Month: August 2025

THE PROPAGANDA SEDUCTION

The world has swallowed Hamas’s expertly crafted propaganda.

By Rolene Marks

You should be horrified. I am. Horrified, enraged, and so very shattered. I hope you are too. I hope that this has shaken you wide-awake. The starved, emaciated images and footage of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, starved to his bones, held in a dark, airless tunnel, shirtless and wearing ragged cut off tracksuit pants digging his own grave is devastating. It is inhuman. For Jews who carry generational trauma, this took us back to our family members, the living dead in the death and concentration camps of Europe.

Blink and you will miss the beefy arm of a terrorist’s performative handing a can of lentils to him. The beefy, fat and well-fed arm of a Hamas terrorist.

Evyatar, described by those who know his as a gentle, kind soul who loves to play music, was stolen by Hamas from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023.

Released hostage Tal Shoham, who was held together with hostages Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal before he was released in February, says he recognizes the tunnel. Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12, Shoham said:

“That is exactly the same tunnel where [released hostage] Omer [Wenkert], Evyatar, Guy and I were held”.

Reacting to the condition of Evyatar in the Hamas footage, Shohan continued:

 “I was shocked to the depth of my soul. He is broken mentally, emotionally. I can’t see any of the joy of life that he had managed to retain in his eyes now…. Really, a shell of the Evyatar I knew.”

A snapshot of the mass accumulation of boxes of humanitarian aid that the UN and aid agencies have failed to collect and deliver.

Asked what the Hamas video does not show, Shoham says:

“behind the curtain they’ve put up, which is just one of the blankets we used, apparently Guy Gilboa-Dalal is standing or sitting because they don’t let them go to a different tunnel. And right behind the cameraman, there’s an iron door, and a well-lit room, with air conditioners and a group of terrorists who sit and sleep there. They have cable TV. They have plenty of food — food they have stolen from the humanitarian supplies that Israel sent in for a very long time. We could see that they were well fed, that they lacked for nothing. They also bragged about having stolen it, that they had months of supplies in that tunnel and all their tunnels.”

Press on the picure or the caption to watch the video clip.

Rom Braslavski stayed behind at the Nova festival to try to help those injured. He was cruelly taken into captivity by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another genocidal terrorist group.

The footage of an emaciated Rom Braslavski crying broke me into a million pieces. It should break you too. He cannot stand anymore and is in terrible pain. There are 18 other hostages we believe to still be alive and every second counts. Medical experts believe they have lost roughly 50% of their body weight and that they could suffer multiple organ failure very soon.  Hamas and other terror groups still hold the remains of 30 others.

Piles of mass stacked boxes of canned tuna lie in the sun waiting for collection and delivery for the civilian population in Gaza.

With very few exceptions like the NY Post, the vast majority of the media either buried the story of emaciated and tortured Evyatar and Rom amongst other stories – or just neglected to publish, preferring to push their accusations against Israel of genocide and mass starvation.

Hamas know they can show anything they want to – they have the measure of the delirious Jew hatred many in the west are indulging. Israel may be winning on the kinetic battlefield – but losing the propaganda war as many swallow the lies. It is a propaganda war and what is needed now is for the silent majority to speak up loud and clear – before it is too late.

The exploitation of Palestinian children should infuriate you. The media, keen to add fodder to its carefully crafted narrative dedicate to demonizing the Jewish state, have trotted out the photos of children with congenital diseases as proof of “mass starvation”. Nobody stopped to check the veracity – or apologise properly when it was eventually exposed. Did anyone honestly think that the terrorists who murdered, burnt families, raped and kidnapped would not use their own population as human shields or propaganda fodder? They said quite bluntly that they would! Again, and again. Many choose not to hear.

Hamas and their stenographers (of which the press play a major part) have seduced the masses by using pejoratives and sexy soundbites like accusing Israel of genocide and mass starvation and just about any other evil they can drum up. Sadly, it is working.

The accusations of genocide are particularly preposterous. Not only has it been routinely debunked by the failure of the media and the masses to ask the little questions allows a lie to fester. Let us look at one example – the IDF inoculated well over 500, 000 children against polio in September 2024. Never before in a “genocide” has a population’s children been inoculated to guard against polio, or humanitarian aid facilitated by land, sea and air. Are these the actions of people accused of genocide? Yes, Gaza looks disastrous – but to understand what is happening above ground, you have to understand what has been happening below ground.

The media’s failure to investigate and just take the word of a terror organization verbatim, a terror organisation whose foundational charter extols the extermination of the Jewish state and people, over a democratic ALLIED state is unconscionable.

Hamas are the masters of propaganda. One only had to look at the hostage release scenes, which were a veritable theatre of the grotesque to understand exactly who Israel is dealing with – but most, failed to take the lessons on board.

Standing at the aid collection depot in Gaza for the UN and aid agencies, the writer observes and documents the uncollected boxes of aid clearly marked – UNICEF and World Food Programme (WFP).
Desperately needed hygiene kits for children are piling up waiting for collection.

The accusation of mass starvation persists, despite the images of “starving children” having been debunked. The media purposefully ignore the successful efforts of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to feed hungry civilians. The UN and various aid organisations failures to collect and distribute aid after it has entered and cleared the crossings is not just ignored, it is blamed on Israel.  I visited the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing a few days ago at the collection point. I saw mountains of aid left standing in the sun. Some of the boxes were open and we could see flour, cooking oil, baby food, hygiene products for children, women’s hygiene products, toiletries, tomato sauce, canned tuna, sugar, sacks of potatoes and onions and so much more. Boxes were labeled “UNICEF”, “UN” and “World Food Programme” amongst the many. Trucks stood idle with the drivers waiting for the instructions from the UN to load up and go towards civilian sites. It was infuriating and frustrating to see so much waste.

I also witnessed the western media propaganda-swallowing machine in action with my own eyes. I watched as two ABC Australian reporters who had walked the same aid wasteland as I did, do their piece on camera. Puffed up with a full load of self-righteous indignation, the Middle East correspondent said with a completely straight face “this is the face that Israel wants you to see in their argument about how they are prosecuting humanitarian aid.” Sorry, what? You saw what we all saw and now you are spinning it in order to pander to your narrative that casts Israel as the evil pariah in all of this?

It is pointless calling people antisemitic – they are immune to it and quite proud of it. This is something much more nefarious that there is not even a definition for it yet. This obsession with demonizing Israel, this inability to see reason or logic – or even evidence. Seduction by propaganda is easy to implement when the culprit, in this case Hamas, understands the latent hatred that lies in many, dying to be let loose under the guise of self-righteous indignation.

It is an imperative to fight back – no matter how outnumbered we think we are. Every single one of us has a responsibility we need to take on.

 Every single one of us has a moral obligation and responsibility to speak for our hostages. The living and the dead without exception. Every single one of us MUST FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE AVALANCHE OF LIES AND PROPAGANDA. Lives depend on it. Literally.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

THE WAR ON TRUTH

Lithuania’s Blood-Drenched Lies, Russia’s Vile Slander, and Hamas’s Murderous Deceit.

By Grant Gochin

THE COST OF LIVES AND GLOBAL COMPLICITY

Lithuania’s repulsive Holocaust revisionism has choked the screams of 220,000 murdered Jews, forcing survivors and their descendants, like me, to wage a war against a nation’s vile lies. Russia’s sickening disinformation smears Lithuania with fabricated crimes to stoke geopolitical hatred.[1] Hamas, those gutless cowards soaked in innocent blood, mirror this depraved rejection of truth seen in Nazism and Lithuania’s fraud, prolonging Gaza’s agony while Israel fights for survival on seven physical fronts – Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Iran, Yemen, and Iraq – along with the eighth front of media and propaganda.[2] These monstrous deceptions—Lithuania’s erasure of Jewish slaughter, Russia’s historical perversion, and Hamas’s crocodile tears – are a shared playbook of evil: dehumanize the innocent, glorify butchers, and spit on justice.

Lithuanian Complicity. Revealing the truth and exposing the post-War denial, this photo shows a crowd of Lithuanians in Kovna, Lithuania in the immediate aftermath of a massacre at Lietukis Garage, where pro-German Lithuanian nationalists killed more than 50 Jewish men. The victims were beaten, hosed, and then murdered with iron bars. (Photo: Kovno, Lithuania, June 27, 1941).

