Healthcare for Jews in Australia Under Siege

"A wide-ranging investigation published by The Australian has highlighted a series of troubling allegations concerning a rise in antisemitism within Australia’s healthcare system since the attacks of October 7, 2023."

"More than 30 doctors, nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals described an increasingly politicized workplace, alleged discrimination against Jewish patients and staff, and incidents that have caused growing concern within the country’s Jewish community."

"According to the testimonies gathered by the newspaper, pro-Palestinian activism that emerged on Australian streets after October 7 gradually spread into hospitals and other medical institutions."

"Staff members at several hospitals in Melbourne and Sydney were reportedly seen wearing badges or displaying posters bearing the slogan “From the river to the sea.” Political stickers were also allegedly placed in hospital departments, including one depicting a Star of David crossed out with a red line."

i24NEWS  

"Anti-Israel activism began almost immediately after the October 76 massacre when the protests that unfolded in Australian cities spilled into the wards and staff rooms of hospitals in Melbourne, Sydney and other capital cities."

"At the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, which has received tens of millions of dollars from Jewish philanthropists, such stickers [Star of David with red line through it] were stuck to the bedside wall of an elderly Jewish patient in the hours before he died."

Megan Goldin article in The Australian

 

"Doctors and nurses were posting Nazi symbols and little caricatures of Jewish people but using the word 'Zionist' instead of 'Jews'."

Jewish pediatric neurologist Carly Debinski 

Sydney, Australia  Mark Baker/AP

 

A report published by The Australian following an investigation into a seeming pandemic of antisemitic acts by Australian health-care workers against Jewish patients, caught the attention of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, characterizing it as a "deeply  troubling picture and should serve as a wakeup call. We call upon the Australian government to confront antisemitism forcefully. No Jew should ever feel compelled to hide their identity to receive medical care in an Australian hospital", wrote Israel's Foreign Ministry.

 

A link to The Wentworth Report quoting large sections of an article written by Megan Goldin in The Australian was included in the ministry's statement. The article detailed a number of egregious antisemitic behavioral examples by hospital staff toward Jewish patients in medical facilities in Australia. The article revealed statements by 30 doctors, nurses, midwives and health professionals who were interviewed describing their experiences since the October 7, 2023 massacre, where anti-Israel activist health-care workers were "turning hospitals and medical clinics into ideological war zones instead of safe spaces".

 

The case of Elon Glassberg, former surgeon general of the Israel Defense Forces was cited by interviewees, whose scheduled appearance at a medical conference in Perth was cancelled last year when anti-Israel doctors and nurses threatened to protest. Immediately following October 7, anti-Israel medical staff wore protest symbols at work. Bathroom stalls and hallways were covered with stickers, one of which represented a Star of David with a red line struck through it. 

 

Facebook group Jewish members have been vilified or ejected should they speak of Israeli hostages, much less the horrendous atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists and ordinary Palestinian civilians, led by Hamas on October 7. A Jewish intensive care unit nurse at a Melbourne hospital was cited, (who requested anonymity), resigned her position of over ten years in response to management's having refused to address hateful speech online, by hospital staff. "If these people are willing to share these things on social media, imagine how they treat a patient face-to-face."

 

A doctor who described Jews as "loathed slime" online and posted a Hitler quote faced no consequences. Complaints of any number of other doctors who posted antisemitic, pro-Hamas positions also faced no consequences. "That pattern was repeated across the country as hospitals and healthcare regulators tolerated conduct against Jews that would have triggered disciplinary action if the conduct had targeted any other minority group, say numerous medical professionals who experienced this double standard" reported The Australian. 

  

Anti-Israel protesters in Sydney, Australia   ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

"The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Ms Jillian Segal AO, not only condemn antisemitism in all its forms but also reaffirm their shared commitment to eliminating antisemitism – together with all forms of racism and discrimination – in healthcare."

"Antisemitism causes real and lasting harm. In healthcare, it erodes trust, creates fear and exclusion, and can prevent people from seeking or receiving care. It also undermines the safety and wellbeing of Jewish health practitioners and staff. There is no place for antisemitism in a system dedicated to protecting health and saving lives."

"The Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism said:

‘Healthcare should be a safe space for the entire community – patients, practitioners and workers alike. The antisemitism we’ve seen recently puts everyone at risk, and it has no place in our health system. I commend Ahpra for adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism and committing to putting in place further measures to help push antisemitism to the margins.’

