happens now and what the Israeli Army is doing now. I mean, there’s no logic, and these are so many eyes for few eyes, and I mean the horrors should not be compared and should not be committed, so that’s and I’d like to add, that I think pragmatically, politically, this is the wrong direction to take. I mean, it’s not only that I’m sitting here on a very, you know, moral high ground and just preaching because I think this is going to just take us down and down and down and down to the abyss. And if you want a political resolution ever, it cannot start by committing such atrocities. I mean, how do we even imagine that people in Gaza would be ready to speak with us to believe what we suggest and what we offer if this is what we do? So, even pragmatically, politically, not morally. I think this is totally wrong. It’s totally wrong. And another thing, just a second, we are talking about the atrocities by Hamas of 7th October, but this came, given a context, I mean, there is a context of 57 years of occupation, you know, it’s not coming out of nothing, you have the memory of the nakba of this is all the burden that Palestinians carry.”

Matar said, “I’m not happy with the government, first of all. I’m very, very unhappy with the government and actually with most of the opposition as well. I mean, of the 120 members of parliament, members of Knesset, maybe 100, but maybe more are not acceptable to me. I mean, they’re holding the same thing. They’re supporting the horrors that are now committed by the army, so I don’t care if they’re unhappy. I’m happy that they are unhappy because I want this to stop, and there’s another thing, we haven’t mentioned there are the people who were abducted, you know, and these are Israelis, most of them Israeli citizens. It doesn’t seem that our government cares for them, and you know, the families of those who are kidnapped are holding demonstrations. They’re calling the government to stop it, so they can, you know, strike a deal and free our prisoners, our hostages, and the government doesn’t do anything because for doing this it should stop the war, and this is what I want, to decide that the war should stop.”

She said, “I think most Israelis don’t know because the Israeli media doesn’t show it. I mean, it’s hardly spoken about in Israeli radio and Israeli television, the journals, the daily newspapers, apart from online magazines that are radical and leftist, and they give a very faithful representation of what happens; most people don’t see them, so I think many of them don’t really understand why it’s called, you know, something that amounts to genocide, they have no idea what’s happening there and they simply believe that the world is against us and maybe it’s anti-semitic, maybe it’s just being anti-Israel. I don’t know, but they don’t understand that severe things are happening.”

The petitioners say they are prepared to face “oppressive consequences from authorities” for supporting the South Africa case. According to them, the Hamas attacks on Israel in October do not warrant the complete destruction of Gaza or the killing of 22,000 Palestinians, including academics, writers, doctors, medical staff, and journalists. The petitioners believe “Israel is taking systematic steps to wipe out the population of Gaza, to starve, abuse and displace them.” They add that they are concerned “Israel is violating its obligations to prevent genocide and that senior Israeli officials are not being held accountable.” The petitioners say they support South Africa’s application to the International Criminal Court for Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations in Gaza.”

Matar also told The New Arab, an anti-Israel propaganda outlet based in London, that she is filing the petition to the ICJ in The Hague on Tuesday 9th of January. She said, “I initiated this petition first of all because I wanted to show that there is part of Israeli citizens who agree with South Africa’s move… What I know for sure is that this war must be stopped immediately. Every moment that passes is a crime.” The New Arab added that Dr Matar “holds a senior lecturer position at Tel Aviv University, where she teaches political philosophy. In addition, she advocates for ‘draft refusers’, a small segment of Israelis who refuse to serve in the Israeli army because they oppose the occupation.” 

Matar acknowledges she is not a legal expert but a philosopher and that she doesn’t know whether the formal definition of genocide is applicable to this particular case. Yet, she petitions the ICJ to harm Israel. Matar has been abusing the lax academic freedoms at Tel Aviv University by focusing on her political career instead of her academics.

Matar said that because she sees horrible pictures of children and adults dying in Gaza, the situation is unbearable. Indeed, the situation is unbearable, but the culprit here is Hamas, not the IDF, which has always tried to minimize casualties. Hamas practices the strategy of embedding among the civilian population to shield itself from the IDF. One does not need to be an expert in the laws of war to know that the Geneva Conventions make it illegal to use civilians as human shields. Indeed, the IDF has discovered that Hamas located its military assets under hospitals, schools, mosques, and even private homes, often in children’s rooms. The abuse of the civilian population extended beyond embedding. Hamas stole untold billions of dollars donated to the Gaza Strip to build the enormous underground complex and acquire missiles and rockets to shell Israel. The massive embezzlement of aid and the heavy taxation impoverished the population, which had no recourse but to abide by the rule of Hamas. Those who complained were severely punished, and extrajudicial killings were common.   

