Three recent reports have helped to give at least a partial answer to the puzzle of seemingly spontaneous yet simultaneous and near-identical pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli and antisemitic protests on the streets and campuses in Western Europe, Canada, the U.S. and Australia.
Mohammad Raad is the head of the Hezbollah group in Lebanon’s Parliament. In an interview with Russia Today TV on June 11th 2024, he said:
We’re currently investing in protests and demonstrations in Western countries, especially among college students. We already have Muslim students agitating, but it’s the Western students themselves who will destabilise their own countries.
This is a clear and chilling statement of the intent to destabilise Western society and build an anti-Israel coalition through a war on education and information.
On October 7th, the U.S. Treasury published a short account of how it was targeting a significant international Hamas fundraising network. The non-profit sector was being abused by terrorist financiers through “sham charities” to raise and funnel revenue to “Hamas and other destabilising Iranian proxies” to finance their campaign of violence. Treasury estimates these Europe-based “sham charities” have funnelled up to U.S. $10 million per month to Hamas this year. Sanctions were being imposed on several organisations and individuals in order to degrade their ability to raise money to finance their operations. This was the eighth tranche of U.S. designations to target Hamas’s financial support networks, some with allies like Australia and the U.K. Citizens and residents are legally obligated to comply with U.S. Government designations of terrorist actors. Non-U.S. financial institutions and individuals found to be engaged in dealing with sanctioned entities could also expose themselves to punitive measures by Treasury.
ELNET (the European Leadership Network) is a non-profit pro-Israel advocacy group which brings together leaders to foster close relations between Europe and Israel, based on shared democratic values and strategic interests, by facilitating in-depth policy discussions on key strategic issues, common challenges and opportunities. On October 15th, it released a set of four complementary reports that provide details on how Hamas has been embedded in five key European countries: Germany, Italy, U.K., the Netherlands and Belgium. The first part of every report is identical and covers the continent. The second part drills down into the specific situation in each country individually. The U.K., for example, is described as “a focal point for Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood-related activity since the mid-1990s” with 11 Hamas-affiliated organisations and individuals operating there.
The four reports highlight around 30 Hamas-affiliated actors across Europe which raise funds, lobby, recruit, disseminate propaganda and appear on media “sharing Hamas talking points and propaganda”. Their coordinated efforts aim to influence popular opinion and legitimise the groups to policymakers without disclosing ties to Hamas in order to avoid scrutiny from security and law enforcement agencies. Despite Hamas’s designation as a terrorist organisation by the EU in 2001 and several European governments on various dates, these organisations and individuals operate freely across the continent. Along with their leaders, six organisations are identified as operating on a pan-European level. Three of the six individual leaders of the groups, based in Austria, Germany and Italy, were designated in the preceding week’s U.S. Treasury report as persons of interest for sanctions. (Israel has identified 12 Hamas-linked individuals who operate across Europe.) Often, shortly after being designated as terrorist groups, some were dissolved but reconstituted under a different name but the same leadership. ELNET also identifies media outlets which serve as mouthpieces for the pro-Hamas network’s activities in Europe. In addition, the Muslim Brotherhood, which includes Hamas as a member, often uses “civil fronts” of innocuously named charities, humanitarian associations and other community-oriented NGOs to advance Islamist ideologies while offering community services.
Released to mark the anniversary of the October 7th 2023 atrocities, the U.S. Treasury and ELNET reports make for sobering reading. The operation is sophisticated, global and remarkably successful. The Hamas-affiliated actors operate under the cover of humanitarian and charitable NGOs to fund and support Hamas ideology and activities across Europe. Weak enforcement and supervision has allowed them to expand their networks, undermining Western values and cohesion, spreading Islamist ideology and increasing the threat of terrorism. The reports argue that, “Increased awareness about Hamas’s ‘civil activity’ across Europe is necessary to prevent Hamas from spreading its ideology and fomenting violence and radicalism among European communities.” What the ELNET reports don’t say but I alluded to in my last article, is that an open and honest conversation on the relationship between immigration (volume and sources), demographic change, societal breakdown and voter backlash is a prerequisite for eradicating rather than accommodating the rise of extremist rhetoric and politics. Instead, a recent “expert brief” from the influential Council on Foreign Relations, in a series on the ‘Future of Democracy’ project no less, argues condescendingly that, “Advances by Right-wing parties in recent elections in Austria and Germany could have a destabilising effect on domestic politics, as well as normalise anti-migrant and Eurosceptic viewpoints in European politics.”
