Category: Israel-Arab Relations

R.I.P. UNRWA

No lamentation for UN organ that has indoctrinated generations of Palestinians into a conflict-driven mindset rather than preparing them for peace and prosperity.

By Jonathan Feldstein

UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees is set to go out of business this week, in Israel at least, none too soon.

May it RIP!

From its inception in 1949, UNRWA has been a controversial organization, criticized for policies and actions that have harmed both Israel and Palestinian Arabs. In the wake of Israel’s war of Independence, UNRWA was ostensibly set up to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian Arab refugees. Yet its unique and disturbing mandate and political entanglements have made it an obstacle to peace rather than a solution. Instead of facilitating the integration of Palestinians in the countries in which they had resettled, UNRWA has been manipulative in perpetuating refugee status making Palestinians the only ethnic group in the world to whom refugee status is inherited  and passed from generation to generation. This predictably fostered and emboldened radicalization for future generations. UNRWA stands responsible for maintaining an unsustainable status quo, dangerously detrimental to both Palestinians and Israelis.

One of the most significant problems with UNRWA is its unique definition of “refugee” which differs from that used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the global agency responsible for refugee issues. Unlike UNHCR, which works to resettle and integrate refugees, UNRWA is responsible for expanding and increasing the number of “refugees” indefinitely by granting refugee status to the descendants of the original 1948-49 refugees. As a result, the number of Palestinian Arab refugees has grown from approximately 700,000 in 1948 to over 5.9 million today, even though the vast majority of those who were actual refugees 77 years ago have died, and those classified as Palestinian Arab “refugees” today have never been displaced themselves. Parenthetically, this alone undermines the libel that Israel has committed genocide.

“I’m inside, I’m inside with the Jews,” “We have female hostages, I captured one“. These are quotes from recordings of UNRWA teachers that took part in the October 7 Massacre. In this video, captured on a security camera on October 7, two Hamas terrorists are seen loading the corpse of an Israeli civilian they shot onto a truck. These Hamas terrorists were employees of UNRWA. 

UNRWA’s policy has a devastating effect on both Israel and Palestinian Arabs. For Israel, it creates an unsustainable demand for what Palestinian Arabs insist is the “right of return” which, if implemented, would result in the demographic destruction of the Jewish state. For Palestinian Arabs, it traps them in a cycle of dependency, discouraging integration into their host countries, or mandating these countries do so, or to pursue viable alternatives to the fantasy of “return” to and destroying Israel. Unlike other refugees worldwide, Palestinian Arab “refugees” are discouraged from resettling and building new lives, and rather are kept in a permanent state of limbo. They are facilitated in this process. The Palestinians are the only ethnic group defined as “refugees”, who are recognized in the UN as a “sovereign state”, albeit with observer status, but nevertheless enjoy the status that allows it to participate in all of the Organization’s proceedings, except for voting on draft resolutions and decisions in its main organs and bodies. This carefully calibrated façade is sustained with no goal of resolving the problem but in fact perpetuating it.

By keeping millions of Palestinian Arabs dependent on foreign aid, UNRWA prevents economic development and self-reliance. The agency operates in the “West Bank,” Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, providing services such as healthcare, education, and welfare. However, instead of preparing Palestinian Arabs for personal independence, self-sufficiency, and economic sustainability, UNRWA reinforces a culture of victimhood and entitlement. As ‘victims’, UNRWA schools teach Palestinian Arabs that Israel is to blame for their situation being the source of all their problems thus contributing to their intransigence and radicalization.

Call Between UNRWA Teacher And Colleague About Kidnapping Israeli Women

TEXTBOOK TERRORISM

It has been documented that UNRWA schools promote anti-Israel and antisemitic narratives, rather than fostering reconciliation and coexistence. Their textbooks often glorify terrorism, erase Israel from maps, and teach children that armed struggle is the only solution (meaning to destroy Israel). By funding and overseeing such an education system, UNRWA has indoctrinated generations into a conflict-driven mindset rather than preparing them for peace and prosperity.

UNRWA is at the center of repeated accusations of collaborating with terrorist organizations, particularly Hamas in Gaza. Investigations have revealed that UNRWA facilities, including schools and hospitals, have been used to store weapons and launch rocket attacks against Israel. In multiple cases, Israel has discovered Hamas tunnels running underneath and connected to UNRWA buildings, showing clear collaboration.

UNRWA employees have also been caught directly participating in terrorism. In 2023 and 2024 alone, multiple reports surfaced that scores of UNRWA staff members were involved in the October 7 massacre in Israel, where Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 people and kidnapped 251. These revelations led countries like the United States, the UK, Canada, and Germany to suspend their funding to UNRWA. With the release and rescue of more than 100 hostages, there have further been multiple reports of UNRWA facilities and employees involved in the hostage taking and their captivity.

In 2024, UNRWA’s budget was a whopping $1.2 billion. Multiple accusations of corruption and financial mismanagement have also harmed the agency and its tainted reputation even further. In 2019, its commissioner-general, Pierre Krähenbühl, resigned after a scandal involving misuse of funds and unethical behavior. Despite receiving billions in international aid, UNRWA continues to function inefficiently, with much of the money failing to reach those in need, or ‘finding its way’ to terrorists directly.

FUELING FAILURE

By reinforcing the demand for an unrealistic “right of return” for millions of Palestinian Arabs, UNRWA has earned itself the title of being a true obstacle to peace. By maintaining this illusion, UNRWA prevents Palestinian Arab leaders from making – or average Palestinian Arabs from embracing – practical compromises resulting in endless “armed struggle.”

For generations, UNRWA has fueled the false hope that one day, Israel will be replaced. This prevents peaceful coexistence, much less the development of realistic expectations and solutions that could lead to a negotiated settlement.

In 2024, Israel passed a law banning UNRWA from Israeli territory, and prohibiting Israeli officials from working with the corruption-plagued UN agency. That law is set to go into effect this week.

UN’savory. UNRWA members accused of participating in the October 7 massacres in southern Israel (Credit: IDF Spokesperson)

What effectively needs to be done to break the cycle of UNRWA’s failed monopoly and irresponsible business plan and vision? First, UNRWA should be completely dismantled. Any actual humanitarian roles it has served must be reenvisioned and undertaken by others to find permanent solutions that do not spawn generations of jihadi “refugees”. Its educational programs need to be revised to eliminate hate speech, incitement, and anti-Israel propaganda. This alone will take a generation or more to see any effect. Reinforcing the need to radically change how things are done, seeking out-of-the-box solutions for true peace, and plans like the Solution for Peace in Gaza need to be embraced and achieved.

A far-improved model with full transparency and accountability needs to be instituted to monitor how international funds are used, preventing corruption and ties to, and support of, terrorist groups.

IDF Statement on UNRWA Workers Involved in the Oct. 7 Massacre.

In response to President Trump’s recent call for Egypt and Jordan to resettle Gazans, Arab states should embrace this idea and proceed to integrate Palestinian Arab “refugees” instead of keeping them in perpetual stateless limbo for generations.

If there is ever going to be true peace and prosperity for Israel and Palestinian Arabs, the later must break free from the culture of radicalism, blaming and seeking to destroy Israel, and international dependency, and to do so, it must be without UNRWA.

Israel’s new legislation banning UNWRA over links with terror groups is a good start.



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).

HAMAS’ NARRATIVE FALLING APART

Increasing evidence reveals No deliberate starvation; No genocide; No freezing and No indiscriminate targeting.

By Andrew Fox

Is the mainstream media watching?

