Category: News Letter

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 21 December 2025

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

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Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 15–18 December 2025
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Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick of the Week

“JEWISH LIVES MATTER”

From a music festival in Israel to a festive candle lighting on a beach in Australia, Jews across the world are being mass murdered in broad daylight!

A Star of David is seen at a makeshift memorial to the victims of the Bondi terror attack. (Photo: Mick Tsikas/EPA)




ARTICLES

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

(1)

ARAB MEDIA: DESPERATELY SEEKING SADAT!

An article that disappointed less from what it said and more from what it did not say.
By David E. Kaplan

Cause of Death. Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat’s death was attributed to “violent nervous shock and internal bleeding in the chest cavity, where the left lung and major blood vessels below it were torn.” In truth, the actual cause of death was that he outreached to the Jewish state to make peace!

ARAB MEDIA: DESPERATELY SEEKING SADAT!
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(2)

APPEASEMENT IS BACK

How Australian government policies led to the disaster on Bondi Beach.
By Neville Berman

Devious Descriptions. Two radicalized Islamic terrorists murder 15 innocent Jewish civilians and wound 40 others on Bondi Beach and are described in the media as “antisemites”, “shooters”, “gunmen”, and “offenders”. Why avoid defining them what they are – “Muslim Terrorists” or “Militant Islamists”?

APPEASEMENT IS BACK
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(3)

TIME TO OUTLAW EXTREMIST ISLAM

It’s not permissive gun laws but unchecked cascading ideological hate that is killing Jews.
By Jonathan Feldstein

Father and Son. Going fishing or off to watch a cricket or rugby match is what you would consider standard fare for a typical Australian father and son to do together. Not so for Sydney father Sajid Akram and his son Neveed! Their outing the beach meant shooting at a Jewish gathering on the sand.

TIME TO OUTLAW EXTREMIST ISLAM
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(4)

LAST ONE OUT TURNS OFF THE DARKNESS

First to race into the inferno of October 7, Ran Gvili is now the last.
By Forest Rain Marcia

Waiting for Ran. His mother says Ran “always made sure everyone else was ok before thinking of himself. It is like him to be last, to make sure everyone else goes first.” Such is the nature of Ran and his fellow warriors. While the world maligns Israel, the writer asserts, “Hollywood has nothing on us. Our heroes are real.”

LAST ONE OUT TURNS OFF THE DARKNESS
(Click on the blue title)



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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com





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

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 14 December 2025

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

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 08–11 December 2025
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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Festivity of Light

In a world full of Darkness

It is with great sadness that Lay of the Land wishes its Jewish readers a ‘Happy’ Hanukkah in the light of the mass terror attack on the Jewish community’s festive gathering for Hanukkah on Bondi Beach, Australia. From the stabbing attack in the UK at a Synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur to today’s mass shooting at a Hanukkah lighting of the first candle in Sydney, Australia, Jews today are threatened, hounded and murdered. The message of Hanukkah – resistance and resilience against insurmountable odds – resonates ever so much more today. Our thoughts are with all the families directly affected and the Jewish community of Australia.




ARTICLES

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

(1)

THE GREAT PRETENDER

Behind the polished façade, the “gifts” of Gift of the Givers has a price tag.
By Allan Wolman

Charitable Charlatan. While engineering that his Islamic charity – ‘Gift of the Givers’ – is rewarded with generous media coverage of their presence at disaster scenes across the world, what are the real aims behind the façade of this increasingly powerful and influential political puppeteer?

THE GREAT PRETENDER
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(2)

WHAT LIES BEHIND UCT’S BATTLEFIELD AGAINST ‘PESKY’ JEWS?

No surprise university’s recent Convocation election has been described as“Kristallnacht 2025”!
By Marika Sboros

Cry the Beloved Campus. No surprise UCT’s recent Convocation election became “a battleground with the hallmarks of a
hijacking, purge, even a ‘pogrom’ against Jews.”  A core campaign slogan had nothing to do with academia and
all to do with ensuring that UCT is “never a home for Zionists”. “Zionist” today is codeword for “Jew”.

