Baffling — why impose the tariff in the first place?

From: The Times of Israel April 5, 2025
Netanyahu set to meet Trump in Washington on Monday in bid to reverse the trade tariffs Washington imposed on Israel

White House talks would make prime minister first foreign leader to negotiate in person with Trump on new trade policy;
Rubio also talks tariffs, Iran and Gaza with premier

Trump had told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that Netanyahu “may very well be coming next week.”

They will also discuss:
1. efforts to reach a hostage deal,
2. Israel-Turkey relations,
3. the Iranian threat,
4. and confronting the International Criminal Court

“The prime minister appreciates the personal and warm relationship with President Trump,” the statement continues, “and thanks him for inviting him to be the first leader to meet with him after the imposition of global tariffs, just as he was also the first leader to meet with him after entering the White House.”

A senior Israeli official had told reporters in Budapest on Friday that Netanyahu discussed the tariffs with Trump.
“I believe we will enter a dialogue with them, said the official. “In the end, most of it is solvable.”

Trump’s 17% tariff on unspecified Israeli goods caught Jerusalem off guard.

Earlier in the week, in a bid to forestall such a harsh penalty by Israel’s single largest trade partner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had scrapped all remaining tariffs on American imports.

Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Friday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken with Netanyahu “to underscore US support for Israel.”

From: The Jerusalem Post April 5, 2025
UN renews Albanese’s mandate until 2028 despite history of antisemitism

The confirmation comes despite opposition from the US, UN Watch, and 100,000 petitioners.

The UN Human Rights Council renewed the tenure of Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese on the situation of human rights in the “Palestinian territory occupied since 1967” during a vote on Saturday.

Albanese herself confirmed the results of the vote with multiple posts on X / Twitter.
The confirmation comes despite opposition from the US, UN Watch, and hundreds of thousands of petitioners.

On Thursday, Geneva-based NGO UN Watch submitted a petition with 100,000 signatures from around the world, against renewing Albanese’s tenure.

Also, on Thursday, the United States mission to the UN sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stating that it opposes the renewal of Albanese’s role as UN special rapporteur due to her:
1. “virulent antisemitism, which demonizes Israel and supports Hamas,”
2. “clearly violating the UN’s code of conduct and is unfit for her role,”
3. “not acting in an independent and impartial capacity.”
4. “consistently aligning herself with Hamas terrorists,”
5. “accusing Israel of genocide,”
6. “likening the Government of Israel to the “Third Reich,
7. and comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.”
8. “unapologetically using her UN position to purvey and attempt to legitimize antisemitic tropes
9. while serving as a Hamas apologist.”
10. writing “violence must be put in context”
11. and that the October 7 attack occurred in response to Israeli “aggression.”

Previous calls for action against Albanese:
In October, United Nations Watch published a report titled “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing:

Why Democracies Should Sanction UN Rapporteur Francesca Albanese,” urging democratic nations:
1. to impose sanctions on the special rapporteur
2. and accusing her of promoting antisemitism, supporting terrorism,
3. and spreading misinformation.

The report called for her removal, citing a series of statements and actions that violated UN impartiality standards and promoted hatred against Israel and the Jewish people. UN Watch demanded swift action to terminate her mandate.

The report identified numerous instances in which Albanese has been accused of using antisemitic rhetoric.
In a 2014 Facebook post, she claimed, “America is subjugated by the Jewish Lobby,” a classic antisemitic trope suggesting Jewish control of governments.

In another incident from February 2024 she downplayed the atrocities of October 7 dismissing it as a “reaction to Israel’s oppression,” even after Hamas targeted Jewish civilians in the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust.

France called her remarks “scandalous” and “a disgrace,” while Germany condemned them as “appalling.”

The report also cited Albanese’s frequent comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany.

She described Gaza as “the largest and most shameful concentration camp of the 21st century,” which UN Watch notes is a textbook case of antisemitism under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.

UN renews Rapporteur Albanese’s mandate until 2028 despite history of antisemitism

The anti-Israel United Nations is beyond repair It needs to be dismantled, redesigned and rebuilt, from the ground up start with defunding....

The U.S. is the lead donor to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which oversees Albanese’s office, contributing more than $36 million last year pull the funding

No agency in the world is so totally misnamed than the UN "Human Rights" Commission.

Not a fan of Netanyahu, but he is still the elected leader of the democratic Israel and Europe should not turn their back on them.
Orban is right the EU wrong.

