Probably because they never heard about the ‘Al-Abeed’ area – a segregated section of Gaza, in which thousands of Black Palestinians today are forced to live, where they are discriminated against, and treated as the lowly descendants of slaves owned by Arab Muslim slavemasters.
@MOSSADil
Muslim slave trade in Africa has lasted 14 centuries and continues to this day in places like Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.
Over 17 million slaves (mostly black women and children) were transported out of Africa by Islamic traders. Another 85 million are believed to have died en route.
The Prophet Muhammad practiced and approved of slavery, and directed his men to do the same.
The Qur’an devotes more verses to informing Muslim men of their right to keep women as sex slaves, than it does to telling them to pray five times a day.
The Arabic word for “black” (Abd) is synonymous with the word for “slave”.
Muhammad’s father-in-law, Umar declared that Arabs could not be taken as slaves, and freed all Arab slaves. This led to the wide Islamic campaign to capture slaves in Africa, Europe and Asia.
Western slave trade exploited Africans primarily for agricultural labor. The Arab slave trade on the other hand, has more often used men for military service, and women for sex and for their wombs – to produce children who will be Muslims.
Many Muslim leaders since Muhammad have had harems of hundreds (or even thousands) of non-Muslim young girls and women to service their desires.
Converting to Islam does not automatically grant a slave his freedom, although this is said to increase the slave master’s heavenly reward.
According to Islamic courts, slave masters may treat their slaves however they choose without fear of penalty.
Smotrich unveils development plan for Jerusalem at Flag March
Smotrich spoke with Arutz Sheva during the Flag March and described a new government decision aimed at strengthening the city in infrastructure, tourism and innovation.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich took part in the Flag March in Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day, and spoke with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News about the day's celebrations and plans to strengthen the capital.
Smotrich described the atmosphere in Jerusalem, "an atmosphere of great joy", and said that it is a day that expresses love for Jerusalem and broad unity. He said that during the day he visited several sites in the city, including Ateret Kohanim, Beit Orot and the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva.
The finance minister noted that the government is advancing for the fourth year a dedicated government decision to strengthen Jerusalem. He said that under the decision investments are planned for infrastructure, tourism, the development of the Old City area and the City of David, as well as the establishment of an artificial intelligence complex at the entrance to the city with an investment of tens of millions of shekels.
He said the goal is to strengthen Jerusalem as Israel's capital and as a national and spiritual center. He added that Jerusalem continues to develop alongside the development of the State of Israel as a whole.
Addressing the nature of the Jerusalem Day celebrations, Smotrich said that efforts should be made so that the day becomes the preserve of broader segments of Israeli society. He said that the national-religious public is particularly identified with the day's celebrations, but that Jerusalem belongs to the entire public in Israel.
He also said that Jerusalem represents the heart of the State of Israel and that alongside Jerusalem there are also Judea and Samaria, the Negev, the Galilee and Gush Dan as parts of one whole. He said that Israel will not be divided again, not in Jerusalem nor in any other part of the country. Smotrich emphasized that Jerusalem Day is first and foremost a day of gratitude and prayer, and noted that the celebrations include saying the Hallel prayer and giving thanks for the reunification of the city.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/427098
Smotrich: Erase Areas A, B, and C of Samaria
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at Jerusalem Day event at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, noting achievements in Judea and Samaria and laying out a new vision.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spoke at the central Jerusalem Day celebration at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, presenting his his diplomatic vision for the continued development of the settlements and called for a fundamental change in the administration of Judea and Samaria.
"Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda taught us that the meaning of the Jerusalem Talmud’s statement that Jerusalem is more sanctified than the Land of Israel is not only in the sense of superiority - that the sanctity of Jerusalem is greater than that of the Land of Israel - but in the sense of ‘from within’: from within the sanctity of the Land of Israel, the sanctity of Jerusalem appears."
Regarding the government’s actions in the field of settlement, Smotrich said, "Since the start of the term, we have been leading a revolution for the honor of the Land of Israel. We normalized all the young settlements and approved more than 100 new communities in Judea and Samaria, including a historic correction of the injustice of the expulsion from northern Samaria. We returned to Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim, and Kadim."
"Over the past three years, we approved 60,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria. The People of Israel are returning home - this time forever."
Referring to the administrative structure in Judea and Samaria, Smotrich said, "The time has come for us to forever erase the lines distinguishing between Areas B, A, and C. This week I placed a detailed plan on the Cabinet table, and from here I call on the Prime Minister to adopt it. The entire Land of Israel is ours."
