Regular HOURS:
Monday - Wednesday 10am-6:00pm
Thursday 10am - 7:00pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
CLOSED SATURDAYS
>> >>> OPEN SUNDAYS Noon-5pm <<< <<
SOME PEOPLE don't realize that the PICTURES for each GUITAR
are inside that little guitar 
to the
left of each listing, so just click it!
**** Updated, WEDNESDAY November 5th ****
*MARTIN D-12-28, 1972, 14Fret dreadnought 12-string, Spruce top,
Indian Rosewood back & sides, pickwear on the top,
had a neck set and plays very well, vgc, hsc...$2195
*MARTIN 0-15 Custom Shop, 20121, all Mahogany, exc, ohsc..$1595
*GIBSON '60 LP Standard RE-ISSUE, Gibson Custom, 2019, HISTORIC MAKEOVER
treatment with Brazilian Rosewood board, faded cherry sunburst,
ThroBak SLE-1 Plus MXV PAF humbuckers, hardware and plastic also
aged by HM, aged finish with checking, Neck profile is .083 at
1st fret and .094 at 12th, 8.94 lbs, Lifton Brown case,
exc.........$9500
*GIBSON Les Paul Standard, 2002, cherry sunburst, nicely
flamed Maple top, 9.51 lbs, nice hardly used frets, exc,
ohsc.......$1950
**** Updated, MONDAY November 3rd ****
gbl-pics
*FENDER Master Built by Yuriy Shishkov, 2007 Yngwie Malmsteen Strat,
Olympic white finish that's yellowed, Scalloped Maple fretboard,
3 original Dimarzio Strat pickups, Midi pickup between the bridge
and bridge pickup with Midi jack on side of body, highly flamed
Maple neck, near mint with certificate, ohsc...$7900
*FENDER Champ Amp, Tweed, 1959
*CARR Impala Amp, ca 2020, Tan & Blue, 44 watts, with Reverb,
1x12" carr speaker, near mint...$1900
*MARTIN HD-28 Custom Shop Centennial, 2016,
Adirondack top, Wild Grain East Indian Rosewood back and sides,
slotted thru Belly bridge, grained Ivoroid binding, cut diamond
& squares fretboard inlays, open back nickel Gotoh Butterbean
tuners, 1 3/4" at the nut, 2 3/16" string spacing
forward shifted X bracing, scalloped, $6328 when new,
with the Custom Shop build sheet, exc+, ohsc...$3850
*FENDER Jazz Bass, 1964/74, Sunburst '74 body with '64 neck,
pickups, pickguard, pots& neck plate so basically a '64
Jbass with a '74 body, old neck refin, vgc, ohsc..$4950
*FISHMAN FLUENCE ACOUSTIC Soundhole pickup, both the "Spotlight"
and the "Rock Icon" in stock
gbl **** Updated, Wednesday October 29th ****
*MUSIC MAN HD 130 Reverb Head, '80s, 130 watts, 4xEL-34 Power tubes,
has Reverb & Vibrato and a Master Volume, 2 channels with
2 inputs each, Hi/Lo switch, some cuts and mars on the black
tolex, vgc...........$550
*MARSHALL JCM-800, 1985, 50 Watts, single channel, 2 inputs,
works and looks great, very cool carrying case w/ wheels, vgc.....$2250
*GIBSON ES-135, 2001, trans blue, 2 humbuckers,
trapeze tailpiece, exc+, ohsc....
*GIBSON Les Paul Standard Ltd. Ed. 2004, Manhattan Midnight blue,
transparent finish shows mildly curly Maplebound peghead with
Gibson logo inlaid in pearl and pearl inlaid crest,
bound neck, exc+, ohsc, papers....$2100
*HOFNER Club 40 Guitar, '50s, blonde archtop, single cutaway
with Spruce top, similar body to the "Club Bass", as used by a
young John Lennon, feather-weight, 1 pickup, 'Ostrich" skin
case, vgc++.....$2250, reduced..$1795
*WASHBURN D-30-S, ca 1990, Dreadnought with solid Cedar top,
Birds Eye maple back & sides, looks like it was
made in Japan with scalloped bracing, Rosewood bridge
plate, Rosewood fingerboard, exc, gigbag....$295
*FENDER '70s Strat, 1995, "Made in Japan" at heel of neck,
Natural Ash body, Maple neck with Maole board,
pearloid guard, 6.50 lbs, fluidly fine slim but not
too sllim neck, incredible feel, exc, gb......sold
**** Updated, Friday October 24th ****
gbl
*KENDRICK Model 2112, 1994, Tweed combo, w/ Kendrick 12"
Black Frame speaker. A copy of a 5E3 Deluxe with
hotter biasing on the final pre-amp gain stage
and placement of the 68K grid stop resistors directly
on the input jacks ( Black panel style) possibly to
reduce the phantom coupling between jacks and circuit
caps that the 5E3 is infamous for, exc....$1350
*GIBSON A-3, 1918, Ivory finished Spruce top,Ivroid pickguard,
The Gibson in pearl script in peghead with a pearl vine like
wreath also inlaid in peghead, 1 piece Ebony bridge, all
original with zero issues, the A-3 was discontinued
in 1922, vgc+++, ohsc...$1950
*STADIUM MF-Sunburst, A-style Mandolin with single coil
pickup at the neck, NEW....$179
*MALINOSKI Solid body Electric, recent, Yellow and White,
single cutaway Mahogany body, 2 Malinoski Type 13 SC single coil
"gold foil" humbucker size pickups, Maple neck with
what looks like a rosewood board, wraparound bridge/tailpiece,
very beautiful and in exc condition, gigbag....$1695
*FURCH Red Series Master's Choice GC-SR New, grand concert
cutaway, pearl around the top, pickup, demo model is like
new with warranty, usually $5195, ohsc....$4295
gbl **** Updated, Monday October 20th ****
*GIBSON "A" MANDOLIN, 1914, Natural, carved Spruce top,
Birch back & sides, pickguard clamp with faux tortoise
fitting and clamp style bracket, frets are even in real good
shape, 100% original in beautiful condition,
fine action, great tone, exc, hsc......$1495
*FENDER Bassman, 1961, head and cab, cream with brown grill
cloth, Rare version with Tube rectifier and 1x12"
8-ohm Cab, the output transformer is fine and ideal for use with
an 8-ohm speaker rather than the usual 4-ohm load as with most
Bassman 2 x 12" cabs, some resistors and capacitors that have
been replaced, has the 3-wire AC conversion, vgc++...$3450
*ROLAND Juno-60, '80s Synth, it all works and in very nice condition..$3250
*FULLTONE Full-Drive 2 Mosfet Pedal, Blue, exc...$89
*GIBSON J-185 VS, 1991, sunburst, signed by Ren Ferguson,
Custom truss rod cover "MC2", "Not for resale" stamped on
back center brace, owned and played by Mary Chapin Carpenter,
Spruce top, curly Maple back and sides, under-saddle
pickup w/ pre-amp, exc, ohsc......$3950
gbl **** Updated, Thursday October 16th ****
*GIBSON ES-345, 1966, Sunburst, an ultra beautiful '66 345 that's
100% original, some slight figure in the Maple top and the
slightest of superficial wear on the back, narrow at the
nut, gold hardware, Trapeze tailpiece, Varitone,
2 Pat. No. humbuckers, Neck reads 7.66K Bridge pickup is 7.2K,
1 owner, looks almost new, exc, ohsc....$8900
*GIBSON ES-195, 2013, Electric archtop with single sharp cutaway,
only made one year-2013, flamed Maple back, sides and top,
Mahogany neck with Rosewood finger board with Split diamond
inlays,15 3/4" across, 2 3/16" deep, Gold hardware,
P-94 single coil pickups, Bigsby tailpiece, non-reverse
Firebird styled peghead, exc, ohsc....$3595
*D'ANGELICO thinline Excel 59, recent, black dog whisker finish,
335 style with 2 humbuckers, exc+, ohsc....$995
*VOX AC-30, c 1964, an original old amp in a newer Vox AC-30
cabinet, Burgundy top panel, Top-boost added, 2 original
Blue Vox speakers probably re-coned, exc...$2850
gbl **** Updated, Monday October 6th ****
*WEBER Yellowstone Deluxe F-style Mandolin, 2009, dark sunburst,
carved Spruce top, flamed Maple back and sides and neck, bound
Ebony board, Weber Ebony armrest, K&K pickup inside,
exc-, ohsc.....$4250
*ORTEGA RUNAB-UB Ukelele Bass, NEW, Natural solid Bamboo, with pickup
and cutaway, gigbag.......$470 list...$370
*PRE-WAR Mahogany Dreadnought, NEW, Sunburst with Level 1 Aging,
w/ classy old style hard case.....$6500
gbl **** Updated, Tuesday September 30th ****
*MARTIN D-28 1937 AUTHENTIC, 2025, New, Aged Herringbone
dreadnought with Adirondack Spruce top, Guatamalan Rosewood back &
sides, non-adjustable truss rod, Hide glue used throughout, a thinner
top also distinguishes the Authentic model from the Standard HD-28,
1 3/4" at the nut, soft V Neck, deluxe case....$9499