Is there any reason to believe that the global reach of the Hamas-affiliated network doesn’t extend to Australia? And do we have the capacity and courage to absorb the warning signs from Europe in time rather than persist Micawber-like with a “She’ll be right mate” indifference to the danger? Sheik Ibrahim Dadoun is the man who, on the day after the mass atrocities in Israel last October, told a celebratory rally in Sydney that he was “elated… smiling” following the previous “day of courage”. At a conference in Sydney last month, Hizb ut-Tahrir activists and sheiks hailed the recently slain Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 2023 butchery, as a legendary hero, a martyr who “died a warrior’s death”. The conference heard that Islam will “dominate” and bring “justice to every corner of the world” amidst a “civilisational struggle”. In attendance at the conference, Dadoun insisted that he remained “elated” as “victory was coming” and he’d never before seen “the shift and the tide that has occurred over the last year against the Zionist regime”. What then are Australians to make of the revelation that his employer, the United Muslims of Australia, received about $1.65 million in Government funding in September? There are three serious problems with this. It gives the appearance of financially rewarding extremist rhetoric and behaviour; it gives extremist group leaders financial incentives to make sure that extremist ideology never dies down as this would dry up the bottomless Government funding; and it creates resentment in other groups that have adopted the Australian values of interfaith tolerance, inclusion and peaceful coexistence. Does the Government truly believe that we do not notice? Or is it the case that it simply doesn’t care?
Ramesh Thakur is a former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Emeritus Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy, the Australian National University. This article was first published in Spectator Australia.
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Western students don’t need any help from Hamas.
Israel’s genocidal actions over the last 76 years have convinced most that they should side with the indigenous Palestinians.
Not all jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews.
Many Western governments are run and funded by Zionists.
The financial system is run by Zionists.
Hollywood is run by Zionists.
The main stream media is run by Zionists.
Zionists dictate the narrative.
Israel uses lies and propaganda to demonize Hamas so that the public supports the ethnic cleansing and genocide of ALL Palestinians.
One must admit that the Israeli propaganda machine is working perfectly in all its glory. Formed in 1948 and honed by the captured MSM and Hollywood.
Ably demonstrated by the fact that so many on here – apparent sceptics – have swallowed it all hook, line and sinker.
The mental and moral gymnastics performed by most here are a sight to behold.
The best they can come up with?
People like me are antisemetic, terrorist/Hamis lovers, should go and live in Palestine/Gaza and the odd F++ off.
The Gaza strip. Biggest child cemetery in the world. And counting. And you can’t or won’t see it. Nothing, I repeat nothing could justify it.
Quite agree.
Quite, being called an antisemite, terrorist lover just for questioning and calling out the Israeli atrocities was exactly the same as being called an “antivaxxer” for questioning the “vaccine” a few years ago..
It truly is, as imbecilic as that… And this forum is full of the bloody imbeciles… Full of supposed intelligent adults..
Hook line and sinker…… Whatever the propaganda is, it gets unquestionably swallowed..
Please don’t just hide behind a down tick.
Enlighten me.
Why am I and GHF/insurrectionalist wrong?
You can love your Hamas friends as much as you like but keep in mind they would probably cut your throat too…
As I’ve been supporting the Palestinian cause for about 45 years I very much doubt it.
How far does your support for them go?
Did you like what Hamas did last October?
In conflicts bad things happen.
There are well documented atrocities by the French resistance and even by the French army against German civilians for their “occupation” of France for 4 years.
Palestine has been “occupied” by a foreign force for 76 years.
The taking of civilian hostages and killing of “innocent” civilians is a crime for which Palestinians should be prosecuted.
The killing of thousands of civilians including thousands of “innocent” women and children in retaliation is a much bigger crime.
MM… Here’s your post from few days ago…
MajorMajor
1 day ago
Reply to nige.oldfart
It’s exactly the same policies, methods, ideology. It’s really shocking for somebody who has seen this in practice; in fact you will find there are quite a few old communist dissidents who were astonished when they realized that the West is trying to implement the same policies that resulted in mass scale destruction of societies, economies, starvation, terror and slavery in Eastern Europe. It’s not like these guys have even managed to come up with something original – it’s all the same stuff!
All totalitarian ideas come from a common flawed utopian idea; ultimately they are a murderous cult.