Now that there is a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, we are seeing the Hamas narrative fall apart before our eyes. I expected it to take a few months for the truth to come out, but it has only taken a few days. We have endured 15 months of screeching about war crimes, illegal targeting, disproportionality and genocide. Each one of these has unravelled in the blink of an eye. The IDF Spokesman’s unit must be feeling rather validated right now.

Let us examine the evidence emerging. Here is a snapshot run-through of the mounting proof to clear Israel of all the allegations against it.

Hospitals have been one item of controversy amongst many in this war. The IDF has been condemned for military action in or near them; Israel has claimed that Hamas uses hospitals as military locations, in violation of the Law of Armed Conflict. There are reams of evidence to support the latter position with a report on this coming later in the month to cover this in exhaustive depth. As the ceasefire was announced, we saw Hamas fighters assembling outside the Nasser hospital.

Not only hospitals; we have also seen footage of fighters emerging from the Mawasi humanitarian zone. Added to which, we now know that the freed hostages were at times held there, too. All of a sudden, the “100 air strikes” reported in Mawasi can be justified because Hamas militants were hiding there (I am sure the BBC will amend the linked article to reflect this). Incidentally, Hamas commander, Mohammed Deif, was killed as he hid amongst civilians in a humanitarian zone.

We have heard claims of starvation and freezing. The reality is rather well summed up by this popular but rather blunt meme:

Starving, freezing Gazans turn out to be well-fed, dressed in vests and with fresh haircuts. Of course, life displaced in a war zone will have been unpleasant, but none of the footage we have seen shows the victims of deliberate starvation, as alleged.

This is doubly rebutted by the footage coming from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing. N12 News reveals undelivered aid, rotting in the sun. COGAT figures throughout the war have shown that sufficient food has entered Gaza – over 3,000 calories, per person, per day (the World Health Organisation recommends 2,000-2,400 daily calories for an adult).

As I have suggested throughout the war, the issue of food is not with the supply from outside. Any hunger issues lay with the distribution of aid inside Gaza itself. This was not the responsibility of the IDF: it lay with humanitarian agencies. Any failure to feed Gazan citizens lies with them alone – and of course, Hamas – well-documented to have been seizing aid and using it as a lever of control over the population.

Since last summer, it has been reported that during the war, Gaza’s population has gone up, not down. As early as July, the charity Save The Children was reporting that some 50,000 babies had been born in Gaza, citing the UN Population Fund reporting a monthly birth rate of 5,522 babies. Gazan civilians themselves have now verified this.

Some genocide.

Other statistics released by Hamas themselves are also deeply revealing. Hamas propaganda outlet Middle East Eye, citing Palestinian authorities, reports that 100,000 tonnes of explosives were dropped by Israel over the course of the war. In the same article, they state the death toll as 47,107. This is a remarkable statistic to support Israel’s assertion that their campaign has been targeted, and took civilian protection measures into account.

By Hamas’s own figures, over two tonnes of explosives have been dropped for every fatality. This means one of two things: either the Israeli Air Force are the worst shots in the history of warfare; or, the areas where they have been dropping munitions have been largely empty of civilians.

And why were these areas mostly empty of civilians? Because the IDF took the unprecedented measure of evacuating the war zone before striking.

My forthcoming paper, Hiding in Plain Sight (hopefully out by the end of the month), evidences the ten ways in which Hamas has tried to use Gaza’s population as a human shield. That only 47,107 people have died as a result of 100,000 tonnes of munitions is a truly remarkable achievement. It shows the lengths the IDF has gone to, to protect civilian life. This is far in excess of their international humanitarian law obligations.

Nearly half the 47,107 dead are Hamas fighters. My report for the Henry Jackson Society, Questionable Counting, proved the likelihood of the IDF’s reported figures being accurate. In fact, what we did not publish is the statistical modelling we did to suggest the IDF were undercounting: we worked out it was more likely closer to 22,500 Hamas fatalities. However, we did not publish this as we did not feel it accurate enough. As an aside, this heavily assumption-based modelling did not stop the Lancet from publishing a paper based on similar stretched assumptions. See Mark Zlochin’s thread for a great takedown of the recent Lancet publication.

As bodies begin to be extracted from the rubble of Gaza, we see a curious phenomenon in the reporting: they are all men of fighting age.

The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health provides us with more evidence to support the concept that Israel has been targeting militants. Just today, they claimed that 32,152 children had lost their fathers and 4,417 had lost their mothers. This statistic shows a huge imbalance towards men (who, if they are considered the parents of children under 18, will likely be predominantly in the category of “fighting age”). This is a ratio of fighting age men to women of over 7:1. Gaza’s percentage population of adult males before the war was only 26%. The percentage given today by Hamas? Nearly 88% male deaths. This does not suggest indiscriminate targeting.

Hamas’s own news networks are also starting to report the funerals of combatants:

Interestingly, this is higher than the male to female ratio listed on the official Hamas lists of fatalities, which sits at proportionally either 42%, 62% or 53% adult males, depending which reporting method you check (hospital lists, family notification, or judicial committee numbers) – again, suggesting that the IDF has not been bombing indiscriminately, especially when we take into account what is known of their Rules of Engagement and targeting procedures.

I have personally examined both.

I found them analogous to all the other professional armies I have worked with, as did General Sir John McColl, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. If today’s trend maps across to the broader non-parent population, it once again suggests that all might not be right with the accuracy of the Ministry of Health’s reporting over the last 12 months.

This is all circumstantial evidence, but it is certainly building a picture. Hamas has used hospitals and the humanitarian zone for cover. Having seen the disaster of rotting food on Gaza side of the border, aid agencies are revealed, at best, to be grossly incompetent.

No deliberate starvation; no genocide; no freezing; no indiscriminate targeting; and significant proportions of the dead being exclusively fighting-age men. The Palestinian narrative is falling apart: the bigger question is whether or not the world’s media will begin reporting fairly. I suspect the answer is no. We have seen this playbook before.



About the writer:

A veteran of three grueling tours of Afghanistan, Major Andrew Fox holds a Batchelor’s degree in Law & Politics, a Master’s in Military History & War Studies, and is currently studying for a PhD in History.






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).

“NOT ONLY AREN’T WE DEAD, WE ARE ALIVE AND ARE HERE TO STAY”

Kibbutz Kfar Aza sends message of resilience following October 7 massacre.

By David E. Kaplan

Only three days before the release of Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonan on Sunday, January 19, I stood on that preceding Friday with an organised group of visitors looking at the damaged homes of two of them on kibbutz Kfar Aza – Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. Our guide, Warren Samuels, spoke of Emily and Doron, of how they were taken hostage, and we wondered following their hopeful release, whether they would or even could ever return here where we were standing.  ‘Here’represented home, but it also represented where Emily and Doron’s unimaginable horror began.

Targeting the Young. Our guide Warren Samuels standing in front of the home where happily lived Sivan Elkabets and her fiancée Naor Hasidim, both brutally murdered. Warren explains the IDF signs on the walls indicating where “body parts” were found on the sofa. “They specially targeted the young people to send a chilling message,” says Warren.(Photo: David E. Kaplan)

As I looked at the relics of their homes straddled with bullet holes and the rows of other devastated homes where the young members of the kibbutz were either murdered or taken hostage on October 7, 2023, I thought back to an article I read of 32-year-old Omri Ronen also originally from this kibbutz, whose 86-year-old grandmother and her Filipina caregiver, were murdered. After nearly 200 days of fighting terrorists, Omri, a member of an IDF special reserve unit, returned here with his father  and was stunned to find that “none of the destroyed houses had been rebuilt.”