*CASA GONZALES Flamenco guitar, Madrid C. 1900, A very good example of
what is known as a "guittara de tablao" (guitar of the tables) a
very domed design used in the late 19th and early 20th century
Madrid and popularized by Jose Ramirez I, Spanish Cypress back
and sides with a spruce top, many slick side repairs from the past,
very nice new Wittner geared pegs make tuning a breeze,
vgc, hsc.....$5000
*FENDER American Vintage II Strat, 2022, 2-tone sunburst,
Maple neck, exc+, tweed case.....$1450
*NATIONAL Reso-Phonic, 1964, White pearloid, Resonator
with top and back covers, exc, ossc...$1250
**** Updated, Monday September 29th ****
*BABY TAYLOR, used, vgc, orig gigbag....$250
*MARTIN 00-18G, 1961, Nylon string classical, 2" at the nut,
Spruce top, Mahogany back & sides, tortoid binding top and back,
vgc+, hsc....$2650
*MARTIN 0-18, 1922, Spruce top, refinished Mahogany back & sides,
a lot of playing wear on the top, new Belly bridge, Ebony board
with original bar frets, 12 fret neck with slotted peghead,
vgc, hsc.......$4950
gb
*GIBSON LG-2, 1942, sunburst, large cowboy decals front and back,
some finish touch-up around bridge, Mahogany top, back and sides,
Script logo with 'Only a Gibson is Good Enough' banner on the
peghead, great sounding, vgc+, hsc........$5900
*FENDER Princeton Amplifier, 1954, Tweed, a lot worn, newer output
transformer, Inside pics, gc-...$2495
**** Updated, Wednesday September 17th ****
*HOFNER 4550/S, ca 1965, Sunburst, acoustic archtop, cutaway,
peghead refinished, very lightweight, exc, hsc..$695
*FENDER Blue Flower Telecaster, Crafted in Japan, 2002,
nicely shaped Maple neck, 4 small chips on the edges,
exc-, gigbag.......$1650
gbk **** Updated, Monday September 15th ****
*KIMBERLY Solid body Electric, made in Japan, '70s, red/black burst,
2 single coils, stop tailpiece added, vgc...$165
*GUILD D-24DE, recent Dreadnought, made in China, Solid Spruce
top, laminated Mahogany back and sides, internal pickup,
25 1/2" scale, 1 11/16" at the nut, vgc, gigbag....$350
*MONDELL Flying V, c 2010, extra fine Korina repro of a '59
Gibson Flying V, Brazilian board, Duncans, exc, hsc.....$3500
*MONDELL Explorer replica, ca 2005, Korina, proper
Gibson specs, Duncan SH-18 humbuckers, beautiful Korina,
exc, ohsc....$5500
GBL **** Updated, Thursday September 11th ****
*MARTIN D-45, 1941, 1 of the original 91 pre-war D-45s with
Adirondack Spruce top, Brazilian Rosewood back & sides,
Ebony board with hexagonal Abalone pearl inlays, Abalone
purfling on all borders including neck joint, the guitar
has been expertly restored by John Arnold including a
masterful conversion from sloppily enlarged tuner
shaft holes in the peghead back to the original
open back Waverly tuners, it has new maple bridge plate
made from aged sugar maple salvaged from an antique piano
by John who states that the guitar probably had a '50s-'60s
refinish at the Martin factory- it has a checked and aged
nitrocellulose finish, there are several small tight
repaired top cracks and 2 splinted top cracks, there is
1 side crack at the bass waist about 2 1/2" long
with lacquer touchup, there are no back cracks, bracing appears
unmodified except for the aforementioned bridge plate,
all repairs made with hot hide glue including to a neck heel
crack, it has a perfect repro ebony slotted thru bridge and
has the original un-slotted bridge pins, a neck set was also
done by Mr. Arnold and the frets were leveled, re-crowned
and polished, a new ivory nut was fabricated as well as
a new saddle, all resulting in a structurally sound instrument
that is an extremely wonderful sounding and playing guitar,
with Calton case.......$195,000
Check out a video of this D-45 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7tiyWnEDJU
*GUILD X-82 NOVA, 1983, Red, LEFTY, 2 humbuckers, non-trem...$950
*DANELECTRO U2, 1959, Copper top, white sides, single cutaway
with 2 lipstick tube pickups, exc, ohsc...$1795
*FENDER Precision Bass, 1958, body refinished natural,
Maple neck with newer vintage size frets, original split pickup with
Hi "A" pole pieces, peghead refinished too w/ new decal, original
Anodized pick guard, neck dated 1/58, newer pots, vgc, hsc..$11,950
*FENDER JAZZ BASS, 1965, Lake Placid Blue, all original,
Rosewood board with dot inlays and no binding, the
neck is dated Nov 65, the pots are 6th week of '66,
a few marks on the face and some belt buckle wear on
the back, all original, vgc++, hsc........$19,000
*LYON & HEALY Camp Ukulele, '20s, round body with carved back,
gold and green leafy vine decal on the lower face,
oval sound hole, all original in excellent condition....$395
*TAYLOR GS series, 2006, Natural with Sitka Spruce
top, Big Leaf Maple back and sides, bound Ebony board,
Ebony bridge, Gold tuners, 16" across, 4 1/2" deep, 25.5" scale,
1 11/16" at the nut, pearl rosette, exc, ohsc...$1595
*FENDER Strat, LEFTY, Made in Mexico, Black w/ Maple neck,
exc, gigbag......$550
gbl
**** Updated, Friday September 5th ****
*ACOUSTIC 450 Bass Head, solid state, black & blue,
Graphic EQ on front, '80s, vgc, cover..$300
*SOULFIRE SF-1, New, Semi-Hollow Body first one, made in
New Jersey, El Diablo Red, Cherry Tone Wood
Richlite fretboard with aluminum position markers
Roller bridge, Bigsby B7 Tailpiece, 12" Radius
25" scale, D'Addario Auto-Trim Locking Tuners
Genuine silver plated SoulFire headstock emblem and
truss rod cover, gigbag.....$3200
*GIBSON H-1 Mandola, 1914, pumpkin top, all seams
are tight, vgc+, hsc...$2250
*FENDER Twin Reverb, 1975, Silver Panel, w/ Master Volume,
original Fender JBL 12" speakers for Jerry's sound, vgc++...$1250
*FENDER Bassman '59 Re-issue, 1990, Tweed, 4-10" speakers,
45 watts, Reverb added by Harry Kolbe, vgc......$1250
*FENDER Precision Bass, 1966, Sunburst, Rosewood board,
all original with covers, 9.3 lbs, exc+, hsc...$9500
gbl **** Updated, Monday September 1st ****
*FENDER Telecaster, 1952, Butterscotch, Black guard, other than
the decal probably replaced maybe 25 years ago everything
else is original including frets, no repairs or touchups, 7.37 lbs,
Nacho Banos' Black Guard book with this
guitar's serial number also included, original
brown thermometer case, vgc..$65,000
*FENDER Jazzmaster, 1959, Olympic White and looks blonde,
Anodized guard, once had Schaller tuners, now has the originals
re-installed, vgc+, ohsc.....$18,500
*LOBUE Doubleneck, A beautiful, one-of-a-kind masterpiece from early 1970’s,
This electric double neck guitar was created for jazz great Steve Khan
built by master luthier Charles LoBue in his Thompson Street, NYC workshop,
LoBue was the go-to builder of unique electric guitars and was frequented
by many notable guitarists of the era. LoBue was assisted by several
apprentices while building this guitar who later became quite notable
including Woody Pfifer and Larry DiMarzio,
The body is carved from a single piece of birch and has two mahogany
necks both with ebony fingerboards, mother of pearl fret markers and
Double mother of pearl fret markers at 12th and 21st frets,
pickups were hand wound by Larry DiMarzio and complete a rich and broad
tonal palette, 1.75” at the 12 string nut, 1.625” oat the 6 string nut,
4 one-of-a-kind hand wound pickups by Larry DiMarzio
German Schaller tuners, Kluson style tune-o-matic chrome bridge and tail
piece, Jumbo frets, very low and playable action, Brass strap knobs
Three 3-way toggle switches
Top – 12 string neck pickup selector
Middle – Neck selector, north/ south orientation
Up – 12 string neck on
Middle – both necks on
Bottom – 6 string neck on
Bottom – 6 string neck pickup selector
2 pairs of chrome single volume and tone knobs for each neck.
