American Jewish Committee (AJC)’s Post

https://lnkd.in/enfWcaWx Full text of #Biden’s #speech laying out #hostage and #ceasefire deal for #Israel-Hamas war ..."The first phase would last for six weeks. Here’s what it would include: a full and complete ceasefire; a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza; a release of a number of hostages — including women, the elderly, the wounded — in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. There are American hostages who would be released at this stage, and we want them home. Additional, some remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families, bringing some degree of closure to their terrible grief. Palestinians — civilians — would return to their homes and neighborhoods in all areas of Gaza, including in the north. Humanitarian assistance would surge with 600 trucks carrying aid into Gaza every single day. ... And to the people of Israel, let me say this. As someone whose had a lifelong commitment to Israel, as the only American president who has ever gone to Israel in a time of war, as someone who just sent the U.S. forces to directly defend Israel when it was attacked by Iran, I ask you to take a step back and think what will happen if this moment is lost. We can’t lose this moment. Indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of “total victory” will not bring Israel in — will not bring down — bog down — will only bog down Israel in Gaza, draining the economic, military, and human- — and human resources, and furthering Israel’s isolation in the world. ... And all of this would create the conditions for a different future and a better future for the Palestinian people, one of self-determination, dignity, security, and freedom. This path is available once the deal is struck. Israel will always have the right to defend itself against the threats to its security and to bring those responsible for October 7th to justice. And the United States will always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself. If Hamas fails to fulfill its commitments under the deal, Israel can resume military operations. But Egypt and Qatar have assured me and they are continuing to work to ensure that Hamas doesn’t do that. And the United States will help ensure that Israel lives up to their obligations as well. That’s what this deal says. That’s what it says. And we’ll do our part. This is truly a decisive moment. Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it."...

This revealing “the making of misinformation” video highlights the many lies surrounding the Hamas-Israel conflict. Here are some facts about the war to help you counter the lies:   1.     Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza. In fact, it was Hamas, in collaboration with Hezbollah and Iran, that attempted to carry out a genocidal attack on Israel on October 7th.   2.     Israel does not indiscriminately target Palestinian civilians. Instead, it is Hamas that routinely uses its own people, including children and the elderly, as human shields to protect its fighters.   3.     The hunger in Gaza is not caused by Israel. Rather, it is a direct result of Hamas' theft of the humanitarian aid sent to the region.   4.     Gaza is not an "open-air prison" because of Israel. It is Egypt that demands $5,000 from every refugee seeking to escape to its territory.   5.     Israel is not violating international law. Hamas has transformed all of Gaza, including residential buildings, schools, mosques, and hospitals, into a vast terrorist infrastructure and legitimate military targets.   6.     The war in Gaza could end today. All that is required is Hamas' surrender.   7.     Israel has no desire to control Gaza. The European Union or the Biden administration is welcome to take over the management of the territory.   Feel free to contribute more below…

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 3,709 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 37,080 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬!! 😱 These numbers are the number of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas (120) and the number of Israeli victims of the October 7 barbaric attack of Hamas (about 1,200), each multiplied by the proportion of the 🇺🇸 USA population (approximately 340 million) and the population of 🇮🇱 Israel (approximately 11 million) (340/11= 30.9). 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑺 𝒐𝒇 𝑨 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆: ❌ Negotiate with this terror organization? ❌ Beg for cease fire? ❌ Provide humanitarian support all of each stolen by that terror organization? ❌ Ask for the intervention of the UN security council? ❌ Mourn the death of terrorists and "uninvolved" "civilians" that may have been killed by the terrorists amid heavy gunfire durin a rescue operation carried out by US troops? 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝑵𝑶𝑵𝑬 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆!! So why does the US act all of the above when it comes to Hamas and Israel? What would have the US done had it been in Israel's shoes? Hypocricy of the worst kind. A "durable end to the war” – what a sad joke. https://lnkd.in/d3XKEBGh