WHAT LIES BEHIND UCT’S BATTLEFIELD AGAINST ‘PESKY’ JEWS?
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

BETWEEN  AUSCHWITZ AND BE’ERI: COMMUNITIES CAUGHT BETWEEN MEMORY AND RENEWAL

How do traumatized kibbutzniks build a new life amongst the rubble  and remnants of personal horror?
By Gadi Ezra

From ‘Streets’ to ‘Dead Ends’. With rows of kibbutz houses destroyed as well as the lives of its former occupants, are
these horrific remnants to remain as stark memorials like Auschwitz or should they be respectfully removed to make way for rebirth and renewal? Tough decisions lie ahead!

BETWEEN  AUSCHWITZ AND BE’ERI: COMMUNITIES CAUGHT BETWEEN MEMORY AND RENEWAL
(Click on the blue title)



(4)

THE ISRAELI SIDE OF THE STORY NEEDS TO BE HEARD

Fear that independent scrutiny will expose false narratives, Israel’s opponents discourage “See for Yourself” visits to the Jewish state.
By Kenneth Kgwadi

He Came, He Saw, He was Vilified.The recent visit to Israel by a cousin of Nelson Mandela,  King Dalindyebo of the
AbaThembu nation, created a storm of protest on his return to South Africa?  Why?
What are Israel’s opponents in south Africa afraid of – the TRUTH?

THE ISRAELI SIDE OF THE STORY NEEDS TO BE HEARD
(Click on the blue title)




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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com





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

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 08 December 2025

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

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 01–04 December 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick of the Week

DESERT DOUSING

Torrential rains triggered widespread flooding across Israel’s arid south

Appearing as if by divine intervention, flash flooding occurred across Israel’s southern desert region, isolating the coastal resort city of Eilat for 9 hours, blocking roads and filling long-dry reservoirs.




ARTICLES

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

(1)

WHY THE DOUBLE STANDARDS?

As the US was justified in killing Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, Israel is justified in liquidating Hamas leaders wherever they reside.
By Neville Berman

Justice for All. If it was acceptable that “Justice has been done” as President Obama said in announcing the elimination of Osama bin Laden for 9/11, why not for the Hamas leaders who perpetrated on 10/7, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust?

WHY THE DOUBLE STANDARDS?
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

POPE LEO STRIKING OUT IN LEBANON

An opportunity wasted as the Pontif threw his faithful under the wheels of his own proverbial Popemobile.
By Jonathan Feldstein

Pointless Pope. Pope Leo’s visit to Lebanon was for the writer “a pageant play of the absurd.” Full of message, prayer and appeals, all will be ignored and the people will continue on the long predictable path of unending suffering.

POPE LEO STRIKING OUT IN LEBANON
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

BLACK LIVES MATTER (BLM) – REALLY?

Israel exposes global hypocrisy by showing in deed how facts dismantle slogans.
By Grant Gochin

Out of Africa. Despite the false accusations of “racism” and “apartheid”, Israel is the only country that has taken large numbers of Black Africans from the continent – not in chains to be enslaved – but to begin new lives safe from persecution as seen here in a rescue operation.

BLACK LIVES MATTER (BLM) – REALLY?
(Click on the blue title)



(4)

THE ARAB VOICE

Perspectives and insights from writers in the Arab media.

Frustration and Fatigue. How are Arab writers treating the situation of Gaza in the wake of the US cease-fire deal? Lay of the Land publishes the articles by 2 renowned Arab journalists whose concern that frustration and fatigue will lead to both Arab and Western policymakers becoming resigned to simply managing the crisis rather than solving it?

THE ARAB VOICE
(Click on the blue title)



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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 30 November 2025

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

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 24–27 November 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick of the Week

ISRAELI BREAKTHROUGH – NOT ON A BATTLEFIELD BUT IN MEDICAL SCIENCE

“Walk Again”? – An Israeli breakthrough could make paralysis reversible!