3-way mini toggle switch for coil splitting/ in-out of phase for
the 6 string bridge pickup.
Weight – 13.2 lbs.
LOBUE logo and mother of pearl flaming vase inlay on each headstock.
fitted Epiphone hard case, exc+.....$12,500
*REBEL RELIC Telecaster, recent, made in the Netherlands,
aged Fiesta Red finish, Rosewood board, brass saddles, vgc+, gigbag...$1500
MORE (mostly) Vintage TUBES-
7 Philips JAN 12AX7 $75 each
8 Svetlana eL-34 $35 each
8 Telefunken 12AX7. $75 each
4 Mullard CV4004 KQDD/K $150 each
2 Mullard 5AR4 $250 each
1 RCA 5U4 gb $75
1 Visseaux 6V6 $120
4 RCA 5881 $125 each
4 Phillips Jan 6V6 $50 each
* a BOB DYLAN Hohner Marine Band Harmonica, Key of D
Hohner Harmonica in the key of D, with approximately a 1” square of
textured opaque white tape in the middle of the top of the
harmonica with the Key inked on in magic marker formerly owned by
Bob Dylan. This is how Bob had his harps marked so that he could
readily see the key he needed while on stage, or in the studio as
Hohner identifies the key of each harp with only a tiny
1/8” impression of the key into the end of the harp, extremely difficult to
see in normal circumstances let alone during a session or a concert.
This one was purchased by me from a friend, who was given it as a
gift by one of Dylan's techs both of whom I know personally.
A similar one written in the same hand, on the exact same
textured tape and was sold at auction for $4886 including the buyer’s premium:
https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/343653105965280
The harmonica is in excellent condition, with case......$4500
Books-
BACK IN STOCK! *Palm Trees, Senoritas... and Rocket Ships" - the illustrated History of National, Dobro,
Supro, Valco and OMI Guitars
A 423 page tour-de-force that explores the
fascinating design world of the musical instruments produced by the Dopyera
Brothers from 1923 to 1993. Famous for their 'National' guitars, they went
on to pioneer electric pickups, fiberglass construction, amplifiers etc, and
influenced the sound of Country Music, Bluegrass, Blues and Hawaiian music
through most of the 20th Century.
Entirely and lavishly illustrated with over 1100 musical instruments and
amplifiers and more than 100 artists who used them - this is THE
DEFINITIVE COLLECTION of all the various developments, designs, colours
and engraving patterns of everything produced by the Dopyera Brothers
in their various companies throughout the 20th century - National, Dobro,
Supro, Valco, Mosrite, Regal and OMI. It has them ALL! It also features lap steels, amplifiers
and various National and Valco manufactured items for other Trade houses.
The book is concluded with an updated list of the serial numbers of known
and re-discovered instruments - now in excess of 4200. A MUST HAVE for
anyone interested in these guitars. Leaves other books on the subject
in the dust....$140
Link for email weekly updates: SEE BELOW
Drop in your email for weekly updates:
In the 1/24/13 Bergen Record, nice article- http://snipurl.com/26aujli
*STORE PANORAMIC VIEW- OF SORTS
______________________________
To see Lark Street Music's Wall click here
Duke Levine w/ the Roy Sludge Trio in the store the day between
the Bowery and the Bell House gigs in NY last week - click here for a clip.
Also check out
______________________________________________________________________
********* PICTURES from the EXHIBIT *************
These are fairly large prints and are here in the store for purchase, all signed by Jonathan Singer-
check his site www.botanicamagnifica for his story.
Prices were from $500-$1000. On sale, 30-40% off
SG and Marshall
Defying logic- 3 Explorers, courtesy J. Menza
Two '59 Les Pauls, courtesy J. Menza
Two Airlines
Three Strats, courtesy Lark Street Music
Old Golds-ES-295 & '54 Les Paul, courtesy Lark Street Music
The '60 Cherry Les Paul, courtesy J. Menza
Moserite Double & Selmer Zodiac, courtesy Lark Street Music
Bacon & Days anyday, courtesy Lark Street Music
Firebirds, courtesy Lark Street Music
EPI EMPEROR & AMP
2 Centuries of Progress!
more to come....
OUR FIRST, AND SO FAR ONLY, TV COMMERCIAL----
featuring Buck Malen, Johnny Rabb, Kevin Maul, unknown banjo phenom & Frances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1DrFtoJAe0
or
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teaneck-NJ/Lark-Street-Music/46986714380
-------------------------o-------------------------
Before After .....
We often get asked "where do these guitars come from" ??? or "who buys these things" ??
So here's an interesting picture of the quite rare White ES-345 (that we had for sale for about a year)
with both it's original ( c. 1964), and current (April'06) owners.
-------------------------o-------------------------
IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE VIEWING THESE PHOTOS, SEE BELOW
Some have complained about bad pictures. If this is happening to you or your PC, let me know. We have Macs
and the pictures are large and clear, so we'd like to know figure out why this problem is happening
An answer from my brother Rick-
By default, Internet Explorer will shrink pictures to fit onto one screen.
That's probably what people are complaining about. Usually, if they hold the
cursor over the picture for a few seconds, a button will appear and they can
click it to restore the pic to full size. I hate the feature, so I just turn
it off and always see the photos full-size:
From the IE menu bar, click Tools | Internet Options
Click the Advanced tab
Scroll down to the Multimedia section
Remove the check from "Enable Automatic Image Resizing"
Click OK to save settings
REPAIRS
For you who don't know, we do all manner of guitar repair and restoration. We do most of it here but
also give some work to Dom Ramos -repairing and building since working in Dan Armstrong's shop in
the '60s. We've also been a Martin Warrantee Center since 1985 before Martin closed down all 5 NJ Centers
because of a tax dispute between NJ and Martin
COMMENTARY-
DON'T SCROLL DOWN - Feelings below\
10/16/25 From "The Tablet"
What are the cool kids chanting these days, what with “ceasefire now” being, like, so three days ago?
We hardly expected a “Thank you, president Trump!” or a “good job there, Bibi.” We’re not crazy. But it’s the fall, and the leaves are turning colors, and everyone is enjoying pumpkin-spice-everything and dreaming about the holidays, so we hoped that maybe we’d get just a few days of basic human decency focused on sentiments like “let’s rebuild!” or “time to heal!” or “gee, it’s sure good to see the hostages back home with their loved ones.”
