Around the world, Hamas supporters hijack the ‘public space’ to protest in support of the murder of Jews.

By Jonathan Feldstein

It’s astounding to think that a war anywhere in the world would become such a public cause by supporters of one side or another that it would dominate and even hijack the public space.  That has not happened even with Russia’s attack on Ukraine, even with the wide display of blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag in solidarity with their plight, and a corresponding wide boycott of Russia and Russian products. 

Other than the 2014 kidnapping of Nigerian girls by Islamist Boko Haram terrorists which generated its own hashtag, no recent wars in Africa or Asia came close to the visibility of that in Ukraine.  I’m hard pressed to think of any other war that’s come close to galvanizing any public opinion or outcry, even though it’s not the only war that’s taken place. Most would be hard pressed to list any of the dozens of other wars and armed conflicts taking place right now, even with a gun held to your head.

As much as solidarity with Ukraine was widespread, in no case was there widespread public disruption in protest of Russia’s aggression, or in support of Ukraine the victim, or of any other war. Until October 2023!

Israel’s war against Hamas has triggered widespread public disruptions by terrorist supporters around the world. Calling them terrorist supporters is not rhetoric but fact. Even before the bodies of the 1200 people massacred by Hamas terrorists on October 7 had been identified, massive public protests took place.  Shockingly, astoundingly, the protests were not against Hamas’ atrocities and war crimes, but against Israel: the victim. 

The world and millions of Hamas terrorist supporters turned a blind eye. They deny that Hamas committed such atrocities even when the evidence – visual and testimony – showed:

– that families were bound by metal wires and incinerated alive,

– that women were gang raped and executed in the most violent ways,

– that babies were beheaded,

– that children were murdered before their parents’ eyes and parents murdered before their children’s eyes

– that tens of thousands of rockets were fired at Israeli communities by the terrorists or when the terrorists’ own rockets fell short and killed Palestinian Arabs in Gaza.

These Hamas apologists denied that these crimes took place, even saying that Israel fabricated the videos that the terrorists made themselves documenting their inhuman slaughter, they blamed Israel for the massacre – then blamed Israel for its response.  

Sadly, this kind of behavior and manufacturing of lies is all too be expected from Hamas and its terrorist supporters. Now, however, we’ve seen them raise the bar on their incivility by shouting down and threatening others, and hijacking the public space over and over. They have effectively opened countless fronts of this terrorist war, not just against Israel but against the West, with particular distain for Jews and Christians.  

This has taken place in many forms and venues.  Pro-Hamas protesters disrupted the annual lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center in New York, winning this year’s award for the biggest Grinch to steal Christmas. During the Christmas holiday travel season, pro-Hamas demonstrators blocked roads leading to major US airports as if somehow doing so is going to “free Palestine”. On Christmas day, a friend in Chicago tried to get to her parents, only to be rerouted for hours by pro-Hamas protesters blocking more roads. They blocked all the entrances/exits of the Freedom Tower, the site of another massive terrorist attack that you may have heard about on 9/11. New York Mayor, Eric Adams warned that the annual New Years Eve celebration would become the target of pro-Hamas protesters ushering in a new year of hate and it did.

All over the world, thousands of cruel heartless people tore down and defaced pictures of the 250 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, as if somehow showing human compassion for civilians held hostage in Gaza was an evil worse than that of the terrorists’ massacre.

Social media has been hijacked by the pro-Hamas ilk as well.  Of course, they depict the war with the lies of Israel committing genocide, ethnic cleansing, and wantonly killing innocent civilians, believing the inflated and unconfirmed Hamas death toll which conflate the number of terrorists killed with actual civilians. Naturally, they make no mention of Hamas using these civilians as human shields, or the fact that Hamas has tens of thousands of terrorists wearing jeans and t-shirts so as to easily blend in and be confused with civilians.

Expecting terrorists to lie is not unusual. However, something no less insidious is taking place with simple social media posts that are apolitical being trolled and hacked by the pro-Hamas people. A personal example is the promotion of a petition to release all the hostages that I launched on behalf of the Genesis 123 Foundation.  Decent people from dozens of countries have signed the petition. 

However, sick evil people who see any post, even with a picture of a ten-month old red-headed baby boy who remains in captivity, as fair game to attack.  They launch evil and even threatening diatribes that not only shows no compassion, much less actually taking responsibility for taking hostages to begin with, but they respond with calls to annihilate Israel, or a “parallel” call to free terrorists.

Hamas is the little brother to the bigger and older PLO, Palestine Liberation Organization, established in 1964. The anniversary of the first terror attack for which it took credit is this week, January 1, 1965.