Every year, up to half a million people worldwide suffer spinal cord injuries that lead to paralysis, often an irreversible condition. But in Israel, scientists are on the verge of changing that inevitability. At the cutting-edge biotech company Matricelf, researchers are engineering new spinal cord tissue from a patient’s own cells, a groundbreaking step that could soon allow people in wheelchairs to walk again.




ARTICLES

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

(1)

DO JEWS HAVE A FUTURE IN BRITAIN?

It’s time for the silent majority to speak up
By Andrew Fox

Not Okay in the UK. A protest today in the UK where the popular iconic insignia of the pro-Palestine movement
are comfortably at home alongside the conspicuous dreaded Nazi Swastika. Is this an environment
where Jews can sustain a long-term future?

DO JEWS HAVE A FUTURE IN BRITAIN?
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(2)

A STORY UNTOLD

The planeload of Gazans arriving in South Africa has so far been a saga of silence and falsity.
By Lawrence Nowosenetz

Who’s The Boss? Most revealing in this image in the SA media covering the arrival in SA of Palestinians from
Gaza is the enlarged face of the Dr Imtiaz Sooliman of a local anti-Israel Islamist charity (left) who dwarfs
(l-r) SA President Ramaphosa, Foreign Minister Lamola and Home Affairs Minister Schreiber.

A STORY UNTOLD
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(3)

THE ESSENCE OF HER NAME

In loving memory of Tova Ben Dov z”l
By Rolene Marks
Tribute

Superlative Service. Tova Ben Dov(l) and the writer outside a WIZO project in Israel identified with the legacy of Tova. The largest Zionist women’s organization in the world, WIZO today runs 180 day care centers in Israel, caring for 14,000 children of working mothers, new immigrants and needy families.

THE ESSENCE OF HER NAME
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(4)

HISTORY DOESN’T CHANGE – PERCEPTIONS OF FACTS DO

While global pressure for the two-state solution accelerates, maybe time to apply the brakes and study the facts.
By Peter Bailey

Conference’s Consequences. Delegates to the 1920 San Remo conference in Italy which led to far-reaching
consequences for the people of the Middle East not least, the Jewish people who had been scattered
across the world for two millennia. A failure to stick to the plan, challenges remain a century later!

HISTORY DOESN’T CHANGE – PERCEPTIONS OF FACTS DO
(Click on the blue title)



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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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


Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 23 November 2025

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

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 17–20 November 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick of the Week

PEOPLE DEMAND REAL ANSWERS NOT FAKE FINDINGS

Thousands protest against government at Habima Square, Tel Aviv on Saturday night, 22 November 2025, demanding a state probe into the failures of the October 7 massacre.

Calling for a State National Enquiry not an in-house government contrivance, the core message articulated was: “The people of Israel deserve answers about how the terrible failure happened and how to prevent it from happening again.”




ARTICLES

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

(1)

IS THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION REALLY A SOLUTION?

Israel cannot be expected to support a Palestinian State that has the destruction of Israel as one of its aims.
By Neville Berman

Puzzling the Pieces. Since 1937, all attempts to establish a Palestinian State living next to Israel have been rejected. Consistently rejecting any presence a Jewish state,  Palestinians are resolved for a single Palestinian State from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – hence the emphatic cry “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA”.

IS THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION REALLY A SOLUTION?
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

A PLANE LANDING LANDS SOUTH AFRICA IN EMBARRASSING CONTROVERSY

‘Surprise’ arrival of planeload of Palestinians from Gaza exposes how ‘Gift of the Givers’ is de facto running South Africa’s foreign ministry.
By Kenneth Kgwadi

Reception Committee. While SA government claims being “uninformed”, local Muslim charity appeared more than  “informed” as well as ready to receive the Gazans led by its founder Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman (centre), who falsely tells media: “Israel deliberately did not stamp the passports” of the Gazans  “to exacerbate their suffering.”

