All I know is, on October 8th, when posters of kidnapped kids were being ripped off telephone poles all around the World, there’s a big problem.  Lost dogs and cats posters are left up, but not Israeli kids.  Those who point to the UN’s, practically, daily Anti-Israel resolutions seem to forget how many countries there are that were once Christian majorities and are now Muslim – can you say “colonizer”?.  The Arab/Israeli conflict is not a real estate problem, it’s a religion problem.  That’s exactly why, “no Jews, no news”.  I’m no Bibi fan, but if and when a secular center-left government is voted back in Israel (yes, I said voted) how much do you want to bet there will still be the same anti-Zionist fever raging.

Rick Neigher
_____________________________________

Bob; what a lot of your readers who keep citing the UN don’t seem to get is that the UN is king of the Anti Israel’s. 

Israel has every right to defend itself which is exactly what it keeps doing. 

Welcome to the “Right” side…..

Joseph Zaro
_____________________________________

Boy George… amazingly talented as he was… is a known violent abuser, and is certainly not a good spokesperson to hang your pro-genocide Zionist hat on, but hey… go right ahead. ?And suffer the inevitable fallout. ??Mike Froedge?Step Up to the Mike Productions, LLC
_____________________________________

Thanks for writing this. It’s great to hear Boy George standing up for Israel and the Jews. Maybe he will inspire more artists to do the same. ??I never thought I’d live in a world where Jews were coming under attack like this. The new hatred is so casual, it’s disturbing. Almost like these people take for granted that Jews should be hated and despised. ??Now I have to drive under an overpass in Downtown LA last Sunday with a banner blatantly lying with text that says “Stop Israel from killing 81,000 children.” And then I need to explain to my young daughter why this is the worst slander propagated by people who sympathize with the murderers and rapists of October 7. ??Keep fighting this fight. We don’t agree on everything, but I’m absolutely right there with you on this. It’s too important. ??James Stockdale
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Hi Bob – well he’s pretty much shat the bed here in the UK – most folk I know here lump Netanyahu in with Trump as warmongering greedy old men who think nothing of killing innocent folk even if they are kids, ostensibly to cover up their own crimes of fraud or child rape – George is desperate for attention but he may and up regretting getting it. Anyone still defending warmongering on any side are the problem – lots of them on here so maybe no hope – the two sides should be those for peace v those for war, always had you down as a peacey.
?Regards?Nic Wastell
_____________________________________

Hi Bob,

I was about to reply to your newletter with that chilling fact

“J7 Report: 2025 Was the Deadliest Year for Antisemitic Attacks in the Diaspora in Over 30 Years”

https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/j7-report-2025-was-deadliest-year-antisemitic-attacks-diaspora-over-30

Those are cold hard facts – no debate needed. It’s not an opinion. It’s not an op-ed. 

This happened. 

Reading some of the replies, I was wondering : what the f….do they want?

We will NOT go away. We will NOT be scared. 

Much love Bob,

Baptiste-Elias Piégay-Natanson
_____________________________________

Great song! Very brave of Boy George! Unlike most artists who would never say anything that would offend all the right people or risk  losing fans. Loved your comments!!! You might notice that all the pro Palestine comments will never dare mention Hamas! It’s as if they don’t exist!!

What’s that all about??
Elliot Cohen
_____________________________________

F*ck yeah thanx Bob so stoaked to see you on the right side here. Kia ora from nz 

Angus Jowitt
_____________________________________

Thank you Bob, Boy George, Lee Trink etc who are on the right and moral side of history.  Am Yisrael Chai!!

We shall overcome.

Nadine Hemy 
_____________________________________

This. ??“ Cmon Bob, you know better than this. People who are pro Palestinian don’t hate the individual Jew; they hate Bibi and his militaristic murder. The government, not the people. ??You’re smart enough to know the difference. ?–?Paul Bordenkircher”

Drew Arnott
_____________________________________

Bob ~ ??Israel is doing to the Palestinian what Hitler did to the Jews ~ Wipe them off the face of the earth ~ ??Sorry but I don’t see any difference ~ ??R. Singer
_____________________________________

Flowing streams of thanks for sharing all of this and, most importantly, the video of the song(which I was completely unaware of, sadly). It moved me to tears. 

I’ll just share what I posted on Instagram after I followed your lead to go there:  Never been a fan or even appreciator of his music all these years(though, respect his inner strength always being true to himself) BUT HERE…my deepest, most profound respect for standing so strong, courageously and effectively(through music!) for….(hear this clearly)…all the Jews of the world.  This song, this stand, this strength…MATTERS.