The war in Gaza would not only prevent Hamas from launching deadly attacks on Israelis but liberate the Palestinians from a brutal and criminal regime. Matar and her 700 co-signers should be aware of this.

REFERENCES:

https://ewn.co.za/2024/01/08/over-400-israeli-citizens-sign-petition-backing-sa-s-genocide-case-vs-israel

OVER 400 ISRAELI CITIZENS SIGN PETITION BACKING SA’S GENOCIDE CASE VS ISRAEL

The petition’s initiators include Tel Aviv University professor, Anat Matar, social worker, Lior Kay, and Israeli peace activist, Jonathan Pollak.

CAPE TOWN – Over 400 Israeli citizens have signed an online petition to be submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in support of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

They believe South Africa’s case is credible and that Israel’s conduct in Gaza is in violation of its obligations under the UN’s genocide convention.

South Africa will approach the court on Thursday, asking for it to immediately order Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza. 

By Sunday night, over 300 Israeli citizens had signed the petition. 

That number has now grown to almost 500. 

The petition’s initiators include Tel Aviv University professor, Anat Matar, social worker, Lior Kay, and Israeli peace activist, Jonathan Pollak.

They say they are prepared to face oppressive consequences from authorities for supporting South Africa’s case. 

But they believe Hamas’ attacks on Israel last October do not warrant the complete destruction of the Gaza Strip and the killing of 22,000 Palestinians including leading academics, writers, doctors, medical staff and journalists. 

The petitioners believe Israel is taking systematic steps to wipe out the population of Gaza, to starve, abuse and displace them.

They add that they are concerned Israel is violating its obligations to prevent genocide and that senior Israeli officials are not being held accountable. 

The petitioners say they support South Africa’s application to the world court for Israel to immediately suspend its military operations in Gaza.

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Jan 9, 2024 #SABCNewsHundreds of Israeli citizens have reportedly signed an online petition to be submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in support of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. South Africa will approach the court later this week petitioning it to immediately order Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza. South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, which allows the ICJ to rule on disputes related to the treaty. Let’s discuss this further. Tel Aviv University Department of Philosophy Senior Lecturer, Anat Matar.