Silence is treason. Those who amplify Hamas’s lies – sniveling UN bureaucrats, treacherous journalists, brainwashed influencer drones, vile profiteers who make their livelihood generating antisemitism, Hamas operatives masquerading as journalists, and the fake outrage machine profiting from spewing, spreading, and amplifying antisemitic venom — are as despicable as Lithuanian officials who worship murderers like Jonas Noreika or Russian propagandists who defame Lithuania. These Hamas cheerleaders, whether deliberate traitors or too stupid to see through the most insidious propaganda in history, are participants and collaborators in this eighth front, gleefully enabling genocide while masquerading as morally superior. Israel dominates seven battlefield fronts but crashes spectacularly in the media war, crippled by a pathetic failure to counter relentless lawfare and disinformation. This cowardice lets lies metastasize, fueling global complicity and trampling the memory of millions, while the relentless focus on lies about Israel consumes the world’s attention, enabling genuine genocides and human rights abuses to fester unnoticed, making those generating hate enablers of global atrocities.

Perverting Truth, Peddling Lies. In many ways, Lithuania pioneered the glorification of Nazi collaborators on a state level by perverting museums and tourist sites by honoring  the perpetrators of the mass killing of Jews in the Holocaust  as national heroes such as this memorial to Jonas Noreika on a library and the wall of national heroes in Vilnius, Lithuania. Will there soon be statues and streets in Gaza named after Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh?

Anti-Zionism is a filthy mask for antisemitism, wrapping raw hatred in sanctimonious garbage. It hands bigots a blank check to hate Jews while waving the flag of “democracy,” slandering Zionism as oppression[3]. By branding Jews as Nazis, this toxic cesspool fuels Hamas’s propaganda, echoes Lithuania’s justification of Jewish slaughter as “self-defense,” and mimics Russia’s fabricated attacks on Lithuania’s honor. Every Hamas apologist – whether a smug academic, a street-chanting useful idiot, or a profiteering hate-monger — is a traitor to humanity, propping up a genocidal cult with their vile complicity.

THE SEDUCTION OF LIES AND THE FIGHT FOR TRUTH

Young Jews who embrace anti-Zionism are a disgrace, spitting on the graves of their ancestors who fled pogroms and ovens to give them life in America. They don’t just reject their heritage — they torch it with rabid, self-loathing fury, their minds so easily twisted by Hamas’s slick propaganda that they turn on their own with fanatical conviction, betraying the very blood that runs through their veins. These spoiled brats, alive only because their forebears escaped the same antisemitic slaughter they now cheer for, will choke on regret when they realize they were pawns, manipulated by Jew-hating mobs and their own reckless stupidity. On university campuses, these deluded fools dive into a sewer of antisemitic lies, embraced by rabble who fetishize their distortions as holy truth, twisting the Holocaust into a sick justification for their hatred. Their betrayal is a knife in the back of every Jew who survived to ensure their existence.

Playbook of Evil. From the Nazi and Lithuanian playbook, Hamas did not spare mothers and kids as evidenced here of a destroyed home on kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023.

Europeans swill these lies like pigs at a trough, desperate to whitewash their grandparents’ Holocaust butchery. By pinning invented crimes on Jews, they morph their inherited guilt into a burning, self-righteous loathing, hating with a zeal that damns their own souls. This mirrors Lithuania’s vile revisionism, smearing Jews as Soviet collaborators to justify their slaughter, and Russia’s propaganda, slandering Lithuanians to serve modern agendas.

As I declared in “Lithuanian Holocaust Fraud[4]”, we are the warriors of truth. We must obliterate Lithuania’s betrayal, Russia’s manipulations, and Hamas’s deceit with unrelenting facts: Hamas’s theft of 90% of UN aid[5], their use of human shields, and their genocidal charter (Hamas Covenant, 1988). Lithuania’s lies thrive because cowards refuse to confront them; Russia’s disinformation festers by exploiting ignorance; Hamas’s propaganda surges because fools and bigots — especially those vile Hamas supporters, self-hating Jewish traitors, and antisemitic profiteers — lap it up. We must honor the victims — of the Holocaust, Russian disinformation, and October 7 — by smashing the lies that shield their killers. The Soviets, Nazis, Lithuanians, Russians, and now Hamas have mastered blaming the innocent. It’s time to strike back with truth as our blade, annihilating their narratives once and for all.

LITHUANIA’S HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM: BLUEPRINT FOR DECEIPT

History is a battlefield where truth is the first casualty. Lithuania, guilty in the slaughter of 220,000 Jews inside Lithuania[6], as well as tens of thousands of Jews in other European countries where they “virtuously”, “enthusiastically”, and voluntarily traveled in order to slaughter as many Jews wherever they could find them, has spent decades perfecting a grotesque campaign to bury its genocidal shame. As I exposed in my articles for The Times of Israel[7], Lithuania worships monsters like Jonas Noreika and Kazys Škirpa, who orchestrated Jewish massacres with bloodthirsty glee. Noreika caged Jews in ghettos like animals; Škirpa demanded their “elimination” with demonic zeal. Yet, Lithuania’s so-called Genocide and Resistance Research Centre[8] has the audacity to rebrand these butchers as national heroes, dismissing Škirpa’s genocidal calls as mere “antisemitic remarks” and Noreika’s murderous orders as harmless “letters”. This is a deliberate, state-backed middle finger to truth, calling the Lithuanians every bit as evil as Hamas, where the only difference is the IDF can prevent Hamas from being as successful as the Lithuanians.

The South African Jewish Report exposes the savagery: Lithuanians, not Nazis, spearheaded the early slaughter, with 80% of Lithuania’s Jews butchered by local “self-defense” units and police battalions before Hitler’s “Final Solution” kicked into gear. Ordinary Lithuanians joined the carnage, driven by greed, hatred, or sick thrills, raping, looting, and murdering with abandon, replicating and exceeding the pogroms of Europe, and serving as a model for Hamas on October 7, 2023. Yet, the government smears Jews as Soviet collaborators, claiming their slaughter was “national self-defense,” spitting on condemnation from Yad Vashem and historians worldwide. Killing fields are whitewashed, ghettos erased, and survivors’ descendants, like me, are silenced[9] in our relentless fight to rip the truth from this web of lies.

HAMAS PROPAGANDA: ECHOES OF LITHUANIAN LIES

Hamas, those spineless terrorists who revel in the October 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people and kidnapping of hundreds, have replicated Lithuania’s filthy playbook and wielded it with diabolical precision. Like Lithuania, they commit atrocities, then twist reality to paint their victims as villains. Their media war — the “eighth front” in their genocidal crusade — is a festering swamp of fake “genocide” claims and staged sob stories. They steal 90% of UN aid, starve their own people, and pin the blame on Israel. They rig civilian homes with traps, use children as shields, and shriek about Israeli airstrikes when their own bombs detonate[10] This mirrors Lithuania’s erasure of Jewish blood and Russia’s lies accusing Lithuanians of historical crimes to justify modern aggression. Those calling for “Death to the IDF” are vilely proposing that Hamas be as successful as the Lithuanians in their genocidal slaughter.

Hamas’s strategy thrives on a fanatical rejection of truth, amplified by social media, Islamist and radical leftist groups, and deluded Jewish turncoats who betray the very ancestors who fled persecution to give them life. Their supporters — whether chanting in streets, posting sanctimonious drivel online, or profiting from antisemitic bile — are contemptible enablers of genocide, their moral posturing a sick joke. Just as Lithuania justifies Jewish murders as “self-defense,” Hamas cloaks its genocidal intent in cries of “resistance,” manipulating global opinion to dodge accountability.

A SHARED PAYBOOK: DEHUMANIZATION AND DISINFORMATION

Lithuania, Russia, and Hamas are united in their obscene erasure of truth, wielding a shared playbook of lies. Tribune Magazine[11] exposes Lithuania’s neglect of Jewish ghettos, repurposing them to obliterate history, just as Hamas blames Israel for destruction caused by its own rockets. Russia’s propaganda smears Lithuanians as aggressors, echoing Lithuania’s lies about Jewish “collaboration” and Hamas’s false claims of Israeli “starvation policies” while hoarding aid. This is no accident — Hamas has mastered Lithuania’s art of dodging accountability, using it to wage a media war against Israel, just as Russia twists narratives to isolate Lithuania geopolitically. The only way to prevent future atrocities is a ruthless dedication to truth, as those who peddle, facilitate, and amplify lies are actively laying the groundwork for tomorrow’s horrors.