That the PLO was established in 1964 is significant. It proves that their goal was never to live side by side, with two states for two people, but to destroy Israel. This was three years before the so-called 1967 “occupation” about which they blame Israel for all their problems. Their ethnicity was invented in the 1960s, some time before the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” became their war cry, but the genocidal worship of massacring and expelling all the Jews from Israel is the same goal.

The supporters of this genocidal ideology and their actions today who are blocking highways, disrupting public events, and hijacking the public space, and are literally being allowed to get away with murder.

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).

Leading lavish lifestyles, Hamas leaders enjoy the advantages of terror, leaving the disadvantages for their people to endure.

By Harris Zvi Green

December 29, 2023

My dearest friends,

This bloody conflict is now 84 days old. The job is getting done but it’s going to be a long business. According to Israeli military sources, 175 soldiers have been killed; and 874 soldiers have been injured since the start of the ground operation. Our young soldiers are paying the highest price to fight terror and protect our country. Our nation is in mourning.

Ori continues his service on the Lebanese border. As the father of two young children, being away from home at this time isn’t easy. Not for him. Not for his wife. Not for his children. Not for his parents, his brothers, his sisters or for his grandparents. But like so many young people in Israel at this time, Ori is proudly serving his country in her hour of need.

The fighting along the Lebanese border is primarily focused on anti-tank missiles being fired by Hezbollah and the retaliatory artillery shelling. The damage caused to the farms and villages along the border has been extensive. Nearly 100,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes. The clashes have increased in frequency over the past few weeks and could so easily escalate into a full-blown war.

Omer picked up a bad infection at the base of his back. Unfortunately, the infection hasn’t responded to antibiotics. He’s been evacuated from Gaza, been treated and remains under medical supervision. He needs to be in a sterile environment. It’ll take a few weeks until he can rejoin his unit. He’s scheduled to be married in two weeks.

Israel’s problems aren’t limited to Gaza and Lebanon.

The Houthis, Iran’s proxy in Yemen, have launched a series of attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea. This has resulted in a major disruption to the maritime route linking Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal. Container costs have soared as shippers are forced to use longer routes to deliver goods to their destination markets. The economic implications for Egypt, Israel and Europe are serious.

These attacks constitute a gross violation of International Law. Unfortunately, none of this bothers the vast majority of the UN member nations. Feeding their obsession with Israel-bashing is much easier than taking concerted action against Iranian sponsored piracy on the high seas.

US efforts to assemble a coalition of nations to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea were dealt a major setback following refusals from Spain, France and Italy to join the coalition.

The Houthis have also taken to firing long range missiles at Israel. Fortunately, Israel has the air defense systems to intercept these missiles, but such systems aren’t invincible. We could so easily find ourselves in a situation fighting a war 2,000 kilometers from our shores. That’s quite an order for a country with just under 10 million inhabitants and surrounded by hostile neighbors. We’re talking about a regional war which would certainly include Iran with her nuclear capabilities.

Hamas continues to hold 129 hostages in the most appalling conditions. We don’t know who’s alive and who’s no longer with us. The Red Cross still hasn’t visited them. Not even one Red Cross official has resigned in protest.

Please give the hostages a thought and include them in your prayers.

It’s so difficult to fathom the level of cruelty and sadism displayed by Hamas. Children, badly injured people, elderly folk, living on borrowed time and dependent on live-saving medication. Even dead bodies. They’re all bargaining chips for the cynical and corrupt Hamas leadership.

I’m an accountant by profession. Numbers talk to me.

In my last letter, I quoted a credible source who claims the top three Hamas leaders, Ismail Haniyeh, Mousa Abu Marzouk and Khaled Mashal, have amassed a cumulative fortune of $11 billion.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was established by the United Nations in 1948 to provide essential services to those Arabs displaced in Israel’s War of Independence. UNRWA’s annual budget is $1.63 billion.

In other words, the three Hamas leaders who dedicated their lives to commercializing terror and derailing any compromise solution to the Arab-Israel conflict, have the resources to finance UNRWA for another 7 years! That’s right. They live lavishly off the suffering of those they claim to represent.

Let’s put this into a different perspective by considering the fortunes amassed by three of the greatest all-time sports personalities. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. Their cumulative sports and multi-million endorsement careers span more than 75 years. Yet these sports greats have only been able to accumulate a combined net worth of $4.7 billion.

You might argue that revenue earned from terror is tax-free. So, too, is the free, luxury accommodation provided to them by courtesy of the Emir of Qatar.

No matter how you roll it out, terror is a much more lucrative business than sport.

