Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox's policies have been criticized by supporters of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
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Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, head of the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, which covers Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem, the Sharon plain, Gush Dan (the Tel Aviv metropolitan area) and the Shephelah (the Judaean Foothills), will leave his post after three years and retire from the army.
Fox, who turned 55 on April 10, informed IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi that he intends to return to civilian life this summer. Fox attributed his decision to fatigue and the sense that he had nothing more to contribute to the security establishment.
He previously served as the Israeli defense attaché to the U.S., assuming the Central Command post in August 2021 under the government of then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and then-Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
Over the past years, Fox's policies in Judea and Samaria have regularly been criticized by Israeli residents, right-wing activists and politicians.
Judea and Samaria saw a dramatic rise in terrorist attacks in recent months, with shootings reaching their highest level since the Second Intifada of 2000-05, according to IDF data.
Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 15 alone, Hatzalah Judea and Samaria recorded more than 2,600 terrorist attacks against Israelis in the area, including 760 cases of rock-throwing, 551 fire bombings, 12 attempted or successful stabbings and nine vehicular assaults.
However, Fox repeatedly refused government and public calls to restore security checkpoints and roadblocks near Palestinian terrorist hotspots in the Jordan Valley and northern Samaria, critics charged.
Last year, Israel Hayom claimed he unilaterally undercut government policy by reducing the personnel tasked with the enforcement of Palestinian construction violations.
Earlier this year, Fox ordered the destruction of six Jewish homes in eastern Gush Etzion. He bypassed regular procedure in ordering the demolitions, taking the issue directly to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
In the wake of Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks, Judea and Samaria residents formed a protest group in response to Fox's decision to green-light Palestinian olive harvesting close to Israeli communities, even after several Arabs were caught observing security procedures.
Tensions reached a boiling point in February when IDF soldiers were ordered to conduct a training exercise that included a scenario simulating the kidnapping of Palestinian Arabs by Jewish residents of Samaria.
In a conversation with council leaders and local officials, Fox subsequently apologized to "anyone who was harmed."
In this episode of "In-Focus," JNS senior contributing editor Caroline Glick exposes the true motive behind the Biden administration’s continued insistence on the "two-state solution" for Israel and the Palestinians.
Tune in and learn about the history of the Palestinian Authority, the propping up of warlords disguised as statesmen, as well as the insidious nature of the left’s behavior during the ongoing war against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.
On the eve of Wednesday, Oct. 2, Jews the world over will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Sweet dishes are served to welcome in 5785 with wishes for a sweet year ahead. And for peace. After a year like this one, the Jewish people need some resolution. They need the estimated 100 hostages returned from nearly a year of captivity in the Gaza Strip after the Hamas terrorist attacks and atrocities in southern Israel last October. They need calm in Israel’s north and the country’s borders to be secure. They need the world to stop protesting—to put away their signs and their anger and to focus on resolving regional ills. For far too long, the Middle East has been a maelstrom.
Shani Feinstein, who lives in the Philadelphia suburbs, knows that firsthand. Vivid memories remain of her last Rosh Hashanah in Tehran in 1979. She had just graduated college and was settled in a job. She recalls that “demonstrations against the Shah had started in June, but we didn’t pay much attention. Then, before Rosh Hashanah, floods of angry people—men and women—spilled into the streets. They became more intimidating. The ayatollah made empty promises. Women had to cover Western clothing and wear a chador—a full, body-length black garment—or face punishment. It was the end of freedom under the Shah’s regime.”
The Jewish community—between 70,000 and 80,000 people in all and one of the oldest in the Diaspora—laid low so as not to draw attention to themselves of the holiday. Before going to shul, Sion, her father, would wrap his tallit bag in a newspaper. Shopping at the market for all the holiday foods, Shani’s mother, Tuba, wore a chador and stayed to herself. That year, Rosh Hashanah was celebrated quietly with family.
The political atmosphere grew darker in the country. Most Jews lived in Tehran, with lesser concentrations in Shiraz, Kermanshah and Isfahan. Shani recounts that “the Shah had left, and the ayatollah returned and replaced the government.” She told her mother that she didn’t want to live in such an environment. But where to go? Communication with Israel had been cut off. In February 1980, word spread that the Chabad-Lubavitch movement was ready to take young people out of Iran to New York. The fear was of another Holocaust. Shani went to the passport office every day for two months until she received her passport. “It was the happiest day of my life,” she says.