“West is trying to implement the same policies that resulted in mass scale destruction of societies, economies, starvation, terror and slavery in Eastern Europe.”
Absolutely correct
You seem to be blind as to who exactly carried out the above and who exactly is this “murderous cult”….
Its the same people’s who you are supporting, the doctrine has you fooled…
Did you like what Isreal has been doing for 75 years or does your history start on the 7th Oct 2023?
I assume your talking about the “beheaded babies” “babies in ovens” and “systematic rape”…. All of which there is zero evidence of, because it didn’t happen like they said it did..
Just like most of history as it happens.
So just stop parrotting the damn forced narrative
Deluded, much?
Keep parroting words and phrases like genocide don’t make them reality. They do illustrate a weak intellect and lack of independent thinking and originality.
Even Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken told a conference that Israel is imposing an “apartheid regime” on the Palestinians and referred to “Palestinian freedom fighters that Israel calls terrorists.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/haaretz-in-government-crosshairs-after-publisher-calls-terrorists-freedom-fighters/
The irony…. There’s a definition of “genocide” I guess you lack the intellect to even look it up….
Zionist propaganda regurgitater
Keep parrotting the msm narrative, as if that’s thinking out side the box
Some genocide when the population of Gaza has increased from 200,000 in 1948 to over 2.3 million. Even now the birthrate there is greater than the death rate
Obviously even more reason to put children in the graveyard aka Gaza.
Your heroes don’t miss a trick do they.
Every single point is factually correct
I’m such a nasty little antisemite arnt I..
Tinfoil hatted f**kwittery of the first order. And both of your Hamas cheerleader friends are incapable of pulling you up on it, exposing them as the fools they are.
South Africa’s legal team has submitted hundreds of documents containing what it calls “undeniable evidence” as part of its ongoing genocide case against the state of Israel, with the South African representative to The Hague telling Al Jazeera that “The problem we have is that we have too much evidence.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/11/01/caitlin-johnstone-too-much-evidence-of-genocide/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=606faf86-f2ff-4613-b82c-a91410eb15ab
“Containing what it calls”.
Doesn’t make it fact and it certainly doesn’t make it balanced. The South African government is known to be psychopathically anti Israel. It helps keep its own population from focussing on the wholesale raping and pillaging the corrupt South African government is doing to their country.
Let’s face it, you and many others on here are racists.
You don’t like the indigenous South Africans because they’re black and you don’t like the indigenous Palestinians because they have brown faces.
I love Israel more every day.
So do I.
And I have no Jewish ancestors.
And, maybe it’s just me, but every single Jew I have ever come across has been friendly towards me, from my bacon-sarnie-munching Jewish colleague to the one who, upon hearing my comment that I thought a lot of young Jewish ladies were quite attractive looked at me with an indescribable, deep philosophical resignation in his eyes and said “yes but then they become Jewish wives…”
“West is trying to implement the same policies that resulted in mass scale destruction of societies, economies, starvation, terror and slavery in Eastern Europe.”
You utter fool….. Do you know who the perpetrators of the above quote of yours were….
Stalin was not Jewish, as far as I know.
Neither was Adolph, Mao or Pol Pot.
Who do you think is behind the New World Order?
I’ll give you a clue.
Soros, Rothschilds, etc. The latter of whom own over 50% of the world’s wealth.
Please try and join the dots.
Although Sunday Times rich list must be taken with a pinch of salt in the UK Lord R was number 210. By comparison Hargreaves founder of Hargreaves Lansdown was no.94. So in world terms Rothschild are nowhere now; however rich they may have been at end of 19th century.
Does this mean the BBC is about to be designated as a terrorist organisation?
Well, they carry out regular assaults on the nation’s intelligence.
“More than 100 BBC journalists publicly decry the corporation’s huge bias towards Israel and warn that staff confidence is at a historic low.
The media crisis over the failure to report the Gaza genocide is profound”.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-israel-kills-journalists-western-media-killing-truth-genocide
Secret? No we – well many if not most by now – know all about it – it’s the global nexus of interdependent, intersecting, vested interests who have brought us Net Zero, Covid, killer “vaccines”, the Everwar, destabilisation of society and economy and plan much, much more.
The founding Zionists of Isreal in 1948 knew the plan was for a greater Israel.
They also knew to achieve the above cleansing was going to have to take place, ahem… Genocide..
A greater Israel is being created with the assistance of the West and the MIC… along with all the muppet unSceptics on here..