Forget it, Jack—this is Palestine, and the cool kids have a new war cry: “Death to all collaborators.”
That chant ain’t theoretical: it’s praising the very real murders of very real Palestinians, executed in the streets of Gaza by panicky Hamas terrorists in the aftermath of Trump’s deal.
Just who’s doing the chanting? That would be our pals over at Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, America’s premiere “pro-Palestine” organization. You know SJP, right? Zohran Mamdani sure does: He founded the hate group’s local chapter at his alma mater, Bowdoin College.
We know what you’re thinking: Don’t be mean! Just because someone supported something in college doesn’t mean he supports it still! I mean, it’s college, and people do stupid things in college, like grab that eighth beer, or hit on their TA, or pledge allegiance to a genocidal group dedicated to getting Jews thrown off campus, the Jewish state destroyed, and the American “empire” eradicated, by any means necessary. You know, exuberant, youthful stuff!
But hard as Mamdani may try, he just can’t quit hatin’ on the Jews. This week, his own wife, the artist Rama Duwaji, took a break from her constant stream of anti-Israel screeds to post a mournful note bemoaning the death of Sale al-Jafarawi, killed this week by Palestinians in Gaza.
If the name doesn’t ring a bell, perhaps you know al-Jafarawi by his nom de bullshit, Mr. Fafo: As Liel Leibovitz wrote in Tablet two years ago, al-Jafarawi emerged as perhaps Hamas’s most effective propaganda artist. He died on camera several times only to be miraculously reborn the very next moment, sired a (plastic) baby and lost it in (fake) Israeli air raids, posed as a doctor and a patient and a foreign correspondent and a combatant, always grinning widely because the grotesque, obvious lying was precisely the point.
“Why do we love him so?” Leibovitz asked. “Why has he become the subject of so much attention, on social media and in the press?” The answer, he argued, was as simple as it was searing:
Because he is the pure embodiment of a greater truth: We live in an age that has progressed beyond rational argument. It should be obvious by now that so many of the creeps who purport to weep for Palestine don’t really care about Palestinians, dead or alive, or about Israelis, or about the historical and moral intricacies of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What they want is an excuse to indulge in something deeper, more libidinal, ancient, and indeed erotic—hating Jews. They cheer for #MrFAFO not despite the fact that he’s so obviously faking it but precisely because of it. His performances promise liberation from the annoyances of a fact-based reality whose contradictions are inherently troubling, and instead affirm that old motto coined by Hasan-i Sabbah, the 12th-century founder of the Hashashin, or the Order of the Assassins—nothing is true, everything is permitted.
That this is the person the very likely next first lady of New York City mourns as her “beloved” is troubling. Just ask the young New Yorkers who opened their hearts to TV writer Yoni Weinberg this week, telling stories of how former friends and fellow progressives turned on them the moment they dared supporting Israel, and wondering whether it was time to get out of Dodge.
“When I saw Mamdani win, it was really difficult,” one film director told Weinberg. “I spent time in Paris growing up and experienced hardcore antisemitism there, so I know what it looks like outside America. To see that kind of hatred reach the one place that, in my mind, was safe from it is too much to bear. It breaks my heart.”
Is your heart breaking, too, when you see the largest Jewish community outside Israel littered with vile anti-Semitic slogans and about to be seized by a Third World blowhard terror enthusiast? We have the perfect prescription: Pack your bags and run right up to the Magic Mountain. As David Mikics writes in Tablet today, Thomas Mann’s classic, itself now the subject of a brilliant new book-length study, is modernism’s most humane novel, a masterwork that has a thing or two to teach anyone wondering why seemingly normal people become engrossed by absolutely crazy ideas.
__________________________ 0000000000____________________
David Horovitz
Dear Times of Israel Community,
On the eve of Yom Kippur, this most solemn and momentous of days in the Jewish calendar, let us allow ourselves a modicum of hope.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) leave the State Dining Room of the White House after a press conference in Washington, DC on September 29, 2025 at which Trump set out a plan to end the war in Gaza. (Win McNamee / Getty Images via AFP)
Never short on hyperbole — hailing “potentially one of the great days ever in civilization” — but also never blind to the astonishing global power of his office, US President Donald Trump on Monday managed to line up an unprecedented array of Arab and Muslim leaders in an attempt to bring an end to two years of Israel’s war against the mass murderers of Hamas, and secure the release of all the hostages, living and dead, held in Gaza since the Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
In presenting his plan, Trump also provided succinct and overdue clarification of how we got into the dismal reality in which we have been living for almost two years, reminding a watching world that, for all the international and internal Israeli anguish over the death and devastation of the war, this began with Hamas’s invasion, unprovoked and from territory from which Israel had completely withdrawn. And that it continues because Hamas refuses to free the hostages and lay down its arms.
After seizing power in post-Israel Gaza, the president recalled, Hamas “diverted resources to build over 400 miles of tunnels and terror infrastructure, rocket production facilities, and hid their military command post and launch sites in hospitals, schools and mosques. So if you went after them… you ended up knocking out a hospital or a school or a mosque. A terrible thing, terrible way to have to fight.”
There seems to be no adequate reason why what remains of Hamas would give up its best means of leveraging its survival and revival, namely the hostages it seized on that infernal day and has held in its underground hellholes ever since, and agree to free them all in the very first two or three days of the framework that Trump presented. Least of all when the 20-point Trump plan gives no clear timeline for an Israeli military withdrawal, and makes no specific commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
More broadly, there would appear to be no compelling reason why an organization that exists solely to destroy the state of Israel and kill Jews would consent, as the terms of Trump’s proposal require, to a formula clearly constructed to ensure its demise.
Most Gazans are sick of this war. Most of Israel is sick of this war. The Middle East is sick of this war. The world is sick of this war. But Hamas has vowed to carry out October 7s again and again until Israel is gone, and one of its leaders, Mahmoud Mardawi, repeated this week its refusal to give up its weapons, insisting on the legitimacy of all means of resistance to “the occupation” — by which Hamas means Israel.
And yet, Arab and Muslim leaders from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, and more distant Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Indonesia — some at peace with Israel, some deeply hostile to Israel — have pledged to help Trump realize his dryly self-acknowledged “complex” vision of healing Gaza, ensuring Israel’s security, and moving toward “eternal peace in the Middle East.”
And some of the most influential of those Arab and Muslim leaderships are in Qatar right now, ostensibly telling Hamas that it needs to give its assent to the US president.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) talks with US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, where Trump presents a plan to end the war in Gaza at a joint press conference with Netanyahu, on September 29, 2025. (Avi Ohayon / GPO, via Reuters)
For his part, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, denounced by a goodly proportion of Israel, including most of the families of the 48 hostages, for long spurning the potential opportunity to secure their release in return for ending the war, accepted Trump’s proposal with alacrity, having secured significant input on its terms.
If the proposal moves ahead, and the hostages are indeed freed, the national Israeli interest and his own political considerations will have aligned, and the far-right coalition parties’ complaints that their destructive calls to resettle and annex Gaza will be marginalized. If it fails, he will have been seen to have tried, he will not have crossed Trump, and he has obtained the president’s public commitment of full US backing for Israel to “finish the job” of destroying Hamas, whatever that entails.
Will Hamas offer its familiar “yes, but” delaying tactics, attempt to doom this latest US-led effort and shift all blame, in a misled and feckless world, onto globally reviled Israel? Well, quite possibly. Does Hamas believe it can yet wriggle away from its necessary demise? Again, quite possibly.
Might it scheme to fade into the background temporarily in Gaza, and redouble its efforts to harm Israel from the West Bank, for instance, where it is potent and the Palestinian Authority is weak and unpopular?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, shake hands during their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, April 20, 2024. (Turkish Presidency via AP)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey, a champion of Hamas now emerging as a key player in Trump’s new mix as it eyes US F-35s, long hosted Hamas’s West Bank terror mastermind Salah al-Aruri (eventually assassinated by Israel in Beirut in January 2024).