Eventually, the rest of her family came over, save for one sister. Shani went on to marry and have three children.
Shani carries on the Sephardic culinary traditions she grew up with, reminiscent of a home she can no longer see. There are no Western-style meal courses in Iran. No soups, no challah, no honey or apple cake, as in Ashkenazi holiday meals and tradition. Rather, a sumptuous array of Rosh Hashanah dishes is set out on a long table, buffet-style. Symbolic foods consist of flatbreads, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin, red beans, leeks and dates—for a sweet year and for the eradication of enemies.
A simple salad reflects the Iranian use of just a few fresh ingredients. Alongside, a tray of assorted fresh herbs like fresh tarragon, watercress, radishes and green onions is typically served to dinner guests.Dessert comes in the form of baklava, accompanied by a platter of seasonal fruits and nuts.
Shana Tovah Umetukah: A good and sweet New Year to all!
Persian cucumber. Simon Rei/Pixabay.
Persian Salad (Pareve)
Serves 4-6
Cook’s Tips:
*May substitute any fresh herb such as mint, watercress or parsley for the cilantro.
*Two to three limes, depending on size, yield ¼ cup lime juice.
*Limes and lemons yield more juice at room temperature.
Ingredients:
3 to 4 Persian cucumbers cut into ½-inch pieces
2 to 3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
¼ Vidalia onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Dressing:
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
pinch of salt and 3 to 4 grinds freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Place all ingredients into a serving bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the vegetables in a bowl.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Candied orange peel. Photo by Bruce Feinstein.
Rice With Candied Orange Peel (Pareve)
Makes 6-8 servings
Cook’s Tips:
*Use store-bought shredded carrots.
*Slivered orange peel by the company Sadaf is available online on Amazon. If preparing at home, make sure no white pith remains on the peel.
Ingredients:
1 cup slivered orange peel
4 cups water, divided
1 cup carrots, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon saffron dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
3 to 4 cups hot cooked rice
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, place orange peel and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Cook for 10 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and set aside.
In a small skillet, sauté the carrots in oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Set aside.
In a separate saucepan, place the orange peel, carrots, sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the saffron.
Transfer to a bowl. Drizzle this mixture over rice and serve.
Stuffing for roasted chicken. Photo by Bruce Feinstein.
Chicken With Pomegranate Paste (Meat)
Serves 4-6
Cook’s Tips:
*Pomegranate molasses is a Middle Eastern condiment made from boiled-down pomegranate juice. It’s available online from Sadaf.
*Turmeric is a flowering plant of the ginger family, ground and used as a spice.
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 large (4 to 5 pounds) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
¼ cup pomegranate molasses dissolved in ¾ cup warm water
10 pitted prunes
8 pitted dates
¼ cup honey
pomegranate seeds and fresh parsley (optional)
Directions:
In a large skillet, sauté the onion in oil over medium-high heat until golden brown.
Add turmeric, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and fry on each side for 5 minutes.
Add the dissolved pomegranate molasses, prunes, dates and honey. Cover and cook on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
Reduce heat, cover, and continue cooking for 30 to 40 minutes longer.
Arrange the chicken pieces on a platter. Drizzle the sauce over top.
Decorate with pomegranate seeds and parsley, if using.
Shani Feinstein measures saffron for a holiday dish. Photo by Bruce Feinstein.
Roasted Stuffed Chicken (Meat)
Serves 4-6
Cook’s Tips:
*Substitute 1 ½ teaspoons bottled minced garlic for 3 garlic cloves.
*If there is extra stuffing, wrap in foil and bake alongside the bird.
Ingredients:
½ cup water
7 to 8 tablespoons olive oil, divided
½ cup basmati rice
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
5 dried apricots, chopped
5 pitted prunes, chopped
2 tablespoons raisins
¾ cup fresh mixed herbs such as chopped parsley, dill, coriander
1½ teaspoons turmeric
½ teaspoon saffron dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 (4 to 5 pounds) roasting chicken
1 tablespoon paprika
Parsley sprigs to garnish
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, bring ½ cup water and 2 tablespoons oil to a boil.