This past weekend, Heather Johnston,  USIEA Founder and CEO, joined LiveNow from Fox to speak on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. One of the largest differences between Israel and Hamas is how each of them view the sanctity of life. Despite accusations that Israel has a disregard for civilian life in Gaza, the truth is that Israel respects the value of life while Hamas uses this as a tactic. Here’s a few key facts that prove that. On average, Israel is estimated to assist in the entry of 1,000 trucks with aid into Gaza every week. 280,000 tons of aid have entered Gaza since October 7th. That is well over 15,000 trucks bringing humanitarian relief. In Israel’s war with Hamas, Israel has notified Gazan civilians many times with leaflets that air strikes targeting Hamas were coming. By dropping leaflets from air support, Israel runs the risk of notifying Hamas officials that an attack has coming. This has lead to Hamas officials escaping, making the war much harder to fight for Israel but saving many civilians. Prior to Israel’s incursion on Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold, Israel was able to evacuate a record amount of Palestinians. Israel was estimated to only evacuated 250,000-500,000 civilians out of Rafah. Instead, Israel evacuated nearly a million in just a short time. However, Hamas’ reign in Gaza has proven to be incredibly harmful to civilians in the area. The AP reports that collaborating with Israel in Gaza according to Hamas is a crime considered punishable by death. During the First Intifada, it has been reported that hundreds of Palestinian civilians were executed by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. Amidst Hamas’ rise to power, Hamas has also been accused of “systemically” locating rival political supporters, torturing them, maiming, and eventually executing them. Understandably, this brings immense difficulties for other government leadership to rise. The list of instances that Hamas continues to show how little they care for the life of civilians goes on. To learn more about USIEA and our mission to further educate on the ongoing conflict for a stronger U.S.-Israel relationship, click the link in our bio.

🇮🇱Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, strongly attacked the Security Council's decision: According to Erdan today at the UN Security Council meeting: "Releasing the abductees should be the first in the council's order of priorities. Your demand for a cease-fire without making it conditional on the release of our abductees harms the efforts for their release and gives Hamas hope of achieving a cease-fire without releasing the abductees. All members of the council All of them should have opposed this proposal.' "The Security Council hastened, and rightly so, to condemn the terrorist attack at a concert in Russia immediately after it was carried out. But the massacre at the Nova festival, the Security Council has refused to condemn for six months. This is a disgrace! You discriminate between blood and blood," added Arden. Ambassador Erdan described how the UN Security Council acted against the "Boko Haram" organization to free the children it kidnapped and slapped the countries' ambassadors: "Why is the life of Kafir Biebs less important to you than the lives of children in Nigeria? It is for the same reason that you can condemn terrorism in Russia or Iran but not in Israel. For this council, the blood of Israelis is cheap. It's a hallucination. And I'm just disgusted by what's happening here!' 🇺🇲The White House: Our vote does not represent a change in our policy. We were clear in our support for a ceasefire, related to the release of the abductees. Since the final version did not include condemnation of Hamas and did not clearly demand the return of the abductees, we could not support it and therefore abstained. We will continue to hold talks with the Israelis, we will continue to make it clear to them that they have the support of the US in the war against Hamas, and we will continue to make it clear that we want to see an increase in humanitarian aid, a decrease in the number of civilians who are harmed, and of course the return of the hostages. The talks will continue regardless of the Israeli frustration with our vote today.

Fresh violence in southwest Colombia injured several civilians and resulted in the deaths of at least four people – including two police officers – on 20 May. Colombia’s defence minister, Ivan Velasquez, attributed the attacks to the EMC militia group, a breakaway faction of the now-defunct rebel group FARC. The EMC launched separate gun and bomb attacks on a hospital in the town of Jamundí and a police station in the town of Morales. In April, the FARC-EMC rejected the Colombian government's efforts to hold peace talks with guerrilla organisations. Since then, the group has staged a series of attacks on police and military targets. Security analysts believe the 20 May attacks are a show of defiance towards the government and other rebel groups that are still participating in the peace talks. The EMC is one of the armed groups that emerged after FARC's 2016 peace deal with the government, which ended decades of civil war. The much-hoped-for peace, however, has been elusive in Colombia as holdout groups continue to fight for control of drug production and smuggling territories. According to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), in 2023, at least 250,000 people suffered forced displacement, confinement, threats, homicides, landmine explosions, and forced recruitment as a result of the conflict. An estimated 8.3 million people will require aid in 2024 if the violence continues. Colombia is also home to over 2.9 million Venezuelans who have fled their country since 2015, and the 2024 Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) indicates that up to 4.71 million people, including migrants, refugees, and host communities in Colombia, are in need of humanitarian assistance. These challenges are compounded by the impact of climate change, which is disrupting lives and livelihoods across the country. For more background on the peace efforts in Colombia, read our analysis: https://lnkd.in/eej2JW6k