Sure thing 100% irrespective of anything — Israel's so called allies including Australia, Canada, Europe turning their back on Israel, in their dire straights....

No denying though that the polarizing Netanyahu "has led Israel to the terrible place they are now in” -- Global pariah on the world stage

Israel of the old when Israeli leaders would never have let,

• their kibbutzim be overrun by terrorists
• terrorists taking Israeli hostages
• soldiers carted off to captivity
• Those were the generations that won the 1967 war in six days against a coalition of Arab states primarily Egypt, Syria and Jordan
• Operation Thunderbolt — 04 July 1976 Israeli forces conducted one of the most audacious, daring and successful military operations in the nation's history, within a week, to rescue Jewish civilian hostages held by terrorists, at the Entebbe Airport, in Uganda

Different ways to bring Israeli leaders to justice for Gaza crimes
Al Jazeera by Alastair McCready, Virginia Pietromarchi, Edna Mohamed, Usaid Siddiqui and Nils Adler 05 April 2025

Extracts:

• As always take Israel to task — Terrorists off the Hook

The new evidence of Israeli military war crimes in Gaza should spur the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan to issue more arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, a legal expert says

Neve Gordon, a professor of international law at Queen Mary University of London, says,
But the ICC is “under immense pressure” from states allied with Israel, led by the United States

Other forms of international justice also exist, Gordon told Al Jazeera, including the concept of universal jurisdiction, under which suspected war criminals can be arrested by individual countries


And I would hope, the same thing will happen,
1. in Russia and other terror countries
2. with Hamas and other terrorists and their terror war that started it all Day 548

Another one

Israeli army admits ‘an error’ in initial account
Al Jazeera by Alastair McCready, Virginia Pietromarchi, Edna Mohamed, Usaid Siddiqui and Nils Adler 05 April 2025

Extracts:

• Israeli army admits ‘an error’ in initial account of medic killings

Israeli media are citing military sources about the initial investigation into the killing of the 15 Palestinian medics near Rafah last month

Here are the main news lines:
1. Six of the 15 people killed in the convoy are believed to be Hamas operatives
2. Intelligence agencies have evidence to suggest this but final confirmation has not yet been made
3. A Golani Brigade force at the scene set up an ambush near the road two hours before the incident
4. and observed the *ambulances stopped and the occupants quickly exiting

The force, aware Hamas uses ambulances, sensed an immediate threat and believed they were under attack

The army acknowledges an error regarding the discrepancy between the,
1. army’s initial account which stated the convoy moved without lights
2. and the video published in international media

1. How authentic is this video
2. How do we know this convoy in the video is the same as the said *ambulances
3. If Hamas uses ambulances as cover, even with lights....

The horrors and immeasurable suffering, death and destruction All sides "endless offensive” Forever war devastating terror trauma

Palestinian Authority: Israel buried victims ‘to erase the truth’
Al Jazeera by Alastair McCready, Virginia Pietromarchi, Edna Mohamed, Usaid Siddiqui and Nils Adler 05 April 2025

Extracts:

• Palestinian Authority: Israel buried victims ‘to erase the truth’ Didn't do a very good Job!

The Palestinian Authority says the footage showing the killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza disproves Israeli army claims it does not purposely attack the healthcare system

The Foreign Ministry said,
The video shows the final moments of Palestinian medics, wearing highly reflective uniforms and inside a clearly identifiable ambulance as they were shot to death by Israeli forces in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, southern Gaza, on March 23

Again, How authentic is this video
If true though — Then again.... Life or Death split second decisions War is brutal indeed

Israel doubling down on claim at least 6 emergency workers gunned down were Hamas fighters
Al Jazeera by Alastair McCready, Virginia Pietromarchi, Edna Mohamed, Usaid Siddiqui and Nils Adler 05 April 2025

Extracts:

• Israel is doubling down on the claim at least six of the emergency workers gunned down by Israeli soldiers were Hamas fighters

They don’t address the fact that the Israeli troops were quite close to the paramedics
They could identify them They could speak to them None of the medics were armed

How could the army know / ascertain that these unidentified people, in a live combat zone were unarmed

The explanation provided as to why they were buried in a shallow mass grave is also quite unconvincing in that it says it’s standard procedure
Why indeed such a sloppy! job at that

Israel’s largest human rights organisation, B’Tselem, has long considered the military justice system to be a fig leaf of the occupation
Even Israeli journalists, who don’t usually question the military, are raising a lot of questions and saying this discrepancy, this video, is very damning

Again, How authentic is this video

Pro-Palestine protesters in Washington send Trump a message
Al Jazeera by Alastair McCready, Virginia Pietromarchi, Edna Mohamed, Usaid Siddiqui and Nils Adler 05 April 2025

Extracts:

• Pro-Palestine protesters in Washington send Trump a message

And Trump has a Message for you!