Michael, Tiger and Roger have retired. They gave us so much pleasure. They were role models. But Haniyeh, Abu Marzouk and Mashal aren’t going anywhere. Neither is their legacy of terror. Retirement isn’t an option for them. It’s simply not worth their while. They’ve shown the world that crime pays.

It beats me how the leaders of the free world allowed this to happen. How do those who elected them to power, continue to tolerate the moral bankruptcy of their leaders?

My condolences to those mourning their nearest and dearest. My wishes to the injured for a complete and speedy recovery. May God protect our brave soldiers.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and better times ahead.

Am Yisrael Chai.

Harris Zvi Green

Israel’s flag unfurled in central war-torn Gaza sends a message of resilience and resolve.

By David E. Kaplan

Shakespeare had it ‘dead’ right with his phrase in Hamlet “Hoist with his own petard” meaning that a bomb-maker is blown off the ground by his own bomb (“petard“), indicating an ironic reversal or poetic justice. In plain English, the bombmaker is the author of his own misfortune.

It should apply to Gaza that began a war with a barrage of thousands of rockets and a massacre to bloody again the pages of Jewish history. However, the world not only does not see it that way, it purposely protects Hamas’ pseudo image of liberator and purposely prevents the truth of what happened in Israel from finding any traction to a global audience.

Take for example the observations of British journalist and commentator Douglas Murray currently visiting Israel and Gaza. He cited what transpired at Al-Shifa Hospital Gaza’s largest medical facility, when following Hamas’ denial that hospitals were used by the terror group, Israel released closed-circuit TV footage of some hostages being dragged into the hospital, as well as showing a cache of weapons. However, as soon as the evidence exposed Hamas’ lies and deceptions, TV news networks reflexively concocted new narratives to excuse Hamas and blacken Israel.

“The minute they show that the hospital has an arms dump inside it,” says Murray,“and has a load of Kalashnikovs and grenades, Jeremy Bowen of the BBC is asked about it and says, ‘Well, it is not inconceivable that the Kalashnikovs belonged to the hospital’s security department.’”

Sarcastically but poignantly, Murray responded the following day on television saying:

“Yeah, and its possible the grenades were for the cardiology department.”

A joke maybe, but Murray really gets into the “heart” of the issue that no matter how compelling the evidence in support of Israel, it will never be strong enough to overcome embedded bias.

This is the nature of antisemitism. After all, 2000 years is a more than respectable time period to prove a point of prejudice!

Not only is there a manipulation of news against Israel but there is an active attempt to deny news if it supports Israel. Take what happened recently in Canada which exposes how the international news networks are long disinterested in what happened to the Jews on October 7; only what the Jews are doing to Palestinians post October 7.

The images of the October 7 massacre – of decapitated bodies, burned babies, bloodstained bedrooms, mangled remains of raped girls – are faded memories facilitated by a complicit media erasing the imagery as if it never happened. An example of this avoidance by the media is what took place recently in Montreal as reported by a former South African, Israel’s consul-general, Paul Hirschon, who Lay of the Land interviewed some years ago when he returned from his position as Israel’s ambassador to Senegal.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post (December 22,2023), Hirschon spoke of his attempt to organise a private showing in Montreal of unreleased footage of the October 7 massacre in Israel. He received “a reply from someone at Radio Canada that no one could attend as Radio Canada was busy that day.”

Actual, factual visual evidence of a massacre and the reply to the Israeli consul-general is a disrespectful:

 “Busy that day”!

Hirschon later heard that Radio Canada would not come to the screening because:

 “They want to remain neutral”.

How does one remain neutral to a massacre? Apparently very easy when its Canadians and the victims are Jews. Did not a Canadian official not respond to the appeal for safe refuge by Jewish refugees during the Nazi Holocaust, “that even one Jew was too many.”

It is quite staggering but no less revealing as Hirschon bemoans:

“Radio Canada’s decision to avoid exposure to significant and relevant material on a subject they are giving extensive coverage to.”

What this incident reveals is that the media is facilitating transforming:

 “NEVER AGAIN” to NEVER HAPPENED.

How do Gazans – who could agree to free the hostages today and end the war tomorrow – get away portraying themselves as the innocent victims, free of any responsibility of what is befalling them now? Their battalions of spokespeople, including the complicit global media babble on that the Gazan people are not responsible for the actions of Hamas although they are their elected leadership ruling them for the better part of two decades and according to a respected Palestinian  poll, if an election were held today, Hamas would be reelected not only in Gaza but the Wast Bank as well and by an overwhelming majority.

This is what the world and the global media ignore!