Rinse the rice in cold water, drain and add to the boiling water. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the water is absorbed. The rice will be half-cooked.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium skillet, sauté the onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until the onion begins to brown.
In a large bowl, mix the rice, onion, garlic, dried fruit and herbs, turmeric, salt and pepper. Fill the chicken cavity with the mixture. Seal by sewing or trussing the bird.
Brush the remaining olive oil over the bird. Sprinkle with paprika.
Roast in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices run clear when pricked in the thigh.
Transfer to a platter and garnish with parsley.
Shani Feinstein with a platter of roasted stuffed chicken. Photo by Bruce Feinstein.
Persian Baklava (Pareve)
Makes 18-20 pieces
Cook’s Tips:
*Traditionally uses filo dough. Shani’s shortcut: Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry.
*Ground almonds, cardamom and rose water may be bought from a spice shop.
Ingredients:
For the syrup: 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 6 tablespoons rose water
For the filling: 2 ½ cups ground almonds, 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar, 3 tablespoons ground cardamom
Baklava. Photo by Bruce Feinstein.
1 (17-ounce) package puff pastry, thawed
¾ cup margarine, melted
ground pistachios (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare the syrup: Mix the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a boil over a medium-high heat. Add the rose water. Set aside.
Prepare the filling: In a bowl, combine the almonds, sugar and cardamom. Set aside.
To assemble: On a rimmed cookie sheet, spread one sheet of pastry. Brush generously with melted margarine. Sprinkle the almond filling over top, spreading evenly to cover. Top with a second pastry sheet. Brush with remaining melted margarine. With a sharp knife, cut the baklava into small squares. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. If not golden brown, place under the broiler for 3 minutes. Watch carefully! Remove from broiler or oven. Pour the syrup over top. Garnish with ground pistachios. Arrange on a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Ethel G. Hofman is a widely syndicated American Jewish food and travel columnist, author and culinary consultant.
Israeli security forces arrested three members of a Palestinian terror cell that planned to attack Israelis "in the immediate time frame," the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) internal security service stated jointly on Monday night.
Police officers arrested one of the suspects after pulling him over on the busy Route 6 highway near the Horeshim interchange earlier on Monday, per the statement.
The interchange is located near several cities in Israel's densely-populated coastal plain.
After Shin Bet officers questioned the suspects, Israeli security forces arrested two more members of the terrorist squad at their homes in Bani Na'im, a Palestinian town some five miles east of Hebron in Judea.
"During a search, weapons with which they planned to carry out the attack were found in their possession," per the official statement on Monday. "The three were transferred to the Shin Bet for further investigation."
On Sept. 2, Israeli forces neutralized a car bomb near the entrance to the town of Ateret in Binyamin. Security officials believe that the 100-pound explosive was intended to detonate as a school bus passed by.
There were no casualties in the attempted attack, which was a "great miracle," according to Israel Ganz, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council.
Days earlier, the Hamas terror group praised a "heroic operation" after car bombers wounded three Israelis in Judea's Gush Etzion area.
Last month, Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mashaal called for a return to suicide attacks against Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria.
In a video address to a terrorist summit in Istanbul, he said that "resistance operations in the West Bank are escalating despite the harsh conditions," per CNN.
“We want to return to martyrdom operations," he added. "This is a situation that can only be addressed by open conflict. They are fighting us with open conflict, and we are confronting them with open conflict."
On Aug. 19, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a failed suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. In a statement, Hamas vowed to continue to carry out suicide bombing attacks "as long as Israel continues its massacre and policy of assassinations in Gaza."
Nearly 250 people, including 153 professors, 19 students and 76 others, took part in or endorsed a nearly two-month-long, anti-Israel encampment that began on the University of Toronto campus in early May, according to a new report from the watchdog Canary Mission.
Of the 153 faculty members, 122 were professors at the public school and 31 were on faculty at other institutions, per the report. It added that 45 professors participated in the encampment and six spoke at the antisemitic protest. (JNS sought comment from the university.)
The “substantial support” that the anti-Israel encampment received from university faculty and staff had the effect of “prolonging its existence and resulting in a lack of consequences for participants,” the watchdog stated.
It added that the Palestinian Youth Movement and Samidoun, both of which support terrorism, also participated in the encampment. Among Canary Mission’s recommendations to the school is to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, ban masks on campus and avoid negotiating with those who call for boycotting the Jewish state.