There was a rally that lasted an hour in which people from Gaza expressed how they lost members of their family

The protesters are trying to send a message to the Trump administration,
1. it’s time to stop funding Israel
2. of course, the continuing assault on Gaza

What is interesting is that Benjamin Netanyahu will be here on Monday It’s really about tariffs but Donald Trump has said on many occasions, he is going to fully support anything the Israelis do in Gaza, effectively giving them a green light

Trump likes the idea of what has been said many times that he is the most pro-Israeli president ever to sit in the Oval Office — Thank you Mr. President

The protesters are now heading from the rally site on Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the White House, down to the headquarters of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

And the reason they’re heading there is because there have been several arrests over the last couple of weeks of people who have expressed their concern about what is happening in Gaza They were here on student visas or green cards and have been effectively taken off the street by ICE agents

Pro-Gaza protest in Washington draws thousands despite crackdown
Al Jazeera by Alastair McCready, Virginia Pietromarchi, Edna Mohamed, Usaid Siddiqui and Nils Adler 05 April 2025

Extracts:

• Pro-Gaza protest in Washington draws thousands despite crackdown

An anti-war protest is under way near the White House that includes a number of Jewish groups

Demonstrators also highlighted the fact that people who previously protested the Gaza genocide have been taken away by US immigration authorities and detained

Mariam Osman, from the Palestinian Youth Movement, said thousands of people are attending the rally, showing people aren’t being swayed by the government crackdown

Rightly so.... America First! Wish other Western countries would do the same with ours

Osman told Al Jazeera,
Osman noted a recent poll found only 15 percent of Americans support sending more military aid to Israel, a sign times are changing


The absurdity is terrorists Hamas refusing to,
1. release the hostages
2. and ending Hamas’ presence in Gaza

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar:
Why doesn't the Movement be enraged about Hamas' terror and rally against terrorism

Indeed as Elise Stefanik said United Nations is a "cesspool of antisemitism"

UN renews Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s mandate until 2028 despite,

• history of antisemitism, anti-Israel vitriol
• opposition from the US and other opponents
• Geneva-based NGO UN Watch submitting a petition with 100,000 signatures from around the world

If Trump doesn't fix this rot.... Start with defunding pull the funding

We will always support Israel !

His majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands commemorated the long-lasting bonding between the Netherlands and the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in Israel (President Shimon Peres' dinner 2013): “It was a Dutch banker from The Hague, Jacobus Kann, who made possible the purchase of the land on which the first modern districts of Tel Aviv were built, more than 100 years ago.”[citation needed] Jacobus Henricus Kann (1872–1944) was a Jewish Dutch banker and owner of the private bank NV Bankierskantoor van Lissa & Kann (ABN AMRO Bank), among his clientele were members of the Dutch royal family,

Dutch Minister critical of Israel for shooting dead 15 aid workers in Gaza: 'Seems like a violation of the laws of war'
The Israeli attack on a convoy of ambulances in the Gaza Strip last month appears to be a violation of the laws of war. Minister Caspar Veldkamp (Foreign Affairs) said this on Sunday in the television program Buitenhof . Fifteen aid workers were killed in the attack, while they were clearly recognizable in their ambulances with flashing lights.

Veldkamp called the attack "extremely serious" and wants a "thorough investigation" into the Israeli attack that killed 15 aid workers on March 23. They had flashing lights on and were immediately shot at when they stopped.

The Israeli military revised its initial statement on Saturday night about the deadly attack near the southern city of Rafah. It initially said the ambulances were unrecognizable because they were driving with their lights off and without flashing lights. But Israel reversed its statement on Sunday after images of the attack were broadcast around the world. "The military acknowledges that the statement that the ambulances were unrecognizable was incorrect," an official admitted.

Matryoshka and Babushka dolls mixed versions

BBC April 6, 2025
Israel's army has admitted its soldiers made mistakes over the killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza on 23 March.