As far as I’m concerned, I’m done with media manipulation repeatedly churning out the same sights in Gaza of urban rubble, to stir up the street crowd into a frenzied state to go out and potentially commit – pogroms. The example was set on October 7, and Hamas has proudly announced it will happen “again and again and again.”

“Israel must be removed,” says Hamas official Ghazi Hamad. Can one doubt this intent after October 7 and that it would not be replicated on any of Israel’s other borders?

Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad: We Will Repeat the October 7 Attack Time and Again Until Israel Is Annihilated; We Are Victims – Everything We Do Is Justified #Hamas #Gaza #Palestinians pic.twitter.com/kXu3U0BtAP

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) November 1, 2023

With antisemitism rampant across the world as affirmed even by governments and statemen admitting, “it is no longer safe for Jews anywhere,” it is even more reason that Israel has to restore its deterrence and emphatically expunge the evil that descended on it on October 7. As I expressed in my previous article, Israel needs to transform its image from the sitting duck of October 7 to the once feared Lion of Judea. If not to be loved as the world reminds us, let us be feared.

So, unlike most overseas observers of the TV news, when I look upon the devastated landscape of Gaza today, I pine not.

Inflict us with your murderous RABBLE, expect to find yourself in RUBBLE.

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).

You said “Never Again” and we believed you. When it comes to Jews, “Again” you remain silent

By Rolene Marks

Dear United Nations

In a few weeks’ time, member states of the United Nations will commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance and Memorial Day. The 27^th of January, is designated as a day of remembrance to coincide with the anniversary of the Red Army liberating the Auschwitz death camp. It is a day separate to Yom Hashoa, Israel’s national Memorial Day. UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres will look suitably solemn, make speeches, and attend ceremonies where he will say “Never Again” and talk about the imperative of memorial and fighting antisemitism. Many world leaders will do the same. In the halls of the UN and around the world, you will all give yourselves a perfunctory pat on the back and look suitably smug. You will acknowledge the Holocaust, looked sad for a day (and those photo opportunities because optics are important) and can tick your annual gesture to the genocide of the Jewish people off your to-do list. Ceremonies done, lip service paid, you can resume your sanctimony.

The United Nations, established out of the ashes of the Holocaust, has a founding document or mandate to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of race, sex, language, or religion. You said Never Again – and we believed you.

Then 7 October happened. You were silent. The noble tenets of your mandate discarded and replaced with a wall of immovable silence.

When the marauding, plundering, barbaric Hamas terrorists rained thousands of rockets down on Israeli civilians with the intention of murdering us, you said nothing.

Your social media feeds are filled with tweets about Gaza – the children in Gaza, the women in Gaza, the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. Nobody begrudges you that. Nobody is more acutely aware of the plight of Gazan civilians than Israelis are. This is why we are angry and frustrated that Hamas invited this war of wars on both our people. Your silence and that of your agencies UNICEF, UNRWA, UN Women and others about the plight of Israelis is deafening.

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has been conspicuous in their absence of commentary – and empathy for Israeli child victims of the 7/10 atrocities. Where is the litany of tweets in support of Israeli children; don’t they deserve protection in a time of war? Where are your demands for the release of Kfir and Ariel Bibas and other minors held hostage by Hamas? Have you met with the children released from captivity and heard their stories? Have you visited the children from the towns and kibbutzim who have lost their homes, family members, friends, parents and community? They are enduring an unprecedented wave of trauma. Do you realise how many children are internal refugees, having evacuated from their homes in the north and south of Israel? You have not expressed your sorrow and anger about the brutal murder, torture, mutilation and rapes of Israeli children. Why is that? Do their lives not count? Why did you have fundraising campaigns for children of Gaza but nothing for Israeli children? Don’t worry, we hear you loud and clear. Our children don’t count – at least in your eyes.

You advocate for children in Gaza, but where were you when Hamas used child labour to dig their terror tunnels? Many children have died as a result and you have been silent so don’t start with the hypocritical pearl clutching now. Where were you when children were recruited by terrorists to use as child soldiers? Nowhere. I want to talk to you about education of hate but I think that is more applicable to another UN agency – UNRWA.

Let us talk about UNRWA, the United Nations Relief Works Agency, designed to keep Palestinians in perpetual, generational refugee status. For years, various organisations have been warning that not only do Hamas use UNRWA schools and hospitals to store weapons but also textbooks are rife with incitement of hate. Some of your trucks were found on the devastated kibbutzim and as the IDF advance through Gaza we are seeing UNRWA branding in tunnels, on packages and boxes with weapons inside and we know that some of your staff were celebrating the massacre.