Ahpra is strengthening its capability to respond effectively when antisemitism is identified through its regulatory processes. This includes ensuring staff have the necessary training, clear guidance and expert advice to ensure matters are handled with cultural understanding, sensitivity and rigour."

"Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said: ‘Antisemitism costs lives and has no place in healthcare. Ahpra is committed to working with the Special Envoy and partners to eliminate antisemitism from the health system, because everyone should feel safe when accessing care.’

Ahpra has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as a reference tool, supported by the Special Envoy’s handbook to support a consistent understanding of antisemitism in its contemporary forms in our regulatory work.

Ahpra is reviewing its Vexatious Notifications Framework in response to concerns about weaponisation of the notifications process and is establishing an advisory panel of practitioners – including those with lived experience of notifications underpinned by antisemitism - to inform improvements to systems and processes and strengthen safeguards."

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) 

 

Marie McKinerney, Croakey Health Media

 

Insiders Speak: NGOAntisemitism, Failed Accountability, and Their effect on Social Cohesion

"The tipping point was realizing this wasn't a series of isolated failures in a few organizations affecting a handful of employees."

"It was a systemic breakdown of values and principles within global organizations that shape democratic life -- with public trust as the real casualty -- and the situation was only getting worse."

"[The Israel/Palestine director of Human Rights Watch was] repeatedly calling the Hamas-led Ministry of Health figures reliable and credible."

Danielle Haas, executive director EiGHT

 

"Global rights NGOs operate not only as investigators and advocates, but as strategic actors seeking to shape public narratives."

"[This represents] hostile behaviour related to Jews, Israel, or Israelis [within organizations claiming to defend human rights]."

"[There is] systematic patterns of discrimination, bias, and accountability failure across the sector."

"[This 63-page report by EiGHT founded by NGO insiders is] the first independent and extensive account [of its kind]." 

EiGHT -- Insiders Speak: NGO Antisemitism, Failed Accountability, and Their effect on Social Cohesion

 

"That is how credibility dies: institutional certainty, slogan repetition, and refusal to self-correct."

"The reality is that many of these organizations now function less like watchdogs and more like unelected political parties -- powerful actors inside left-leaning public opinion but increasingly detached from rigorous standards and from the basic human rights principles they claim to defend."

Global human rights NGO staffer

Associated with Human Rights Watch for about 14 years, Danielle Haas finally left the organization in 2023 after having raised her concerns respecting methodological failures and compromised standards in an exit email. She is involved in a new report where 70 former and current staff from humanitarian and rights groups formed an alliance to educate the public on a matter that is vital to the complete understanding of the abandonment of neutral human rights issues by groups whose purpose was to defend them without fear or favour. 

 

The resulting report was subsequently filed through recognized official mechanisms, forwarded to five United Nations Special Rapporteurs along with Australia's Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The report by NGO insiders includes interviews with affected Jews and non-Jews. They took issue with managers, staff and leaders in various NGOs who indulged in airing to the public "dehumanizing views toward Israel and Jews", a tone set from the top down.

 

Citing Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres/MSF), Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mercy Corps, Plan International, Save the Children and UNICEF, the report alleges that the Internal Souk communication platform of Doctors Without Borders featured posts like "Stop playing the Jewish card"; posts accessible to 67,000 staff and association members.

 

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was publicly praised by an Amnesty International Australia staffer who spoke of him online as "Legend!!" The interviewees whose responses formed part of the report spoke anonymously in fear of backlash. Growing numbers of Jewish professionals across organizations reported concealing their identity in part, or leaving the sector altogether, with one staffer describing "soft ostracism, ghosting, quiet exclusion" instead of direct confrontation when concerns were raised.

 

Ex-press-officer Diane Richard at Plan International France questioned the organization's silence respecting the Hamas October 7 sexual violence victims. She was subjected to retaliation and subsequent dismissal. Interviewees described being "eliminated" following their concerns being raised of alleged antisemitism, and then saw the same positions reappear. A global environmental NGO in Australia saw an employee describe post-9/11 events as  "increasingly characterized by hostility toward Israel and Jews, including Holocaust comparisons, minimizing or justifying Hamas violence, and promoting BDS-related activity".