A PLANE LANDING LANDS SOUTH AFRICA IN EMBARRASSING CONTROVERSY
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(3)

THE JODHPUR-HAIFA CONNECTION

Touring India’s  “Land of Kings” reveals surprise insights to Israelis on history of their own land.
By Motti Verses

Doorstep Discoveries. What made this writer from Israel salute his hotel doorman in India? Where did their histories enrichingly connect that new found revelations resulted in this iconic expression of understanding , gratitude and respect?

THE JODHPUR-HAIFA CONNECTION
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(4)

BBC NEWS FAILS TO ACCURATELY AND IMPARTIALLY REPORT SOUTH AFRICA PLANE STORY

Another in endless stories on Gaza that BBC presents narrative to besmirch the reputation of Israel.
by Hadar Sela

SUSPECT SOURCE. Neglectfully or deliberately tarnishing the image of Israel, the BBC on the report of the arrival of Gazans in South Africa, quotes local Muslim leader whose views are “Zionists were too clever… They run the world with fear. They control the world with money.”

BBC NEWS FAILS TO ACCURATELY AND IMPARTIALLY REPORT SOUTH AFRICA PLANE STORY
(Click on the blue title)



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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 16 November 2025

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

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 10–13 November 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick of the Week

HERO’S HOMECOMING

After 11 years in Hamas captivity, Lt. Hadar Goldin’s remains brought home

HE SMILE THAT COVERED UP THE SADNESS

Killed and body captured during a ceasefire in 2014, Hadar Goldin was finally brought to his family hometown of Kfar Saba, where he was buried in the embracing company of the residents of the town and watched by citizens across Israel.




ARTICLES

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

(1)

WORLD’S RESPONSE TO BBC “SCANDAL” REFLECTS ANTISEMITISM

From the “world’s most respected voice”  to the voicefor the world’s most disrespected,  a leaked BBC dossier exposes bias but the spotlight on Trump exposes antisemitism!

By David E. Kaplan

BBC BIAS. How does a one-time defamation of one individual – albeit the US president – compare with the BBC’s deliberate protracted assault on the reputation of the Jewish state in its agenda-driven lopsided coverage of the Israel-Gaza war that has endangered Jewish lives everywhere?

WORLD’S RESPONSE TO BBC “SCANDAL” REFLECTS ANTISEMITISM
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

OPEN LETTER TO US GOVERNMENT REGARDING VISIT OF SOUTH AFRICA’S DR. NALEDI PANDOR

By Lawrence Nowosenetz

Lethal Intent. Should this person who called Hamas leaders to show solidarity following its massacre on October 7, 2023, and who persistently calls for Israel to be declared an “apartheid state”  be permitted to enter the US?  
The writer appeals to the US Secretary of State.

OPEN LETTER TO US GOVERNMENT REGARDING VISIT OF SOUTH AFRICA’S DR. NALEDI PANDOR
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

HAMAS PROPAGANDA PLAYBOOK

Rewriting history through sustained propaganda, the ‘Free Palestine’ movement takes a page from post-Holocaust Lithuanian revisionism and inverts the truth turning the persecuted into the persecutor.
By Grant Gochin

Eager to Erase. The propaganda modality of “moral inversion” deployed by Hamas and their supporters emerges not from
the Middle East but from the killing fields of Eastern Europe where notable post WWII leaders have indulged in
Holocaust revisionism. Exported as a blueprint, it finds eager customers amongst Jewish state’s enemies.

HAMAS PROPAGANDA PLAYBOOK
(Click on the blue title)



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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 09 November 2025

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

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 03–06 November 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick of the Week

JEWISH DEFIANCE

LONE WOMAN IN UK STANDS UP TO HOSTILE ANTISEMETISM

Outside the Aston Villa grounds in Birmingham where the club was playing Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israeli fans had been barred from attending, a lone brave young Jewish woman stands up to Islamic thuggery by holding up the Israeli flag amidst chanting “Death, Death to the IDF”.  In this “Brave New World”, this young Jewish woman – instead of the thugs – was bundled away by the police – “for her own protection”!