Rawk, no Roll,
Bruce Brodeen
_____________________________________

Thanks, Bob. I am astonished at the tin eared, uniformed reactions of the younger generations, as well as the short memories of my own friends. G-d bless you for pointing this stuff out. 

Joe Taylor 
_____________________________________

I’ve never heard anyone say Jews are responsible for genocide because they are not.  But, the country of Israel is. 

Let’s just stop calling it a genocide if all the non-Israel jews are so concerned.  Let’s just call it, A SH*T-TON OF DEAD PALASTINIAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN.  

Waaaaay too many children dead or starving which I beleive is purposeful given the hatred that they suffer.

Yep, 

Stephanie Gurevitz-Gonzalez

63% Ashkenazi Jew from Belarus (not a biblical Jew, just like Netanyahu)

Grandfather was the Rabbi

Hates war against women and children of any race / religion
_____________________________________

Thank you and Boy George for saying what is plain as day.?I had a friend in law school who told me (when I mentioned I might convert to Judaism) that even if I convert, I could never be a Jew. He likened it to becoming French. That stuck with me—and despite having been married to a Jewish man for almost 40 years, I’m no more Jewish than my cat is. But I have a sensibility that runs with ‘right.’ No other majority Muslim country welcomes Palestinians—in fact, the Egyptians have a wall. Now, all Palestinians are not bad people; of course they aren’t. Their innocents do not deserve to die. And a country whose innocents are attacked has every right to protect those who remain. Are the people who steal Palestinian farms and land wrong to do so? I’d say ‘yes.’ There is nothing noble in this situation on either side. But the people crowing the loudest across the world in support of Palestine very clearly do not understand how daily life works under a Hamas regime. My heart breaks for the innocents, Bob.
?Thanks for sharing this song. I’d not heard it.?
Medea Isphording Bern
_____________________________________

Amen!

Stacey Portnoy
_____________________________________

I very much suspect that this is also contributing to anti-semitism – doesn’t make it right:

“We’ve been displaced from place to place, and now we have nowhere left to go,” says Umm Mohammed al-Shawish. She is desperately searching for somewhere to live after Israel moved yellow concrete blocks that mark out where it controls in the Gaza Strip. Families living in al-Tuffah in northern Gaza woke on Monday to find the blocks had been moved westwards into the centre of Salah al-Din road, a key north-south route through Gaza.Nearby, an Israeli flag was flying on top of an earth barrier around 3m (10ft) tall. The al-Shawish family home was destroyed during the war. On Sunday, they had to flee again after the Israeli military called to warn of an attack on a nearby building. Their only shelter was a tent, which was torn apart by the strike. “We are going to die here,” Mohammed al-Shawish said. “Death is better than humiliation. No-one is standing with us.” Under the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas last October, Israel agreed to withdraw its forces from across Gaza to a designated demarcation – the Yellow Line.

Ann Munday
_____________________________________

There are a lot of knee-jerk responses here, Bob.  People gobbling up the propaganda.  

Over the years, despite being an “open air prison,” Palestinian Territories were still able to donate $12 Million to American universities.  A paltry sum, of course, compared to the 7.6 BILLION DOLLARS donated by Qatar.  Why are Arab countries donating so much money?  For times like these, when they can call on their brainwashed minions to help them show the world how bad Israel is.  

https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/arab-funding-of-american-universities-donors-recipients-and-impact-update#_Toc206771334

I find this passage quite disturbing:

“Until 2020, the DoE did not report how universities used foreign gifts. Even today, most of that money remains shrouded in secrecy. More than 70% of all contributions, worth almost $11 billion (73% of all Arab funding), have no description.

“Nowhere is the opacity more troubling than in the case of Qatar, the single largest Arab donor. Out of 1,260 separate Qatari contributions, only 144 (11%) worth $1.7 billion list a purpose. That means the American public—and the U.S. government—remain in the dark about how nearly $6 billion from a regime that funds Al Jazeera, hosts Hamas leadership, and bankrolls Islamist organizations globally is being used on U.S. campuses.”

At this point, Israel has no choice but to defend itself, and it’s always harder to justify pre-emptive measures.  But are they really “pre-emptive?” Because when you consider the amount of projectiles launched from Iran and proxies into Israel since October 7th you would better understand that Israel is in a constant state of defense.  