Death Row.  The homes where the youngsters lived and partied and where they died brutally or were taken hostage. (Photo: David E. Kaplan)

Even worse for Omri was finding at his murdered grandmother’s ruined home, a scrawled message in Arabic from one of the Hamas attackers:

“You will die here. You won’t remain here.”

This chilling communication left by his grandmother’s murderers spurred Omri to respond defiantly. He had fought for 200 days, now he was ready to continue fighting only now not only with a gun but with a spade and shovel, a chisel and a hammer. He was determined to rebuild the homes of this once thriving community – to restore life to defy the message from the Gazan merchants of death. In interviews with local media, he said:

Messenger of Death. Message left in Arabic by the Hamas murderers of Omri Ronen’s grandmother (a founder of kibbutz Kfar Aza) and her caregiver.

“Not only aren’t we dead, we are alive and are here to stay”

His grandfather and grandmother were founding members of the kibbutz, “and this place is theirs and ours.” By “ours” he meant all Israelis.The lesson learnt is to process “who these murderers are,” and decide “what our response should be.”

Many months later, we were standing and observing that “response”!

Grandson with Grand Determination. Inspired to rebuild and send the message of Israeli resilience, Omri Ronen seen here with his late grandmother Nira, who was murdered in her home.

‘CONSTRUCTIVE’  RESPONSE

The response was restoration and there were volunteers from all over the country busy plastering, painting, paving and laying tiles, whether below for a patio or above for a roof. Our guide Warren, a volunteer laborer in this project explained:

 “I first volunteered to restore the gardens. As there were no residents living here anymore, the gardens had grown wild and weeds were taking over. Our philosophy was even if people were no longer living here, we had to keep the place alive for when they return. We also felt that when residents visit to see the condition of their homes, we did not want them to see overgrown weeds and dead plants.”

Only some 30 of Kfar Aza’s 1,000 residents have returned, living among the skeletal remains of homes burned by explosives, riddled with bullet holes or reduced to rubble by tank shells during the battle that raged for days.

“One can understand the reservation of residents returning,” said Warren. Zohar Shpack, a 58-year-old resident in an interview explained the reservation:

“Are we going to live inside a memorial? Are we going to see a plaque every few meters, he was killed here and she was killed there?”

In the meantime, there was a need to restore this landscape from a wholesale mass murder crime scene.

When the mission of cleaning up, clearing battle debris and reviving the gardens was completed, “we moved onto the next mission,” said Warren, who is from Ra’anana in the centre of the country and spends a few nights a week sleeping at the kibbutz. We all bunch up and Warren calls over a volunteer architect to address us. His name is Roi Goldin who begins by telling:

“I had until recently, been working in one of the largest architectural firms in Israel, based in Tel Aviv and then decided I had to get involved. I am one of many volunteer architects offering our expertise voluntary as is everyone, from laborers to most of the suppliers. We are part of the Brothers in Arms, an Israeli nonprofit organization, that has taken it upon itself to renovate Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the most devastated residential communities. We are over 7000 volunteers, too many to cope with and so we spread it out that at least each volunteer has at least one experience here, which will be meaningful not only for the project but also for the volunteer, so they can feel part of the renewal.”

For those unfamiliar, the Brothers in Arms is an organization of reserve men and women from various units in the IDF, operating within the protest movement against the government’s judicial ‘reforms’.  On October 7, 2023, the day Hamas invaded southern Israel, the organization suspended all political and protest activities and began devoting itself full-time to aid and relief under the name Brothers and Sisters for Israel. In June 2024, the Brothers and Sisters in Arms received The Presidential Award for Volunteerism from the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog.

Omri, a member of Brothers in Arms, consulted with the kibbutz leaders, who ultimately approved his proposal to undertake a project to fully renovate 16 buildings damaged by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and that will be made available to young students. It was these buildings we now walked through seeing the wonderful work being carried out.

Building a better Tomorrow. The section of kibbutz Kfar Aza where 16 homes are being rebuilt for students – the leaders of tomorrow. (Photo: David Kaplan)

Warren, who recently retired from working in one of Israel’s largest banks, shows us his new talents as a tradesman. He points out where he plastered, painted and squared walls to accommodate new door frames. “It’s amazing,” says Warren, “they teach you what to do in a day, and soon,” with a broad smile, “we’re accomplished artisans.”  It sure looked that way – the work is excellent, overseen by architects like Roi. Warren is most proud that “my kids have joined me in this project,” his son Liron and daughter Michal. Michal was with us in the group also showing us the work she had done.

“It’s amazing that we can do so much more than we think,” says Roi. “I see people who come, who have never worked with their hands  and after a day they have mastered it.” He includes as an example, “my own mother of 76.”

While Omri is currently focusing on the reconstruction of homes in the southern community where his grandparents lived and grandmother was murdered, he eventually wants to assist in rebuilding damaged buildings in northern Israeli communities, which have been destroyed as a result of the Hezbollah terror group’s attacks from Lebanon.

Future taking Shape. Our group standing next to future homes that will once again bustle with life and laughter. (Photo: David E. Kaplan)

“I don’t think we need to wait for the government,” Omri said. “People are lining up. They want to give. It helps build resilience and takes them out of that feeling of hopelessness to do Zionist work. They’re excited to come and participate.”

“The message is that they broke us, but we will build back better and more beautifully and stand up to terror. We are here to stay,” Omri vowed.

Ready to Restore. They could be lawyers, accountants, doctors, teachers, architects or bankers but today they are volunteer laborers giving back to society. (Photo: David E. Kaplan)

“WALKING IN THEIR FOOTSEPS”

We move on to the row of devastated houses where the young members of the kibbutz lived “and partied,” and where many of them died or were taken hostage. The homes were left as it was – a visual image of death and destruction.

Hilary Kaplan in our group, gives her impressions of the day at Kfar Aza, which she titles ‘Walking in their Footsteps’:

“Yesterday, Friday 17.1.2025 will be a day that is indelibly printed in my mind. A day that I stood on hallowed ground and tried to take in the atrocities committed on Kfar Aza, one of the many kibbutzim attacked on October 7. 2023.

It is hard to imagine the before – the idyllic situation of the kibbutzim surrounded by green fields, trees, and a fence that was so easily penetrable.

They lived, looking across their fields at Jabaliya, in the Gaza Strip. They worked together, took them to hospital when needed and broke bread together.

No reason to think that anything untoward would happen, just a fence, unguarded, albeit with cameras, that were destroyed by the terrorists – that is how they lived.  The cream of Israeli society, murdered, raped, burned alive and taken hostage, 469 days ago.

The horror of what transpired that day speaks for itself as we were allowed to visit the area where the young members of the Kibbutz lived.  Barbecues, old couches, chairs, tables, laughter, chatting and music, I could hear it all, and now silence, burnt out houses with specific markings of the army, bullet holes, and beautiful photographs of the young adults whose lives ended that day or who are still held captive in Gaza, destruction and death. The laughter and music silenced.

Leaving Kibbutz Kfar Aza, after seeing and hearing the traumatic stories of the people who lost their loved ones, those who survived, those who are still held hostage, the sacrifice, the instinct to protect one’s family at any cost, and the waiting….who will come home, who won’t? It is inhumane, and yet, the world perceives us to be the ‘aggressors’.

I keep asking myself, “how does one get up in the morning, face another day, put one foot in front of the other….how?”  and then we met some amazing people who are giving their all to try and make the gardens grow again, by volunteering, cleaning up the gardens and rebuilding a small section of the Kibbutz to house students.  Architects and builders  – ordinary folk putting in the time, giving us all a smidgen of hope that no matter how bad things get in our country, we have the ability to rise up and always look to the light, for surely this is what the people who suffered beyond one’s imagination deserve?”