Regarding the state of the war, he said: "For two-and-a-half years already, we have been in the midst of a difficult and long war, a war that is also exacting heavy prices from us, but also bringing great achievements on all fronts. We eliminated [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, [Hamas leader Ismail] Haniyeh, [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, [Hamas military chief Mohammed] Deif, and [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah."
Smotrich also praised the law to bring Hamas' Nukhba terrorists to trial, stressing, "This week we finally passed in the Knesset the law to put the Nukhba terrorists on trial, sponsored by MK Simcha Rothman - the law that will ensure that soon they too will reach hell. We still have work left on all fronts. The Six Day War, which returned us to Jerusalem in a glorious victory, did not end the wars, either. But even now, the State of Israel is stronger than ever, and its enemies are weaker than ever."
Smotrich also praised Israel’s economic strength, noting that despite fighting on seven fronts, the shekel is strengthening and the stock market is breaking records: "In the economy as well, we are privileged to see the fulfillment of the prophecies. From a country of refugees with an austerity regime and shortages - to an economic power. While fighting a war on seven fronts, the shekel is strengthening, the stock market is breaking records, and foreign investments are flowing into the country. As the prophet said: 'But you, O mountains of Israel, shall yield your produce and bear your fruit for My people Israel, for their return is near (Ezekiel 36:8).'"
In conclusion, he said: "The spiritual engine of our entire national revival enterprise is the Torah that our teacher, Rabbi Kook of blessed memory, bequeathed to us here, between these walls. It is a Torah that does not shut itself within its own four cubits, but illuminates the mundane with holiness; that combines the book and the sword; and that sees the physical building of the land - in cranes, tractors, and homes - as an inseparable part of the revelation of the Divine Presence in Zion. Tonight we celebrate the miracle, and tomorrow we continue the work, by building, and by planting! The nation of Israel lives on."
Inside Israel's new security policy in southern Lebanon
The destruction of El-Khiam reflects a profound shift in Israeli military thinking after October 7: deny the enemy not only the desire, but the capability, to strike.
EL-KHIAM, Lebanon – Those looking to understand Israel’s new security doctrine – one born out of the horrors of October 7 – need look no further than El-Khiam, a Shia town in southern Lebanon, just 6 kilometers from Israel’s border.
Once a town of nearly 30,000 people, it is now a pile of rubble – heaps of twisted metal, steel rods, and massive broken concrete slabs where homes and businesses once stood.
Why? Because this was not just a pastoral town surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, but a Hezbollah stronghold, with arms caches stored in people’s homes and Hezbollah command and control centers buried in tunnels beneath the floors of civilian structures, such as an innocent-looking clothing store with a teddy bear hanging on its wall.
El-Khiam was also deeply symbolic.
Once the site of a notorious prison used by the South Lebanon Army, it was overtaken by Hezbollah after Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000 and turned into a symbol of Hezbollah’s “liberation” of Lebanon.
Tunnel shaft down to Hezbollah hideout
But it was much more than just a symbol.
The town sits astride key routes linking southern Lebanon to Hezbollah’s heartland in the Bekaa Valley, making it a central corridor for moving fighters and equipment across the country.
Over the years, Hezbollah transformed it into a major logistical and operational hub, fortifying the area with tunnels carved deep into the rock – a far more difficult and expensive undertaking than digging through the sands of Gaza – and building command posts used to direct anti-tank missile attacks, rocket fire, and potential cross-border infiltration missions by Radwan forces.
Over the years, El-Khiam, with its commanding view of border communities in Israel just to the south, was the site from which Hezbollah had a direct line of fire for anti-tank missiles into Metula and Kfar Yuval – from which it could terrorize those communities at will.
No more.
In place of Hezbollah terrorists peering through gun sights into Metula, what remains of the town is now in the hands of Givati’s Sabar Battalion, and to hear its deputy commander, identified only by the initial of his first name, A., talk about it, they are there for the long haul.
“Our most important goal is that the residents of Metula and Kfar Yuval will no longer endure the anti-tank missiles and direct fire they’ve suffered until now,” he told a group of journalists the IDF brought to the site on Wednesday.
“We are here with a very strong forward defense posture, here to stay for as long as necessary.”