 

Yet another described "systemic pollution of international NGO spaces ... with the constant demonization of Israel, the total acquittal of Palestinian leadership, and the adoption of anti-Israel language, like genocide, intifada, settler-colonialism, etc." Complaint systems that appear designed to preserve institutional reputations were included in the report. Many of the interviewees said that concerns of alleged antisemitism, discrimination or Israel-Palestine issues were dismissed, reframed as political disagreement, or treated differently from other discriminatory complaints.

 

However, movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter warranted swift institutional responses. Staff spoke of non-disclosure agreements used as intimidation, where NDAs at Plan International and Greenpeace resulted in "marginalization, role elimination, and enforced silence".  

A boy and his mother at a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders in Gaza City in 2022. The group is one of the NGOs named for antisemitism and/or anti-Israel bias in a new report. Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

 

"Any form of antisemitism, racism, discrimination, or bigotry by MSF staff is unacceptable and fundamentally incompatible with our humanitarian principles. MSF understands how dangerous antisemitism is and we are committed to taking it seriously."

"Throughout our more than 40-year history, MSF has spoken out against abuses committed by governments and armed actors around the world whenever they have endangered patients, health-care workers, or civilians. We apply this same standard consistently, regardless of the country or parties."

"The way Israel has prosecuted this war has resulted in immense civilian suffering, repeatedly placed medical personnel and patients at risk, and severely undermined access to life-saving health care and humanitarian assistance."

"We believe these actions raise profound concerns under international humanitarian law and are incompatible with the obligation to protect civilians, medical facilities, and humanitarian workers during armed conflict."

Claudia Blume, MSF spokesperson 

Amnesty International members hold up signs calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict at an anti-Israel rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 12, 2025. In the EiGHT report, some Amnesty staffers from around the world describe being punished or frozen out after raising concerns over antisemitism or anti-Israel bias. Photo by Paula Tran/Postmedia

  

"We saw trusted, household-name NGOs becoming so infested by ideology, that they have ignored and even excused racism, violated core principles like neutrality and universalism, grown comfortable with being militant-adjacent, openly courted money from rights-abusing countries like Qatar, and pumped compromised work into the public sphere. And instead of showing concern or acting when these issues were raised, managers repeatedly and consistently ignored, denied, and excused them -- sidelining, and retaliating against people who spoke up."

"The result is that flawed or incomplete reporting infused by ideology is shaping public understanding and democratic decision-making."

"The problem isn't influence. It's influence without independent accountability. No institution that shapes democratic decision-making should be left to judge its own standards and claim rigour without being challenged. It's downright dangerous."

Danielle Haas, executive director, EiGHT 

 

Will Israel and Turkey Soon Match F-35 Fleets at a Time of Heightened Threats?

 

"Since Trump entered the White House, Israel has been undergoing a steady decline in its status as the leading US partner and the only regional ally with Washington's ear."

"Following Israel's failed operation in Qatar, Doha received a US defense commitment and protective umbrella that effectively serve as an insurance policy against similar Israeli actions in the future."

"Turkey has also been drawing closer to the US, beginning with the central role it played in the agreement to end the war in Gaza."

"The status Trump granted Erdogan, including Erdogan's signature on Trump's 20-point plan, and now the sale of advanced fighter jets place Turkey in a similar position."

Zvika Haimovich,  Israel Hayom   

Trump and Erdogan   Photo AFP 

 

Qatar is privileged as a reflection of its vast treasury leading to its generosity in U.S. university investments and pleasing the American president no end with the gift of a $400M presidential jet. But it is President Donald Trump's assessment of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's persona as a strongman that elicits the president's approval of this man. It took this president no time at all to assess Syria's new (interim) president as a 'nice young man' belying his terrorist credentials, now recognizable as a dependable ally.

 

The American government's recognition of Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East, one to which it has pledged its support unremittingly in a myriad of ways, not the least of which supplying the Jewish state with technologically advanced planes and weaponry through various administrations, came full circle when Donald J. Trump was once again elected for a second term as president. The personal relationship between Mr. Trump and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu who himself resumed another stint as Prime Minister seemed forged in steel.

 

Trump and Erdogan. A challenge to Israel's national security. Photo: Reuters

 

Unfortunately that steel has not withstood the test of time -- and not all that much time to be sure -- which opened a wedge of  unexpected distance where once there was only warmth, mutual admiration, support and cooperation. Israel, moving forward with its own homegrown defensive weaponry still remains dependent on the U.S. for its planes and where at one time it was taken for granted that the U.S. would ensure Israel had the advantage in its acquisition of U.S. advanced weaponry and planes it seems that its greatest threat aside from Iran may now be deemed by President Trump to be trusted with F-35s much to Israel's and Greece's dismay.