While the message left by the Hamas murderers in Omri Ronen’s grandmothers’ home was received, it is being replied to by the people of Israel – loud and clear and constructively – by rebuilding.

Am Yisrael Chai – The People of Israel Live



* If anyone is interested to volunteer, to please contact:
Shiri at: +972 50-694-0394 or Gali at: +972 52-828-2825






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).

FOOTBALL LEGENDS BRING LOVE TO MAJDAL SHAMS

Project Max Ambassadors – healing the hearts of Israel’s children

By Rolene Marks

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the kind that entices children out of their homes and into the fresh air, the sound of laughter punctuated the silence. Children in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in Israel’s verdant north, gleefully played football. In a matter of seconds, everything changed and the unthinkable happened. A missile fired by Iranian terror proxy, Hezbollah fired towards the area and killed 12 of the children who were so happily playing just moments before.

The victims were named as Alma Ayman Fakher Eldin, 11 Milad Muadad Alsha’ar, 10; Vinees Adham Alsafadi, 11; Iseel Nasha’at Ayoub, 12; Yazan Nayeif Abu Saleh, 12; Johnny Wadeea Ibrahim, 13; Ameer Rabeea Abu Saleh, 16; Naji Taher Alhalabi, 11; Fajer Laith Abu Saleh, 16; Hazem Akram Abu Saleh, 15; and Nathem Fakher Saeb, 16 and 11-year-old Gevara Ebraheem.

Killing Kids. The Hezbollah rocket attack on Majdal Shams on July 27, 2024 killed 12 children: (Top row, l-r) Ameer Rabeea Abu Saleh, 16, Iseel Nasha’at Ayoub, 12, Hazem Akram Abu Saleh, 15, Milad Muadad Alsha’ar, 10 (Middle row, l-r) Alma Ayman Fakher Eldin, 11, Naji Taher Alhalabi, 11, Johnny Wadeea Ibrahim, 13, Yazan Nayeif Abu Saleh, 12 (Bottom row, l-r) Fajer Laith Abu Saleh, 16, Venes Adham Safadi, 11 Nathem Fakher Saeb, 16, and Gevara Ebraheem, 11.

Twelve angels. Thirty-nine children were seriously injured including one little boy who remains hospitalized.

Benny Ben-Muvhar, head of the Mevo’ot Hermon Regional Council, told Channel 12 news that four or five of the children killed were members of a single family. It was one of the most horrific days of the war. The 7th of October was a day of unparalleled brutality and Hamas did not spare anyone – Jew, Christian, Muslim and Druze. Since that day, Israeli warriors have been fighting for our country – Jew, Christian, Muslim and Druze. We have been suffering as a country and our Druze brothers and sisters are a part of us, we share a holy covenant of blood regardless of what external political pundits.

The sirens blared – but was so quick that the children did not have time to enter the shelter. The result was an unfathomable tragedy.

Israel was plunged into mourning and in the days that followed, many made the visit up north to offer their condolences and show solidarity in this relatively isolated village; but as the weeks and months passed, the visits stopped. People went on with their lives. Devastated parents and a heartbroken community were left to mourn and try to pick up the pieces. The community felt forgotten.

This attack killed twelve innocent children playing football and while the media covered the tragedy, they quickly moved on – but the community was not forgotten.

Project Max is an organization dedicated to combating racism, antisemitism, and intolerance through sports. Through Project Max, athletes from the NBA and NFL have had the opportunity to visit Israel in the wake of 7 October, meet with survivors, hostage families, and gain a clearer understanding of the complex geopolitical challenges faced by the Jewish state.

In recent weeks, two NFL legends, Nick Lowery and Tony Richardson, both Project Max ambassadors visited Israel in a trip made possible by Athletes for Israel – and made sure that Majdal Shams was on the itinerary.

Nick Lowery (right) shares his prize champion ring with one of the children in Majdal Shams.

Eric Rubin, CEO of Project Max spoke to me about the visit:

“No parent should have to bury a child. It was important to go to Majdal Shams to let the community know that we have not forgotten about them. Given the children were murdered playing sports, I thought it would be very meaningful to bring athletes, American Football players there. In addition, the Druze are very proud and patriotic residents of Israel. It was important to show that it has not just been Jews who have been effected or killed since October 7, but also Arabs -Muslims, Christians, Druze and Bedouins were taken hostage or killed. Israel is a diverse tapestry and we need to let the world know that the terrorist’s barbarity impacts everyone. We also needed to make sure the Druze people know they are no less Israeli or victims of this war.”

Rubin continues:

 “During former NBA Champion Josh Powell’s visit to Israel, we met some of the survivors of the Majdal Shams attack in Ichilov hospital. During that visit, we heard the horror stories but also saw the resilience of the children and their families. I committed to them that I would do what I could to make sure the world didn’t forget what happened to the 12 angels and all the survivors. It was important to me to keep that commitment and bring Nick Lowery and Tony Richardson there so they can tell the story to the world. But at the same time, it was extremely important to meet with the families, hear the dreams and aspirations of these children who were brutally murdered, and do what we could to try and bring some hope, positivity, love, support and smiles to our beautiful Druze cousins.”

Bereaved parents and the mayor of Majdal Shams present Eric Rubin with a football with the names of the 12 angels.

We often speak about the power of sports to bring healing and build bridges and this visit was the embodiment of that. This was more than just a solidarity visit; for a brief moment, the families and children of Majdal Shams could experience moments of joy instead of pain and loss. For a brief moment, the sound of children’s unbridled laughter as they played sports with two of the best in NFL history rang out in the hills.

NFL Legends Tony Richardson (l) and Nick Lowery (r) together with Druze residents of Mijdal Shams standing in front of the memorial to the “12 angels”.

Sharing his thoughts, Nick Lowery said:

“Why did we go to Majdal Shams? We went to make sure that the community knew, they absolutely knew they were not forgotten. At first, it was awkward, they did not know how much we understood or wanted to understand but we went there to look them in the eye, hear their stories as much as we were able to. We wanted to hear a little about their sons and daughters. We wanted to make sure that this tragedy which also injured 39 children that it didn’t ruin permanently those surviving children their capacity to move on with their lives.”

An emotional Lowery went on:

“The universality of the grief – the father who is a first responder who found his daughter dead on the field and had to leave his own daughter who was so alive minutes before to take care of the children who still had a chance. The father with the brilliant smile who found out that they couldn’t find his son because his son was blown up because the missile literally hit his son in the body and they began to find small pieces of it later, there was a separate shrine to him.”

The visit had a profoundly emotional effect on Lowery and Richardson. It was etched on their faces. There is no doubt that for the community of Majdal Sham – especially the children – spending time with Mike Lowery and Tony Richardson and the care and empathy shown to them, will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

NFL Legends Nick Lowery (l) and Tony Richardson (r) with the children of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.

Throughout this war, many have been silent about the suffering of Israel’s children. Project Max, through visits from their ambassadors are ensuring that Israeli children, who have endured the unimaginable are seen, heard and most important, hugged.





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).

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Heroes, Hostages and Victims – all in one Israeli Arab family

By Jonathan Feldstein

Israel is a complicated country. For many, or maybe most Israelis, we don’t usually get out of our boxes and communities and have meaningful interactions much less relationships with people in other sectors of society. Largely, that applies to most of us in most of the diverse sectors of Israeli society: religious, secular, Arab, Jewish, left, right, etc.