Qatar, the other key player with the potential leverage and declared desire to enable Trump’s proposal, has for years stirred anti-Israel incitement and violence via Al Jazeera and served as Hamas’s external headquarters. Neither can be credibly expected to be truly seeking Hamas’s extinction.
Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (R), in a meeting with Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh (L) and official Khaled Mashaal in Doha, Qatar, October 17, 2016. (Qatar government handout)
This is a president capable of pivoting dramatically, on core domestic and international issues. From proposing, in our case, less than eight months ago, the permanent relocation of all residents of Gaza and its repurposing as a Middle East “Riviera,” to now chairing a new “board” for a new Gaza that no Gazans will be required to leave.
But as is his want, he exuded absolute confidence in the viability of his latest vision. “I’m hearing that Hamas wants to get this done, too,” he declared, and elaborated: “The Arab…and Muslim countries are going to be dealing with Hamas… I think they probably have an understanding. They haven’t maybe mentioned that, but I would imagine they do. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have gone as far as they’ve gone.”
What, if anything, does the president know that we don’t? We’ll learn soon enough. There is no shortage of clear-headed grounds for pessimism.
But for now, perhaps more than at any time in the past two terrible years, there is at least a grand concerted effort to change the terrible new normal, engendering the hope that a little light might just be entering those hellish tunnels.
And so, as we enter this most somber of days, may the arrayed forces of those who truly sanctify life be blessed in a mission to bring that hope, so faint but so confidently asserted by the most powerful man in the world, to fruition.
May it indeed, as we Jews wish at this time of year, be a “Gmar tov,” a “good conclusion.”
This from the Creative Community for Peace
>>>>Lies and misinformation about Israel get halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on -- as the saying goes.
CCFP refuses to stay silent in the face of these many nefarious allegations.
Recently, we took to our Instagram and LinkedIn to provide balance to the discourse around two of the most malicious lies dominating headlines and social media:
1) the accusation that Israel is committing genocide and
2) that Israel is solely responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
First -- The “genocide” charge is a modern blood libel with zero basis in fact. \
Leading scholars and academics have rejected this "genocide lie" time and time again, despite the accusations made by the various anti-Israel activist scholars and NGOs.
Still, platforms like the New York Times continue to give it oxygen, relying on Hamas-reported death tolls and politically driven propaganda.
Second – While the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is real and urgently needs to be solved, the blame largely lies with Hamas and its allies at the United Nations (UN). [Instagram] + [LinkedIn]
Hamas has done everything in its power to disrupt the distribution of aid, weaponizing the suffering of their own people.
Sadly, the UN is happy to play along, refusing to deliver aid unless other aid mechanisms are shuttered and if they have to cut Hamas out of the process.
Additionally, despite social media claims there is a famine in Gaza — the declaration of famine is based on actual facts and not the feelings of the anti-Israel movement and press. A famine has not been declared, and despite continual claims, one is also not imminent.
All parties need to figure out a solution to this urgent problem, since some of the people we know who are for sure suffering worse than anyone are the Israeli hostages still being held captive inside of Gaza for almost two years now, and whom Hamas refuses to release or feed.
But the blame lies largely with Hamas, and much more international pressure needs to be put on the terrorist group to end their genocidal war — freeing the hostages and the people of Gaza from their tyrannical rule.
Read more about both these claims on our LinkedIn & Instagram.
Political sentiments
Turn back before it's too late!\\
UPDATED JULY 16
https://www.facebook.com/reel/685997670609240
AND THIS TOO- https://www.facebook.com/reel/1440054026935399
and this- https://www.facebook.com/reel/3623986564575308
3/16/25.
Creative Community For Peace's Executive Director Ari Ingel wrote an article for the Jewish Journal examining the one-sidedness of "No Other Land," the Oscar-winning documentary. The film tells an incomplete story of Palestinians in the West Bank area of Masafer Yatta.
In the op-ed, Ingel highlights that while the film claims Palestinians have lived in Masafer Yatta “for centuries” – or even longer – the historical facts on the ground are much different.
Neither Ottoman nor British documents show any permanent Palestinian-Arab communities in Masafer Yatta.
Likewise, aerial photos from the 1980s don’t show any permanent Palestinian structures.
In fact, Masafer Yatta has been designated a military zone since 1981.
The op-ed also notes that the film did not address the ongoing threat of Palestinian terrorism that shapes Israeli policies in the region.
For instance, the piece highlights multiple attacks by Palestinians from the nearby city of Yatta that have targeted Israelis, including the Sarona Market massacre, the murder of Dafna Meir, and several other stabbing attacks.
As the op-ed ends, "If Hollywood wants to understand the true security issues Israel faces, perhaps they should watch the Palestinian documentary filmed on October 7, where Hamas and other Palestinian militants broadcast to the world hundreds of hours in which they documented themselves murdering entire families, kidnapping Holocaust survivors and infants, and committing unimaginable horrors, including rape."
You can find out more on what is happening in Masafer Yatta, and about the misinformation found in the film on our Instagram page
https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/379739/oscar-winning-no-other-land-undermined-by-no-other-information/?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_9_23_2020_15_37_COPY_01)&mc_cid=7ada89916d&mc_eid=141ac4fa71 or in this article from JTA [Link].
Microaggressions are hateful unless used against the Jews
Progressives claim to oppose all forms of bigotry, but there is nobody more bigoted or oppressive than leftist progressive antisemites. Opinion.
by Matthew M. Hausman, J.D. Sep 24, 2024
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE:
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396648
JULY 24th
This is by Irwin Mansdorf,
see it here too https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-duping-of-america/
When US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines recently spoke of “foreign efforts to influence our democratic processes,” specifically pointing to Iran, she expressed publicly what many have known now for years. The war against the West led by Iran and its proxies around the world is not only a war in the conventional sense, but also a war where psychological ploys are used to target what Haines described as Americans who “may not be aware” they are being exploited and used to further Iranian interests.
Nowhere are these efforts more felt than in the “ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza” (again the words of Haines). The “playbook” is one that has created a somewhat absurd link between the interests of radical Islam and the ideology of progressive human rights. By transforming Gaza from a terror entity bent on the ethnic cleansing of Jews into a victim of colonialism and genocide by the Jewish state, the interests of Iran converge with so-called “enlightened” members of the progressive Western elite.
While the progressives believe they are supporting social justice, they are, in reality, being manipulated and exploited by the most extreme illiberal elements in society who would not tolerate their presence in their own societies. So, we see “Queers for Palestine” supporting Gaza, a place where queers cannot exist, and women’s organizations criticizing Israeli “apartheid,” while gender apartheid continues unabated in Arab society.
This is all part of a planned program of psychological warfare that has linked the wants of progressive leftists with the needs of radical Islamists. For more than two decades, the principle of “intersectionality” has been used to classically condition the goals of any “liberation” movement with those of all liberation movements. A “prix fixe” menu of preselected slogans accompanies any ideology seen to fit, and that fit is a “one size fits all” that has blunted critical independent thinking.
As with many psychological traps, independent thinking can become captive to rigid ideology. One example is an ideology that holds that “all people” are the same and that “all people” value and want freedom. While this may be true in the West, it is woefully out of touch with the Middle East, where tribal loyalties and religious thinking carry far more weight.
The consequences of this form of psychological manipulation are seen not only in the demonstrations noted by Haines, but also in mantras that reflect public policy. These mantras may appear to be fair, balanced, and reasonable, but when they are used to further Iranian interests, people need to pay attention. One glaring example is the mantra of solving the Israel-Palestine conflict by establishing an “independent Palestinian state.” Sounds fair, balanced and reasonable. But if we consider that this policy is supported not only by many in the West, but also by Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, perhaps we can also begin to realize that people are being duped.
As the saying goes, “If you see something, say something.” Today, that not only applies to suspicious packages left unattended, but also to less suspicious illiberal ideas that cloak themselves in progressive clothing.