 

Donald Trump has ears and eyes and a mind that is capable of hearing and seeing the threats emanating against Israel by Turkey's Erdogan. But here is Erdogan promising Trump that he will return the NATO-problematic S-400 missile systems to Russia. Alternately passing them off with Russia's permission to a third party. And with the S-400 out of the way so they can no longer be perceived as a risk element with the F-35s, Erdogan is discussing the purchase of the American planes for his airforce, the 2nd largest standing military force in NATO. 

 

F-35s. Photo by MANDEL NGAN /AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

 

When Turkey acquired Russia's S-400 batteries, it was barred from access to the advanced F-35 jets. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the matter is "extremely sensitive".  He stated that Russia "Had contacts with the Turkish side on this matter, and we'll continue those contacts". As for Mr. Trump, he reiterated that he hadn't yet decided whether to permit Turkey to buy the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 jets yet. "I haven't totally made up my mind, but my inclination is to say, look, he's done everything. He's helped us in so many different ways." 

 

That's a long way from the time that saw Turkey attempting to buy U.S.-made Patriot missiles a decade ago when Washington failed to finalize a deal. Which led to Ankara's turning to Russia for the S-400s -- and the United States acted as a result to lock Ankara out of the F-35 program, invoking the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act in 2020 to ensure that Turkey's defense industry was locked out of access to other sensitive technology.  

 

President Donald Trump, left, meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Osmancan Gürdoğan, Pool Photo via AP)

 

Death To America -- One Ship At A Time

"The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait."

"[A Cyprus-flagged container ship was hit by Iran and suffered] significant engine room damage [and a civilian crew member is missing]."

U.S. Central Command 

 

"[Multiple vessels] disregarded our warnings and instructions to correct their course and proceed along the approved route. [One of them] was struck by a warning shot and brought to a stop."

"[The strait will remain closed] until further notice. We will consider targeting] additional enemy bases in the region [should more attacks take place]."

Revolutionary Guards Corps 

 

 

The global community has considered the Hormuz Strait to be an international waterway for as long as most shippers could recall. The Islamic Republic, which with Oman sits closest to the strait now feels entitled to proclaim that the strait is under its control. That being the case it is their prerogative to charge ships moving through the strait. The United States, on the other hand, has urged mariners to transit a southern route through the territorial waters of Oman.

 

The IRGC has discussed the situation with Oman, a long-time supporter of the Islamic Republic, to convince its neighbour that they should both be exacting transit fees from ships transiting each 'their' side of the waterway, treating it as a legitimate commercial enterprise to benefit each country. Oman has stated that it and Iran have agreed to continue discussions on the Strait of Hormuz "at the technical and political levels".

 

A statement confirmed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi who had himself stated prior to the new round of strikes -- with the United States and Iran once again blaming each other for stepping away from the Memorandum of Understanding that was to have led to a cessation of kinetic hostilities -- that he had met with his Oman counterpart to discuss "appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the safe passage of ships".

 

Vessels navigate the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on Wednesday. (Reuters)

 

For the present, Iran has announced the closure once more of the Strait of Hormuz, following a warning shot fired by its military that struck a vessel that it claimed was making use of an 'unauthorized' route through the waterway, jeopardizing the fragile ceasefire agreement with the United States. It took little time for the United States to respond, when U.S. Central Command announced its forces had re-initiated a third round of strikes against Iran. 

 

Explosions took place in Bandar Abbas and Sirik, two towns along the shores of the strait. Negotiations to further cement last month's agreement to end the war will now have its progress halted without securing the strait, according to senior U.S. officials in Washington. With Iran's notification that it had closed the strait again to shipping, the U.S. announced its new strike rounds.

 

"Iran made a poor choice Now they pay", stated Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on social media. Iran and Oman's foreign ministers Saturday meeting to discuss the strait that intersects their shores after days of Iranian attacks on ships and U.S. retaliation dealing a blow to the interim deal to end the war precipitated the latest flurry of shots from both sides.