A few months ago, I “met” Youssef Ziyadne through reading his story in “One Day in October”, a gripping compilation of stories about 40 heroes of the October 7 Hamas massacre – Israelis who saved lives of others, often at risk to their own. In some cases, they lost their lives while heroically and selflessly saving others from the massacring terrorists.

Sad Saga. Thought to be alive until recently, Bedouin hostages Youssef Ziyadne and his son Hamza Ziyadne’s bodies were recovered this week, 15 months after they were abducted by Hamas terrorists. Youssef and Hamza were kidnapped along with another two of Youssef’s children, Bilal, 18, and Aisha, 17, while working in the cowshed at Kibbutz Holit near the Gaza border. Bilal and Aisha were released on November 30, 2023, after more than 50 days in Hamas captivity. (Courtesy)

Youssef saved 30 revelers from the Nova festival where nearly 400 were murdered. He did so by packing them all into his 14-seat minibus while under fire as he navigated backroads and open fields in order to avoid the terrorists. Unlike the 30 Israeli Jews whose lives he saved, Youssef is a Muslim Bedouin Israeli Arab. He has been celebrated and recognized for his heroism nationally, including Israel’s state president, Isaac Herzog.

While planning this past fall the Root & Branch program (a literally ‘hands-on’ enriching way for Christians to personally connect with Israel), I decided that if I was going to engage someone to be our driver, why not a hero of October 7. It turned out to be a wise choice as it connected the Christian volunteers who had come to harvest olives with an enriching sector of Israeli society to which they would not otherwise have even ever met.

Appealing for Release. In June last year, Bashir Ziyadne (28), at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, holding images of his cousin Youssef Ziyadne and Youssef’s son Hamza, taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. (Photo: Gianluca Pacchiani/Times of Israel)

Youssef, being Bedouin rather than Jewish opened the participants’ eyes to the sometimes-complicated nature of the Jewish state. In fact, slightly over 20% of Israel’s 10 million citizens are Israeli Arabs – full equal citizens. The participants got to interact with a Bedouin Arab whose modesty, warmth, and charm overcame any language barrier.

Only at the end of the trip, when we were at the site of the Nova festival, did I reveal who Youssef was and why I went out of the way to engage his services that day. It was an overwhelmingly emotional moment as they learned about Youssef, their driver and hero, and how the same vehicle in which we had been riding all week was used to save so many lives.

Youssef and I have stayed in touch. While he’s a hero of Israel, he and his family have also experienced terrible loss and suffering from October 7. That day he was saving the lives of 30 others, four members of his extended family were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists: Youssef (53), and his children Hamza (22), Bilal (18), and Aisha (17). Yes, Arabic speaking Bedouin Israeli Muslim Arabs were kidnapped by Arab Islamic terrorists who showed them no mercy or humanity, underscoring that the accusation of apartheid in Israel is false as even terrorists attack, murder, and kidnap without discrimination. It is a shame that October 7 fails to challenge the “ideology” of the protestors around the world who reflexively blame Israel for everything imaginable, but dismiss or ignore the reality of the clear evil perpetrated by Hamas!

Family Survivors. Former Arab-Israeli hostages 18-year-old Bilal Ziyadne (right) and 17-year-old Aisha Ziyadne (left) reunited with a relative at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, following their release by Hamas on November 30, 2023. (Photo: Israel’s Government Press Office).

Bilal and Aisha were released in November 2023 as part of the deal that saw 105 of the 251 hostages released. It was hoped that two of Youssef’s relatives still in captivity – Youssef and Hamza – were still alive. It was not to be. Last week, the body of Youssef’s cousin, also named Youssef, was brought home for burial followed thereafter by Hamza. The bodies were found in one of the many terror tunnels in which Hamas still operates and where they still hold the remaining hostages in captivity.

The IDF recovered the bodies of Israeli Bedouin father and son Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne, who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, 2023, from southern Israel into Gaza, endured brutal captivity, and were murdered – this is their story.

“Our” Youssef has strong words for the inhuman evil that Hamas represents. This week, another relative speaking on national TV added that:

 “What they [Hamas] did on October 7, regardless of whether it was to Bedouins or Jews, is not allowed in Islam.”

Another former Bedouin Arab hostage, Farhan al-Qadi, rescued by the IDF from a terror tunnel in August, expressed grief and no doubt experiencing PTSD, mourned Youssef in the national media:

“Youssef, my friend, my neighbor, my childhood friend. It’s very hard. We need to end this war and bring them home, everyone. He was a friend to everyone, a father to everyone, he doesn’t deserve this  – nobody does.”

Horrendous ‘homecoming’. Relatives and friends of Youssef Ziyadne and his son Hamza, gather at the family home in the southern Israel city of Rahat, on January 8, 2025, after the IDF said it had recovered Youssef’s body and had “grave concerns” for Hamza’s life. (Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Now, Youssef and Hamza Ziyadna are another two victims of the evil terrorism that we all face and confront equally, on multiple fronts. Join me in extending condolences to the extended Ziyadne family, and pray that ALL the remaining hostages will be found and brought home soon. As Bedouin Israeli Arabs do have a wide support network outside Israel, the Genesis 123 Foundation has launched a tax-deductible fund to support the Ziyadne family at this painful time. 

As the news breaks of an imminent hostage deal, we can only pray and hope for the lives of the remaining hostages and that they will soon be returned to their loved ones.



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).

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE IS MISGUIDED AND MISPLACED

Time to redirect pressure on Hamas instead of Israel to save remaining hostages

By Jonathan Feldstein

It has been 459 days since the October 7, 2023, inhuman massacre of 1200 people in Israel by Hamas terrorists, and kidnapping of 251 people, 100 of whom are still being held in captivity in Gaza. 459 days of unimaginable terror, pain, abuse, loss, grief, and suffering, especially for those most directly impacted. All of Israel has been experiencing trauma since, something that I describe as Present Traumatic Stress Disorder. For most of us, Post Trauma is still far off.

More than 250 people were taken hostage in Hamas’s surprise and murderous attack in 2023.

Today a step towards a deal may have been taken. A list of 34 hostages to be released as part of a proposed deal with Hamas has been published in the BBC and a Saudi paper, with claims that this is the list Israel has insisted on as the first hostages to be released as part of a “deal” that is in the works. There are claims that Hamas has approved the list.  It is unclear if this is true or accurate, and it is unclear from the list who is dead and who is alive. It is noteworthy that if true, this is the first list of hostages that Hamas from all the hostages in captivity for 458 days that the terror group has ever released. That alone is inhuman.

The list includes 2 children, 10 women, 11 older men, and 11 men aged under 50. It includes Israeli Jews, Arabs, and foreign nationals. The list includes the beautiful redheaded boys Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were kidnapped together with their mother when Kfir was just 9 months old and Ariel 2.

Baby Bibas. The ginger hair of baby Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage, cries out to the world at this rally calling for the release of all the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 21 2024 (Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

As I write, I am glued to the TV, following the reports and speculation. At the same time, reports of a terrorist shooting attack that has just happened, leaving three dead and nine wounded, by Palestinian Arab terrorists, are a sobering reminder that all the terrorists’ goals are to kill as many Israelis as possible. Hamas and other terrorists are at best, making a short-term deal that they perceive in their interests, not changing their genocidal antisemitic goals.

Publicity of the list raises hopes for families of the 34, leaving the families of the remaining 66 hostages (and the hostages themselves) added stress, not knowing about their loved ones.

Publicity of the list also raised expectations in Israel, for all of us the release of ALL the hostages has been a national priority.  Releasing these names and trickling out of other details also prepares Israel for the hard part that will be most widely debated, even protested: the release of an undisclosed number of Hamas terrorists. There have been reports of hundreds. These will be hardened terrorists with blood on their hands, guilty of murdering Israelis, and who, no matter the crimes they committed, have been treated in a humanitarian way during their incarceration. Nothing of the sort can be said about the conditions of the hostages.