‘Digesting’ the Truth. Armed Hamas operatives that spread false claims about a deliberate starvation campaign in Gaza are caught on camera looting an aid truck denying vital  aid for their fellow  Palestinians in Gaza. (Image: X/IDF)

CONCLUSION

Rise up, you guardians of truth, and unleash your fury against the liars who desecrate the memory of millions! Every one of you – scholars, activists, survivors, or ordinary souls—must become a relentless warrior in this fight. Share the evidence, shout it from every platform, and confront the cowards — whether self-hating Jewish traitors, antisemitic profiteers, or Hamas’s sanctimonious enablers — who fuel this global betrayal. The victims of the Holocaust, October 7, and every erased truth demand your voice. Stand firm, wield the truth like a hammer, and crush the narratives of these monstrous deceivers before their lies pave the way for more atrocities. Act now, or be complicit in the next genocide!



About the writer:

Grant Arthur Gochin currently serves as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Togo. He is the Emeritus Special Envoy for Diaspora Affairs for the African Union, which represents the fifty-five African nations, and Emeritus Vice Dean of the Los Angeles Consular Corps, the second largest Consular Corps in the world. Gochin is actively involved in Jewish affairs, focusing on historical justice. He has spent the past twenty five years documenting and restoring signs of Jewish life in Lithuania. He has served as the Chair of the Maceva Project in Lithuania, which mapped / inventoried / documented / restored over fifty abandoned and neglected Jewish cemeteries. Gochin is the author of “Malice, Murder and Manipulation”, published in 2013. His book documents his family history of oppression in Lithuania. He is presently working on a project to expose the current Holocaust revisionism within the Lithuanian government. Professionally, Gochin is a Certified Financial Planner and practices as a Wealth Advisor in California, where he lives with his family. Personal site: https://www.grantgochin.com/




[1] https://www.fpri.org/article/2024/10/contesting-russia-the-baltic-perspective/

[2] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/israel-law-review/article/hamas-october-7th-genocide-legal-analysis-and-the-weaponisation-of-reverse-accusations-a-study-in-modern-genocide-recognition-and-denial/322198E636341BE82F37ED7147FEB0F5?sfnsn=wa

[3] https://avalon.law.yale.edu/21st_century/hamas.asp

[4] https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/lithuanian-holocaust-fraud/

[5] https://nypost.com/2025/08/05/world-news/90-of-un-aid-trucks-in-gaza-were-looted-by-armed-militants-or-hungry-palestinians-before-reaching-their-destination-report/

[6] https://www.sajr.co.za/historical-accounts-show-lithuanian-responsibility-for-mass-murder/

[7] https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/grant-arthur-gochin/

[8] https://www.genocid.lt/centras/en/

[9] https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/criminal-trash-and-enemy-of-the-state/

[10] https://new.embassies.gov.il/nepal/en/news/false-narratives-and-fabricated-images-coordinated-fake-hamas-campaign-against-israel-31072025

[11] https://tribunemag.co.uk/2025/08/airbrushing-the-ghettoes







While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 17 August 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

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What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 11-14 August 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Pick of the Week is an image of ambiguity

THE PHOTO THAT SHOWED LITTLE AND REVEALED MUCH

Anxiety in Alaska. Trump calling Putin meeting “productive” solicited the comment on CNN:
“How to spin a hamburger that it appears as fillet mignon.” Israelis know the ‘deal’
from so many letdowns as their hostages languish in Gaza tunnels!




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

INSIGHTS FROM THE INSIDE

Succumbing to Hamas propaganda, South Africa’s government is part of an immoral minority on the wrong side of history
By Derek Arnolds

(recently retired senior intelligence analyst in South Africa’s Secret Service)

Israel at ‘Knife’s’ Edge. Addressing a rally in Hamas’ honor in Cape Town, South Africa in 2015, Hamas political
leader Khaled Mashaal, bellowed to the crowd of supporters waving Hamas’ green and white flags
that the wave of knife attacks against Israelis would continue until “…the land is for Palestine.”
Should we be surprised today?

INSIGHTS FROM THE INSIDE
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

ROARING AGAINST BETRAYAL

Cozying up to antisemites to feel “safe” is not assimilation it’s surrender – “It’s letting the world’s hatred rewrite your soul”
By Grant Gochin

With Gay Abandon. In 2025, The “gay spaces,” the writer helped build have since October 7, 2023, “betrayed me.”
While homophobiahas faded, antisemitism is “de rigueur.”  To be gay today “you must denounce Israel,
vilify Zionists, spit on your Jewishness …and nod along as the world justifies our slaughter.”
NOT ME – roars this writer in proud defiance!

ROARING AGAINST BETRAYAL
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

THE ARAB VOICE – AUGUST 2025

Perspectives and insights from writers in the Arab media

Tapping into Turbulence. With Israel locked into an unending war that its government is either unwilling or
incapable of extricating itself from, Lay of the Land this week taps into the Arab perspective of
what is evolving and the ramifications for Palestinians and the region.

THE ARAB VOICE – AUGUST 2025
(Click on the blue title)



LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).




THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 11-14 August 2025

11 August 2025 – Can Israel sue the New York Times? This and more on The Israel Brief.



12 August 2025 – Did the IDF kill an Al Jazeera journalist? This and more on The Israel Brief.



13 August 2025 – Which PM was just praised by Hamas? Find out on The Israel Brief.



14 August 2025 – Roro has some words for TIFF and more on The Israel Brief.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

THE ARAB VOICE – AUGUST 2025

Perspectives and insights from writers in the Arab media

With Israel locked into an unending war that its government is either unwilling or incapable of extricating itself from, Lay of the Land this week taps into the Arab perspective of what is evolving and the ramifications for Palestinians and the region.

  • Abdulrahman Al-Rashed questions whether Israel now with its once challenging neighboring powers now weakened or dismantled, does it envision itself as a potential partner in coexistence or will it opt for the role of the Middle East’s “self-appointed policeman”?
  • For Egyptian journalist Abdel-Mohsen Salama, French President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to recognize a Palestinian state evokes the memory of the 1917 Balfour Declaration marking the beginning “of the Israeli implantation in the region,” and hopes it will portend the same result for the long-suffering Palestinian people.
  • For Majed Kayali writing in Lebanon, the sweeping wave of international support for Palestine is a direct consequence of international revulsion of the policies of the Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben-Gvir government, “which seeks to erase Palestinians from the political map.” While positive pointers, the writer warns that Palestinian vision needs to be tempered with realism as   “the state now being promised … will fall far short of the one they have long envisioned or dreamed of.”

David E. Kaplan
Editor Lay of the Land

(Articles translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)


(1)

IS ISRAEL THE REGION’S NEW POLICEMAN?
By Abdulrahman Al-Rashed

Asharq Al-Awsat, London, August 1

Seven years ago, I wrote about “Israel’s regional rise”. Today, its presence looms even larger, shaping the massive geopolitical shifts that followed Hamas’s attacks of Oct. 7. In the aftermath, a pressing question emerges:

How does Israel view itself now? 

It seems unlikely that Israel will remain content with its old role as a defensive actor confined to its disputed borders. Instead, it appears poised to pursue political ambitions that mirror its military strength.

For half a century, Tel Aviv’s strategy centered on survival, on defending its existence and its long-held territories while countering threats from powers like Iran and navigating the hostilities of regimes such as Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Hafez Assad’s Syria.

But that era is over. The neighboring powers that once challenged Israel have been weakened or dismantled. For the first time in its modern history, Israel faces no regional force capable of posing an existential threat. Even Iran, long its most formidable adversary, lacks the offensive capacity to challenge Israel today. While this balance could shift if Tehran rebuilds its power, such a reversal appears distant and uncertain. 

As circumstances evolve, Israel’s strategy shifts with them. It is no longer merely a border guard; it seeks to become an assertive player in the regional arena. The Middle East today is fragmented, alliances blurred, and many actors are waiting for a resolution to conflicts that have left the so-called Tehran axis greatly diminished.