 

A man holds a poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a gathering commemorating him at a square in Tehran on Saturday.Vahid Salemi/AP

Still unseen in public since February's first aerial bombardment by the U.S. and Israel of Iran's targeted leaders, its nuclear installations and weapons depots, Iran's new supreme leader's first statement since his father's funeral was Iran's intention to avenge the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Supreme Leader Mujtaba Khamenei's statement carried on state television hours following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of continued missile attacks was that such revenge "is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out".  

"We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers."

"This vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out. These criminals — of whom we have a complete list from top to bottom — will take with them to their graves the wish for a peaceful death in bed."

"This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass. Soon individuals among the freedom-seekers across the world will each carry out part of this divine mission."

Supreme Leader Mujtaba Khamenei  

A Hezbollah supporter flashes a victory sign while holding a poster of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during a gathering against the US-Israeli military operation with Iran and its allies in Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

 

The Intransigent, Defiant, Deadly Islamic Republic

"They asked for a time out [from military action]. They wanted to go to the funeral of Khamenei. And I said, ‘Give it to them.’ And they started shooting missiles. I mean, it was the craziest thing."

"I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people and they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over."

"They’re liars. If I make a deal with them, we have a deal. And he [the Iranian negotiator] goes out, he talks. We make a deal, everyone’s agreed: no nuclear weapon. We make a deal, they [the Iranian delegation] go outside, talk to the press, and they say, ‘We never even talked about it.’ There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over."

U.S. President Donald Trump

 

 

On again, off again. Decisions made spontaneously reflecting an impulsive of-the-moment thought process, leavened with emotional irritation. An incendiary situation whose outcome is vital to the well-being not only of the population of the Islamic Republic who have suffered since 1979 under the theocratic rule of a totalitarian state imposing its will, meting out imprisonment, torture and death to all who oppose it. And to the larger community inhabiting the Middle East, as the source of inciting to terrorism through sponsorship of select militias whose formation is vital to the regime's agenda of conquest where the al-Quds branch of the Islamic Republican Guard Corps recruited, trained, armed and  tasked them as proxy militias to carry out its death-cult orders.

 

From Hezbollah to Hamas to Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Iraqi Shia militias all loyal to the regime, the noose tightened not only on Israel, marked for annihilation by the Ayatollahs, but Sunni-majority countries in the region as well; not for annihilation but the conquest of domination. Its weapons' focus as a means to assert its dominance through technological means with missiles and drones, and aspirationally, a nuclear program to allow the Iranian regime to wield the most fearful of all weapons to achieve its goals.

 

 

 

Upended briefly and temporarily when joint aerial strikes by Israel and the United States complicated those plans by assassinating through pinpoint, intelligence-gathered strikes, military commanders, religious figures, including the most senior  cleric whose direct messaging from above moved the strings of the dread and powerful IRGC puppets to action along with nuclear scientists, and strategic strikes on nuclear sites and weapons depots. Any other country would reel from the strength of those blows, but not Iran.

 

It had only months earlier destroyed the lives of thousands of its disaffected people whose effrontery  in massing by the tens of thousands in street demonstrations throughout the country to demand an end to the regime, and the right to live as free people, enjoying liberty as a human right, refusing the straitjackets of passivity in fear of consequences. Their punishment by state police, the Basij and the  Iranian military was swift, decisive and deadly. Battling military-to-military of two well-armed attacking countries required another tack; the manipulation of circumstances and in this case cutting off global shipping to inflict pain internationally. 

"They want recognition of Iran basically having control of the Strait of Hormuz. That is their bottom line. That is their leverage with the United States and the West that has replaced earlier enriching higher and higher levels of uranium."

"Fundamentally, they think time is on their side. They can suffer more than the Americans and the Gulf and that's what they're gambling on."

Alex Vatanka, senior fellow, Middle East Institute 

The Strait of Hormuz became the winning move for Iran in this chess game of a war. Following the February 28-initiated strikes on Iran, since April 8, President Trump declared one ceasefire initiative with Iran after another as oil prices gushed skyward and Washington grappled with the dilemma of lifting itself out of a quagmire it had no stomach to pursue, in a war that proved hugely unpopular with American voters. This was a president who had given the impression that he meant what he said; no more U.S. troops involved in endless MidEast wars.

 

 

 

Instead, Mr. Trump had to focus on the measure that Iran took to disrupt world energy supplies, along with fertilizer and other critical supplies to a dependent world. Any tankers or cargo ships leaving the Gulf States for their usual destinations crossing through the Strait risked Iranian drones or missiles and before long ships one after another were stranded awaiting an opportunity that never came. Then came the system of fees inaugurated by the IRGC for safe passage. Followed by negotiations and a Memo of Understanding and the war footing went limp, all in abeyance.