Transcript 

0:00 at the same time hundreds of Israeli 0:02 citizens have reportedly signed an 0:04 online petition to be submitted to the 0:06 international court of justice in the ha 0:08 in support of South Africa’s genocide 0:10 case against Israel South Africa will 0:12 approach the court later this week 0:14 petitioning it to immediately order 0:16 Israel to stop its military operations 0:17 in Gaza South Africa and Israel are 0:20 signatories to the 1948 genocide 0:22 convention which allows the icj to rule 0:25 on disputes related to the treaty let’s 0:27 discuss this petition further now and 0:29 some details with Tel Aviv University 0:31 Department of philosophy senior lecturer 0:34 anat matar let me thank you so much for 0:36 your time good afternoon to you the last 0:38 count According to some thank you so 0:40 much for joining us the last count 0:42 According to some reports was over 400 0:44 signatures how many have you collected 0:46 so far and also while you answer that 0:48 tell us why it was important for you and 0:51 other Israeli citizens to do 0:53 this okay we are almost with 700 0:57 signatures by now and we’re going to 0:59 send it out in in a couple of minutes I 1:02 mean just right after uh our talk so I 1:05 suppose this will be the number 700 1:07 although people keep keep signing uh our 1:11 motivation was to to make make clear to 1:16 the court in hag uh that not all 1:20 Israelis are the same think the same not 1:24 all of them support what happens now on 1:27 behalf of them uh in the name in in the 1:31 Gaza street by the Israeli Army uh I’m 1:34 not a legal expert I’m a 1:37 philosopher I’m an activist so I don’t 1:39 know whether you know the the former 1:42 definition of genocide is is applicable 1:46 to this particular case what I see are 1:50 horrible pictures what we read are 1:52 horrible data about children 1:56 dying about about limbs being cut about 2:01 operations being done without anesthesia 2:05 about women giving birth just on the 2:07 street without water so this is 2:10 something that is totally unbearable 2:12 we’re talking now about 2:15 2300 thousand people dying and I’m sure 2:18 the number is much higher because there 2:20 are many who are still buried under 2:22 under the rubble uh people cannot even 2:25 bury their dead and I speak with people 2:29 I know 2:30 from from ra and from other places in in 2:33 Gaza I have friends whose relatives are 2:36 in kanun or in Gaza City and and I I I’m 2:41 getting the impression both by the by 2:43 the media the reliable media which is 2:46 not the Israeli media uh and and by 2:50 their own testimonies so I just felt you 2:53 know we cannot we cannot be silent it is 2:55 done in our name and so we wanted to 2:59 sound another another voice and anat I’m 3:02 going to get to some repercussions in 3:04 just a moment but let me stay with what 3:05 you’ve just said the Israeli government 3:07 you know in different interviews 3:09 justifying its actions saying that Hamas 3:11 attacked first and they are trying to 3:13 eliminate Hamas but they’ve also been 3:15 criticism leveled against the government 3:17 that it is targeting civilians under the 3:19 guise of trying to eliminate Hamas and 3:22 and I wonder as Israeli citizens who are 3:26 backing this call who’ve signed this 3:27 petition how does all of this make you 3:30 feel okay I’m very happy about this 3:34 question actually because what happened 3:36 on October 3:38 7th made us you know numb I I I was just 3:42 sitting I think for three 4 days without 3:45 even moving it was such a shock it was 3:48 so terrible I knew someone who was mured 3:51 there on 7th October he’s actually was 3:55 actually a member of my organization 3:57 Academia for equality uh I’ve indirectly 4:00 known several others who who were 4:03 murdered or kidnapped uh and and of 4:07 course it was shocking and the the what 4:09 we heard the stories we heard about what 4:11 happened that day what was done by Hamas 4:13 and Jihad and other other organizations 4:16 was horrible but it doesn’t justify in 4:19 any way in any way what happens now and 4:23 what the Army the Israeli Army is doing 4:25 now I mean there’s 4:27 no and I find is not a logic I I cherish 4:32 and these are so many eyes for for few 4:35 eyes and I mean the hor should not be 4:39 compared and should not be committed so 4:43 so that’s and I’d like to add to that I 4:46 think pragmatically politically this is 4:49 the wrong direction to take I mean it’s 4:51 not only that I’m I’m sitting here on a 4:54 very you know moral High ground and just 4:57 preaching uh because I think this this 5:01 this is going to to just take us down 5:04 and down and down and down to the abys 5:07 and and if you want a political 5:09 resolution ever it cannot start by 5:12 committing committing such atrocities I 5:15 mean how how do we imagine even that 5:18 people in Gaza would be ready to to to 5:20 speak with us to to to believe what we 5:23 suggest what we offer if this is what we 5:26 do so even pragmatically politically not 5:29 morally I think this is totally wrong 5:32 it’s it’s the totally wrong 5:36 uh Ru to take and another thing just 5:39 just a second more uh we talking about 5:42 the atrocities by Hamas of 7th October 5:45 but this came given a context I mean and 5:49 there is a context of 57 years of 5:54 occupation of you know you it’s not it’s 5:57 not coming out of nothing 6:00 uh you have the memory of the nakba of 6:03 48 this is all the burden that 6:06 Palestinians bury and pardon me um there 6:11 could be consequence I’m sure you are 6:13 aware of that um for for this decision 6:16 to back South Africa cuz your government 6:19 is not happy with this particular matter 6:22 um even going to the icj are you 6:24 prepared to face them oh sure well I’m 6:27 not happy with the government first of 6:29 all 6:30 I’m very very unhappy with with the 6:32 government and actually with most of the 6:34 opposition as well I 6:36 mean of the 120 members of parliament 6:40 member of knesset 6:43 maybe a 100 but maybe more are not are 6:48 not acceptable by me I mean they’re 6:50 holding the same thing they’re 6:52 supporting the the the horrors that are 6:54 now are now committed by by the army so 6:58 I don’t care if they if they’re unhappy 7:00 I’m happy that they are unhappy because 7:02 I want this to stop and there’s another 7:06 thing we haven’t mentioned there are the 7:08 people who were abducted you know the 7:10 the and these are Israelis most of them 7:14 the Israeli citizens it doesn’t seem 7:17 that our government cares for them and 7:19 you know the families of the those who 7:21 are kidnapped they they’re holding 7:22 demonstrations and they’re calling to 7:24 the government stop it stop it so they 7:27 can you know strike a deal and and free 7:31 are prisoners are are hostages and the 7:35 government doesn’t doesn’t do anything 7:38 because for doing this it should it 7:40 should stop the war and and this is what 7:42 I want the to decide that the war should 7:45 stop and and at right on that point how 7:49 do Israelis feel on the ground about 7:53 what is going on in 7:56 Gaza I think most Israelis don’t know 7:59 because because the Israeli media 8:00 doesn’t show it I mean it it’s hardly 8:03 spoken about in Israeli radio and 8:06 Israeli 8:07 television uh the journals the papers 8:11 newspapers daily newspapers apart from 8:14 and apart from online magazines that are 8:16 radical and they leftist and they they 8:19 give very faithful representation of 8:21 what happens most of the people don’t 8:23 see them so I think many of them they 8:26 don’t really understand why it’s called 8:30 you know something that is that amounts 8:32 to genocide they have no idea what’s 8:35 happening there and they simply they 8:37 simply believe that the world is against 8:39 us you know against us and maybe it’s 8:42 anti-semitic maybe it’s just being 8:44 anti-israel I don’t know but they don’t 8:47 understand that severe things are 8:50 happening sure um quite a difficult um 8:54 you know a difficult one and as we say 8:55 that you know your petition garnering 8:57 over 700 signatures now now and you’re 9:00 about to click Send let’s see then what 9:02 happens um because those arguments are 9:04 set down for Thursday and Friday but 9:06 we’ll see what becomes of that 9:08 particular mety thank you so much for 9:09 your time and I do appreciate it that is 9:12 you very much let’s just hope thank you 9:15 thank you that is Tel Aviv University 9:16 Department of philosophy senior lecturer 9:19 anat 9:28 Matar