The convoy of Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances, a UN car and a fire truck from Gaza's Civil Defence came under fire near Rafah.

Israel originally claimed
1. troops opened fire because the convoy approached "suspiciously" in darkness without headlights or flashing lights.
2. movement of the vehicles had not been previously co-ordinated or agreed with the army.
Emergency vehicles race to the scene No time

How authentic is this Mobile phone footage?
Mobile phone footage, filmed by one of the paramedics who was killed, showed the vehicles did have lights on as they answered a call to help wounded people.

IDF slippin’ Mobile phone buried with the remains to be unearthed and presented as evidence? It's not a smart move

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) insists at least six of the medics were linked to Hamas - but has so far provided no evidence.
It admits they were unarmed when the soldiers opened fire.

IDF Smoking gun If Mobile phone footage is authentic

BBC April 6, 2025
The mobile video, originally shared by the New York Times, shows the vehicles pulling up on the road when, without warning, shooting begins just before dawn.

The footage continues for more than five minutes, with the paramedic, named as Refat Radwan, heard saying his last prayers before the voices of Israeli soldiers are heard approaching the vehicles.

An IDF official briefed journalists on Saturday evening, saying the soldiers had earlier fired on a car containing three Hamas members.

When the ambulances responded and approached the area, aerial surveillance monitors informed the soldiers on the ground of the convoy "advancing suspiciously".

When the ambulances stopped beside the Hamas car, the soldiers assumed they were under threat and opened fire, the official said, despite no evidence any of the emergency team was armed. How could the army know / ascertain that these unidentified people, in a live combat zone were unarmed

Israel has admitted its earlier account claiming the vehicles approached without lights was inaccurate, attributing the report to the troops involved.

The video footage shows the vehicles were clearly marked and the paramedics wore reflective hi-vis uniform. If Hamas uses ambulances as disguise

IDF — Court martial

BBC April 6, 2025

The soldiers buried the bodies of the 15 dead workers in sand to protect them from wild animals, the official said, claiming the vehicles were moved and buried the following day to clear the road. unconvincing

They were not uncovered until a week after the incident because international agencies, including the UN, could not organise safe passage to the area or locate the spot. IDF sloppy! Didn't do a very good Job! if easily found

When an aid team found the bodies they also discovered Refat Radwan's mobile phone containing footage of the incident IDF slippin’ leaving mobile phone

The Israeli military official denied any of the medics were handcuffed before they died and said they were not executed at close range, as some reports had suggested.

Earlier this week, a surviving paramedic — IDF left a witness... told the BBC
1. the ambulances had their lights on
2. and denied his colleagues were linked with any militant group.

The IDF promised a "thorough examination" of the incident, saying it would "understand the sequence of events and the handling of the situation".

The Red Crescent and many other international organisations are calling for an independent investigation.

The Times of Israel April 6, 2025

The Saudi Al-Hadath channel reports that the US has transferred a second THAAD battery to Israel amid rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.

The battery was apparently delivered yesterday.

Flight tracking websites showed that an American C-5M Super Galaxy, the US Air Force’s largest transport plane, landed at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel and remained there for around eight hours before taking off again.

The THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, is an advanced anti-missile system.

The THAAD system deployed to Israel has been used to intercept several missiles fired at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, including in recent weeks.

The first THAAD battery was rushed to Israel last year, and around 100 US troops are thought to be deployed to operate the system, which is considered complementary to the Patriot system but can defend a wider area, capable of hitting targets at ranges of 150-200 kilometers (93-124 miles).

Still salvo of rockets, missiles toward Israel

“Out! out! out! Netanyahu get out!”

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In the Netherlands
Anti-Jewish slogans and praying Muslims on Dam Square, is that allowed? 'Public space is not an extension of prayer space'
author avatar
Wierd Duk

03 Apr 2025in Domestic

Amsterdam - Who owns the Dutch public space? The question arises after Muslims recited anti-Jewish verses and burned the Israeli flag during a prayer on Dam Square. "It is organised hatred."

Arabist and historian Machteld Allan (61) looked in amazement last Saturday at the images from Amsterdam of praying Muslims on Dam Square. "It was on Dam Square, of all places, between the Palace, symbol of the constitutional monarchy, and the national monument with which we commemorate the war, that the prayer was performed. And anti-Jewish verses from the Koran were also recited. A multiple, deliberate insult to Dutch society."