Two paths lie before Israel. The first is to cast itself as a stabilizing force, one that preserves a fragile new order and engages its neighbors in pursuit of peaceful coexistence. This would mean moving past the decades of war and boycotts, normalizing relations with more Arab states, and consolidating its geopolitical position by neutralizing any remaining hostile groups.

The second path is more disruptive: Israel could wield its superior power to reshape the region to suit its political vision and interests, raising the specter of fresh confrontations. Regional states have long harbored concerns about such ambitions. Past regimes, from Saddam’s Iraq to revolutionary Iran, viewed Israel as a rival standing in the way of their own expansionist dreams, cloaking their hostilities in the language of Palestinian solidarity.

Up in the Air! Dominating the skies across the Middle East, is Israel seeking on the ground to dominate or accommodate?

Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks propelled Israel further into the regional equation, positioning it not just as a reactive actor but as a force with wider ambitions.

Does Israel envision itself as a partner in coexistence, or as a regional powerbroker? Is it becoming the Middle East’s self-appointed policeman? Recent actions suggest Israel seeks a central role in the region’s political and military contests – whether as a direct combatant, a power broker, or even a leader of new alliances. It has already moved to block Iraqi involvement in Syria and curb Turkish influence.

Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government’s appetite for continued conflict has reignited fears of a “Greater Israel” agenda and dreams of territorial expansion. Yet these notions are largely stoked by Israel’s adversaries – Iran, Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood, and leftist groups – who warn of expansionist plots to rally opposition. 

In reality, Israel’s small size and its preoccupation with absorbing the territories it seized in 1967 limit such ambitions. For decades, it has poured resources into entrenching its hold on these areas, fending off efforts to establish a Palestinian state or return lands to Jordanian or Egyptian control.

Geography is not Israel’s greatest challenge – demography is. The state is committed to preserving its Jewish identity, yet 20% of its citizens are Palestinian. Annexing the occupied territories would push Palestinians to half the population, threatening the state’s defining character. 

This demographic reality makes expansion unlikely but raises fears that extremists might exploit chaos, as they did in the aftermath of Oct. 7, when Hamas’s attacks were used as a pretext for mass expulsions in the West Bank and Gaza. Such actions, while possible, remain politically fraught.

Talk of a “Greater Israel”, illustrated by speculative maps and ideological manifestos, feels closer to myth than policy – a counterpart to the nostalgic Arab and Islamic longing for lost Andalusia. Israel seeks dominance, but it dreads the inevitable demographic fusion that would follow annexation, a fear unlike that of most Middle Eastern states that absorbed multiple ethnic groups in their formation.

Politically, Israel’s future course remains undefined. Fresh from its recent military successes, it is still shaping its long-term strategy. Whether it chooses to become a peaceful state open to Arab neighbors or a regional enforcer perpetually engaged in battles, one truth persists: The Middle East is too complex, too driven by competing forces and ambitions, for any single power to fully dominate it.

– Abdulrahman Al-Rashed



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MACRON’S PROMISE AND GREAT BRITON’S HISTORICAL BURDEN
By Abdel-Mohsen Salama

Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, August 2

French President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to recognize a Palestinian state evokes the memory of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, issued by the British government more than a century ago. That historic document, delivered by British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, a leading figure in the Zionist movement, expressed support for establishing a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

This fateful declaration marked the beginning of the Israeli implantation in the region, culminating in the formal emergence of Israel in 1948. Yet from the outset, Israel was never content with the borders loosely outlined in that declaration, which, at least on paper, stipulated that the rights of the non-Jewish Arab inhabitants of Palestine would not be infringed upon. 

Instead, it expanded relentlessly, consuming land far beyond the initial mandate, swallowing Palestinian territories and encroaching on neighboring countries in what many describe as a cancerous spread.

Seventy-seven years on, Macron’s promise rekindles a faint hope that the long and brutal ordeal of the Palestinian people – marked by displacement, suffering, starvation, and even acts described as genocide – might finally yield a sovereign Palestinian state. The importance of this French gesture lies not only in its potential to disrupt Europe’s otherwise unwavering support for Israel but also in the symbolic weight it carries for Britain.

Momentous Milestone? Hamas welcomes Macron’s announcement about France recognizing Palestinian statehood. With other counties following Macron’s lead, is this a “Balfour Declaration” moment” for Palestinians?

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has publicly admitted that his government intends to follow suit in recognizing Palestine this September, while acknowledging Britain’s historic culpability in the crisis. 

There was no record of systematic persecution of Jews in Palestine or other Arab countries; the atrocities committed against Jews were overwhelmingly European in origin, from Nazi Germany’s horrors to lesser-known persecutions elsewhere on the continent. Yet Palestine bore the weight of Europe’s sins, paying the price for crimes it never committed, forced to absorb the creation of a Jewish state on its lands without historical justification.

Today, Israel inflicts upon Palestinians atrocities that echo, and in many ways surpass, the injustices Jews once endured in Europe. Entire communities are starved, deprived of water, medicine, and basic human needs, subjected to what many describe as a modern-day genocide, executed with chilling precision and brutality.

Macron’s announcement, echoed soon after by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, spurred Canada and Australia to consider similar moves, joining a wave of European nations – including Spain, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Slovenia, and others – that have already recognized Palestine.

This cascading recognition has breathed new life into the long-dormant two-state solution, a vision recently reaffirmed at a high-profile conference co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France. 

The question that now looms over global diplomacy is whether the US will, at long last, heed the call of reason and moral responsibility, as Britain has belatedly done, and take a decisive step toward restoring genuine and enduring peace to a region that has known little but turmoil for over a century.

– Abdel-Mohsen Salama



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A SWEEPING WAVE OF SUPPORT FOR PALESTINE
By Majed Kayali

An-Nahar, Lebanon, August 1

Following France’s pledge to recognize a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in September – and with both the UK prime minister and foreign secretary confirming that London is moving in the same direction – it has become increasingly clear that international political pressure, led by France and Saudi Arabia, will in the next two months focus on supporting the Palestinians’ right to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza.

This would be part of a broader settlement aimed at ending Israel’s ongoing war of extermination against the Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, opening the path to wider Arab-Israeli normalization, and reforming the Palestinian Authority. This represents a political shift of major significance for the Palestinians, despite their devastating circumstances and the relentless campaign Israel has waged against them for nearly two years.

Four permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, Russia, France, and Britain – are now expected to back the establishment of a Palestinian state. The US stands alone, so far, in resisting this shift, and it remains uncertain how Washington will respond to this unprecedented move by two of its closest Western allies.

The US faces two choices:

  • Exercise its veto in the Security Council to block any resolution, or
  • abstain and allow it to pass.

The latter option is not inconceivable, given the relatively flexible tone recently struck by US President Donald Trump on this issue. It is worth recalling that the US supported UN Resolution 1397 in 2002, under president George W. Bush, which affirmed the Palestinian right to statehood.

A distinction must be made, however, between a UN General Assembly resolution recognizing this right – which already exists, with 145 countries acknowledging Palestine as an observer state – and a binding UN Security Council resolution. The latter has repeatedly failed due to US opposition and the use of its veto. 

Formally Recognized                   Pending Recognition

More countries announce plans to recognize a Palestinian state. Australia, Portugal, Canada and Malta announced plans to join Britain and France in recognizing Palestinian statehood, joining more than 140 other countries.
Countries that have recognized a Palestinian state

In previous General Assembly votes on Palestinian statehood, more than two-thirds of UN members supported the resolution, while only nine countries – including the US, Israel, Hungary, and a handful of Pacific Island nations – voted against it, and 25 abstained.

The current push for recognition is fueled by a combination of global sympathy for the Palestinian people, mounting outrage over Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, and growing willingness to expose Israel as a colonial, racist, and religiously exclusive state. 

In many ways, it is a direct consequence of the policies pursued by the Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben-Gvir government, which seeks to erase Palestinians from the political map, enforce peace by brute force, and normalize relations with Arab states while offering no concessions.

Yet all these declarations and diplomatic moves hinge on a crucial factor: an American decision to either support the resolution or refrain from vetoing it. And even with political recognition, the Palestinians cannot exercise their rights without concrete changes on the ground.