When the anti lockdown and anti jabs marches and protests started I went for the first time on social media to get the details. I was surprised at the time at the number of alternative news outlets, people filming things others organising etc., and wondered a bit how they all managed financially. Also wondered why on these outlets there seemed to be a lot of gratuitous anti Jewish comments which I then put down to mavericks on the sites. Since 7 October I have regrettably come to the view that the organisers etc. had often always been anti- zionist, and knew each other earlier on and come together through that, and the outpouring of support for Hamas is indicative in many case of something more. So now I am more of the view that the supporters of Hamas etc.were in place long before but in the meantime took up the anti lockdown anti jab cause, and regret how much personal support I gave over the past few years. I have now cancelled most of the social media and news outlets, where I had not already been blocked for voicing contrary pro Israel views
..
Well.. Apart from the Daily unSceptics that is…
So the article maintains that Hamas is somehow spreading millions around the world, infecting the place with anti-Israeli propaganda. I personally doubt it but, supposing it to be true, where is now the article on Israel’s actual billions being spread around the world – just for the sake of balance?
AIPAC is a famous example, renowned for ‘supporting’ as many US politicians as possible, not to mention individual wealthy Jewish donors ‘supporting’ US Presidential candidates. It was no coincidence that Netanyahu’s recent speech in front of Congress was rewarded with a standing ovation every minute. And it will be no coincidence that, no matter whoever becomes US President next week, Israel will continue its genocide, funded and armed by the new President.
In UK, we have the Conservative Friends of Israel, Labour Friends of Israel, Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, and so on and so forth. Do such groups exist for every country in the world? If so, it is no wonder our politicians never have time to do any decent work.
In the meantime, the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank continues, as well as the slaughter of Lebanese in Lebanon.
A day or two ago, a Palestinian family was shot at by the IDF while picking olives from their olive grove – clearly a terrorist activity. The mother died.
The daily headlines in antiwar.com list the hundreds of people killed by Israel every day:
Israel Destroys Kamal Adwan Hospital in N. Gaza
Israel Kills Five Journalists in Sunday Gaza Attack
Plight of Gaza Civilians ‘Unbearable’ as Israel Kills Over 50 in a Day
Israel Kills 60+ in Attacks Across Eastern Lebanon
Israel Has Killed 164 Health Workers in Lebanon
At Least 115 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Strikes on Gaza
Israeli Forces Kill 96 Palestinians in Gaza Over 48 Hours
Israel Kills 60+ in Attacks Across East Lebanon
and so on.
It is interesting that Russia was immediately condemned when entering Ukraine, following which USA, UK, EU and NATO all joined together to support Ukraine in every possible manner. But when Israel enters Lebanon … silence.
And they’ve got you down tickers here by the balls.
https://www.aipac.org/
No mention of the massacre on 7 October, no mention of releasing the hostages, no mention of 8000 rockets fired by Hezbollah over the last year.
Fellow Moslems have been killing over a million of their coreligionists recently in on going civil wars in Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Iraq; so why the outrage of the small numbers above in comparison. Colu it be the usual double standard jut to attack Jews
OK, we can talk about the massacre on 7th October.
Hamas supposedly killed 1200 or so Israelis, whereby even Israeli press accepts that probably half were killed by ‘friendly’ fire, but leave the number at 1200. Israel has now killed a minimum of 44,000 Palestinians, wounded 108,000, displaced 2 million and arrested 16,500, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
How many Lebanese have now been killed by the Israelis? One report says around 3,000 with 13,000 injured but I cannot believe with all the bombing that it is so few.
So, whereas the Hamas aggression, or if you prefer massacre, resulted in 1200 dead, Israel has now killed around 50,000. How should that number be termed?
Reports also classified the 7th October attack as a military attack, i.e. primarily attacking the Israeli military overseeing the Gaza “open-air prison”, where people like the recently killed Hamas leader are born and brought up in. It is, of course, not their choice to be born and live inside a prison but that is the world the Jews have imposed on them since they occupied the originally Turkish/Palestinian Arab area and, with the support of the British Administration, declared the State of Israel and subsequently ignored every UN resolution attempting to provide the indigenous Palestinians with some sort of a remnant of a home in their own country.
Over the decades there have been countless reports of mistreatment, torture and killing carried out by the Israelis on Palestinians, not to mention the deliberate and continual deprivation of Palestinian property and rights, both in Gaza and the West Bank.