And therein lies the crux of Israel’s new defense posture – one visible not only in southern Lebanon but also along eastern Gaza and in southwestern Syria.
Never again allow forces dedicated to your destruction to sit directly on your border. Not within anti-tank missile range, and not close enough to overrun border communities within minutes, as Hamas did on October 7.
Push them back, and level the towns from which they operated so they will be unable to hide there again.
Is it aesthetic? No. Are the visuals of a once vibrant town now leveled to the ground going to win friends and supporters overseas? Absolutely not.
Israel's post-October 7 security mindset
But the post-October 7 Israeli security mindset – one which, by the way, the world should realize will not change even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ousted in the coming election – is that the country cannot just allow terrorists to sit on its porch and hope they will be deterred from breaking into or shooting into the house. Instead, the porch must be demolished.
Which is the El-Khiam story.
Asked whether he thought it likely that civilians will ever be allowed to return to live in the town, A. – an officer, not a politician making those decisions or a diplomat trying to explain them – said simply: “I do not see a situation where we leave this area and civilians return here. I think we know from experience that this does not work. Every time people return to a point like this, it simply creates vulnerability and renews the threat to the residents of the North.”
A. said that “we do not have the right or the privilege to abandon this territory,” until a real solution removes the threat and provides security. He didn’t say so, but that would mean the dismantling and disarming of Hezbollah – something few foresee in the foreseeable future.
So in the meantime, the IDF will remain, and the town – formerly a staging ground for attacks against Israel – will not be allowed to be rebuilt.
“We are creating a protective barrier between Hezbollah and the residents,” the officer said, echoing what Amir Shoshani, commander of the local security squad in Metula, said a few hours earlier in an Army Radio interview, heard on the drive to the northern border.
“The state understands that you defend civilians from outside the community, not from within it,” Shoshani said. “Right now, we have residents in Metula, terrorists inside Lebanon, and between the terrorists and the residents stands the IDF – and that’s how it should be.”
The quicker route or the safer route?
IT’S ABOUT a 15-minute ride from Kiryat Shmona to the border fence with Lebanon and a gate that opens into the country, and then another 25-minute ride in an armored tactical vehicle to El-Khiam. The road is jarringly bumpy, the kind that rattles your internal organs, with the vehicle at times hitting bumps so hard that those sitting in the back are jolted off their seats.
There is a quicker route from the fence to the destroyed town, but this one is safer because it is less exposed.
Little is visible from the back of the vehicle through narrow windows, though one can see vineyards punctuated by the sight of destroyed buildings along the way.
During the fighting with Hezbollah in 2024, it took the IDF weeks to reach the outskirts of El-Khiam. This time, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel following the February 28 attack on Iran, the IDF moved on the city at lightning speed, doing in a matter of hours what in 2024 took weeks to do.
Commanders on the ground said Hezbollah was caught off guard by both the speed and depth of the Israeli maneuver in early March, not expecting Israeli troops to penetrate this quickly into the town. Intense battles then took place before the IDF took control.
What Israeli troops discovered was a town that was nothing less than a fortified Hezbollah launching pad for attacks on Israel.
Nearly every 30 meters, officers said, there was another tunnel shaft, another underground passage, another piece of military infrastructure woven into the civilian landscape.
The homes themselves were large and well built, evidence, the officers noted, that this was not a place driven by desperate poverty. “The hatred toward Israel and the desire to kill Israelis or Jews exists everywhere,” one officer said.
Underground Hezbollah command center beneath the floorboards
THE GROUP of journalists was met in what was once the center of the town by Col. Y., the head of Battalion 779.
After giving a brief overview of the area, pointing out the town of Marjayoun on a distant hill and gesturing toward the Litani River, Y. led the group into the remains of a small clothing store, with some articles of clothing still hanging on the racks. Beneath the floorboards was a 25-meter shaft leading to an underground Hezbollah command center, where communications equipment, weapons, and uniforms were found.
Y. described an elaborate network linking homes, alleyways, tunnels, and fortified positions. This gave the terrorists the ability to move through large sections of the neighborhood without ever exposing themselves in the street.
For A., the operation also carried personal resonance. The commander noted that in 2014, a Givati deputy battalion commander was killed by anti-tank fire launched from this very area. “For us, this is closing a circle,” he said.
Just as the brigade commander began his explanation of the area, equipped with detailed maps, an aide suddenly interrupted with the words “Air hammer” – code for a drone identified overhead – and the journalists were hurriedly shuffled into the hulk of a destroyed building for shelter.