Recently, Israel released a comprehensive report to the U.N. documenting abuse and actual crimes that were committed by the terrorists against the hostages who were released in December 2023, and others who were rescued since. The abuse has literally been inhuman, and one can only imagine how much worse the 459 days of suffering that the remaining hostages, and their loved ones, have endured all this time.

For those who come home alive, there will be months, or years, of rehabilitation and counseling. In all likelihood, they will never be “normal” again. For those who come home dead, Israel will have to go through the unimaginable process of identifying their remains, the cause of death, and to be sure that their bodies or the coffins in which they may be transported are not booby-trapped. Unthinkable.

It is hard to imagine massive protests within Israel against a deal that brings home these hostages, but there are several domestic considerations that could have an impact.  First, the overall revulsion at negotiating with terrorists at all, coupled with an imperative to maximize pressure against Hamas and other terrorists, especially now.  Second, as soon as there is a parallel list of terrorists to be released, the family members of the victims will feel betrayed, unsafe, and that they and their loved ones’ suffering has been in vain. Third, nothing in Israel is not political, and even within the current coalition there are loud voices against any deal with Hamas. Prime Minister Netanyahu needs to balance doing the right thing to bring home as many hostages as possible, with maintaining the viability of his government.

BBC NEWS announces the Hamas list of Israeli hostages it might release if a ceasefire deal is  reached but does not provide details as to whether they are alive or dead.

It is unclear how much resistance he will have from within his own coalition to any deal that releases Palestinian Arab terrorists. It is unclear to what extent if any of those in the opposition who have criticized the Prime Minister and his government robustly for not doing more to get the hostages released, will support the government in doing so despite being opposed to it remaining in power. Such are parliamentary democracies in general, but in Israel these issues are existential, and emotions run deep.

Recently, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed that throughout the war and hostage situation, Hamas was emboldened and backed away from other deals when they perceived that Israel was the subject of serious international diplomatic and other pressure. It is rare for me to agree with Blinken. I could have told him this would be the case, on October 8, 9, or 10, 2023. This is intuitive and should not be treated as a shocking announcement, but a failure in policy. To the extent that the US or anyone else chose to pressure Israel in a way that emboldened the terrorists, they are also culpable in the long, dragged-out hostage crisis. While there are hopeful signs for some, we cannot forget that the crisis is far from over.

All the imbalanced pressure and public threats toward Israel have backfired. Now, extreme pressure needs to be exerted against Hamas and their genocidal supporters. Sign the petition to lend your voice to pressure Hamas, and put pressure on the world bodies that it’s only through pressure on Hamas that ALL the hostages will be released. Pray that soon, ALL the hostages will be released and they and their families and all of Israel can indeed be released.



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).

‘KINOCIDE’ REPORT: HAMAS SYSTEMATICALLY TARGETTED FAMILIES ON OCT. 7

The document coins a harrowing new term and describes how “Hamas struck at the heart of the Jewish community: the family unit.”

By Rolene Marks

The Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children released a groundbreaking report this week. Titled “Kinocide: The Weaponization of Families,” its key findings demonstrate the systematic and widespread targeting of families “aimed at terrorizing and breaking the spirit of kins and entire communities.”

The report, prepared by Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Dr. Michal Gilad and Dr. Ilya Rudyak from the Civil Commission, introduces the term “Kinocide,” which is defined as “the weaponization of families and the exploitation of familial bonds as a distinct form of violence.”

To compile the report, the commission reviewed a substantial volume of materials and evidence including  photographs, video footage, audio recordings, satellite images, text messages exchanged as the attack unfolded, recorded testimonies, media coverage, investigative reports and public databases.

Simantov family were murdered on Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Photo: Rolene Marks)

A profoundly harrowing read, it details Hamas atrocities committed against families and communities on Oct. 7, 2023. They included acts such as:

– killing and severe injury in the presence of other family members

– eliminating entire family units

– abduction of families, including children

– using digital and social media to broadcast abuses directly to the victims’ families and the general public, including by commandeering victims’ social media accounts

– intentionally separating family members

– burning and vandalizing family homes.

The “Kinocide” report features contributions from eminent experts such as Irwin Cotler, international chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and former minister for justice in Canada. The report is endorsed by many leaders, prominent individuals and organizations.

Elkayam-Levy, founder of the Civil Commission, told JNS, “The weaponization of families in war is a crime without a name, inflicted on victims without a voice. It represents a devastating form of atrocity that demands urgent recognition and action from the international community. By identifying and documenting the systematic and targeted abuse and destruction of families – a crime we have named kinocide – we aim to give this suffering a name and provide victims with the language to articulate their unique pain, bringing this hidden cruelty into the forefront of international law and human rights discourse.”

The Oct. 7 attacks were not the first time that the crime of kinocide has been evident. Other examples included in the report come from war and conflict in Iraq, Syria, Rwanda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Russia and Ukraine, as well as earlier occurrences by Nazi Germany.

The remains of the control centre, nahal Oz. (Photo: Rolene Marks)

According to the report, identifying and naming kinocide is key to protecting families and bringing attention to this historically unrecognized phenomenon. The report’s authors see such recognition as a powerful tool for ensuring justice and accountability.

Masih Alinejad, Iranian-American journalist, author and women’s rights activist, has endorsed the Civil Commission’s report, noting that “The weaponization of families is neither new nor unique to the October 7 attack, but … deliberate targeting of families should be recognized as constituting a new form of international crime.”

Sheryl Sandberg, founder of Lean In and producer of the documentary “Screams before Silence”, has also endorsed the commission’s report:

 “On October 7, Hamas struck at the heart of the Jewish community: the family unit. Hamas’s atrocities against families were designed to break one of life’s strongest bonds. They tried, but they must never be allowed to succeed. This groundbreaking work by the Civil Commission, led by the incredible Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, and supported by the Raoul Wallenberg Center …, serves as a clarion call to the international community to stand up and take action to protect families across the globe from future acts of violence by classifying kinocide as a crime against humanity.”

The young generation neighbourhood Kibbutz Kfar Aza. (Photo: Rolene Marks)

The Civil Commission began disseminating the report in late December 2024 and will continue throughout 2025 through various channels, including email distribution, in-person meetings, webinars and conferences.



*Feature picture – Oded Lipshitz’s house – he remains captive in Gaza. (Photo: Rolene Marks)



Link to the Dvora Institute report: 
Dvora Institute | Gender and Sustainability Studieshttps://www.dvora-institute.org/cco7-1-1





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).

AN ISLAND OF SANITY IN A SOMETIMES MURKY AND TREACHEOUS OCEAN

A family experience in Jerusalem hospital  reveals how “We, the people,” rather than “Them, the politicians,” could show a collective way forward.

By Solly Kaplinski

(First appeared in The Times of Israel)

For almost three weeks recently, we visited our daughter every day at Hadassah Ein Kerem in Jerusalem – she underwent a series of operations and procedures and thankfully, is now on the slow road to recovery. The medical care has been truly outstanding for which we have a lot to be grateful. What especially stands out  is the professionalism of the staff,  many of whom – possibly even the majority amongst the nursing staff, are Israeli Arabs. But there is something more: over and above their expertise, the genuine concern exhibited, the friendliness and compassion which you can’t fake, the authenticity of feeling, all played an essential part in the recuperation, recovery and well- being of our daughter.

Unity in Diversity. Hadassah Medical Center workers hold signs emphasizing cooperation.