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A breathtaking speech by Miriam Novak at the UN General Assembly. Don't miss a word!
For two thousand years we have lived among you, offering you our knowledge, discoveries and inventions.
At the UN Special General Assembly in New York, held at the request of the leaders of the European Union and the New Arab Bloc, the representative of Israel, Miriam Novak, spoke.
Standing at the podium, in front of the green marble wall of the main UN hall, Miriam Novak said into the microphone:
"Ladies and gentlemen! As you know, eighty years ago, Europe, led by Germany, carried out an ethnic purge: it exterminated almost all the Jews who lived there. French, Belgians, Dutch, Norwegians, Hungarians, Slovaks, Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians – all helped the fascists.
You killed at least six million Jews, including newborn babies. Each of them could have given the world children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so you can multiply the number of killed by four or five...
And now, when we are again plundered, beaten and killed in all your countries, and your courts release the murderers, you tell us that we have no right to defend ourselves?
We have no right to warn our enemies that we will respond to a new ethnic cleansing with an even more powerful strike?
Perhaps you can name another nation whose extermination is so fanatically sought by your new Iranian-led international community? And why?
For two thousand years, we have lived among you, offering you our knowledge, discoveries and inventions.
We have given you the alphabet, the Bible, the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles, Spinoza, Disraeli, Columbus, Newton, Nostradamus, Heine, Mendelssohn, Einstein, Singer, Eisenstein, Freud, Landau, Gershwin, Offenbach, Rubinstein, Saint-Saëns, Kafka, Lombroso, Montaigne, Mahler, Marcel Marceau, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Yehudi Menuhin, Stefan Zweig, Arthur Miller, Maya Plisetskaya, Stanley Kubrick, Irving Berlin, Edward Teller, Lion Feuchtwanger, Paul Newman, Robert Oppenheimer, Benny Goodman, Eugène Ionesco, Imre Kálmán, Marcel Proust, Marc Chagall, Barbra Streisand, Claude Lelouch, Steven Spielberg, Anouk Aimée, Leonard Bernstein, Norbert Wiener, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Andrew Lloyd Webber and thousands of other scientists and educators.
Imagine how many such geniuses could have been born from the millions of Jews killed by you, and then from their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren!
But these unborn geniuses disappeared forever in crematoriums, burned synagogues, and mass graves.
So do you really think that your resolutions, boycotts and sanctions can bring us back to the gas chambers?
No, ladies and gentlemen! Having lived among you for two thousand years, we have had to adapt to you and learn not only your languages, but also some aspects of your psychology.
Otherwise, how would we have survived in Persia without Persian perfidy? In Spain without the Spanish cruelty? In Germany without German submission to discipline? In France without French avarice? In Poland without Polish vanity, and in Russia without the oaths and the Russian habit of court latrines, where one must squat and talk about one's spiritual greatness? — (Laughter in the room.)
"And that is why I will tell you frankly: yes, we are not angels. Among us there have been international crooks and gangsters, Lansky, Medoff and Epstein, thieves, looters, adventurers and even pedophiles.
But in all our common history, there has never been a Jewish Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. There have never been Jewish Josef Mengele and Erik Koch, Jewish Adolf Eichmann and Idi Amin, Jewish Andrei Chikatilo and Li Zicheng, Jewish Jeffrey Dahmer and Jean Bokassa, Jewish Fritz Haarmann and Ted Bundy, Jewish Nikolai Dzhumagaliev and Albert Fish.
We have never made necklaces with human ears, never scalped, never eaten human flesh, never made soap with human fat, never made lampshades with human skin, never made mattresses with women's hair, never burned people in religious temples, and never killed children in gas chambers. Instead, we created things that changed the world for the better.
Drip irrigation, seawater desalination, Intel processors and Centrino and Core Duo platforms, the world's smallest DNA computer and the world's first USB flash drive, nanowire and camera pill, multiple sclerosis drug and exoskeleton, Google Glass for the blind and baby breathing monitor, The radar that can see through walls, the holographic reality artificial intelligence synthesizer, and hundreds of other wonderful things.
Representing only 0.2% of the world's population, we have given the world 32% of the Nobel Prize winners. Yes, I forgot to tell you: we have never consumed and do not consume the blood of Christian infants to make matzah. Already in 1913, three Orthodox experts on Judaism proved this at the famous Beilis trial in Kiev.
In 1962, the Second Vatican Council lifted our guilt for the crucifixion of Christ, and in 2011, Pope Benedict XVI declared that "the Christian cannot be anti-Semitic, we have the same roots."
In 2019, his successor, Pope Francis I, said that "every Christian has a Jew in him" and that "one cannot be a true Christian without acknowledging one's Jewish roots."
In addition, the head of the global Catholic Church said that "the covenant between God and Jews continues to apply" and "that anti-Semitism includes not only attacks on Jews, but also criticism of Israel."
Finally, in June 2020, the Rev. John Hagee, the leader of American Evangelical Christians, published his "Appeal to the World," in which he said simply and clearly, "Why do we, eight million patriotic American Christians, support Israel? Because God is on Israel's side! If a Christian says he doesn't like Jews, then his false Christianity is very dubious. God says, "I will bless those who bless Israel! I will curse those who curse Israel!"
And now I want to ask the European delegates in this room: who do you think you are? Are you Christians or not? When you pray to Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the holy apostles, are you not praying to the Jews? And when you say that you carry the image of Christ in your heart, do you not admit that you carry a Jew in your soul?
Even if you are a hard-core atheist, your ancestors were Christians for two thousand years, and therefore, Judaism is in your blood – whether you like it or not!
So, ladies and gentlemen. If you insist on the international boycott of Israel because you continue to hate Jews and want the total extermination of Jews on earth, then be consistent – start with yourselves, do seppuku! It will be an honest ethnic purge.
And now, as we say here in America, I have news for you. Now, after the Christians, it is the turn of the Muslims to get rid of anti-Semitism.
Yes, it won't be easy, but just as the Almighty helped humanity get rid of the bubonic plague, anthrax, cholera, and coronavirus, He will help you get rid of anti-Semitism.
You ask: why? Why has the Almighty brought us back to Israel and forced you to give up your desire to destroy us? For He has to have a purpose, doesn't He?
I will give you my personal opinion. For according to His purpose, every nation is to bring to mankind what it does best.
The French - cooks and perfumers.
The English and the Russians - writers and poets.
Italians - artists and musicians.
The Germans - soldiers and philosophers.
And we Jews - geniuses.
Geniuses who, in all fields, are advancing humanity from barbarism and idolatry to culture, humanism and technical progress. This is our mission, which we have been accomplishing for two thousand years, despite everything!
So whether we have genetic, torsional, nuclear, tectonic, cosmic, or other defense weapons, that's none of your business! Whether you allow us to have defensive weapons or not, we don't care.
As one of the founders of our state, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, once said: "Whether you like us or not, we don't care, we arrived before you and we will leave after you."
FROM HONEST REPORTING- 11/27/23
During the tense four days that have passed since the start of the Israel-Hamas truce on November 24, media have created a false moral equivalence between the release of Israeli hostages held by the terrorist group and Palestinian prisoners who have been jailed in Israel. Such coverage, which implicitly equates Israel to Hamas and validates the latter’s strategy, may have far-reaching ramifications on the continuation of the war.
In order to achieve that distorted equation between innocent women and children who were abducted from their homes and prisoners who have been charged with acts of violence or terror, media have used three parallel strategies: Sanitizing the Palestinian prisoners, referring to the Israeli hostages as “prisoners” and creating textual and visual symmetry regarding the joyful family reunions of each side.
AP and Reuters Set the Narrative
The Associated Press has managed to incorporate the first two strategies in one headline: “Palestinian families rejoice over release of minors and women in wartime prisoner swap.”