In the meantime, Givati soldiers scanned the skies and pointed their rifles in the direction of the drone. Gunfire echoed in the distance, and the delegation was later told the drone had been shot down by a soldier using his personal rifle.
The drones, the officers at the scene stressed repeatedly, are viewed by the IDF as a tactical challenge, not a strategic threat – a message echoed so consistently by the commanders on the ground that it was clear the army was trying to reassure a jittery public increasingly focused on the issue.
“The drones do not affect our operational work,” A. said. “We have made adjustments. We operate somewhat differently now, with adaptations that I won’t elaborate on, but the threat is manageable.”
Those adjustments include low-tech solutions such as nets and protective coverings, along with soldiers tasked with constantly scanning the skies for incoming drones.
One officer said the experience had reinforced an old military lesson: “Simple, old-school fieldcraft is often the most effective solution – not relying solely on technology.”
Another company commander argued that Hezbollah’s growing reliance on drones reflected weakness more than strength.
“It shows how desperate and afraid they are, and how much they don’t want to engage the IDF in direct combat,” he said.
What El-Khiam illustrates is that Israel is no longer relying solely on deterrence to prevent terrorist attacks, but is instead taking operative steps to deny its enemies the capability to carry them out in the first place. The goal is not only to weaken the enemy’s desire to attack, but to rob it of the ability to do so from right on the country’s doorstep.
What is taking shape in El-Khiam is not merely a military operation against one Hezbollah stronghold, but the real-time implementation of a new Israeli security doctrine – one that says hostile forces will no longer be allowed to entrench themselves directly along Israel’s borders and threaten civilian communities from just over the fence.
The destruction in this town may draw condemnation abroad, but among the officers operating here, there is little doubt that the country has crossed a psychological Rubicon. The era of relying on deterrence alone ended on October 7.
Or, as Shimoni said in that Army Radio interview: “Right now, we have residents in Metula, terrorists inside Lebanon, and between the terrorists and the residents stands the IDF – and that’s how it should be.
Israeli defense-tech company secures $10.7 million contract with US to supply AI-powered system
Smart Shooter's SMASH systems are expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2026, according to a company statement.
Israeli defense tech developer Smart Shooter has secured a $10.7 million contract with the US Army to supply its AI-powered SMASH fire control systems, the company announced this week. The deal will provide American soldiers with advanced "one-shot, one-hit" technology designed as a counter-drone weapons system.
The contract comes amid increased efforts to defend frontline troops against the rising threat of small, low-cost drones. By integrating artificial intelligence and computer vision into soldier-mounted sights, the SMASH system allows even non-specialist infantry to lock onto and neutralize fast-moving aerial targets, according to the company's statements.
Smart Shooter CEO, Michal Mor, stated in the company’s announcement of the agreement that, “as drone threats evolve in scale, accessibility, and complexity, armed forces increasingly require proven, field-ready systems that can be rapidly deployed and effectively operated at the tactical edge.”
This latest contract builds on a $13.4 million contract signed in May 2025 between Smart Shooters and the US Army with the US Department of Defense's premier army-led task force, JIATF-40. SMASH systems are expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2026, according to a statement from Smart Shooter.
“We remain committed to supporting US military requirements with reliable solutions that enhance precision, survivability, and mission effectiveness,” she added in the company's announcement.
Expanding Israeli defense-tech sector
The contract between Smart Shooter and the US Department of Defense marks the latest win for the Israeli defense tech sector.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published its global arms imports and exports of countries earlier this year, in which Israel surpassed the UK to become the 7th largest exporter of arms and defense tech in the world, according to data collected from 2021 to 2025.
Israeli defense exports have grown consistently over the last decade. In 2024, Israeli defense exports totaled $14.7 billion in revenue, a 72% increase from $8.55 billion in 2020, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry.
In the testimonies, several sources alleged being raped countless times with batons by Israeli prison guards, while others, Kristof wrote, had their genitals beaten or yanked. One reportedly had to have them amputated because of severe injuries.
In another instance of alleged abuse, he quoted an anonymous Gazan journalist who said he had been raped by a dog as soldiers laughed and took photos.
Kristof argued that while Israeli leaders may not explicitly order rape, the country's security apparatus has fostered an environment where sexual violence is a key component of Palestinian mistreatment.