Of course, there are always issues and I’m not going to sugar coat this  – hospitals are after all stressful, frenetic places and emotions are on display – and one sees the best and the worst excesses of human behavior.

But on the macro level, the tension-free mixed wards, relaxed lounge areas and eating places – which will never make the headlines because this is truly good news, somehow seem to belie the reality of our fragile and at times hanging- by-a- thread country outside the walls of the hospital. Which begs the question:

How do we take the reality of what goes on behind the doors of the hospital: an oasis and haven of relative calm and a slice of normality, and transplant it lock, stock and barrel to our real world.  What are the ingredients, the secret sauce for success? How do we mirror image and clone a relatively peaceful institution and make the centre hold in our immediate outside world where “anarchy is loosed upon the world” (Yeats).

Holding on Together. Jews and Arabs traveling on the Light Rail through French Hill in Jerusalem, one of the most integrated and diverse areas in Israel “where people live, work, shop, and eat together ….a model of co-existence.”

Sadly, I cannot prescribe a remedy or template for success or for that matter, something earth shatteringly profound but the regrettable observation that failing the emergence of a once-in-a-lifetime larger than life Mandela type leader, we are sometimes left subjected to spineless pygmy politicians of all stripes and sizes. Them as well as a media and their proxies: arrogant, know-it-all talking heads and so-called experts on all sides of the spectrum who cannot be trusted nor seemingly deliver. Consequently,  the pathways to a new and more optimistic future have to be bottom-up driven, that it is ultimately “we, the people”, who have to painstakingly and modestly find the way to change our current harsh reality and that yes, there are role models for success. Take my neighborhood for instance, French Hill in Jerusalem, possibly one of the most integrated and diverse in Israel where people live, work, shop, and eat together and is, to all intents and purposes, a model of co-existence – with no authoritarian dictates on how and where we should live our lives. Or take our apartment block where religious Jews and Muslims live side by side together with Christians and secular and traditional Jews.

This harmony and goodwill was especially pronounced when Iran forced us all several times into our communal shelter.  In other words, changing our reality is doable! And we can especially take comfort – and inspiration from the fact that Israeli society, the people: amcha, post October 7th, in the face of an absent, reckless and negligent government, rallied together with our unbelievably dedicated brave and courageous soldiers and pilots – and a President whose middle name is Empathy, and came to the heroic rescue and rebuilding of our fractured, traumatized country and people.

Young Boys, Old City. Three boys, one Jewish, one Muslim and one Christian, all bearing the name of Abraham, at the Dome of the Rock and the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, 2000. How connected are they today as adults?

Maybe and of course, this is a long and unrealistic shot  (but please, indulge my fantasy –  we can “perchance to dream”, can’t we?)  we should, following on reflections of our daughter’s hospital experience, entrust our future into the capable hands of the helping professions who get it, who understand human weakness and frailty, who selflessly provide not only the generous and gentle heart – and a broad shoulder to lean on but who help us navigate the depths of pain, suffering and anxiety, and also strive to find the blueprint that makes us whole and brings out the very best in us.


Witness the rapport between the Muslim woman who manages the endo-chemistry laboratory and her Jewish staff member Limor Avraham, the warm connection between the Muslim internal medicine day hospital manager and a Jewish ultra-Orthodox volunteer, and the collaboration between each of the very diverse teams of Jewish, Christian and Arab intensive care nurses, x-ray technicians and kitchen staff. Listen to Hadassah’s staff members sing about their commitment to opening their hearts and working together to save lives, “Together All the Way. Together, There Is No Other Way.”



About the writer:

Solly Kaplinski, former Headmaster of Herzlia High School in Cape Town, also headed up Jewish Day Schools in Toronto and Vancouver. His Aliyah professionally has been bookended by working at Yad Vashem in the International Relations Department and at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) where he served for 17 years as the Executive Director of Overseas Joint Ventures. He is also the author of a novella, A world of Pains: A Redemptive Parable? He lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Arleen, and their 3 daughters, their spouses and an egalitarian minyan of grandchildren, all living in Israel.





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).

THIS CHANUKAH AND CHRISTMAS WE NEED ‘SUPERSIZED’ MIRACLES

Confronting an evil enemy that sacrifices the welfare of its own to inflict as much pain and anguish on the Jewish people.

By Jonathan Feldstein

We definitely need some miracles and extra joy this Chanukah and Christmas.  I would take an order, supersized.

As the holiday most profoundly based on a series of supernatural miracles and a major military victory by the Maccabees over Syrian-Hellenist enemies, this year more than ever, we need to continue to see the supernatural miracles that have taken place; the light amid the darkness and suffering, even (or especially) amid the fear and angst that the war has brought.

Chanukah’s Illuminating Message. As Jews celebrate this Chanukah the Maccabee heroes who led the revolt against the Syrian Greek ruling class, who tried to suppress the Jewish religion in an effort to spread their Hellenistic customs, they reflect too on its enemies today who – more like Nazis than Greeks – would rather exterminate the Jewish people.

One of the things about which we especially need miracles and prayers is the immediate return of all of the remaining 100 hostages being held by terrorists in Gaza. There’s renewed talk about a deal to secure the hostages’ release being more imminent than ever.  Call me cynical, albeit I pray for it every day, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

We know that many of the hostages are dead, but many are believed to be alive and bringing them home to Israel must be an immediate priority. The imperative and pressure to secure their release must be on Hamas and all the terrorist enablers to do so, even though they have less motivation to do so now.

Fortunately, President-elect Trump has made his position clear:

all the hostages must be returned by his inauguration or there will be “hell to pay”

Holding hostages and causing grief are for the terrorists, their currency. The hostages are basically all they have left after a crushing military defeat, albeit one that’s not yet complete. Eventually, while Hamas can be physically defeated, their jihadi ideology needs a more out-of-the-box solution to bring true peace.

See www.SolutionforpeaceinGaza.com which addresses the genocidal anti-Israel ideology and presents Gazans with a vision of peace and coexistence by considering alternate concepts not rooted in hate and terror.

While it’s likely that Trump means business, and maybe the increased optimism for a deal is a result of anticipated pressure and/or consequences, the terrorists know that once they release the hostages, they will have no cards left to play. While all Israelis desperately want the hostages released and brought home, many of Israel’s commentators doubt all the hostages will be returned. Hamas and their Iranian sponsors thrive and indeed exist on the suffering of others.

Americans of my generation remember well the previous hostage crisis in 1979.  Under an impotent Jimmy Carter presidency, Iranian Islamic terrorists took over the US Embassy in Tehran and held 54 Americans hostage for 444 days. That hostage crisis ended only once President Reagan was inaugurated in January 1980.

At that point, the Iranian Islamists behaved somewhat like rational actors. Getting their feet wet in controlling a whole nation following the Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah, they had not yet become the global sponsor of terror that they became, and are now.  They actually cared about what President Reagan thought and might do.  No sooner had Reagan become President, and the hostages were on their way home.

The Countdown. On the day of President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration on 20 January 1981, the remaining hostages held in Iran were set free. How many of the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza will be free by the time Trump assumes office on 20 January 2025?

Today, twice the number of hostages remain in Gaza, arguably suffering conditions that are much worse including starvation, physical and psychological torture, no exposure to light, humiliation, brainwashing, and more. Their families are also suffering more than one can imagine.

This year, as the first day of Chanukah and Christmas coincide, we need the miracles and joy for all the hostages and their loved ones, all the more. But there’s another reason why this week matters even more.

Maybe it’s only a coincidence, but as we celebrate Chanukah and Christmas together this year, we also mark the same 444 days that the American hostages were held in Iran.