Iran Projectile Tracker

That link will confirm that Lebanon has fired 17,938 projectiles into Israel between October 7th, 2023 and November, 2024.  EIGHTEEN THOUSAND PROJECTILES. 

That’s fifty per day.  
Two per hour.  
Non-stop, for a year.

The only reason nobody talks about this being Genocide is becasue of how awful the Arabs are at it.

danny segelin
_____________________________________

I’ve always wondered why, among the waves of attacks, almost a third of the total casualties were the 385 people killed at the Nova concert. Why was it so important to attack a concert? 

In mixed cities like Haifa and Tel Aviv, as well as international music hubs, younger Arabs and Jews frequently share dance clubs and nightlife venues peacefully. It’s considered normal. Dozens of Arab citizens of Israel, primarily residents of the Negev, were killed at the concert. Palestinian workers and foreign Arab nationals were also among the casualties and hostages.

Hamas might have wanted to do more than just kill Jews. Maybe part of the motivation was a warning shot to a mixed culture. Having “enemies” get along is a threat to those who need villains so they can hold on to power.  

Years ago, I used to joke that I had a solution to the Arab/Israeli crisis: Remove all politicians from both sides, and replace them with people under 35 recruited from dance clubs. Maybe it wasn’t as much of a joke as I thought.

As long as people simply dig deeper into their previously-held positions, which is primarily what I saw in those emails, I doubt that there will be a solution.  

Craig Anderton
_____________________________________

Using some statistics from The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (A Brief On The Status Of The Palestinian People At The End Of 2025):

https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/en/post-details/?postId=23319

I’ll do a back-of-the-envelope calculation (I hope you saved the envelope this email came in).
 
As of December 2025, the number of Gazans killed was 70,942, including 18,592 (26.2%) children and approximately 12,400 (17.5%) women. That leaves 39,950 (56.3%) men.
 
Since the Palestinians don’t delineate combatants vs non-combatants, I will make the following assumptions:

All of the women killed were non-combatants

An equal number of non-combatant men were killed as non-combatant women
 
So we have 12,400 (17.5%) non-combatant men and 27,550 (38.8%) combatant men.
 
And in total, we have 43,392 (61.2%) non-combatants and 27,550 (38.8%) combatants.
 
Of the non-combatants, 42.8% were children, 28.6% women, and 28.6% men. The overall population is 47% children; the 42.8% number is slightly lower than might be expected.
 
And assuming an average Gaza population of 2.17 million (my estimate) from 2023-2026, the 43,392 non-combatants represent 2.00% of the population, and it represents 0.28% of the worldwide Palestinian population of 15.5 million.
 
This is roughly a 60/40 split, but more non-combatants are killed than combatants.  This is largely due to the combat conditions in Gaza, and the decision by Israel to use bombs rather than to subject its troops to the high losses that might be incurred fighting a guerilla war in the streets of Gaza.
 
But is it genocide?  
 
The problem with treating a word like “genocide” as a technical term is that the technical definition often contains technicalities (surprise!) that can be interpreted (abused) in ways that make the technical term deviate significantly from the commonly understood meaning of the word.  In the case of the UN definition for genocide, the problem is the phrase “in whole or in part”, and the interpretation of “substantial”.
 
Using the technical definition, you can call Hamas a group, or the Hamas militant wing, or the October 7 planners, and get the result you want.  
 
But clearly, Israel doesn’t want to annihilate the Palestinians (If they do, they’ve chosen an incredibly inefficient methodology).
 
What Israel wants is to displace them, but alas, there are no takers.  
 
I wonder why?
 
Steve Roberts

David Beard is the author of the revealing new book “All Summer Long: Conversations with The Beach Boys from Surfin’ to SMiLE.”

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-beard/id1316200737?i=1000779088456

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/42fe606a-3986-480f-8c35-ecfeeb3605ee/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-david-beard

(Note: This is essentially all of the responses I received, posted in approximate order of their arrival in my inbox.)
__________________________________

Bob,

Hollywood didn’t lose its moral compass after October 7. It revealed that it never had one.

The industry has largely broken into four groups:

1. The moral frauds. They loudly championed BLM, LGBTQ rights, Stop Asian Hate, and every fashionable cause, then suddenly discovered “nuance” when Jews were raped, kidnapped, and murdered. Their humanity was conditional. Plenty of them are Jewish.

2. The anti-Israel obsessives. They hold Israel to standards they apply to no other country or conflict. When the world’s only Jewish state is uniquely demonized and denied the right to defend itself, “anti-Zionism” becomes a convenient disguise for something much older.