One of five Jewish coaches to ever take an NCAA Division I men’s basketball team to the Final Four, Bruce Pearl, head coach of the Auburn Tigers men’s team, has been a public supporter of Israel and Jewry.
In 2022, he took his team on a preseason playing tour of Israel, and a men’s basketball team he coached won a gold medal at the Maccabi Games in Tel Aviv. Last week, he defended Israel in a fiery speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition Summit in Las Vegas.
“I wanted to speak to the young people more than anything else because they’re just not equipped to be able to defend Israel at this time,” he told JNS after his speech. “It starts with the foundation. It starts with the roots. It starts with the truth.”
The economy, inflation and border security are more important to the average American than Israel is, according to Pearl. But he told JNS that it is important to him to speak out.
“Right now, Jews in America are being targeted and it’s wrong, and our kids on these college campuses are unsafe,” he said. “Something does need to be done about that.”
At Auburn, a nearly 170-year-old public school in Alabama with a large Christian population but not many Jews, Pearl hasn’t seen much criticism of Israel.
“We’re not a big target, and the evangelical Christians would not have it,” he said. “They just wouldn’t allow it.”
Walking through a recent anti-Israel protest in Washington, D.C., Pearl estimated that only about a third of the protesters looked Arab.
“My heart felt for them because I bet you they’ve felt some real pain. It is a pain inflicted because of their leaders, because the leaders of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah put them in the situation,” he said, of the one-third. “I did feel bad for them.”
But the other two-thirds “looked like hippies from college campuses that would have absolutely no clue or no stake in the game,” Pearl told JNS. “They were just like professional protesters, and as you watch the news, that’s kind of what you see.”
Pearl, who made clear that he wasn’t speaking for his employer, sees himself as a teacher and a leader, who feels responsible for the Jewish community.
“My grandfather would be proud of me for speaking up. My dad, he’d be proud, but he’d be worried that maybe I’m putting myself in a bad position, because all of a sudden, you’re a pretty big target,” the 64-year-old said.
“God has commanded us to be mensches—charitable, generous, kind, giving but unafraid,” he added.
If his team doesn’t live up to high expectations on the hardwood, Pearl knows some will say that he spent “too much time talking about these things” at the expense of recruiting talent.
“I’ve been able to do both my entire career,” he said. “We’re going to do both again this year. God’s blessed us far more than we ever deserve, and I will not be silent.”
Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were lightly wounded when suicide drones launched by Lebanese Hezbollah landed near the western Galilee border town of Shlomi on Monday morning, the military said.
Both soldiers were evacuated for medical treatment at a nearby hospital, and the army informed their families, it stated.
Iran-backed Hezbollah took responsibility for at least six assaults on the Jewish state on Monday, including an drone attack that hit a residential building in the coastal city of Nahariya. Two apartments were badly damaged, and no casualties were reported in the incident.
"I was sitting with my insurance agent, and suddenly there was siren after siren," Shahar Toledano, whose flat was struck by the attack drone, told local media. "We are used to explosions, but not this one."
In response to the attacks, Israeli jets struck several Hezbollah structures and observation posts in Lebanon's Kafr Kila, the IDF stated.
An Israeli drone targeted a Hezbollah operative in the Tallouseh area, an d IDF tanks shelled a Hezbollah observation post in Kafr Shuba.
Following a situational assessment with the IDF's General Staff Forum on Monday, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi stressed that the military is "ready for any mission that will be required."
"The IDF operates strongly in the north, and is at a high level of readiness with prepared operational plans," Halevi said.
He described Monday's Hezbollah attack on the Nahariya high-rise as "a serious incident, just like the shooting at the citizens of the north."
Hezbollah has attacked the Jewish state nearly daily since Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones at Israel. It has killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians remain internally displaced due to the ongoing violence.
August was the most intense month in the conflict between the IDF and Hezbollah so far, with more than 1,300 attacks on Israeli territory recorded.
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general, warned Jerusalem on Monday against expanding its operations against the terror group, Lebanon's LBC TV reported.
"War with Hezbollah does not return the displaced; it increases their numbers," he told the channel. "If we face a war, we will respond with an even harsher one, and we will not abandon the field."