The New York Post obtained phone call recordings between a Palestinian man and an IDF officer. The Palestinian civilians accused UNRWA, of being under Hamas’ power, and that the terrorist group has been hogging all the humanitarian supplies. Humanitarian aid that civilians desperately need.

“The situation is terrible because the humanitarian people, those responsible for the humanitarian aid, are thieves,” the frustrated Gaza resident said in the recording.

“Hamas has their hands on UNRWA administration workers, and it manages UNRWA,” he alleges. “From the day they [Hamas] rose to power they took control of everything.”

The Palestinian man also said that Hamas has made sure the incoming humanitarian supplies were distributed to its own people first as opposed to the more than one million civilians who have been displaced by the war.

How do you explain this? Your social media has a black band across your name, indicating a state of mourning, but if your “staff”, some who celebrated the atrocities of 7/10 and some who have been investigated over the years for incitement of hate, are Hamas or assisting Hamas, this makes them legitimate military targets.

The World Health Organisation, also a part of your once venerated organization, has also opted for silence or perhaps amnesia as a reason to not condemn or even comment on the firing on ambulances and hospitals. Director General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, said nothing when Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon was hit 4 times by Hamas rockets which in one incident, seriously damaged operating theatres. Nothing was said when Hamas terrorists fired on ambulances on 7/10, destroying them before they could be used to help the wounded. Hamas murdered paramedics like Awad, a Muslim and Amit a Jew. They were found with their latex gloves on. They helped the wounded until Hamas took the last breath from their bodies. World Health Organisation branding was visible in Al- Rantisi Hospital, where the evidence shows some of our hostages were kept there. Hamas have used hospitals as human shields, violating their secure status and turning them into legitimate military targets and still you condemn Israel. Did you forget the oath to “first do no harm”?

Last but certainly not least, I want to address UN Women.

You took nearly 60 days to tweet out that you were “alarmed at reports of sexual violence”. Well, I was not alarmed – I was sickened, distraught, devastated and angry when I first saw the images of Shany Louk’s lifeless and nearly naked body, her legs broken as she was paraded like a trophy through the streets of Gaza, while Palestinian men kicked her and spat on her. I felt a punch not to my gut but to my soul when I saw Naama Levy, who is still being held hostage, dragged by her hair by a Hamas terrorist, the bloodstains around her crotch area for the entire world to see that she had been violated. You should have voiced you anger and condemnation when the world watched with horror – not 60 days later!

Naama’s mother, Ayelet Levy Shachar speaks with a gentle voice and when she talks about her Na’ama in a tone so filled with love, it makes me want to wrap my arms around her and shield her from the pain of knowing what her daughter has and continues to endure. UN Women, you have barely acknowledged her or the pain of other mothers and fathers – let alone the victims. We have heard from doctors who treated the released hostages that several of them, including girls as young as 12 and at least one 30-year-old male had been sexually violated. US officials believe the young women have not been released for the simple reason – they will talk. They will tell the world what they have endured. You are still silent. You have betrayed your mandate – and the trust of victims of sexual violence past and present. When rape is used as a weapon of war, you should be the first to respond. Your prejudice has been exposed for the entire world to see.

Israel’s war with Hamas has exposed not only the gross negligence of the UN and all your agencies, but has shown the public how complicit you are with a terror organization comparable to ISIS. On 27 January, you will observe Holocaust Remembrance and Memorial Day and you will say Never Again. Never again is now – and you failed to prevent or even condemn it.

Shame on you!

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).

Red Cross spending more time defending its shameful record than doing its job

By Jonathan Feldstein

There are reports circulating in Israel of high-level talks involving negotiations to release more of the hostages brutally kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, and held captive in Gaza since. Reports of the hostages’ conditions from the 100+ who have been released are horrifying. They have suffered physical and psychological torture, starvation, held in underground cages in complete darkness, and suffered violent sexual assaults including gang raping women. Speculation is that many are dead, as some of the hostages’ bodies have been found, littered across Gaza as if trash rather than human beings.

When Israel launched its military operation, it had two goals: to eradicate Hamas and remove it and its leaders from any ability to ever control Gaza and its population or threaten Israel, and to free ALL the hostages. Over the course of a week last month, Israelis were glued to the TV every night as Hamas paraded out more hostages, mostly women and children, under the voyeurism of the world media. But some 130 hostages remain in captivity: Arab and Jewish Israelis, and non-Jews of other nationalities. Still, many of the hostages are women and children, one of whom is 10 months old, doesn’t even know his name, and who has spent nearly a third of his life in captivity.

While Israelis celebrated the return of some of the hostages, we were impacted by the psychological warfare that Hamas inflicted. Manipulating the hostages until the last moment, armed and masked terrorists “escorted” the hostages, instructing them to wave for the camera.