 

While the U.S. administration faces the democratic anger of its population persuading it to leaven its actions accordingly, no such constraints face the Islamic Republic, for its population is forcibly mute and as much as it detests its government, the fear, anger and resentment of up to 35,000 lives destroyed only a few months ago, acts as an anchor to further action against a government that will not be dislodged. The Islamic regime has decided to wait things out. Until enough pressure from the U.S. public and the international community against a continuation of the war, forces the U.S. military to withdraw. 

 

US Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media before boarding Air Force Two, after the US and Iran held high-level talks at the Lake Lucerne Summit, at Emmen Military Air Base, Emmen, Switzerland, June 22, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool

 

"Iran is trying to avoid another full-scale war. But it also believes that failing to respond caries its own risks because it would project weakness and invite further pressure."

"Iran's calculation is that calibrated, limited escalation can restore deterrence without crossing the threshhold into all-out war."

Negar Nirtazavi, senior fellow, Center for International Policy 

   

United Nations...Fomentor of Palestinian-Arab Psychopathy

 

There are fundamental [emphasis original] historical truths, unalterable as long as Zionism is not fully realized. These are:

1) The pressure of the Exile, which continues to push the Jews with propulsive force towards the country
2) Palestine is grossly under populated. It contains vast colonization potential which the Arabs neither need nor are qualified (because of their lack of need) to exploit. There is no Arab immigration problem. There is no Arab exile. Arabs are not persecuted. They have a homeland, and it is vast.
3) The innovative talents of the Jews (a consequence of point 1 above), their ability to make the desert bloom, to create industry, to build an economy, to develop culture, to conquer the sea and space with the help of science and pioneering endeavor.

These three fundamental truths will be reinforced by the existence of a Jewish state in a part of the country, just as Zionism will be reinforced by every conquest, large or small, every school, every factory, every Jewish ship, etc.

Our ability to penetrate the country will increase if we have a state. Our strength vis-à-vis the Arabs will likewise increase. The possibilities for construction and multiplication will speedily expand. The greater the Jewish strength in the country, the more the Arabs will realize that it is neither beneficial nor possible for them to withstand us. On the contrary, it will be possible for the Arabs to benefit enormously from the Jews, not only materially but politically as well.

I do not dream of war nor do I like it. But I still believe, more than I did before the emergence of the possibility of a Jewish state, that once we are numerous and powerful in the country the Arabs will realize that it is better for them to become our allies.

They will derive benefits from our assistance if they, of their own free will, give us the opportunity to settle in all parts of the country. The Arabs have many countries that are under-populated, underdeveloped, and vulnerable, incapable with their own strength to stand up to their external enemies. Without France, Syria could not last for one day against an onslaught from Turkey. The same applies to Iraq and to the new [Palestinian] state [under the Peel plan]. All of these stand in need of the protection of France or Britain. This need for protection means subjugation and dependence on the other. But the Jews could be equal allies, real friends, not occupiers or tyrants over them.

Let us assume that the Negev will not be allotted to the Jewish state. In such event, the Negev will remain barren because the Arabs have neither the competence nor the need to develop it or make it prosper. They already have an abundance of deserts but not of manpower, financial resources, or creative initiative. It is very probable that they will agree that we undertake the development of the Negev and make it prosper in return for our financial, military, organizational, and scientific assistance. It is also possible that they will not agree. People don’t always behave according to logic, common sense, or their own practical advantage. Just as you yourself are sometimes split conflicted between your mind and your emotions, it is possible that the Arabs will follow the dictates of sterile nationalist emotions and tell us: “We want neither your honey nor your sting. We’d rather that the Negev remain barren than that Jews should inhabit it.” If this occurs, we will have to talk to them in a different language—and we will have a different language—but such a language will not be ours without a state. This is so because we can no longer tolerate that vast territories capable of absorbing tens of thousands of Jews should remain vacant, and that Jews cannot return to their homeland because the Arabs prefer that the place [the Negev] remains neither ours nor theirs. We must expel Arabs and take their place. Up to now, all our aspirations have been based on an assumption – one that has been vindicated throughout our activities in the country.