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https://www.newarab.com/news/over-650-israelis-back-south-africa-icj-case-against-israel

Hundreds of Israelis support South Africa’s ICJ case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza

Ibrahim Husseini 

Jerusalem 

09 January, 2024 Hearings are expected in The Hague this week. South Africa is also seeking an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign on Gaza.

In a slap to the government of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, hundreds of Israelis have signalled that they’re backing the case at the International Court of Justice brought by South Africa accusing Israel of Genocide in Gaza. 

More than 600 Israelis have signed a petition calling on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule in favour of South Africa’s lawsuit against the state of Israel, calling for a decision that will bring an immediate end to the war. 

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians thus far, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health officials, and rendered much of the Gaza enclave uninhabitable for the 2.2 million Palestinians living there. 

South Africa accused Israel last month of breaching its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention, the treaty drafted in the wake of the Holocaust in Europe, which makes it a crime to attempt to destroy a people in whole or in part.

Hearings are expected in The Hague this week, on the 11th and 12th of January. South Africa is also seeking an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign on Gaza. 

Bolivia, Turkey and Malaysia have voiced their support for the case, while Jordan’s foreign minister also said Amman will back South Africa.

Dr Anat Matar, one of the petition initiators, told The New Arab that she is filing the petition to the ICJ in The Hague on Tuesday. 

“I initiated this petition first of all because I wanted to show that there is part of Israeli citizens who agree with South Africa’s move”. 

Dr Anat Matar holds a senior lecturer position at Tel Aviv University, where she teaches political philosophy. In addition, she advocates for ‘draft refusers’, a small segment of Israelis who refuse to serve in the Israeli army because they oppose the occupation. 

“What I know for sure is that this war must be stopped immediately. Every moment that passes is a crime”. 

Israeli member of Knesset Ofer Cassif from the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality-Jabha announced that he’s also supporting the initiative.  

“My constitutional duty is to Israeli society and all of its residents, not to a government whose members and its coalition are calling for ethnic cleansing and even actual genocide”, Cassif wrote on the social media platform X. 

Israelis adding their voice to millions of voices around the world who accuse the government of PM Netanyahu of committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza may give credence to South Africa’s lawsuit. 

“Do we believe that general public trends could impact what judges rule? Overall, the answer is yes. I do believe this petition by Israeli citizens can help educate the public opinion”, Ofer Neiman, one of the signatories to the petition and an anti-occupation activist, told TNA. 