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from hard-liners in his government, continued to lower expectations for a cease-fire deal, calling the key Hamas demands “extreme” — including the withdrawal of Israel forces from Gaza and an end to the war. That would equal surrender after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that triggered the fighting, Netanyahu said." (How in the hell is asking you to get off their land, that you have obliterated, while giving you back your remaining hostages; even though you still have in confinement thousands of their hostages, as well as killing 34,000+ civilians consider "surrender"? This is the mindset of a genocidal maniac, that is willing to kill an innumerable amount of innocent civilians, to achieve an impossible goal. America continues to support this. Israel has turned Hamas and their cause into an ideology. To think you're going to destroy Hamas after attacking Rafah is insanity. This was never about the hostages or working to secure lasting peace in the Middle East.) "But Israel’s government again vowed to press on with a military operation in Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city on the border with Egypt where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents now seek shelter from Israeli attacks." (An invasion in Rafah to retrieve the estimated 100 hostages still alive, will kill hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. The world cannot allow this. Israel's means to justify their completely unfeasible end goal is absurd. Ceasefire now!) "Netanyahu claimed that Israel has shown willingness to make concessions but said it “will continue fighting until all of its objectives are achieved.” That includes the stated aim of crushing Hamas. Israel says it must target Rafah to strike remaining fighters there despite warnings from the U.S. and others about the danger to civilians." (Genocidal maniac ideology. Killing more innocent civilians will not achieve your aim of "crushing Hamas." On the contrary, it will be used as a way to justify their cause, and will increase their recruits.) "An Israeli strike Sunday on the al-Attar family house in an urban refugee camp near Rafah killed four children, including a baby, and two adults, according to Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital." (Another attack in a declared safe-zone killed six innocent civilians. Israel supporters and their sympathizer continue to stress about the morality of the IDF, because they warn civilians to leave areas before they attack. Asking a population to relocate to purported safe-zones, then attacking that safe-zone is not morality, it's treachery.) "The Israeli military says it has killed 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to back up the claim." (Hasbara, evidence continues to show the number is much less) No more innocent bloodshed! America cannot continue to support Netanyahu's genocidal effort to entice a World War and restore a disastrous legacy as Prime Minister. Ceasefire now! End all occupation! Justice for Palestine 🇵🇸

𝐔𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐌 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐈𝐒𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐋? Let's put that into perspective: Britain supplied 42 million pounds ($53m) of arms to Israel in 2022. The US is the biggest supplier, providing an estimated 68% of Israel’s foreign-sourced weapons. But Germany, which provides around 30% of the total, is also a severe supplier. Others are believed to include Britain, Italy and Australia. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙆 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 0.02% 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙄𝙨𝙧𝙖𝙚𝙡. 𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐀𝐙𝐀 For 2023/24, the UK has committed over £100 million in aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (around US$126 million). This includes £60 million announced in October/November 2023 (US$75 million). Taken from Google The international community has sent billions of dollars in aid to the Gaza Strip to provide relief to the more than 2 million Palestinians living there. From 2014 to 2020, U.N. agencies spent nearly $4.5 billion in Gaza, including $600 million in 2020 alone. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, aid to Palestinians totalled over $40 billion between 1994 and 2020.   Hamas has collected revenue for years by taxing imports. Iran provides around $100 million annually to Hamas and other Palestinian groups, Taken from Wikipedia. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙜𝙤? To keep Hamas, a terrorist group, in power. To allow Hamas to build a complex of tunnels from which to attack Israel. To supply arms to Hamas and train an army to attack Israel. To make the leadership of Hamas billionaires. To enable the leadership of Hamas to live in luxury in their mansions away from Gaza. To educate their children to hate Israelis and Jews. 𝙄𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚?

Stop Labelling Israel as the Aggressor! Hamas a Friend to No One, Even Palestinians The U.S. and Israel are airdropping and delivering large amounts of aid and food to the Gaza Strip region, only for Hamas gangs to monetize on this humanitarian aid. These gangs are looting aid trucks and stealing food meant for the Palestinian people. Additionally, they use men, women, and children as human shields while attacking Israeli civilians, waiting for Israel's response so they can use the images of human shields whom they've threatened to murder if they leave their homes. Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, has been using human shields as a strategy to maximize civilian casualties and manipulate public opinion. This despicable tactic not only endangers innocent lives but also serves as a way to portray Israel as the aggressor when it tries to rightfully defends itself. Hamas does not have the best interests of the Palestinian people at heart. It put its own people in harm's way, steals their food and humanitarian aid for selfish gain, and then uses them as propaganda tools. With its leaders worth billions of dollars, it's evident that they are not struggling for the same cause they claim to be fighting for. At this critical juncture, the U.N. must prioritize the protection of civilians and hold perpetrators of violence and terror accountable, regardless of political alliance or allegiance. Click To Read Full OpEd at Newsmax Media, Inc.