The rest of AP’s story, while including some background on the released Palestinian “minors and women” (but none on the Israeli “prisoners”) carries an empathetic tone that borders on justification for Hamas’ kidnappings. For example, it quotes an official referring to “prisoner exchanges” as “the only hope” for prisoners’ families, without mentioning that she works for a group with terror links:
“These kinds of prisoner exchanges are often the only hope families have to see their sons or fathers released before many years go by,” said Amira Khader, international advocacy officer at Addameer, a group supporting Palestinian prisoners. “It’s what they live for, it’s like a miracle from God.”
The story ends with an emotional quote from a released Palestinian prisoner, who was jailed in Israel for throwing stones:
It was his first glimpse of the world after a year in prison for throwing stones in the northern town of Qalqilya. He was freed even though he had eight months of his sentence left to serve.He turned toward his father, wrapping him into a hug. “Look, I’m almost bigger than you now,” he said.
The hurling of rocks can kill, and it has killed Israelis in the past. It is most certainly not a harmless pastime activity as some media have intimated. The story also does not detail the various charges against most of the released Palestinians, which range from attempted murder and violent assault to terror affiliations.
The same distorted patterns appear in Reuters coverage. A mind-boggling headline refers to Israel and Hamas “prisoners,” including a four-year-old whose parents were brutally murdered in front of her eyes before she was kidnapped to Gaza.
An earlier version of the story included a video featuring a split-screen showing 9-year-old Emily Hand, an Israeli girl released from Hamas captivity, reunited with her father, next to the family reunion of released Palestinian bomber Israa Jaabis:
A textual symmetry followed the visual one: After detailing Hand’s family’s plight, the story ends with a quote from Shorouk Dwayyat. Nowhere does it mention that Dwayyat is a PFLP member who tried to stab Israelis to death:
In comments to Al Jazeera TV from her home, freed prisoner Shorouk Dwayyat, who had served half of her 16-year prison term, said she felt joy mixed with pain. “I feel like I am in a dream, but I hope that the war on Gaza will stop as soon as possible.”
When one of the world’s largest news agencies fails to mention such details, instead presenting terrorists on the same moral level as a 9-year-old who’s been abducted from her home, it violates journalistic and human values alike.
US, UK Media Sanitize and Equate
The New York Times also featured Israa Jaabis, sanitizing her attempted murder by passively blaming her vehicle:
She was arrested that year after her car exploded at a checkpoint near Jerusalem in the West Bank, leaving her disfigured and an Israeli police officer seriously injured.
National Public Radio didn’t even bother checking the facts. It simply published a photo gallery presenting the release of Israeli hostages amid pictures of Palestinians celebrating their prisoners’ release.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, included the following paragraph about the Palestinian prisoners release after a description and photos of the family reunions of freed Israeli children:
Videos posted on social media showed similarly joyful scenes in the West Bank, where Palestinian women and children freed by Israel were reunited with their families. A bus carrying Red Cross staff and the prisoners as part of the second day’s releases arrived to a crowd of supporters holding flags in the occupied West Bank early Sunday.
But the “similarly joyful scenes” were not similar at all. As German magazine Bild has pointed out: “The Israelis celebrate the return of the hostages, the Palestinians the release of prisoners. The difference couldn’t be greater: Israeli parents peacefully hug their released children. Palestinian ex-prisoners are cheered at terror marches”.
The Washington Post also does not say a word about why the Palestinian women and “children” (most of whom were minors) were arrested in the first place.
Israel spokesperson Mark Regev confronted a Sky News anchor about this issue, exposing the fact she was not even aware of the charges against the released Palestinians:
Some media have created an abysmal narrative that whitewashes terrorists by comparing them to innocent toddlers.
Some have minimized the kidnappings that took place on October 7 by equating the suffering of Israeli hostages to that of Palestinians in Israeli jails.
And by doing so, they have created a false moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas. They have also implicitly validated Hamas’ strategy of kidnapping Israelis and undermined Israel’s justification to continue fighting against the terror organization.
In a week that may be decisive for the course of the war as the agreed-upon truce between Israel and Hamas comes to an end, media have a responsibility to report the facts, not to create them.
END OF ARTICLE
Bruria Efune ·A LONG READ, BUT IT'S FAST AND TRUE-
·
I’m not writing this for the antisemites or closeted Jew-haters. They will always think and believe what they want to think and believe.
But for the Jews who are confused; for our friends who want to support us but are being bombarded with false information; and for the youth on college campus and even high school who are pressured to stay quiet and hide—this is for you.
We are one people, and when one of us bleeds, we all bleed. I know that you are also hurting inside, ever since the day you saw 1,400 of our people slaughtered in the most vicious way. And our friends worldwide who want a world of good, you also feel the pain of 200 kidnapped people—babies, children, and grandmas being held by terrorists.
Let’s take a moment to understand what is really going on, and address the claims you may have been hearing.
For perspective, let’s first look at what happened on Tuesday night, when suddenly every news outlet across the globe headlined that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza and killed 500 people.
The news outlets all published these headlines based on word they received from Hamas—a recognized terror organization that had just slaughtered 1,400 Israelis. None of them took a moment to consider that it was impossible for Hamas to know the death toll within mere minutes of the blast. None of them listened when Israel said that it does not target hospitals. It took until the next day when President Biden confirmed evidence that the blast was in fact from a failed Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that these outlets changed their headlines only slightly.
But the ridiculousness of it all came glaringly obvious in the morning, when photos and video footage showed that the blast had been in the hospital parking lot, where there was nothing but damaged cars. Realizing they were caught in a huge lie, Hamas dropped their death toll estimate to “10-40.”
Take a moment to consider how eager everyone was to share word from a terror organization when it would make Israel look bad—even with significant evidence that it was false. Think how reluctant they were to correct the error, if they did at all. Now have this in mind whenever you hear any anti-Israel headlines. Consider how comfortable people feel with a lie when it’s to prosecute Israel.
With that in mind, let’s look at some popular anti-Israel catchphrases going around these days:
*”Israel’s response is disproportionate.”*
After decades of firing tens of thousands missiles and mortars at Israeli civilians, on October 7th, terrorists from Gaza launched a full war on Israel. An estimated 2,900 Hamas terrorists broke through the Israeli border and tortured, raped, and murdered 1,400 Israelis, and kidnapped 200 more. The vast majority of those killed were civilians, including babies, children, and elderly Holocaust survivors.
To quote one of the terrorists describing their cruelty, “we behaved like animals.”
The terrorists chose October 7th in order to target a music and peace festival being held in the forest near Gaza, which was full of teens and young adults. They stormed the festival and turned it into a bloodbath.
Since October 7th, terrorist faction in Gaza fired 7,000 rockets and missiles at Israeli civilians, adding an entire Bedouin family to the death toll amongst others, displacing 500,000 Israeli civilians, and destroying homes, schools, playgrounds, and even a wing of Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
The only proportionate response is the complete eradication of Hamas, and a guarantee of safety to all Israeli citizens.
*“Israelis are European colonizers!”*
This one is disgusting and blatant antisemitism. It’s shameful that we even need to respond to it.
Israel is and always was home to the Jewish people. For 3,377 years there has never been a time when Jews did not live in Israel. Most Jews were forcefully exiled by foreign conquers and occupiers, but never once stopped praying for the return to Zion and Jerusalem, and attempting to return when possible.
My husband and I can both personally trace our lineage to when our families were expelled from Israel, and when we returned, as can most Jews from both Europe and the Middle East. We are the indigenous people here, and it is racist to call us the occupiers or colonizers of our own land.
In addition, not all Israelis are Jewish. Many are Muslim, Druze, Christian, or others, and they serve in the military too, and are also being killed by Hamas terrorists.
*“The Palestinians just want a State!”*
In 1947 the Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine were offered more than half the land in a partition plan. They refused it and chose instead to attempt the annihilation of all the Jews. They failed.
Notably, when the land from the partition plan was mostly taken by Jordan and Egypt, no one called for them to make it into a Palestinian state.
The Palestinians were again offered a state in the 1993 Oslo Accords, but Hamas opposed it, and instead chose to launch terror attacks on Israel.