First, Israel must be pressured to halt the war in Gaza, allow full-scale reconstruction, and permit unimpeded humanitarian aid into the Strip. Second, settlement expansion in the West Bank and Jerusalem must cease, and a lasting solution must be found to deal with the growing problem of armed settler militias terrorizing Palestinians.

Third, Palestinians must be allowed to govern themselves freely and invest in their own resources. At the same time, the Palestinian leadership must do its part by rehabilitating the political structures represented by the Palestinian Authority and restoring its legitimacy, as this will be critical in countering Israel’s occupation policies and engaging with international efforts.

Yet Palestinians must also recognize that the state now being promised to them will fall far short of the one they have long envisioned or dreamed of. The realities of power heavily favor Israel, global circumstances remain largely unfavorable, and internal Palestinian divisions and institutional weakness limit their ability to shape the future state they seek.

– Majed Kayali





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

INSIGHTS FROM THE INSIDE

Succumbing to Hamas propaganda, South Africa’s government is part of an immoral minority on the wrong side of history

By Derek Arnolds

(recently retired senior intelligence analyst in South Africa’s Secret Service)

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7th, 2023, South Africa has emerged as the most vitriolic opponent of Israel over the latter’s military actions in Gaza. This article posits that Hamas’s propaganda war has fundamentally shaped South Africa’s policy vis-à-vis Israel. Employing discourse and deconstruction techniques, it unpacks the motivations for this negative trajectory trend. Despite a less-than-sanguine prognosis in resetting Israel-South Africa bilateral relations, renewed hope is possible if the South African government withdraws the International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case against Israel in The Hague.

Dressed to Kill. The war between Israel and Hamas has exposed deep divisions in South Africa, with the government’s one-sided support for the terrorist group as reflected by President Ramaphosa and his ANC collogues  attired in Palestinian headscarf’s and colours.
 

Pretoria, then under the leadership of Hamas’ acolyte, the rapacious and morally bankrupt African National Congress (ANC), took the Kafkaesque step to charge the only Jewish state with genocide in the ICJ. Apart from the genocide case being meritless, it is the timing that reveals the extent of Hamas’ influence on South Africa’s foreign policy viz-a-viz Israel. Shortly after Hamas’ genocidal attacks on Israeli border communities, the South African government, under the direction of Naledi Pandor, former minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), used various platforms to issue the vilest statements against the Israeli government for purported “genocidal actions”, while providing moral succour to Hamas leaders such as the late Ismail Haniyeh. Pandor initially denied engaging with Hamas leaders, only to admit it later. Most disturbingly, Pandor and the ANC leadership failed to immediately condemn the perpetrator of the October 7th massacre despite Israel exercising its right to self-defence according to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

Pandor pandering to Terrorists. Ten days after Hamas launched its deadly attack resulting in a massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor, did not call Israel’s leaders to offer condolences for the mass killings but phoned instead the leader of Hamas to offer support.

South Africa’s cabinet then took the reckless decision to close its embassy in Tel Aviv, disrespecting officials of the Israeli embassy in Pretoria, which prompted Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to recall Ambassador Eliav Belotserkovsky, and laid a genocide case against the Jewish state just a few months after October 7. This is not isolated and fits a familiar pattern:

Hamas and its principal patron, Iran, have gradually captured South Africa’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Hamas and Iran have done this through disinformation campaigns, messaging, imagery, symbols, and media narratives, thereby controlling the narrative ecosystem in South Africa. This predates October 7.  Pandor’s successor, Ronald Lamola and the puerile Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, minister in the presidency, continue to spew anti-Israel venom to the delight of Hamas and Iran supporters in South Africa.

South Africa’s AND government support for Hamas goes back in time as seen here of Hamas officials, Khaled Mashaal (left) and Moussa Abu-Marzouk (right) at a press conference with officials of South Africa’s ANC party, in Pretoria on Monday, October 19, 2015 (screen capture: YouTube)

It is abundantly clear why Israel views the South African government as the most antisemitic following the genocide case. Since the war, South Africa has intensified its hackneyed broadside against Israel in international forums. This also resonates in statements, speech acts and policy positions of the South African government. The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, were influenced by South Africa’s hostile anti-Israel policy. Subsequent threats by Israel’s staunchest allies, France, Canada and the United Kingdom, to recognise a Palestinian state in September 2025 if no solution to the Gaza war is found, are a corollary of South Africa’s extremist anti-Israel policy. The timing of the genocide case warrants special scrutiny. The threshold for proving genocide is high, yet it took South Africa’s legal team less than four months to present its initial charge in The Hague. A case not in South Africa’s national interest, Israel’s allies in South Africa’s coalition government should pose the following necessitating an appropriate reply:

– When, where, and why was the egregious decision taken to charge Israel with genocide?

– Was it a coterie of ministers or a whole cabinet that deliberated on the matter? If so, was it a closed meeting? If it were not a closed meeting, then the minutes of that meeting should be made available to the South African public as per Section 32 of the South African Constitution, which guarantees the right of access to information. This is apposite since, in terms of the law of armed conflict, Israel has taken reasonable steps to prevent genocide during the initial stages of the conflict. The genocide case does not advance peace between Israel and Palestine, and only emboldens Israel’s enemies, like Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemen’s Houthis and the homicidal Iranian regime.

Hamas at home in South Africa. Chief of Hamas Politburo, Khaled Mashaal addressing the media following bilateral meeting with ANC leadership in South Africa in 2015.

While historically, Hamas maintained close ties with the ANC under the pretext of being fraternal liberation movements, Hamas is not a liberation movement but an armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood hellbent on obliterating the State of Israel. Although Hamas’s military capabilities and senior leadership have  been eliminated, it remains intact relying on – as Netanel Flamer masterfully explains in his new book, The Hamas Intelligence War Against Israel – geospatial, human, open-source, signals intelligence and cyber warfare against Israel. This was laid bare on October 7th.

Another dimension  – although not addressed by Flamer –  is Hamas’ influence on countries like Algeria, South Africa, Qatar and Türkiye. It is known that Hamas has ‘declared’ and ‘undeclared’ officials abroad, who promote the organisation’s extremist ideology as defender of the Palestinian resistance. According to open-source information, the movement has no official representation in South Africa. However, since October 7th, ANC officials and senior government members have openly met with senior Hamas leaders. In addition, Hamas’ propaganda war against Israel has emboldened extremism in some circles in South Africa. On a casual drive through some of Cape Town’s Muslim suburbs, one would be astounded by the sheer number of mosques festooned in the colours of the Palestinian flag as well as the flags of terrorist organisations –  Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah. Pro-Palestine groups like Africa4Palestine have been leading the campaign to delegitimise the Jewish state, impose sanctions and prosecute South Africans who serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).   Social media is abuzz with imams glorifying the October 7th attacks, and one useful idiot even uttering:

 “We are all Hamas”.

‘Gunning’ for Jews. Jewish-owned businesses are being targeted by BDS SA for purported links to the Israeli government and the IDF such as this branch in Cape Town of Cape Union Mart, an outdoor gear retail chain founded in 1933.

Jewish-owned businesses are being targeted for purported links to the Israeli government and the IDF. Hamas’s messaging is clear: Most Jewish-owned companies aid and abet the “genocide” in Gaza. This is a fallacy since South African Jews are part of our society and have made a remarkable contribution to the Republic. It has always been recognised in South Africa that Israel, as the ancestral home of the Jewish people, is central to Jewish identity. However, useful idiots under the direction of Hamas and Iran have turned the Israel-Palestine conflict, which is a political conflict over territories, into a religious conflict. Scornful terms, notably, “apartheid”, “baby killers”, “occupiers”, “war criminals” and “genocidaires” are bandied about and have been normalized resulting in the “New Antisemitism”. Despite several countries taking steps to designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation, the movement nevertheless enjoys strong support in South Africa. This threatens South Africa’s Jewish community as well as the country’s national security. Recent findings by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international anti-money laundering watchdog, reveal that South Africa is a central regional hub for terror financing. It should be noted that South Africa remains on the FATF grey list pending progress in compliance. However, the relevant South African authorities have been ineffective in combating this scourge. It behooves law enforcement and the civilian intelligence agencies to monitor suspected Hamas financiers, institutions and their modus operandi.  More importantly, the State Security Agency, a once rarefied institution, turned into a Potemkin agency by the feckless Ntshavheni, who is also responsible for state security, should immediately investigate if there are links between DIRCO officials and Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood members in South Africa and abroad. In this context, the South African government often deploys ANC loyalists and demagogues to key postings, instead of career diplomats. In April 2017, Ambassador Ashraf Suleiman, then South Africa’s head of the Ramallah Liaison Office, met Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders in Gaza. The meeting took place in the same year that the ANC passed a resolution to downgrade the South African embassy in Tel Aviv to a liaison office. Suleiman’s meeting with Hamas terrorists drew condemnation from Jerusalem. The liaison office’s riposte was that the mission is mandated to meet with all Palestinian political entities. The same ambassador is now serving as South Africa’s Head of Diplomatic Mission in Syria, which is governed by génocidaires and terrorists. South Africa’s ambassador Ebrahim Rasool’s expulsion in March 2025 from Washington, DC, was hardly surprising when, over and above his public antipathy towards Israel, it was revealed that Rasool had expressed during a webinar that Trump was “mobilising a supremacism” and trying to “project white victimhood as a dog whistle” as the white population faced becoming a minority in the US. Hardly an astute choice of words for a prospective diplomat to Washinton, DC!