"Either Israel halts the war now, which would mitigate its losses, or it remains in a state of attrition, which would expand its problems, losses, and internal complexities," the Lebanese terrorist added. "It cannot win the war no matter how long it lasts, and all indicators suggest this."
On Sunday, U.S. Central Command commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla arrived in Tel Aviv for separate meetings with Halevi and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant about the war in the north.
"The IDF will continue to deepen the relationship with the United States Army out of a commitment to strengthening regional stability and coordination between the armies," the Israeli army said in a statement.
The CENTCOM chief also met with Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, commander of IDF Northern Command. They held a situational assessment in the commander's "pit," or command and control center, where Kurilla was presented with the Israeli military's operational plans for Lebanon.
Jewish organizations and synagogues around the country have planned a variety of events to commemorate the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, including memorial services, charity work and a “team circuit” group exercise session.
The Jewish National Fund-USA announced hosting events nationwide, including at 34 colleges. In partnership with Students Supporting Israel, memorials will take place at Tulane University, the University of Michigan, Vanderbilt University, Wellesley College, Rice University, Kent State University, Rutgers University, the University of California Berkeley and Columbia University, among others.
Scott H. Gendell, JNF’s vice president of campus engagement, said the ceremonies in memory of the 2,977 victims “are a reminder of the common destiny that unites the U.S. and Israel.”
Gendell called himself honored “to have the opportunity to bring our community together to recognize our brave first responders and remember the victims of 9/11.”
He said: “We must never forget that our shared commitment to democracy, freedom, and peace remains the ultimate bulwark against terrorism and intolerance.”
JNF will also bring Jewish day-school students to firehouses and police stations to honor first responders and other emergency-service workers, hear about the history of the terror attacks that stuck sites in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., and learn of the common values shared by Washington and Jerusalem.
The New York chapter of the Jewish charity organization Repair the World will participate at the Intrepid for 9/11 Day of Service. Volunteers will work from 12:45 p.m. through 4:30 p.m. helping prepare meals.
The Shimon and Sara Birnbaum Jewish Community Center in Bridgewater, N.J., has planned a 45-minute “9/11 Memorial Workout” that urges “let’s come together to sweat, remember and pay tribute.”
Attendees will participate in a “team circuit” competition to include such exercises as skaters, lunges, burpees with push-ups, leg raises, jumping jacks, butt kickers, squat jumps and more.
In New York, the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore in Plandome, and Temple Israel of Great Neck on Long Island will host memorial services.
Am Shalom of Chicago in the heavily Jewish suburb of Glencoe will lead a memorial gathering at the town’s flagpole, co-sponsored with Glencoe Public Safety services.
Dr. Barry Zisholtz, who retired last year after 46 years as a urological surgeon and who is known more commonly as “Dr. Z.,” received a knock on his door in March. A woman he didn’t recognize told him that she needed the doctor’s help. He asked what the trouble was.
“Your house was redistricted,” the woman told him. “Do you know who your state House representative is?”
Zisholtz, who had planned to spend more time with his wife and their seven children, learned that Georgia’s 86th District was represented by Imani Barnes, who had been elected with some 90% of the vote in 2023 in what had been a solidly Democratic seat.
In December, Barnes was one of dozens of Democrats who abstained from a mostly bipartisan bill condemning Hamas. In January, she voted against a bipartisan bill, which defines antisemitism in state law and which passed both houses of Georgia’s legislature by wide margins. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed it into law that month.
“Who is this person? What’s she about?” Zisholtz told JNS on the sidelines of the Republican Jewish Coalition Summit in Las Vegas last week.
“She’s a very progressive Democrat, and she’s not a friend of Israel or the Jewish people,” he said. (JNS sought comment from Barnes.)
The retired surgeon asked around to see who was running against Barnes in the district in DeKalb County, just outside Atlanta. He was told that nobody was.
With only three days until the filing deadline, Zisholtz threw his hat in the ring.
“This was not on the agenda,” he told JNS, of his late political foray.
Kitchen-table issues
When he researched his opponent more, the retired doctor found that he disagreed with her on almost everything.
“I found she wants illegals to vote. Then I found she’s soft on crime. She’s pro-sanctuary cities,” he told JNS. “So there’s not one thing that I’m really in favor of that she supports, except I’m good with school lunches.”