The terrorists handed off the hostages to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as if batons in a relay race, a scene rehearsed night after night. Israelis who watched the spectacle understood that Hamas was trying to appear humanitarian, and that the Red Cross was inept, playing the role of useful idiot or complicit partner to Hamas’ evil. They did nothing until that point to see or assess the well-being of all the hostages, not providing needed medical care, or anything else that is not only their mandate but their responsibility.

The ICRC’s mission is to “alleviate human suffering, protect life and health, and uphold human dignity,” especially during armed conflicts and other emergencies. It has an annual budget of $2.4 billion. By their own measure of fulfilling its own mission, they have been nothing but an expensive abject failure relating to the hostages.

Early on I realized that the Red Cross was serving as nothing more than a glorified Uber service. Yet there was one horrific difference. The Red Cross, which is supposed to protect the welfare of hostages and others, provided vehicles with clear windows, not remotely attempting to provide any privacy or dignity for the hostages or their well-being. It’s as if they were flaunting their prime-time shuttling of hostages to get maximal world attention, and take credit, more than doing their job.

It’s not the first time that the Red Cross has abandoned its responsibilities, and the Jewish people.  During the Holocaust, the Red Cross avoided taking more aggressive action on behalf of the Jews of Europe and even issued a report white washing the Nazi concentration camp Terezin. Only decades, and six million Jews later, the ICRC admitted its wrong doing.  

Watching the hostages being released put a spotlight on the Red Cross’ inaction. Visiting Israel, the head of the ICRC balked at taking responsibility for advocating on behalf of the hostages, claiming that Hamas won’t allow it, rather than insisting Hamas comply. In another shocking instance, a Red Cross representative horrifyingly chided families of hostages to “think about the Palestinians.”

Looking at its (in)action today, it seems that the Red Cross is spending more time defending its shameful record than it is actually doing its job.

Israelis and Jews are typically not familiar with Christianity, yet many have a reflexive negative stereotype based on millennia of persecution. Historically, Jews feared Christians, their churches, and were revolted by the cross and everything it represented as a symbol of hatred to Jews.

At a time when Christian support for Israel and the Jewish people is at historically unprecedented highs, this should bother Christians deeply. I have asked Christian friends if it angers or hurts them to see the cross, the penultimate symbol of their faith, being used to promote discrimination against Jews and Israelis. It’s not a time for Christians to turn the other cheek, but to reclaim what their faith stands for as represented by the cross, and affirming that to be a Christian means to love and support the Jewish people.

As much as it is shameful that the Red Cross has failed the Jews so abysmally again, another shame of the Red Cross is that the symbol of the cross has been hijacked by the ICRC to portray a negative reflection on Christians.

As I saw the hostages being released, I saw terrorists hiding behind their masks, and the ICRC staff hiding behind the purported neutrality of their cross. I realized that while some Israelis will recognize the Red Cross’ symbol, for many it is equivalent to seeing something Christian. With many Israelis not knowing much about Christianity, or having much interaction with Christians, for many the treacherousness of the Red Cross complements the historic reality of Christians persecuting Jews.

Even though the Red Cross doesn’t represent Christianity, it is time that Christians take back their cross and what it represents. I realize that some will find it unusual, even off-putting and say it’s not my place as an Orthodox Jew to tell Christians what to think or do.  There’s surely something to that. But because I am concerned about building bridges between Jews and Christians which includes breaking down barriers and how Jews look at and perceive Christians and Christianity, I care.  Maybe it comes across with great hubris to say if I were a Christian I’d do so and so.  Nevertheless, if I were a Christian, I’d:

Urge Christians to flood the virtual gates of the ICRC, demanding that they do their job and stop their history of antisemitism.

Implore Christians speak out publicly against the Red Cross, and its history of antisemitic bias that continues to play out today.  

Tell Christians to stop giving to the Red Cross, anywhere, unless there is a complete and permanent overhaul of their anti-Israel bias everywhere.  

Beseech Christians to sign the petition demanding that the Red Cross support the well being and freedom of ALL the hostages.

I don’t know if it’s possible or has any legal basis, but if I were a Christian, I would initiate a lawsuit against the Red Cross, barring it from using the word “cross” or the symbol of a cross anywhere because of the slanderous way it reflects on Christians and Christianity.

These are big wishes for Christmas, but Jews and Christians worship a big God. If we come together, these are little things we can achieve. And if not, I am sure that $2.4 billion can be better used.

May all the hostages be released soon.

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).

Women’s organisations and feminists have brought shame upon themselves through their silence.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

By Rolene Marks

The 25^th of November was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ushered in the 16 days of activism against violence against women. This is a critical campaign that highlights the horrific gender-based violence that affects women and young girls around the world.