The anti-Jewish verses and also the burning of the Israeli flag on the Spui led to commotion and questions in the city council and the House of Representatives.

Is all this allowed? Two worlds collide here, says Allan. “In Islamic countries, there is a completely different view of public space than here. We see public space as the face of society. That is why we cherish it as a place where everyone is equal, we make it beautiful, put down a flower box, sweep the pavement and give each other space. Civil society takes shape in public space. In Islamic law, public space as such does not exist. For Islam, public space is only something to which the Sharia, Islamic law, must be imposed. What the street looks like does not matter. What does matter is what the woman walking on the street looks like: is she sufficiently covered?”

Separation of church and
state "It is precisely the separation between the private and the public that characterizes our constitutional state," says Jos Teunissen (70), emeritus professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law and General Political Theory. "Everything flows from that, including the separation of church and state."

See also:

Astonishment over masked demonstrator who sets fire to Israeli flag in the heart of Amsterdam: 'Apparently this is all possible'
According to Rotterdam alderman Faouzi Achbar (Denk), the separation of church and state is 'outdated'. Achbar was responding to criticism of the first iftar at Rotterdam city hall. Coalition partners VVD and Leefbaar, for their part, called that statement 'unacceptable'.

'Islam is a political enterprise'
According to Machteld Allan, Achbar's view fits seamlessly within Islamic doctrine, in which there is no separation between mosque and state. "Sharia determines everything in life, down to the smallest detail. We in the West just don't want to understand this, even though there has been literature on this subject for 1,400 years. Ultimately, the goal of pious Muslims must be to establish an Islamic state, here too. Islam is a political enterprise."


See also:

Defending the separation of church and state is not hatred of religion
Partly for that reason, Allan continues, praying Muslims claim sidewalks and squares on their holidays, in order to express their piety and demonstrate their solidarity with the ummah, the worldwide Islamic community. "And they show that they, as Muslims, do not respect our idea of ??public space."

Text continues below the photo.

Praying Muslims on Dam Square in Amsterdam: the Western and Islamic worlds clash.
© ANP/HH

Praying Muslims on Dam Square in Amsterdam: the Western and Islamic worlds are at odds.

The government should not allow this abuse of public roads, says Jos Teunissen. "The public nature of roads is crucial in a constitutional state. Otherwise you cannot leave your house. Blocking, as XR does and the blocking Frisians did before it, is a crime because it can endanger safety. That safety must be guaranteed by the government. The function of Dam Square, a public square, does not seem to me to be to organize such prayer meetings there."

Experts by experience, from countries where Islamic law applies, warn: do not give in to Islamic demands so often and so easily. "Public space is not an extension of your prayer room," says Shermin Amiri (43), a social issues advisor who once fled the Iranian ayatollahs. "In a secular society, freedom also requires restraint - out of respect for those who do not pray."

Religious duty
Amiri agrees with Machteld Allan's analysis: "In Islam, public space is not neutral. It is a place where one is expected to serve Allah and show one's Islamic identity. Hence the public prayer, the dress code and the desire to see halal requirements respected outside the home as well. For many Muslims, being visible as a believer in society is not a matter of personal expression, but a religious duty and sometimes even of da'wa - doing missionary work. This clashes with the secular idea that public space is a neutral meeting place, where one should not impose a dominant belief on the other."

See also:

Celebration on Dam Square at the same time as Palestine demonstration: 'We call for peace, they call for violence'
When he saw militants burning the Israeli flag and chanting 'Death to Israel!' around the public iftar in Amsterdam, Amiri was terrified. 'That is not an innocent act of protest. It is organised hatred, disguised as popular anger. I fled this culture. And I speak out against it because I know what happens if we silently allow it here. Freedom requires boundaries, not everything that cries out deserves space.'

'Pure intimidation'
Machteld Allan considers it a missed opportunity that the Public Prosecution Service interprets the excesses in Amsterdam as 'legitimate criticism of Israel' and refuses to take action. "Everyone knows that 'death to Israel' means 'death to the Jews'. These activists have found a vacuum between the articles of law 'group insult' and 'calls to violence', which they cleverly abuse. But come on, act in the spirit of the law and don't allow this; what we see is pure intimidation. The rule of law must dare to set boundaries, because the way things are going now, we are not only throwing the Jews, but also other non-Muslims to the lions. It is just like raising a child: if you don't set boundaries, they will walk all over you."