An Orthodox Jew, who has served on the boards of several Atlanta-area Jewish institutions, Zisholtz knows that Israel and Gaza are not top of mind for most voters in his district.
His campaign platform includes “denouncing all bigotry and racism, including antisemitism” and “calling all terrorists, including Hamas, pure evil in no uncertain terms,” but all are further down the pecking order from kitchen table issues, like affordable health care, lower prescription drug prices and providing school choice and improved math and reading scores.
Zisholtz, who told JNS that he has knocked on some 9,000 doors, acknowledged that the race is an uphill battle.
“When I started, it looked very difficult, but I had three goals in mind. Number one is to win. Number two is to get the word out that it’s OK to fight back. And number three is to expose the individual for what she did,” Zisholtz said, of Barnes.
The retired doctor figures he has accomplished the second and third goals, and if he can pull off the first one, too, he told JNS that he will donate half of his salary to the local police and the other half to area schools.
“I’m not looking at this for a job,” he insisted.
Zisholtz told JNS that he is one of seven Republicans, who have stepped up to run against otherwise-unopposed House Democrats. “Because we stand for reason,” he said.
On May 21, Barnes won the Democratic primary unopposed, with 4,881 votes. Zisholtz secured all 428 votes in the Republican primary.
Oct. 7-like attacks happen almost daily across Africa. In at least nine countries, armed jihadists, following what they believe to be the precepts of Islamist theology, storm villages, and torture and murder innocent Africans. Boko Haram in Nigeria, al-Shabaab in Somalia and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan are Hamas by different names.
Like the Israelis, Africans have their homes and schools burned. Churches are a prime target. Women and girls are kidnapped and enslaved as concubines, “wives” of warriors, or merchandise to ransom or sell—all to the screams of “Allahu Akbar!”
Not all the victims are Christians; moderate Muslims and practitioners of tribal faiths are also attacked. This has resulted in the displacement of millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods.Yet this is generally ignored by the Western “human rights” establishment.
To break the silence, we have formed the African-Jewish Alliance: to recruit decent people for the tasks of liberating the slaves and protecting the innocent. The topic will be discussed in a series of pieces.
Jihad continues to ravage Africa.
At least 500 people in the central part of Burkina Faso were killed on Aug. 27 when jihadists opened fire on civilians who were digging defensive trenches. Hundreds of those wounded were transported to healthcare facilities.
A woman who survived the massacre described the horror of searching through bodies to find her brothers. The militants, or bushmen as she described them in an interview with Reuters, arrived at about 10 a.m. They began firing on soldiers and civilians alike. They only stopped when drones arrived overheard later in the day. She said it then took three days for the survivors (who are mostly women and children) to collect the bodies.
Burkina Faso is a landlocked Muslim-majority country in Western Africa. Of its 21 million inhabitants, 5 million are Christians. A former French colony, it gained independence as Upper Volta in 1960. The name Burkina Faso, which means “Land of Incorruptible People,” was adopted in 1984.
In 2015, jihadists began an insurgency against the secular government of Burkina Faso in an attempt to establish an Islamist state. The jihadists have launched violent attacks on Christian communities, eliminating them, destroying their churches and forcing the survivors to flee. These attacks have been numerous.
Within this context, there is a high potential for women and girls to be abducted by militants during raids. In 2022, for instance, an 83-year-old nun was kidnapped by an armed group in the town of Yalgo. Suellen Tennyson, an American nun, was taken from her community during a nighttime raid.
Rape is a common method of attacking Christian communities. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence at the hands of jihadists. They face pervasive threats of death and abuse, with girls often experiencing early and forced marriages.
Jihadists have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million in Burkina Faso, further threatening the stability of the country. The mass displacement in Burkina Faso is the world’s most neglected crisis, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
It is also worth noting that Burkina Faso had two coups in 2022 within a span of just eight months in a bid to combat the jihadist threat. But the massacres by jihadists continue.
In November 2023, for instance, at least 40 civilians were killed by Al-Qaeda-linked rebels who were trying to take control of a besieged town in Burkina Faso’s hard-hit northern region. The attack wounded 42 people and set fire to three camps for internally displaced people.
The Islamic militias have also attacked water sources. They now control approximately 40% of the country’s territory.