There are reasons for a very large measure of discontent (putting it mildly) in the Palestinian population vis-à-vis the Israelis.
It is surely clear by now that the Israeli government is intent on killing all Palestinians in order to achieve an Arab-free country. Israelis repeatedly tell the Gazan population to move to a supposedly safe area, only to subsequently bomb that area. When the Israelis are not murdering women and children, they are bombing schools, hospitals and universities, destroying whole villages and murdering care workers and reporters, the latter to reduce the amount of news published of the Israeli atrocities. Finally, they cut off water and electricity supplies, destroy sewage pipes and prohibit humanitarian aid from reaching the Palestinians.
As for the hostages, Israel is clearly not interested in freeing them. Israel has assassinated key Hamas negotiators and clearly implements the infamous Hannibal directive. If you want to free hostages, you talk with the hostage takers, you listen to their demands and negotiate a settlement. Israel refuses to even consider going down such a route.
Apart from attacking Lebanon, Israel recently infringed on Jordanian and Syrian airspace to launch missiles against Iran.
Any other country would be condemned for such inhumane, murderous and irresponsible actions and, indeed, outside the western hemisphere Israel is condemned as a Pariah state. Only the USA and its vassals claim Israel is acting ‘in self-defence’.
When are these horrors to end? Israel is murdering in its own country, in Lebanon, in Syria (Golan Heights) and in Iran. Self-defence ends at a country’s border.
Sorry to be pedantic but the 50,000 number is undoubtedly way too low. Israelis are dropping two-ton bombs with frightening frequency and the Statistics Bureau takes their data primarily from the hospitals, which are also being destroyed, one after the other. The thousands buried under the rubble are not counted, neither are those that die because their heart, diabetes or whatever medicines are no longer available, nor those poor souls dying from starvation or disease. Furthermore, who can carry out a normal day’s work to a constant background of explosions, machine-gun fire, patrolling tanks or bulldozers ripping up the neighbouring street?
There are terrible, diabolical, evil people moving in all circles, many overlapping with one another. The best we can hope for is that they eventually turn on one another, like snakes in a bag.
I wonder why the pathetically wet bourgeois ‘left’ have nothing to say about the Ottoman Empire? The Turks, who were from Central Asia, invaded what is now Turkey in 1299 (a mere 200 years before those evil white people began the colonisation of the Americas) and over a period of several hundred years displaced Greeks, Armenians and Kurds, and continue to subjugate the latter to this day. The Ottoman Empire itself was far worse in its use of slaves, both in numbers and treatment, and massacres of Greeks and Kurds, and the mass genocide of Armenians are all well documented. In fact, the genocide and forced displacement of millions of Armenians only occurred less than 30 years prior to the establishment of the state of Israel.
So why do these simpletons masquerading as educated have nothing to say? I’m sure they would argue that it’s not our fight, yet
are happyfeel obliged to attack the only Jewish state at every available opportunity. And the reason used? Israel is armed by the West, so that makes it our fight. Yet Turkey is a part of NATO and have a desire to join the EU, which of course the politically inept cretins that dwell among us support. The day I see the nerdish intolerant authoritarians masquerading as progressives demonstrating against Turkey’s actual genocide and a return of land to Greeks, Armenians and Kurds is the day I believe they mean it. Until then, they can fornicate right off.hear hear! so well written and argued
I hesitated to interject as it’s rather heated here. The idea of being a sceptic and pro free speech means that I believe you are free to espouse any views. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything you say and am an imbecile if I don’t.
I actually believe that the amount of propaganda on both sides of this disaster is off the scale. Taking into account the last 4 years can you really say every statistic, every photo, statement or video etc is the truth? I tend to believe that, at the very least, 50% of everything I see or hear is propaganda, on both sides of this particular conflict as well as every other one that’s playing out now or has been in the past. It suits the main players and suits both sides of every conflict to rile up the public in their favour.
Also, just because there are a lot of Jewish owners, families, whatever who have positions of power that support their own compatriots, if I had power and/or money I’d do the same. It’s human nature to support your own ‘tribe’ and being white and English I certainly would, fat lot of good it’ll do nowadays though.
Nobody gets everything they want but an awful lot of interested people would lose out if there was peace.
Think both sides have a considerable lobby and obviously one side does not want to tolerate the other sides propaganda. Daily Sceptic is firmly on one side when would prefer it if it could present both sides of the argument and help to bring them a tiny bit closer to what seems like an impossible compromise at the moment.