Around the world – except for Israeli victims. 

Since the atrocities of 7 October where Israeli women and girls of all ages were humiliated, brutally tortured, raped, murdered and taken hostage by Hamas terrorists, there has been a deafening silence from women’s organisations, NGO’s, activists and celebrities.

The sisters have gone silent!

I am a Jewish woman. An Israeli woman. The message I hear loud and clear from UN Women, the International Alliance of Women and many others is that my life and my safety and that of my sisters in Israel and around the world, do not count. Our lives, our suffering is worthless. My message to them is that we will NOT suffer in silence. We will not be silent.

When the horrific images of Shany Louk, clothes ripped, legs broken and lying on the back of a truck was paraded through the streets of Gaza while she was spat on and kicked by Palestinian men, crowing over the war trophy they had, we should have heard an outraged and angry condemnation.

When we saw footage of Naama Levi, now held hostage in Gaza, pulled by her hair, arms bound and bleeding from her crotch into a Jeep by an armed terrorist, which confirmed our worst fears, immediate condemnation should have resulted.

They had names like Naama and Shany. They had lives. They had dignity. They deserve to be heard – and we will speak for them.

As the weeks following the attacks of 7 October unfold, we have heard the accounts of the barbarism and depravity inflicted on Israelis on 7 October and they are worse than our most frightening nightmares. We have heard consistently from first responders, soldiers, eyewitnesses, forensic pathologists and Chevrah Kadisha volunteers preparing bodies for burial how rape was used as a weapon of war. The accounts are excruciating of how women, children, and the elderly were not only raped; but they had limbs or body parts cut off. Hamas terrorists have admitted to it in interrogation interviews for the world to see, without a single expression of remorse. In fact, they enjoyed it.

One terrorist was asked during his interrogation, “And why take the kids and babies?”

He replied, “To rape them.”

They admitted to receiving orders to “dirty the women and children”.

The sisters remained silent.

Women’s organisations in Israel, including the Women’s International Zionist Organisation (WIZO), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, activists and many more have and continue to write letters, op-eds, address forums and media, pressure the United Nations and their agencies like UN Women and have launched campaigns like “#Me Too – unless you’re a Jew” and “Believe Israeli” women. When the #MeToo movement took off around the world, women felt that finally we are heard and gender-based violence and rape is on the agenda.

Our First Lady, Mrs Michal Herzog penned an op-ed for Newsweek magazine.

There have been demonstrations in Israel and outside of UN headquarters and a variety of experts gathered at the UN on 4 December to testify at an event called “Hear our Voices”. The accounts of barbarity and rape were devastating.

The evidence is overwhelming. The global media, even those that are traditionally hostile to Israel have given widespread coverage and are appalled and outraged. But the sisters? Silent.

It took a campaign of tremendous pressure for UN Women – 50 days after the attacks – to tweet out of them “remain alarmed by gender-based violence reports on 7 October and call for rigorous investigation, prioritizing the rights, needs and safety of those affected”. They were not disgusted, appalled or outraged but simply alarmed. They have since gone silent. What a failure of their mandate.

The Israel Police’s Lahav 433 National Crime Unit collected the testimony of a young woman who survived the massacre at the Nova music festival in Reim:

“As I am hiding, I see in the corner of my eyes that [a terrorist] is raping her,” she said of another victim while demonstrating the terrorist’s violent grasp with her hands. “She was alive beforehand; she stood on her feet, bleeding from her back. But then the situation was that he was pulling her hair. She had long, brown hair,” she was quoted as saying.

The witness saw the woman bleeding from the back, she said, first bent over, then pulled back up by combatants. One man pulled the woman’s long hair and raped her, the witness said, then passed her onto another man, who also raped her before shooting her in the head.

“He didn’t pick up his pants,” the witness said. “He shot her while inside her.”

We know from testimony from hostages that were released, that at least 10 male and female hostages were sexually assaulted. We are extremely worried about the conditions of the 137 hostages who remain captive – including Naama Levy. A White House official opined that Hamas will not release the remaining captive women because they “will talk”. It is chilling and terrifying.

Women’s organisations, activists and feminists have not only failed their Jewish sisters but future victims as well as they have now established precedent based on identity politics and prejudice.

We, the Israeli women are raising our voices and we will not stop. We will continue to be the voices of our women and children. Most of them have been murdered or taken hostage.

The sisters remain silent.

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).