It’s refreshing to have an incoming president who seems to be making the hostages being released a priority. I have contended for the past year that any American president could have forced the issue to release the hostages by exerting maximum pressure on Iran and Qatar, both of which shelter and fund Hamas and its leaders. Any American president could and should have supported Israel to do everything and anything possible to pressure Hamas, eliminate the terrorists, and find and bring the hostages home, not equivocate and send a mixed signal that only emboldened the terrorists.

Fate of these Faces Unknown. The fates of these remaining hostages taken by Hamas during the brutal attack on 7 October last year are still unknown.

Until now, while there have been negotiations, there’s been very little by way of pressure. There’s been far too much equivocating from the simple fact that Israel became embroiled in a protracted and costly war of Hamas’ making following the massacre and taking of hostages and resisting their return. The consequent suffering of Gazans is largely self-inflicted because of bad choices they have made and continue to make.

There’s a simple rule in dealing with terrorists: negotiation shows weakness.  It is not a tactic to defeat the terrorists, but to kick the can down the road.  The Biden administration has enabled the terrorists, more than done anything to defeat them.  They pandered, and funded Iran to the tune of billions of dollars, showing even further weakness.

Among the hostages there are still several Americans. And it must be emphasized that the October 7 massacre by Hamas was the third largest slaughter of Americans at any one time this century after September 11.

Gut-wrenching! The anguish of this woman is captured as she places her right hand on photos displayed in Tel Aviv of young hostages brutally held in captivity by Hamas in Gaza. (Photo: Petros Giannakouris/AP)  

As we celebrate Chanukah and Christmas and the hostages surpass 444 days in captivity – double the number of hostages taken by Iran in 1979 and longer than the Americans were held hostage then – all Americans should be demanding the release of all the hostages – Americans, Israelis and other nationalities –  and act to make that happen.

We should not have to wait for Trump’s inauguration with weeks more of suffering, but it may well come to that.

This should be an important national and international priority for the US because if Americans are not safe anywhere, they are not safe everywhere. The same style jihadis that took 54 Americans hostage in 1979 are now holding again American citizens in Gaza. Unless defeated, they will do it again – sometime, somewhere.

Festivity with Empty Chairs! The dinner table at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv is set with empty chairs symbolically representing Israeli hostages held in Gaza as the country observes the Jewish festival of Chanukah. (Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne)

This Chanukah and Christmas, we need to commit that every effort must be taken to have all the hostages released. While praying for miracles, encourage as many to sign the petition to pressure the world powers to pressure the terrorists.

And as we celebrate the supernatural miracles of over two millennia ago, we pray fervently for more momentous miracles today that include the return of our loved ones held hostage in Gaza.



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).

QUESTIONABLE COUNTING

An analysis of the death toll in Gaza  exposes a shameful negligence of basic standards of global journalism – statistics provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health do “not add up”

By Andrew Fox

The Henry Jackson Society report into Hamas’ fatality statistics in Gaza has now been released. We have very deliberately tried to omit value judgment and opinions from the report and give benefit of the doubt as much as possible. It is still damning: there is just too much wrong. Too many errors, too many impossibilities, too many signs of obvious data manipulation.

We wrote this report not to give a definitive figure. We wrote it to give people the means to rebut the false narrative. Wherever possible we have relied solely on Hamas’ own figures to damn them. Our primary source, overwhelmingly, was Hamas themselves.

Let me break it down chapter by chapter.

Chapter 1 deals with the methodology of the reporting. There are three mechanisms used by Hamas. Fatalities are recorded through:

– a mix of hospital reports

– family submissions using an open-source online form, and

– “media sources”.

In each of the methodologies, Hamas’ own figures show men as the group most likely to be killed. Adult males made up only 26% of Gaza’s population before the war.

Men are dying in disproportionate numbers – especially men of fighting age. This chapter allows anyone arguing with the pro-Hamas mob to prove that Israel is targeting fighters, not innocents.

Chapter 2 deals with the age breakdown of demographics in much more detail.

This chapter allows you to comprehensively rebut the idea that Israel is targeting women and children.

Chapter 3 reveals that Hamas  – adding to the rapists and murderers that they are – are also liars. Its claim of Gazan resident’s “killed by IDF action” is a fabrication when exposed as having being killed by themselves directly or through their own rockets that have fallen short and as well as including natural deaths.

It is beyond me why international media would not realise this. Hamas publishes the lists of people authorised to leave Gaza for medical treatment. It takes no time at all to cross reference. Shameful negligence of basic standards of journalism.

Chapter 4 proves that the IDF is telling the truth about how many combatants they have killed.

We have corroborated this all through open-source reporting. We could get nothing out of the IDF for this report, with the exception of two sources, low in the chain whose anonymity I am protecting so as not to land them in trouble.

The IDF did not cooperate in this research except where interviews are credited in the footnotes. In hindsight I’m pleased; it strengthens the report.

From this chapter one can conclusively extrapolate that the IDF are telling the truth when they say it’s 17-20 thousand (although after the Jabalia operation, completed after submission, I suggest it is now 18 thousand at a minimum).

Chapter 5 is my favourite. You know that old canard “Hamas deaths stats have been reliable in the past”?

They haven’t.

This chapter allows you to put that to bed once and for all. We have proven that Hamas lies about civilian deaths during the conflict, and actively coerces Gaza’s population to conceal Hamas combatant deaths.

Chapter 6 is the work of the amazing Tania Glezer from Fifty.Global and the International Institute for Social and Legal Studies.

They show the shocking imbalance in global media reporting on this conflict.

The West’s media has taken the conscious decision to platform the murderous rapists of Hamas over the democratic, accountable military of a country that is an ally to many of our nations. They repeat Hamas’ lies wholesale, without any scrutiny.

Shameful.

No wonder the dialogue on this conflict is as toxic as it is. Our traditional media have some serious questions to answer.

In response to the Telegraph article about our report the BBC said:

“It is challenging to report accurately on the death toll in Gaza as Israel does not allow independent access to international journalists. BBC News is clear and transparent in sourcing the figures which are available and attributing them to the Hamas-run health authority.

Beyond this, we use a range of sources to understand the impact of the war in Israel and Gaza on civilians including the IDF, the health ministry in Gaza and the UN.”

Oh yeah?

See chart below. From the data manipulation we have identified in this report, Hamas’ figures are so flawed and unreliable, international media and the UN should not be using them at all.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We’re seeing the positive response from the friendly today. I have no doubt that the next week will see a shitstorm of abuse and attempts to discredit.

But here’s the beauty of the report: it’s only Hamas’ figures we have used. Try and discredit the report, and you’re discrediting Hamas’ figures either way.

The comments of Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestine Mission to the United Kingdom, have delighted me. I’ll probably get them framed.

He said:

“Numerous international organisations and UN agencies – including the WHO – have not only confirmed these numbers, they’ve made the point that they are severely underestimated.”

The UN does not publish these figures without at least a caveat that they are unverified. Give them that much credit. Many have said they’re underestimated there is no evidence for that either other than wild supposition, like that ludicrous letter to the Lancet. Mr. Zomlot has reacted to accusations of inaccuracy with a repetition of more inaccuracy.

This report was compiled by a team comprising of the brilliant Dr Mark Zlochin, Salo Aizenberg, Elliot Malin and Tania Glezer.

Here’s the link to the full report:

https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/questionable-counting




About the writer:

A veteran of three grueling tours of Afghanistan, Major Andrew Fox holds a Batchelor’s degree in Law & Politics, a Master’s in Military History & War Studies, and is currently studying for a PhD in History.






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).