ARTICLES

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

(1)

ALBANESE IN SOUTH AFRICA – A POLITICAL RALLY NOT LECTURE TOUR

Under the banner of the Mandela name, the visit of the UN’s Special Rapporteur to South Africa platformed less of promoting ‘unity, integrity and reconciliation’ and more in spewing hate against the Jewish state.
By Marika Sboros

Talking Terror. Francesca Albanese who indulges in Holocaust distortion,  spreads antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories  about Jews, money and power, recently toured South Africa on a lecture tour. In truth, her visit – in her own words – was to bolster South Africa’s flagging ICJ case against Israel and to rally support for global BDS.

ALBANESE IN SOUTH AFRICA – A POLITICAL RALLY NOT LECTURE TOUR
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

STATE CAPTURE OF A UN MANDATE

South Africa aligns its foreign-policy with a partisan UN office to conspire against the Jewish state.
By Grant Gochin

Leveraging a Legacy. South Africa’s most familiar export today is not a rich mineral but a rich name and a legacy – Mandela.
Today it is used and abused against the Jewish state and rather than enriching the legacy
it cheapens South Africa’s image and undermines its credibility and future.

STATE CAPTURE OF A UN MANDATE
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

DEAD BUT ALIVE IN THE MINDS OF MANY  –  ACROSS ISRAEL AND TANZANIA

After two years of captivity in Gaza, the remains of agricultural student Joshua Loitu Mollel returned to Israel.
By Jonathan Feldstein

Dreams Dashed. Leaving behind his parents and siblings and arriving in Israel full of hope, Joshua Mollel dreamed of returning skilled in Israeli agriculture to combat drought and poverty in Tanzania. 19 days later that dream and his life
was cut short in a frenzy of Hamas atrocities. He returns home this month – a body.

DEAD BUT ALIVE IN THE MINDS OF MANY  –  ACROSS ISRAEL AND TANZANIA
(Click on the blue title)



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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 02 November 2025

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

Home

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To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
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X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 27–30 October 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick of the Week

PROOF OF PLUNDER

‘Confirming what everyone in Gaza already knows’ but the world prefers to ignore or believe

Hamas operatives looting an aid truck traveling on Friday as part of a humanitarian convoy delivering needed assistance from international partners to Gazans. “The claims are baseless and unfounded,” was Hamas’s response,   claiming that the looters “were sponsored by Israel.”




ARTICLES

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

(1)

GOLDA WOULD BE PROUD!

Sports is helping female olim break barriers
By Rolene Marks

On the Ball. Despite the tense situation in Israel, these young ladies from diverse communities across Israel were determined – in the words of Eric Rubin, the organizer of the Golda Meir Tournament for Women’s Football to enjoy having “fun, bonding, exercising and competing.”

GOLDA WOULD BE PROUD!
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

UK FOOTBALL’S ‘DARK AGES’

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s sorrowful ban from Aston Villa plunges football into darkness.
By Jonny Gould

Still Stands Club but not its Values! For the writer and an Aston Villa fan from childhood,
a warm chunky part of his enriching upbringing has been wretched away by the ban
on Israeli soccer fans attending a match in Birmingham this month.

UK FOOTBALL’S ‘DARK AGES’
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

PARDON MS GREEN, YOUR SLIP IS SHOWING

No, not wardrobe malfunctions but naked bias in Daily Maverick reportage on Israel.
By Lawrence Nowosenetz

Media Malfeasance. “No surprise,” argues the writer that the editorial staff of South Africa’s Daily Maverick
are “stung by allegations of perceptions of bias” in its coverage of Israel. However, it’s “No perception,”
asserts this former Acting Judge of the High Court of South Africa, “The bias is real.”

PARDON MS GREEN, YOUR SLIP IS SHOWING
(Click on the blue title)





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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 26 October 2025

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

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 20–23 October 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick

REJOICING, REMEBRANCE AND REFLECTION

The Multiple Emotions captured on the faces of these four Israeli women at HostagesSquare on the news of the release of the live hostages appear as a visual metaphor for Israelis and Jews the world over.