Talking Heads. Former South African President, Jacob Zuma  (left) engages in conversation with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.  (Photo: Reuters/S.Sibeko)

It is palpable that Hamas is ascendant in the information operations domain, as antisemitism across the globe has increased dramatically, as evidenced by the magnitude of violent attacks against Jews. The South African government is now part of an immoral minority on the wrong side of history. It chose to pursue a case that elicited opprobrium from the American administration, its second-largest trading partner. This is the unintended consequence of siding with extremist entities such as Hamas and Iran. The best South Africa can do to extricate itself from an unfavourable situation – both morally and financially – is to withdraw its genocide case against Israel which is anyway grounded on fallacious reasoning. In the main, most South Africans have an affinity for Israel, and let it be known that the ANC’s position on Israel does not represent all South Africans. It is a position that reeks of “ideological necrophilia” – blind fixation with dead ideas. In a related vein, the media landscape is seemingly dominated by leftists or liberals who have abandoned classical liberalism to direct hateful scorn against the Jewish state. Contrarian or alternative perspectives are deemed as Zionist and pro-Israel.  A Derridean approach of recent analyses by so-called pundits fits this pattern.  On August 4th, 2025, Ziad Motala, professor of law at Howard University in the United States, penned an article in the Sunday Independent, titled “Propaganda masquerading as strategic realism”, wherein he took broadsides against the Sunday Times, a venerable South African newspaper. The central plank of Motala’s thesis is that the Sunday Times’s editorial integrity and journalistic objectivity had been compromised through its overt support for Israel and America and the Sunday Times had always welcomed diverse opinions. Motala further took umbrage at the newspaper’s journalists, who have advocated for improved bilateral relations between Israel and South Africa. Scornfully, Motala highlights a recent trip to Israel – sponsored by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) – by one of the newspaper’s staffers. The newspaper initially did not disclose the fact that the SAJBD sponsored its staffer’s trip; it later acknowledged the omission. Motala remained unforgiving and insisted that the paper’s editorial integrity had been captured by pro-Israel and pro-American apologists. What Motala failed to mention was that the SAJBD paid for the staffer’s trip to observe the objective reality on the ground, without fear of favour. Liberals who share Motala’s perspective have forsaken classical liberalism.

Situation at Knife’s Edge. Addressing a rally in Hamas’ honor in Cape Town, South Africa in 2015, Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal told a crowd of several hundred supporters waving Hamas’s white-and-green flags that the wave of knife attacks against Israelis would continue “until freedom is achieved and the land is for Palestine ….” (Photo: AFP/Rodger Bosch)

The renowned American political scientist, Francis Fukuyama, deftly defends classical liberalism, based on limited government, the rule of law, and individual rights, and criticizes those on the political right and left that have pushed its core tenets to the extreme. In essence, the crisis of liberalism is not a failure of the classic variant, but rather the tolerance of authoritarianism, ethno-nationalism, extremism and bigotry under the guise of liberalism.  

At the time of writing, Israel is about to launch a major offensive on Gaza City  to eliminate any vestige of Hamas, ensure a steady supply of humanitarian aid to Gazans, and allow the enclave to be rebuilt and governed by a non-Hamas entity. Despite the entreaties of its sponsors, Hamas refuses to disarm and leave the Strip. As Hamas will eventually be eliminated in Gaza, it still poses threats abroad. Qatar and Türkiye continue to host Hamas leaders, who, by extension, were complicit in the October 7th attacks on Israel. These leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, Bassem Naim, Mousa Abu Marzouk and Khalil al-Hayya, should be brought to justice as designated terrorists. South Africa should take a noble step to designate Hamas and its parent, the Muslim Brotherhood, as terrorist organisations. Several countries, like Switzerland and Britain, have banned Hamas activities in their territories. While Hamas’s military capabilities have been degraded, it is almost a Sisyphean task to destroy its extremist ideology, which permeates the globe. Therefore, its activities in South Africa should be closely monitored.

Israel should not abandon South Africa, as the country cannot be blamed for a venal ANC that is on life support and afflicted with political atrophy. Despite strained diplomatic relations, South Africa remains Israel’s largest trading partner in Africa.  Thus, Israel must intensify a sustainedstrategic communications campaignto counter Hamas and Iran’s grey zone operations in South Africa and beyond. David Saranga, Israel’s special envoy and seasoned diplomat, recently undertook an outreach and fact-finding mission to South Africa to open a dialogue channel between the two countries. This Israeli initiative is commendable, yet the biggest obstacle is the ICJ genocide case. The Israeli government can rest assured that it has allies in South Africa’s coalition government, who should exert pressure on the ANC, which initiated the ICJ case, to withdraw the lawsuit. Article 88 of the Rules of the ICJ makes provision for parties to withdraw a case “either by jointly notifying the Court of their agreement to discontinue the proceedings or by the applicant state informing the court that it no longer wishes to pursue the case”. The said Court may then direct that the case be removed from the list. Continued lawfare against Israel militates against dialogue between Israel and Palestine, is costly to the South African taxpayer, and only advances the extremist ideologies of Hamas and Iran.



About the writer:

Derek Arnolds is a freelance writer and corporate intelligence specialist. Educated at the universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, he previously held a teaching position in strategic studies at the South African Military Academy. He later served as a senior intelligence analyst for Africa and the Middle East in the South African Secret Service (later the State Security Agency: Foreign Branch). He retired from the Agency in May 2025.

Disclaimer: Although I previously served in the South African defence department and intelligence services, the opinions expressed in this article reflect my independent, open-source research. They are not intended, in any way, to reflect the views of the South African government.







While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

ROARING AGAINST BETRAYAL

Cozying up to antisemites to feel “safe” is not assimilation it’s surrender – “It’s letting the world’s hatred rewrite your soul”

By Grant Gochin

I am a 61-year-old gay South African Jew, an immigrant to the United States, and, as Zohran Mamdani puts it, an “African American” immigrant. My body aches, my years pile up, and I carry the weight of multiple minority identities – gay, Jewish, African immigrant. I could stack victim cards to play the oppression game, but unlike most, I’m not here to wallow in your patronizing pity. I’m here to roar with rage, to expose the gut-wrenching betrayal of my own communities, and to fight the self-hatred and hypocrisy that’s tearing us apart from within.

When I arrived in America in 1986, after fleeing the consequences from having participated in the South African liberation struggle, I walked into a country that legally despised me. A federal law banned gay people from immigrating, labeling us diseased, deviant, unworthy. I had no choice but to bury my truth in the closet, suffocating under a world that hated me for who I loved. But the external hate paled compared to the poison within my own community: self-hating gays who turned their shame into a weapon. These closeted cowards spewed venom at their own kind, desperate to prove they weren’t “one of those people.” Look at Larry Craig, the disgraced Idaho senator, caught cruising in an airport bathroom in 2007 while preaching anti-gay gospel from his Senate throne. He voted to lock marriage away from us, to strip us of hate crime protections, all to hide his own desires. He wasn’t just a hypocrite – he was a traitor to himself and to us all.