Nevertheless, an overwhelming majority of Israelis still support the war, with one poll showing that around 75% of Israelis reject attempts to de-escalate the military’s attacks on Palestinians. 

South Africa has backed the Palestinian cause for statehood in Israeli-occupied territories for decades, likening the plight of Palestinians to those of the Black majority in South Africa during the repressive apartheid era, a comparison that Israel denies. Israel was a major ally to Apartheid South Africa, providing political and military support, as well as jointly shared nuclear technology for the development of a bomb. 

A different court in The Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC), is separately investigating alleged atrocities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank but has not named any suspects. Israel is not a member of the ICC and rejects its jurisdiction.

Israel has named its former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak as its addition to an International Court of Justice panel due this week to hear a genocide allegation filed against it. 

Under the ICJ’s rules, a state that does not already have a judge of its nationality on the bench can choose an ad hoc judge to sit in their case.

South Africa, which accuses Israel of genocide in the Gaza war, has also appointed an ad hoc judge, former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, South African media said. 

Scotland’s first minister, Hamza Yusuf, in the wake of remarks of senior members of the Israeli cabinet, calling to move Palestinians out of the enclave and Jewish recolonisation of Gaza, accused Israel of ethnic cleansing. 

“If that’s not tantamount to ethnic cleansing, then I don’t know what is”, he told Sky News. 

Israel and the United States have rebuked South Africa’s case at the ICJ. Israel, which is under increasing international calls to end its offensive in Gaza, claims self-defence. 
 
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Tuesday, 9 January, that “there is nothing more atrocious and preposterous” than a lawsuit filed in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in its war on Gaza.

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https://www.atchalta.com/post/hamas-strategic-rear-in-the-west

Hamas Strategic Rear in the West

January 10, 2024

The threat posed by Hamas extends beyond its military capabilities. It encompassing a global ideological warfare that challenges the core values and foundations of Western democracies. Recognizing this global dimension is crucial for developing a comprehensive strategy to counteract Hamas.To effectively counter Hamas, Israel requires a multifaceted strategy that not only combats Hamas militarily in Gaza but also undertakes a global campaign to dismantle Islamist influence in the West. This challenge is intensified by the strategic alliance between Western Islamists and leftist organizations – including progressive groups in the US and socialist groups in Europe. This phenomenon, known as the red-green alliance, significantly bolsters Hamas’ soft power on a global scale.Our findings underscore Hamas’ influence on perceptions and policy in the U.S., particularly during wartime. This influence often translates into increased pressure on the U.S. administration to curtail military aid to Israel and accelerate a ceasefire, potentially undermining Israel’s military goals. Significantly, pro-Hamas sentiment has also resonated with some members of the Democratic Party, influencing U.S. policies. This includes exerting pressure on Israel to permit fuel deliveries to Gaza, which inadvertently assists Hamas’ military capabilities.

Some Islamist and leftist groups significantly contribute to the rising antisemitism in the West. This manifests both through direct, explicit expressions of antisemitism and indirectly by portraying Jews as ‘white and privileged,’ which diminishes the perceived urgency to address antisemitism. The red-green alliance is increasingly effective in framing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a binary of oppressed vs. oppressor, utilizing the domestic terminology of identity politics.Cuntering Hamas’ strategic influence in the U.S. is crucial, complementing Israel’s military strategies. This aspect often remains a critical blind spot for Israeli policymakers. While they recognize the link between the Gaza conflict and the rise of antisemitism, Israeli leaders frequently overlook the importance of actively countering key sources of antisemitism in America. Addressing these sources is not only vital in its own right but also aligns with the broader objective of undermining Hamas.This oversight results in a failure to fully grasp the impact of rising antisemitism on Israel’s current military objectives. Atchalta’s main goal is to enlighten Israeli decision-makers about this crucial link. Acknowledging this connection could foster a more unified approach among government agencies, which currently operate in isolation, aiming to globally neutralize Hamas. It may also prompt Israeli diplomatic efforts and intelligence sharing with pro-Israel groups. This collaboration would not only further Israel’s goals but also support Jewish organizations in America in their fight against antisemitism, fueled by Islamist and progressive factions.Combating the sources of the recent surge in antisemitism is not only a moral obligation but also a crucial component in the strategic defeat of Hamas.

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