In 2000, at the Camp David Summit, the Palestinians refused an offer that included even more territory, and instead launched the Second Intifada.
In 2005, Israel evacuated all 8,000 Jewish citizens from their homes Gaza, and gave the Palestinians a state with beautiful beaches and infrastructure. Countries worldwide poured in billions of dollars, hoping that the Palestinians would make it into a paradise. Instead, they elected Hamas as the government, and spent all the money on terror.
The Hamas Covenant is very clear in what they actually want:
“Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious... The Islamic Resistance Movement is but one squadron that should be supported...until the enemy is vanquished and Allah's victory is realized. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine...”
*“Israel maintained a siege on Gaza.”*
That’s literally impossible, since Gaza also has a border with Egypt.
Israel maintained security borders like any other country. Due to Hamas’s tendency to import rockets which are used on Israeli citizens, Israel inspects all imports at the border, and in non-war times, allows all safe materials through.
To enter Israel, you must have a visa or work permit, which plenty of people from Gaza had. Many of the small Israeli communities near Gaza are made up of people who dreamed of peace with Gaza, and therefore hired many Gaza workers. In a horrific turn of events, several of those permit-holding workers assisted in planning the terror attack, and stormed Israel on October 7th to murder and kidnap the very people they worked with.
This pulls into question whether Israel should ever have given work permits to Gaza citizens at all.
*”Israel stopped supplying water and electricity to Gaza!”*
This sounds ridiculous when you think about it. What country supplies electricity and water to a people that declared war on them and slaughtered their civilians?
Gaza had its own power plant and water supply, but Hamas plundered the equipment to make rockets which they fired into Israel. Despite this, Israel had been supplying them with electricity, gas, and water. All three were turned off at the start of the war, but the water was turned back on shortly after.
If Gaza can’t produce their own electricity now, they can turn to their other neighbor, Egypt, who they did not declare war on.
*”Israel is killing civilians in Gaza!”*
Sadly, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists hide in between civilians and use them as human shields. Historically, Israel has made a huge effort to minimize civilian casualties, by giving warnings before bombing any building, and using precision targeting.
This time Israel has a moral obligation to the safety of its citizens to eradicate Hamas. Therefore the IDF gave Gaza civilians a safe evacuation route away from areas which will be under heavy fire, with two weeks notice to evacuate. Hamas has been making an effort to block civilian evacuation, though most have thus far succeeded in moving to safer locations.
In addition, since October 7th, 1 in 5 rockets fired by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fell short—that adds up to 550 rockets that they fired on their own people, contributing to an unknown but high number of civilian deaths in Gaza.
*”Israel is committing an ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians!”*
The Palestinian population has been growing at the same rate as the Jewish population in Israel. That’s not how ethnic cleansing or genocide works. This is a bigger lie than the Gaza hospital bombing, and reeks of antisemitic undertones.
*“Israel is apartheid.”*
All Israelis have equal rights, at every level. There are even Muslim parties in the Knesset (parliament), holding 10 of 120 seats. A quick stroll through any major Israeli city will show you Israelis of all religions getting about their day together, happily. My dentist and my husband’s primary physician are both Arab, and that’s the norm!
Often when people cry apartheid, they are referring to Palestinians. They are not Israeli, they live in either Gaza, which is under Hamas rule, or parts of the West Bank, which are under governance of the Palestinian Authority. They are treated like any other visitor to Israel - they can apply for a work or tourist visa to enter, and then work or tour like any other visa-holding visitor.
*“Zionism is evil. Not all Jews are Zionists.”*
Zionism is a longing for Zion - Jerusalem, and Israel. Jews are from Zion. For over 2,000 years Jews have been praying three times a day, and after every time we eat bread, for the return of all Jews to Zion. You cannot separate Jerusalem from Judaism.
Stand strong. The world has become a frightening place for the Jewish people. We remember those who stayed silent enablers during the Holocaust, and those who managed to resist the pressure and become heroes. We see you, and we respect you for making the right choice.
Pictured: In between collecting mutilated bodies of Israelis killed by Hamas, and seeing the torture inflicted on families with small children before they were murdered, a ZAKA worker breaks down in tears.
A friend wrote this. I take no credit, but it's food for thought.
"I'm not asking anyone to take my side, or the side of Israel, but I am asking you to think critically about the news you get from CNN and the BBC and AlJazeera or whatever station you watch
If we were colonizers, we would be actively planning wars, and TAKING land, not giving it away for PEACE. ( SINAI, Lebanon, Gaza strip...all relinquished, after being won, fairly, in a war, which we did not start. And yet still given away, in the promise of PEACE, which we have not gotten in return)
If we were committing genocide, then the population of Gaza and the West Bank would not have GROWN since 1967, but rather gotten smaller..no? Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank 1967: less than 1 million. Arabs in those areas today: 5 million)
That is not GENOCIDE! You cannot have 500% population growth in a genocide.
The definition of genocide is:
" The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group"
Does it look like we've destroyed anyone or are aiming to?
Point of fact, we do not engage unless engaged with. And even then, our engagements are military, warnings in advance to clear the area and no civilian engagement whenever possible.
Which brings me to the next part:
War Crimes. Do you see in Israel rocket launchers on residential streets, missiles hidden under hospitals and schools (yes, even UNWRA schools got in on the deal)? Do you see 5 year old martyrs with hand grenades, and children trained with automatic weapons, and calls to behead all arabs, wherever we can find them? No, you do not.
That is what our army faces against daily. And our CIVILIAN population is faced with daily, hourly....the WAR CRIMES of HAMAS and the Palestinian Authority.
If we wanted to flatten all of Gaza and turn it into a parking lot, we have the weapon power to do it in 3 minutes. Why in the world do you think we haven't? After 10,000's of rockets and missiles have been fired indiscriminately at our cities and schools and homes, after Israelis have been killed and maimed and attacked....the reason is because we value HUMAN LIFE. Because we are trying to save the lives of the people of Gaza and the West Bank. We introduced water and power infrastructure to their villages. Before Israel, they had none.
Next, the claims that Gaza is an open air prison, or a death camp etc. Ask yourself, how poor Gaza, that the BBC and NYT likes to claim is cut off from the world, and has no access to supplies...can import or import the materials to make thousands of rockets and missiles and rocket launchers --but can't import food, or medicine? Ask yourself where all of the cement and supplies to build schools and hospitals went...when instead there are hundreds of miles of cement and steel reinforced underground terror tunnels built every year.
Finally, ask yourself how the leaders and government of poor Gaza have enough money to have a Billionaires Gaza Yacht Club with multi-million dollar yachts, and facilities, luxurious 5 star hotels, shopping malls filled with Gucci and Chanel and Polo shirts -- while their people literally starve and beg for help.
And that is the main point. Israel does not govern GAZA. Israel is not in GAZA. Israel does not control GAZA. Gaza controls GAZA. So whatever the War Crime is for shelling your own population (430 rockets fired from Gaza at Israel have actually fallen within Gaza hurting and killing their own people), for putting rockets and missiles under their homes, for stealing their food and international aid -- you should know who to blame. The same Gazan leadership the Free Palestine movement funds and supports.
And now, think again critically about this situation. Do you honestly think that "Free-ing Palestine", and turning Israel over to these same folks that currently run GAZA or Ramallah so well is the solution to anything? Will provide more food or medicine or opportunity or freedom to ANYONE? Free Palestine hangs gay men from the tops of buildings and drags their bodies through the streets. Free Palestine supports honor killings of young women who have been raped or abused or shamed. Free Palestine calls for the elimination of all Jews. Free Palestine is in reality, nothing more than a thuggish, brutal, facist military regime, dressed up like a woke, liberal western project with nice slogans and catchy protest tunes.
Like with most things, just follow the money and see what Free Palestine is really all about before lending your voice or your funds or support.
Again, you don't have to wave an Israeli flag from your flagpole, but if you care about justice, real justice, and peace, freedom and security, think critically about the information you receive and then ask yourself what rings true."
ed by StandWithUs
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