Militant Islamic groups operating in the country include Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Islamic State Greater Sahara (ISGS), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Murabitoun, Ansar Dine and Boko Haram.
In Burkina Faso, Muslims are dominant in the northern and eastern parts of the country whereas the Christian communities are concentrated in the central and southern regions. Followers of indigenous traditional African religions, who are neither Christian nor Muslim, are concentrated in the south.
According to the Constitution of 2012, Burkina Faso guarantees the right of individuals to choose, practice and change their religion at will. Yet jihadists have increasingly Islamized the country by imposing Sharia law on the locals. The U.S. State Department reported in 2022:
“Violent extremist organizations enforced their ideology and interpretation of Islamic law in the region with the threat of violence for noncompliance. For example, attackers forced members of communities in the northern part of the country to dress in specific ‘Islamic’ garb, although observers noted this was also occurring across other areas of the country. Terrorists closed and burned schools and killed teachers for using a secular curriculum and for teaching in French rather than Arabic, according to media reports.”
The ongoing nine-year-long insurgency has led to a dire humanitarian situation. Millions of people are facing food insecurity, displacement, and limited access to essential services, reports the organization Open Doors, which monitors Christian persecution on a global scale. “The ongoing conflict and instability have disrupted agriculture, trade, and investment, stifling economic growth and development prospects for the population.”
Jihadists have also forced school closures. As reported by the NRC in 2023:
“Over a million children in Burkina Faso are currently affected by school closures with 6,134 academic institutions shut as of February 2023, an increase of over 40 percent since the end of the last school year. Nearly one out of four schools country-wide are now out of service due to rampant insecurity and violence.”
Dr. John Agbor, Burkina Faso country director for Unicef, the children’s agency run by the United Nations, said that:
“Children out of school are more likely to be forced to work, to be recruited into armed groups, or to be victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, gender-based violence or early marriage.”
In such a climate of hostility, the Christian minority remains the most vulnerable and persecuted group. According to Open Doors, Christians in the country find themselves a primary target for attack:
“The Christian community in Burkina Faso faces a severe crisis due to the jihadist intent on eradicating their presence, leading to widespread monitoring, disruption and destruction of churches, educational institutions and health-care institutions.”
In 2023, for instance, 1,000-plus churches, public Christian properties (schools, hospitals, cemeteries, etc.), houses, shops and businesses were attacked, damaged, bombed, looted, destroyed, burned down, closed or confiscated for faith-related reasons, reported the Open Doors. Some 100 Christians were raped or otherwise sexually harassed and more than 100 were physically or mentally abused for faith-related reasons (including beatings and death threats).
Open Doors explains some of the other forms of persecution faced by Christians:
Christian men and young boys are physically harmed, recruited or held hostage for ransom. The abduction and killing of Christian men cause fear and trauma in Christian communities, as well as economic fragility as the men are normally the family providers.
Church leaders, the majority of whom are males, have also been targeted by militant groups. According to reports, an unknown number of pastors and their families have been abducted and remain in captivity. Others have been “executed in front of their families.”
The enforcement of Sharia law by jihadist groups has made the possession of Christian materials extremely dangerous. This threat has forced many to either hide their faith or seek refuge in Internally Displaced Persons camps, as Christian possessions and institutions increasingly become targets of jihadist attacks.
Open Doors says that these attacks can be seen as violent attempts at "Islamizing" the country:
“Burkina Faso is a country where Islamic radicalization is growing. The peripheries of the country are under the influence of Islamic militants and the mosques and madrassas teach radical versions of Sunni Islam, thus causing even Sufi Muslims to be under threat. In these areas, there is no place for religious minorities. It was even reported that teachers in schools were threatened to hold Quran classes or face repercussions. This is also making life difficult for more moderate Muslims.”
Burkina Faso is not the only African nation plagued by jihad. Similar jihad slaughters occur in other African countries such as Nigeria, Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Somalia, Libya, Niger, Cameroon, Mozambique and others.
In these African countries, jihadists who aim to establish Sharia regimes massacre or severely violate Christians and moderate Muslims. The jihad against Africa has resulted in the displacement of millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods. Millions of Africans currently suffer at the hands of jihadists.
The most nagging question: Why do the United Nations, the mainstream media and humanitarian activists show no concern?