This self-hatred isn’t just a gay problem. It’s a plague ravaging minority, and no group embodies it more viciously than self-hating Jews. As a Jew, I carry the scars of centuries of antisemitism – expulsions, pogroms, the Holocaust’s unspeakable horrors. Society branded us greedy, disloyal, alien, and some Jews swallowed that poison whole. They reject their heritage, spit on Jewish institutions, and cozy up to antisemites just to feel “safe” in a world that never wanted them. It’s not assimilation – it’s self-destruction. And today, these self-hating Jews are louder, prouder, and more dangerous than ever. They seize every anti-Israel article, amplify lies, and hurl vile bigotry at Zionists, pretending they can separate “Jews” from “Zionists” to dodge the label of raw, knuckle-dragging racists. They fail spectacularly. Their virtue-signaling isn’t just pathetic—it’s a betrayal of every Jew who fought for our survival.

How low can you go Jo? Jewish South African anti-Israel activist, Kelly Jo Bluen proudly posts a neon sign reading “Every day is f**k Israel day”, and in another,  appears in a red keffiyeh with the caption “good afternoon from serious face – abolish ‘israel’”.

Self-hating Jews have always been among us, gnawing at our collective strength like a cancer within. From medieval apostates to modern intellectuals, they’ve donned the mask of “progress” to mask their shame. Figures like Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, and Kelly Jo Bluen exemplify this in our time, wielding their Jewish identity as a shield while lobbing attacks at Israel and Zionism that replicate antisemitic tropes. Chomsky’s relentless critique of Israel as a colonial oppressor, Finkelstein’s dismissal of Holocaust memory as an “industry”, and Bluen’s social media rants against Zionism as a racist endeavor don’t just challenge policy – they fuel narratives that paint Jews as the world’s ultimate villains. Their words give cover to those who’d see us erased, echoing historical traitors like Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, the Jewish elder of the Łódź Ghetto, who collaborated with Nazis to deport his own people, believing compliance would save himself. Or Nicholas Donin, the 13th-century convert who sparked the 1240 Disputation of Paris, leading to the burning of the Talmud. Or Johannes Pfefferkorn, the 16th-century Jewish convert who pushed for the destruction of Jewish books, aiding Christian campaigns against his former community. These figures, whether driven by survival, resentment, or ambition, facilitated Jewish suffering, their names synonymous with betrayal.

Turning on his Tribe. Seen here at a protest, Norman Finkelstein in his 2000 Book, The Holocaust Industry, argued that the world Jewish community uses the murder of six million Jews to shake down governments like Germany and Switzerland for cash, as well as to protect Israel from its repeated attempts at genocide of the Palestinians.

Zionism, at its core, is a simple, desperate plea: stop murdering Jews. It’s not about politics or land – it’s about our right to exist, to breathe, to not be slaughtered for being who we are. To reject Zionism is to reject that right, to greenlight the oppression and slaughter of Jews. Those who abrogate Zionism – especially self-hating Jews – aren’t just criticizing a policy; they’re cheering for our annihilation, aligning with those who’ve burned our synagogues, gassed our families, and driven us from every corner of the earth. They drape their betrayal in “progressive” jargon, but make no mistake: their words fuel the same hatred that fueled the ovens. They’re not just complicit – they’re collaborators in the oldest war against us.

This self-hatred comes from a deep, ugly wound. For Jews, it’s centuries of being demonized as the “other”, forced to erase our identity to blend in. For gays, it’s the weight of religious dogma, sodomy laws, and the DSM’s cold declaration that we were mentally ill until 1973. We’ve been conditioned to see ourselves as broken, shameful, unworthy. Social identity theory explains it: when your group is branded inferior, you either fight or crumble. Too many crumble. Self-hating Jews shun synagogues, mock our traditions, or obsessively demonize Israel to win gentile applause. Self-hating gays avoid queer spaces, parrot homophobic slurs, or stay closeted to “pass” as straight. It’s not just survival – it’s surrender. It’s letting the world’s hatred rewrite your soul.

I’ve lived this fight. I came out as a gay man, loud and unapologetic, in a world that wanted me silent. I marched for gay liberation, poured my heart and money into organizations that promised freedom for all. Back then, Jewish leaders stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me – many of the fiercest voices in gay liberation were Jews, driven by a shared hunger for justice. But now? In 2025, the gay spaces I helped build have turned on me and betrayed me. Homophobia has faded, but antisemitism? It’s de rigueur  –  a sick, twisted requirement to belong in queer circles. It’s no longer enough to be gay; you must denounce Israel, vilify Zionists, and spit on your Jewishness to get a seat at the table. To be anti-Zionist in these spaces is to cheer for Jewish oppression, to nod along as the world justifies our slaughter. Harvey Milk, the Jewish gay icon who died for our freedom, would likely be booed off a pride float today. The movement I bled for has become a cesspool of obsessional antisemitism.

More a Black than a Pink Day! Standing with Palestine that persecutes gays, where was the global LGBTQ community following the massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023?

The betrayal by charities and organizations we once supported cuts deepest, especially for a gay Jew like me who has poured heart, soul, and resources into the fight for equality, only to see those contributions twisted into tools that oppress our own people. Every organization receiving Jewish donations – particularly gay and progressive groups – must be rigorously scrutinized for their stance on Jews and the Israeli victims of Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, attack, which slaughtered over 1,200 innocents, including Jews, Arabs, and others, and took hundreds of hostages. Many groups I once supported have failed this test, issuing vague statements condemning “violence” without naming Hamas, downplaying the targeted massacre of Jews, or amplifying antisemitic tropes that blame victims while excusing terrorists. This isn’t neutrality – it’s complicity, cloaked in “progressive” dogma that paints Jews as the ultimate evil. Jewish donors, and all donors, must stop funding these traitors who demand we renounce our Jewishness or Zionism – our right to exist and not be murdered – to belong. Instead, redirect your money to organizations that stand for justice and true liberation without betraying the memory of October 7 victims or our fight for survival.

Self-hating Jews and self-hating gays are two sides of the same rotten coin – minority groups so battered by the world’s hate that they’ve turned it inward. But I’m not here to coddle their shame or excuse their betrayal. I’m here to call it out, to rage against the cowardice that lets prejudice fester in our own ranks. Those who reject Zionism aren’t just rejecting a word – they’re endorsing the slaughter of my people, my family, my history. We’ve survived too much – pogroms, bans, closets, and death camps – to let our own people tear us down. I’m a gay Jew, proud and unbroken, and I’ll keep fighting for both my identities, no matter who tries to silence me. The world’s hate couldn’t destroy me, and neither will the traitors within.



About the writer:

Grant Arthur Gochin currently serves as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Togo. He is the Emeritus Special Envoy for Diaspora Affairs for the African Union, which represents the fifty-five African nations, and Emeritus Vice Dean of the Los Angeles Consular Corps, the second largest Consular Corps in the world. Gochin is actively involved in Jewish affairs, focusing on historical justice. He has spent the past twenty five years documenting and restoring signs of Jewish life in Lithuania. He has served as the Chair of the Maceva Project in Lithuania, which mapped / inventoried / documented / restored over fifty abandoned and neglected Jewish cemeteries. Gochin is the author of “Malice, Murder and Manipulation”, published in 2013. His book documents his family history of oppression in Lithuania. He is presently working on a project to expose the current Holocaust revisionism within the Lithuanian government. Professionally, Gochin is a Certified Financial Planner and practices as a Wealth Advisor in California, where he lives with his family. Personal site: https://www.grantgochin.com/






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 10 August 2025

Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond.

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What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africa and millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.

THE ISRAEL BRIEF- 04-07 August 2025
(Click on the blue title)




Lay of the Land’s Pick of the Week has Israelis wondering Quo Vadis!

MASK OR MESS

Is the proposed takeover of all Gaza a strategic ploy to pressure for a hostage deal
or Israel’s ‘Vietnam moment’ and perpetual war?

Questioning a Quagmire. Who is leading Israel and in what direction as an anguish and war-weary people ask: “Expanding military operations in Gaza, but at what cost?”




Articles

Please note there is a facility to comment beneath each article should you wish to express an opinion on the subject addressed.