He added that Netanyahu labelled reports of sexual violence as 'baseless,' similar to how Hamas dismissed claims of rape during the October 7 attacks.
In response to the column, Israel's ministry of foreign affairs took to social media to strongly condemn the article, claiming the NY Times 'chose to publish one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press.'
The post continued: 'In an unfathomable inversion of reality, and through an endless stream of baseless lies, propagandist Nicholas Kristof turns the victim into the accused.
In response to the column, Israel's ministry of foreign affairs took to social media to strongly condemn the article
'Israel – whose citizens were the victims of the most horrific sexual crimes committed by Hamas on Oct 7, and whose hostages were later subjected to further sexual abuse – is portrayed as the guilty party.'
'This publication is no coincidence. It is part of a false and well-orchestrated anti-Israel campaign aimed at placing Israel on the UN Secretary-General's blacklist.
'Israel will fight these lies with the truth - and the truth will prevail.'
'Blood libel' is a harmful antisemitic trope, originating in the Middle Ages, that falsely accuses Jews of murdering Christians for religious rituals.
The term has evolved to encompass any modern, malicious conspiracy theory or false accusation targeting Jewish people and Israel
In the article, the columnist cited a speech where Netanyahu demanded global condemnation of Hamas's October 7 sexual violence, asking, 'Where the hell are you?'
'Think of it this way: The horrific abuse inflicted on Israeli women on Oct 7 now happens to Palestinians day after day,' Kristof wrote.
'It persists because of silence, indifference and the failure of American and Israeli officials alike to answer Netanyahu's query: Where the hell are you?'
Kristof went on to claim that the US is 'complicit' in the alleged sexual violence, as US tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security establishment.
Honest Reporting, a pro-Israel media watchdog, alleged inconsistencies in a key complainant's account, claiming they previously expressed pro-Hamas views.
Several prominent figures have spoken out against the column, with journalist David Collier accusing the publication of 'acting like a Hamas mouthpiece to deliberately spread misinformation.'
Journalist and commentator Emily Schrader added that spreading 'absurd claims' that Israel uses dogs to rape Palestinians make a 'mockery' of victims of sexual violence.
These new allegations mirror accounts from Sde Teiman military prison, where in July 2024 CCTV footage appeared to show several Israeli guards sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee.
A prisoner later required treatment in hospital for internal injuries, including tears to his rectum and a punctured lung.
The soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm, but the charges were dropped in March 2026 - a decision praised by Netanyahu.
Kristof published his piece just before the release of the most comprehensive report to date on October 7 sexual violence, authored by the independent Israeli women's rights NGO, The Civil Commission.
The Daily Mail was the first British newspaper granted advance access to the report, fittingly titled 'Silenced No More'.
It highlights over 430 testimonies from witnesses, survivors, and medical staff detailing horrors from the Nova music festival and Kibbutzim attacks.
Returning hostages and experts provided evidence of systematic sexual violence and abuse by Hamas terrorists.
It shows it was not just women who were degraded as a 'deliberate tool of terror, humiliation, and control'. Men were also sexually abused and in at least one case gang raped.
Victims were mutilated, with body parts cut off and used to create depraved scenes gleefully concocted to traumatise those who discovered them.
Those taken hostage were assaulted in front of loved ones and young relatives forced to commit sex acts on each other, an intentional, premeditated strategy of kinocide to destroy family units even after release from captivity.
The report runs to over 180 pages of utterly harrowing evidence, which collates and corroborates previous testimonies - as well as revealing disturbing new accounts.
The Civil Commission, funded by philanthropic organisations and its archive supported by the German Embassy in Israel, examined over 10,000 photographs and videos of the attack totalling more than 1,800 hours of visual analysis.
Testimonies, geolocation imagery, text messages, media reports and open source intelligence were painstakingly scrutinised. The report found that the abuse was not isolated.
There was a recurring pattern of rape and gang rape; sexual torture; mutilation; targeted shooting to the face, head and genital area; forced nudity; binding and restraint; genital burning; objects inserted into intimate areas; post-mortem sexual humiliation; and execution during or after sexual assault.
When Hamas led other terror groups into Israel they carried Arabic-to-Hebrew phrase lists commanding victims to 'take off your pants', 'lie down', and 'spread your legs'.
For Israeli first responders arriving at Nova hours later, it was clear extreme violence, sexual humiliation and mutilation was an intentional, widespread tactic deployed that day.
