Blazingcatfur

How did we reach a point where so many Western leftists see Hamas as a ‘progressive’ movement? Its terrorist slaughter of 1,200 Israelis and others on 7 October is already being downplayed or forgotten entirely. Meanwhile, few mention Hamas’s intolerance towards political opposition, its curtailment of women’s rights, its criminalisation of homosexuality or its persecution of Christians. Human-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was even barred from the anti-Israel march in London on Armistice Day for a placard that criticised Hamas.

Now is not the time for progressive infighting

While Jews often seem clannish to outsiders, the reality is somewhat different: we have always suffered from a divisive streak of self-destructiveness. As far back as the levelling of the Temple and the expulsion from the homeland, Jewish unity has been undermined by both class divisions and theological disagreements. Two thousand years later, though General Titus’s legions may be forgotten, fissures and infighting remain.

Since October 7, there has been a very real upsurge in antisemitism in Europe and America. Some members of my own synagogue openly discuss whether they should attend services, or events such as menorah lightings; others are considering buying guns.

The first group of hostages have been released from Gaza after 48 days of captivity as part of a truce deal between Israel and Hamas that went into effect this morning – with children and a grandmother thought to have died in captivity among them.

Thirteen Israeli women and children and 11 Thai and Filipino hostages, who were kidnapped and taken into the territory by the terror group in its October 7 attack on Israel, were finally freed today after an agonising wait.

Israeli media reported the hostages had been transferred by Hamas to the Red Cross, then on to the Egyptians, before crossing into Egypt. Live footage showed the hostages leaving Red Cross vans and entering a trauma centre at the Rafah Crossing to undergo medical examinations.

Around 2,000 protesters gathered for a pro-Palestinian rally at Washington Square Park Friday with a laundry list of demands, including calling for a “permanent end to the occupation” of Gaza and dismantling the Israeli government.

The assembled crowd railed against Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Hamas-controlled territory, waving Palestinian flags and holding up signs bearing messages like “Free Palestine,” “Cease fire now” and “Israel thinks killing babies is collateral damage.”

Large crowd chants “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution!” in Washington Square Park, NYC ahead of a planned disruption of Black Friday shopping for Gaza. pic.twitter.com/dM3NLD3oJc

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) November 24, 2023

There’s a place on this earth where terrorists are shooting babies in the head, mass-raping women to “punish and terrorize” populations, and burning entire communities to the ground. Where women and girls have been taken hostage and are being held in “slave-like conditions.” Where an ethnic group is being targeted for its race by Arab terrorists bent on driving them out of their homeland.