(1)

CAFES, CONCERTS AND CAMPSITES – “JUDEN VERBOTEN”

In Europe being Jewish in public is unacceptable – again!
By David E. Kaplan

1930s Revisited. While the Nazis in Europe are no more; their ideology has resurfaced and resurged as Jews across Europe fear for their lives and future. ‘Public Presence’ is now a ‘crime’ warranting abuse and ridicule.

CAFES, CONCERTS AND CAMPSITES – “JUDEN VERBOTEN”
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

EUROPE AND THE PALESTINIAN LITMUS TEST

Why are Palestinians being reoffered what they have time and again rejected?
By Peter Bailey

Talk to the Trees. Several times, from 1936 to the 21st century, Arab and Palestinian leaders were offered a state
of their own in which to live side-by-side with their Jewish neighbors but repeatedly declined.  Reading their lips,
they will settle for nothing less than the “From the river to the sea.”

EUROPE AND THE PALESTINIAN LITMUS TEST
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

FALSE NEWS,DOUBLE STANDARDS AND APPEASEMENT

The new world order that threatens Western culture and civilization.
By Neville Berman

Beneath the Surface. To the accusation that has found global traction that Israel has imposed a “blockade” on Gaza, how did Hamas import the material to build hundreds of kilometers of underground terror tunnels?  “Must have been the worst blockade in human history!” asserts the writer.

FALSE NEWS,DOUBLE STANDARDS AND APPEASEMENT
(Click on the blue title)



(4)

WHEN STATEHOOD  = A STATE FOR HOODS

Why reward a terrorist leadership holding Israeli hostages  rotting on the verge of death?
By Jonathan Feldstein

Surreal Surrender. For the writer, the Macron, Starmer and Carney recognition of a Palestinian state while Israel’s hostages are rotting away near death, “is akin to recognizing Nazi controlled Vichy France. Mon Dieu!”  The writer argues that instead of bringing peace closer, it “hardens”, “emboldens” and “rewards aggression”.

WHEN STATEHOOD  = A STATE FOR HOODS
(Click on the blue title)



LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche

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While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 04-07 August 2025

04 August 2025 – Footage of Israeli hostages shocks the world. The Israel Brief.



05 August 2025 – Is Israel about to occupy Gaza? This and more on The Israel Brief.



06 August 2025 – Go inside the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom crossing on The Israel Brief.



07 August 2025 – More from Ro’s trip to the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom and more on The Israel Brief.



04 August 2025 – Rolene Marks interviewed on The Schilling Show with Rob Schilling where she debunks the accusations of deliberate starvation and speaks about the hostages.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

WHEN STATEHOOD  = A STATE FOR HOODS

Why reward a terrorist leadership holding Israeli hostages  rotting on the verge of death?

By Jonathan Feldstein

French President Emanuel Macron must be feeling particularly good seeing nations of the world following one of his country’s most honored traditions:

SURRENDER

Macron announced that he intended to recognize “Palestine” at the U.N. General Assembly next month. Immediately following Macron were British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Several other countries have indicated their inclination to do so as well.

The Macron, Starmer, and Carney ideological surrender is akin to recognizing Nazi controlled Vichy France. Mon Dieu! It not only does not bring peace any closer but, it hardens the position of the terrorists and emboldens and rewards their aggression.  That has been clear as Hamas has continued to entrench its intransigence any time serious talks of a cease fire and hostage release get close.

Terror Pays. No consideration that he is messagining that terrorism against Jews pays dividends.

MIXED MESSAGING

There is something else critical to “recognize” in the announcement of the intent to recognize Palestine. Among other things, Starmer made clear threats to Israel  that he would follow through to recognize Palestine if Israel:

 “…takes substantial steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire, and commit to a long-term sustainable peace, renewing the prospect of a two-state solution.”

Then there is Starmer’s message to Hamas that remains “unchanged and equivocal” in that Hamas “must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a cease fire, disarm, and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.”

While the British PM’s threats to Israel are crystal clear, his “messages” to Hamas – while not vague – are meaningless.  Hamas will not run to London, the U.N., or anywhere else to lay down their arms, nor will it ever release the hostages without maximum pressure. Does Starmer’s conditional recognition of “Palestine” also require Hamas to disarm and release the hostages?  Do they need to post on their social media “In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful we will not play a part of the government of Gaza?”

Conditional Surrender. Unless Israel fufills certain conditions regarding Gaza within a stipulated time frame, the UK will reward the killers and hostage takers.

British-Israeli former hostage Emily Damari, who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, and released after 471 days in captivity Gaza, used her own social media to condemn Starmer’s announcement:

 “I am deeply saddened by Prime Minister Starmer’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood. This move does not advance peace — it risks rewarding terror. It sends a dangerous message: that violence earns legitimacy.”

In another post, Damari wrote:

“Prime Minister Starmer is not standing on the right side of history. Had he been in power during World War II, would he have advocated recognition for Nazi control of occupied countries like Holland, France or Poland? This is not diplomacy — it is a moral failure. Shame on you, Prime Minister!!!!!!!”

Reminding the meaning of V. British-Israeli Emily Damari who was held hostage by Hamas for more than a year and who lost two fingers in the attack on October 7, 2023,  said that Sir Keir Starmer is “not standing on the right side of history” after his conditional pledge to recognise Palestine as a state. “Had he been in power during World War II, would he have advocated recognition for Nazi control of occupied countries like Holland, France or Poland?”

In announcing his country’s intent to recognize “Palestine”, Canadian Prime Minister Carney also made this conditional.  He said it is:

“…predicated on the Palestinian Authority commitment to much needed reform including… to hold elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.”

He added that:

 “Hamas must immediately release all hostages taken in their terrorist attack of October 7…. must disarm… and play no role in the future governance of Palestine.”

His language is troubling on many levels, but the premise is absurd. What if, in his Never-Never Land of diplomacy, the Palestinian Authority did hold elections, and what if a rebranded Hamas were to win?  What if the PLO were to win, and then be summarily ousted in a coup in 2027 with Hamas in control of “Palestine”?  Would “Palestine” be required to meet Carney’s standards or risk Canada withdrawing its recognition?

If any of these leaders were really sincere about recognizing “Palestine”, they would just do so and not need to announce their intentions to do so, or with all these unachievable conditions.

If I were a Palestinian Arab believing in the right to live in an independent “State of Palestine”, I would take offence to the provisional nature of recognizing what I would believe as the occupation of my country. Those who advocate the purported right of Palestinian Arabs to have an independent state should be up in arms (pun intended) that their “rights” are conditional.

What is interesting in the context of this war against Hamas now entering its 22nd month since the October 7, 2023 massacre, is the broad consensus across the Israeli political spectrum, against the Macron, Starmer, Carney bulldozing for Palestinian statehood amidst the unresolved hostages crisis. While there may be differences on the conduct of the war and priorities or imperative to get the remaining 50 hostages released, there is uniformity in their condemnation of this intended move.

Multiple voices throughout Israel, not just the government and not just on the right, have voiced their outrage, even harsh denunciation of such a declaration at this point in time.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is not an echo chamber for the Israeli government, and has largely been more critical of the government and its policies related to the hostages. But on this, there is widespread agreement. “Recognition of a Palestinian state while Hamas holds 50 hostages isn’t just a step away from peace, it is a blatant violation of international law and a dangerous moral and political violation that bestows legitimacy to horrifying war crimes.”

“The international community — if it wants peace — must join the efforts of the US and demand, before all else, the release of the hostages and then the end of the fighting.” The Forum represents most of the hostages’ families, and advocates a deal with Hamas to return all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and the release of Palestinian Arab terrorists.

“Abducting men, women, children and babies, and holding them in tunnels against their will, amid starvation and physical and mental abuse, cannot — must not — be the grounds for establishing a state,” they added.

“The recognition of a Palestinian state before the return of the hostages will forever be remembered as a shameful, antisemitic step that renders terror acceptable as a legitimate means of achieving political goals.”

Unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state, enables terrorism and deprives Israel of leverage amid efforts to secure the hostages’ release. It also goes against the terms of the Oslo Accords to which France, the UK, and Canada all subscribed, requiring actual negotiations and not unilateral actions by all parties. These and other countries recognition of “Palestine” will not only not bring peace closer; it will harden the position of the terrorists and prolong the war.



About the writer

Jonathan Feldstein ­­­­- President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).