Rather more Gazan naked terrorists in Gaza than fully clothed ones to perpetrate more bloody massacres in Israel

By Jonathan Feldstein

Videos have gone viral of Hamas terrorists who have been captured by the IDF in Gaza or surrendered and laying down their weapons in their underwear.

While its simply essential operational practice to have terrorists strip to be sure they are not hiding weapons or wearing a bomb/suicide belt, multiple Israeli leaders have expressed regret for these images being circulated at all, committing that it will not happen again. They advise that these videos were not released by the IDF in an official capacity, and that it’s not appropriate to do so.

I’m neither a military man nor a political leader but if it were up to me, I’d go out of my way to show more pictures of such semi- naked terrorists.  If this is the worse thing Israel is actually guilty of in a world that is conflating the evils of Hamas’ Islamic terror vs. Israel’s legitimate right and need for self-defense, or comparing alleged civilian casualties comingled with the number of terrorists killed, that is not something that will keep me awake at night. If they are not terrorists, and released following interrogation, I can live with them getting dressed and going home.

As for the terrorists, humiliating them in their underwear, lays bare the emptiness of their theology. Rather than dying for the “resistance” as “martyrs”, they are stripping down after being captured or now in increasing numbers surrendered, forsaking the delusional Koranic promise of 72 virgins for their perverted pleasures. Perhaps they realize that that there are no virgins awaiting them for martyrdom and that at least in an Israeli prison they will be clothed, fed, and possibly sent home in a future exchange. 

Not only would I not stop filming terrorists in their underwear, I’d publicize these widely. I’d put them out all over Arabic social media showing that even the terrorists prefer to live in an Israeli jail rather than die for the “resistance”.

I would do this as part of an aggressive campaign of psychological warfare to demoralize all the Gazans and turn them and all Palestinian Arabs against Hamas.  Certainly, this is a front in the war in which Hamas has been excelling. I say, take the psychological warfare right back to them.

I’d flood the Arab world with videos of terrorists captured following the October 7 massacre, confirming that they used rape and all sorts of other inhuman violence as a deliberate “tactic” in their “resistance”.

I’d target Lebanon, hoping that any rational Lebanese who don’t want to see their country turned into the next Gaza by Hezbollah would rise up and take their country back.

I’d hack and flood every Arabic website with the “Top Ten” videos of (former) Hamas leaders admitting that their own leaders are destroying Gaza, such as the recording of former Hamas communications minister, Yousef al-Mansi, saying:

 “Nobody likes Sinwar. There are people who day and night pray that God will free us from him,” and:

 “This is a group of lunatics Sinwar leads. They destroyed the Gaza strip.  They set it back 200 years.”

Let Gazans and the Arab world see and hear this, along with al-Mansi saying that Hamas’ October 7 massacre is “the opposite of Islam.”

While at it, I’d drop millions of leaflets revealing the tremendous wealth that their so-called leadership, residing not in decaying Gaza but in luxurious Qatar. Residing palatially in Qatar’s capital Doha while “their people” suffer for their destructive decision-making back “home” in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal have amassed a net worth of $4 billion each. Poor deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, Abu Marzouk is worth only $3 billion.  Let the Gazans know that together they have pilfered $11 billion for the “resistance”, and remind them that $11 billion could provide every single Gazan an average monthly salary for almost a year and a half: money they will need badly when the war is over.

Let these dropped leaflets over Gaza show the receipts from the purchase of more than $25,000 in jewelry by the son of Ismail Haniyeh, Maaz Haniyeh, who obviously is doing well himself in the family business of pilfering billions of dollars; billions that could have been invested in the well-being of Gazans, instead of expensive gifts for his whores.

What will be in Gaza after Hamas is crushed is anyone’s guess.  Few if any Arab countries want to take responsibility or much less really help with rebuilding the lives of two million Gazans. The unexposed reality is that the Arab world that has funded Hamas and other terrorists for decades and is quick to blame Israel, shy away in taking responsibility themselves to help.  The only future for Gaza is Gazans rebuilding but on the peaceful premise of ending incitement and terror and fighting Israel once and for all.  The Gazans need to take the responsibility for this goal in the same way they were responsible for electing Hamas and allowing terrorists to terrorize them for nearly two decades.

Sadly, while there are reports of more and more in the Arab world criticizing Hamas, it’s hard to imagine real, substantial change in Gaza, without being pushed to the limits to undertake that change themselves. An aggressive Israeli campaign of psychological warfare and demoralizing their population is a legitimate and non-lethal way to do so.

If it doesn’t work, if a campaign of psychological warfare backfires and hardens attitudes against Israel, the Hamas terrorists and their ilk will continue in their fight over fake virgins to secure a place in their hellish hereafter.  

After all, they’ll already be naked.

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).