David Ben Gurion, in a letter to his son, October 5, 1937

David Ben Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel © GPO/Hans Pin

When, in 1947, the United Nations' Partition Plan offered the opportunity to form a state both to the Jews and to the Arabs living in Palestine, it was the Jews who, while disappointed that their entire ancestral land was not included, accepted that offer and declared their state in 1948, and the Arabs outright rejected their portion of the offer, making no secret of their aspirations that there be only one declared state, for the Arabs who thenceforth named themselves the only authentic 'Palestinians'.  

 

As history documents, some 750,000 Arabs fled the area that Israel declared its nascent state, urged mostly by surrounding Arab leaders, many by fear of an impending war, many more awaiting the war's outcome when they were promised by those same Arab leaders they could return to an Israel-free Palestine after its defeat by the combined Arab armies. When the five Arab countries declared war on Israel, thousands of Arabs were evicted by force among the total who fled. 

 

When Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon attacked the new Israel, they fought against a newly-established military with raw recruits with barely basic military training who were in the battle of their lives and that of their fledgling state. Miraculously, Israel prevailed, and the five Arab armies in their failure to prevail and destroy the Jewish state suffered the humiliation of the true 'Nakba'. The Palestinians who had fled gathered in refugee camps in those countries, none of which with the exception of Jordan offered them the legitimacy of citizenship.

 

For Israel on the other hand, the 150,000 Arabs who remained and who were given full citizenship in the Jewish State, to become a significant portion of the population, growing over the years to over two million, absorption was no problem. For Jews living in Arab lands, on the other hand, where they had lived for millennia under Arab rule, the creation of the State of Israel left 950,000 Jews at the mercy of Arab governments who confiscated their goods and properties and expelled them.

 

Israeli military commander arrive in East Jerusalem, after Israeli forces seized East Jerusalem, during the Six Day War 1967. Left to Right: Major General Rehavam 'Gandhi' Ze'evi, major general Avraham tamir, Major General Uzi Narkis, General Moshe Dayan and Lt. General Yitzhak Rabin. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

 

Israel was grateful to welcome these Sephardic Jews to join the mostly Ashkenazic Europeanized diaspora Jews forming the new state. Displaced Arabs and expelled Jews almost equal in number, both considered refugees, were viewed differently by the United Nations; the Arabs consoled and empathized with, and a special arm of the United Nations dedicated to their  welfare (UNRWA), while no mention, much less notice was made of the somewhat greater number of Jews externally displaced, left to their own survival devices.

 

Israel gathered 3.3 million Jews from 150 diaspora countries, from European Holocaust survivors to Jews out of the Soviet Union as well as Jews from ancient communities in Ethiopia and elsewhere. All the while, fending off one Arab military attack after another until the final 1973 attack spearheaded by Egypt and Syria on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Judaic spiritual calendar. 

 

The Arab-Palestinian attacks against Jews that began in the 1930s, steadily escalated after 1948, to become constant terrorism. There is no other country in the world whose neighbours constantly spur themselves to unending terrorist attacks against an adjacent neighbour with ferocious intensity geared to mass slaughter. The focus of Arabs calling themselves Palestinians has never been to develop the institutions required for a functioning state; their economic survival was never in question, thanks to the United Nations and sympathetic Western benefactors.

Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations, meets with Yasser Arafat, Chairman of Palestine Liberation Organization, in Geneva. 27 June 1988. UN Photo.

 

Arab Palestinians in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip have been patterned decade after decade by their leaders to dedicate themselves to the destruction of the Jewish state, with claims that it has been established on Arab-Palestinian-entitled land, not the ancestral homeland of indigenous Jews. Inculcating in the Palestinian Arab population the belief that there is no aspiration more sacred than that of a martyr, from children taught through school curricula and media promptings to honour those who have murdered Jews to the adults they become, proud of being part of a death cult.

 

The United Nations must take responsibility for the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives in this Middle East contest between Jews and Arabs, but it has consistently favoured claims by the latter over the reality framing those by the former.  

Innocently Barbecuing Jewish Institutions

"This wasn't the only thing that was bizarre about this hearing. Before it began, I, a videographer and another reporter waited in the hallway near the elevators and close to the courtroom, where signage expressly permits filming, hoping for an image of Akodad, who has no pictures online."

"A man approached and tried to tell us who we could film. When asked who he was,  he replied, 'Don't worry about who I am'."