(Photo: AP Oded Balilty/AP)




ARTICLES

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

(1)

IN THE SHADOW OF THE OCTOBER 7 MASSACRE ANTI-ISRAEL LOBBY TARGETS SOUTH AFRICAN HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

A coalition of anti-Israel groups in South Africa threatens Johannesburg Holocaust Museum to endorse Gaza genocide claims or face protest and disruption.
By Marika Sboros

Hijacking History. The JHGC which educates future generations of South Africans about the Holocaust and provides meaning to “Never Again”,  is now the target of anti-Israel groups that falsely equate Gaza suffering with the Holocaust, weaponizing Jewish trauma to vilify the Jewish state.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE OCTOBER 7 MASSACRE ANTI-ISRAEL LOBBY TARGETS SOUTH AFRICAN HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

THE HYPOCRISY AND BRAINWASHING OVER GAZA

Israeli withdrawal from Gaza exposes  horrific global hypocrisy and silence of those who ‘claim’ to be pro-Palestine.
By Jonathan Feldstein

Gruesome Gaza. The WORLD STANDS SILENT while pro-Palestinian activists in the West justify Hamas
operatives grabbing Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel and then executed them in public.

THE HYPOCRISY AND BRAINWASHING OVER GAZA
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

MONEY, HATRED AND GENOCIDE

The folly and failures of the endless attempts to exterminate Jews and the Jewish state.
By Neville Berman

Malevolent Manipulations. Raphael Lemkin, “the man who coined the word genocide”  and was an active member of the interwar Polish Zionist movement from which he drew the ideas that inspired his idea of the “crime of genocide” would be horrified today to see how it has been abused against the Jewish state.

MONEY, HATRED AND GENOCIDE
(Click on the blue title)



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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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

Lay of the Land Weekly Newsletter- 19 October 2025

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

Home

Like this content? Please share and tweet it to your friends and followers.

To subscribe via email please send a mail noting your request to: layotland@gmail.com 
Please visit/ join/follow our social media platforms:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LotLSite/

X (Twitter): Lay Of The Land – @layoftheland5

Also available on YouTube @The Israel Brief  – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.



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

THE ISRAEL BRIEF – 13–16 October 2025
(Click on the blue title)



Lay of the Land’s Photo-Pick of the week

“THEY’RE COMING HOME”

With the announcement of the return of hostages and the end of the Gaza war, Israelis explode with unrestrained jubilation.

Joy and Jubilation. People gather at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025 prior to the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Concerns and tensions remain for the unreturned dead hostages in Gaza. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)




ARTICLES

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

(1)

IT’S HUNTING SEASON AND JEWS ARE THE PREY

Reichman University’s Counter Terrorism Conference offered insights on identifying threats and emerging trends.
By David E. Kaplan

Terrifying Two Words. Attending the ICT25 Shabtai Shavit World Summit on Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University,
two words were projected in bold on the lecture hall screen that sent shivers. What does ’Stochastic terrorism’
mean and how can it be countered? Jewish lives around the world depend on the answer.

IT’S HUNTING SEASON AND JEWS ARE THE PREY
(Click on the blue title)



(2)

DONATION SPARKS COMMUNAL CONTROVERSY

Divisions within South Africa’s Jewish community on Israel reflect global drivers.
By Marika Sboros

Dubious Donation. With the bust of her Zionist philanthropic grandfather Morris Mauerberger looking on, Dianna Yach
presents her family foundation’s donation to Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, who shared a platform under a banner proclaiming,
“We are all Hamas” and said, “…the Zionists were too clever… They control the world with money.”

DONATION SPARKS COMMUNAL CONTROVERSY
(Click on the blue title)



(3)

CAN WE BREATHE NOW?

A reflection during the agonizing interlude between deal signing and return of our hostages.
By Jonathan Feldstein

Dance Interlude. While Israelis celebrate at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv the announcement of a deal to free all the
hostages and the end of the war in Gaza, the writer reflects on internal and external issues
and questions how the future may unfold.

CAN WE BREATHE NOW?
(Click on the blue title)



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

To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com






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