"Later, I learned the man was El Amine Serhani, director of the Listening and Assistance Centre for Maghrebi People in Quebec. The same organization lists Akodad's lawyer Saaty as a 'citizen mentor' and his father Fouad Akodad as a 'human pillar'."

"All three were present in court. The scene grew even more bizarre when the court constable shook Serhani's hand after the hearing." 

Terry Newman, The National Post

The accused, Mohamed Ilyess Akodad, said he accepted a $15,000 contract to set fire to Congregation Beth Tikvah on Dec. 18, 2024. (Simon-Marc Charron/Radio-Canada)

 

On Thursday in a Montreal courtroom, Mohamed Ilyes Akodad, 21, appeared in court for his sentencing after having pleaded guilty to firebombing a synagogue and Jewish community centre. He had, he said, no idea that the two buildings had Jewish occupancy. He and his layer, Nazar Saaty, earnestly addressed the judge with the difficult-to-believe claim that Akodad was merely carrying out a business agreement, a paid contract for 'three barbecues' arranged through Signal and FaceTime for unknown locations.

 

The court was informed that the job accepted by Akodad presented when he attended a party with a friend that took place somewhere his memory failed him to identify, as a result of undue stress experienced at the time along with the desensitization of time and place due to drug use. The job for which he was to be paid a princely $15,000 entailed fire-bombing three locations. Duly early morning of December 18, 2024, Akodad smashed the windows of the Federation CJA's West Island offices in Dollard-des-Ormeaux with a hammer.

 

He followed that  up by crossing the street to Beth Tikvah synagogue to set a fire, located next to a Jewish day school awaiting the arrival of children that morning. About four months later he was arrested. While he asked for release at his first bail hearing a month later, he was denied bail, and has been in custody since that time. Pleading guilty to three of the six arson-related charges, along with the intentional or reckless damage caused by fire or explosion to property, mischief respecting property with a value exceeding $5000, and arson by negligence, the maximum sentences reflecting such offences are 14, 10 and 15 years respectively.

 

A firefighter on the scene after a firebomb was thrown at Congregation Beth Tikvah, Montreal, Dec. 18, 2024. (Credit: Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs)

 

That aside, following the hearing of last week, reporters were informed by Crown prosecutor Christopher Hadjis-Chartrand that a two-year prison sentence is sought by the Crown even as Akodad's lawyer has recommended a sentence of nine to 12 months under condition that his client enter therapy, perform community work and apologize to the community. The actual sentencing decision will not be delivered until September 10 when court reconvenes. However, taking into account time already served Akodad could be released that very day.

 

The court heard of the difficult childhood experienced by Akodad leading to low self-esteem and problems with drug addiction. There was also a complaint about "difficult conditions" his pre-trial detention had exposed him to, with limited family visits, placement with gang members, a situation  so very difficult for a man like Akodad who has been convicted of car thefts. That is another story, that criminal gangs pay young men willing to steal vehicles that are then shipped abroad with the profits realized used to buy and smuggle guns from the U.S. into Canada.

 

During his testimony, Akodad's mother wept while his father testifying in support of his son berated him in a demonstration that it could not possibly have been the way he was raised that turned him to crime. He had agreed to the offer by a stranger to commit to three criminal acts which, when videoed as proof that he had carried out the mission as per contract would net him $15,000. The 'three barbecues' mission did not go off directly as ordered, and in the end he was given a mere $2,500 for an incomplete job. 

 

Now, with Akodad claiming he had no idea that his targets had anything to do with the Jewish community, his lawyer argues the arsons were strictly a business proposition, his client earning a fee, and there was no hate motivation involved, and in the absence of proof beyond reasonable doubt, that the miscreant had any knowledge it was Jewish institutions he was to target -- for that, he should be granted "benefit of the doubt".

 

For his part, Crown prosecutor Hajis-Chartrand questioned the claims that Akodad was  unable to recall details of the events that occurred as a result of stress and drugs, suggesting he had been able to plan, recall details, carry out the acts and then film them as proof. Pressed whether he hadn't realized these were Jewish institutions Akodad lashed back that he "wasn't stupid" and could recognize what the Star of David represented. 

 

Cantor Henry Topas, centre, and Rabbi Emeritus Dr. Mordecai Zeitz, right, at the firebombed entrance to Congregation Beth Tikvah in Dollard-des-Ormeaux on Dec. 18, 2024. (John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette files)