3. The cowards and sheep. Probably the largest group. They know better, but they know which opinion keeps them safe at dinner parties, on sets, and in group chats. An industry obsessed with congratulating itself for its courage has shown how little courage it actually has.

4. The tiny minority willing to stand up. The people who defend Jews, condemn antisemitism, and defend Israel’s right to exist and protect itself even when there’s a cost. I’m proud to be in that hated little group alongside Boy George.

Thanks for posting this, Bob and kudos to Boy George for bravery none of us saw coming.

I’m sick of the fake humanitarians, the cowardice, and the selective morality that somehow extends to everyone except Jews.  Some of which have been dear friends.

Send people to my Instagram @leetrink. For nearly three years, I’ve been defending our people and Israel publicly through relentless venom, antisemitism, and death threats.

xo?Lee Trink
__________________________________

Bravo Bob.??I’m so tired of having to explain what true genocide looks like.??It’s not dropping leaflets, alerting residents of incoming air strikes?It’s not polio vaccines?It’s not food distribution??Want to know what genocide looks like..???Any of the transports that went to the camps (like Auschwitz) and straight into the gas chamber, especially if you were a child (or over 50 or pregnant). Poof – gone.??Over 1.5 MILLION children (and babies) were murdered in the Holocaust. That’s 90% of the Jewish children in pre-war Europe.??And yet the Palestinian population has grown. That’s not genocide. No one is denying the suffering and pain – but that’s war, not genocide.??No one talks about the Rwandan genocide, where 800,000 Tutsis (and moderate Hutus) were killed in 100 days.??Or the Armenian genocide, where the Ottomans killed 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1920.??Thank you Bob, and Boy George!!

Simma Levine
__________________________________

Thank you for this.
If you want to educate those that will challenge that there is no genocide
This is an explanation by an Arab Christian

View this post on Instagram

Stuart Wax
__________________________________

Thanks to you and Boy George.??It seems that each day, Jews are attacked in the U.S., or Canada or Europe or Australia.  Of course, if anyone attacked Muslims because they are mad at Hamas or Iran, or Chinese because they are mad about the Uyghurs, or Russians because they mad about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, such an attack would be universally condemned.  But not when the victims are Jews.  Why is that?  Some would blame the attacks on Jews on the (non) genocide in Gaza.  It would be the only “genocide” in history where (a) the “victim” starts a war by killing and sexually assaulting as many innocent people as they can, (b) the “victim” takes hostages and starves them and assaults them and holds them for ~2 years, (c) the “accused” provides millions of meals to the “victim,” (d) when the “victim” finally releases the emaciated hostages of the “accused,” the war ends that day, and (e) the population of the “victim” has increased overall, not decreased. ??Hoping for peace for both sides.??Regards,?Phil Tretiak
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I stand with Israel! And have no time at all for the “poor Palestinians”. Those poor Palestinians have been whining about Israel since 1948, and for what? The elimination of the Jewish state. Sorry, the Holocaust is real! At least 6,000,000 Jews and others (and probably more) people were killed by the Nazis. The Jewish state is here; they are fighting for their lives. 

What totally bewilders me is that the left-wing fringe is the one for the Palestinians. Probably because they have been propagandized by them for 20 years or longer now. I remember there was a fringe group around my college in the late ‘70s. The fringe left sucks that trash up under their “poor, poor pitiful me” side. oh f*cking hell. They’ve never met a “minority” that their heart couldn’t bleed for (and demand that the entire US Treasury be spent on giving said minority undeserved cash.)

Thanks and Best Regards,?Gordon Shenkle
__________________________________

“That’s a misreading of the facts, maybe Boy George will set you straight.

I hope so.”

Nope.??Keep hoping, Bob.

Mark Balletto
__________________________________

Boy who?  That’s a lot of weight on the word “systematic”.  Whatever gets you and Netanyahu to sleep.  

danielcronindwyer
__________________________________

Not going to unfollow. Disagreeing with you, entirely. It’s a genocide. It was a war until Israel won and kept going. Just because no one in surrendering doesn’t mean it should go on. The country had been destroyed. Now Lebanon. When is enough enough—it’s gone on so long that the UN recognizes it is, in fact, a genocide. They called it in 2025 ffs. 

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/16/g-s1-89014/israel-gaza-genocide-un-inquiry

Vicki Whicker
__________________________________

Bravo to Boy George for being brave enough to release the song and for you to write about it!??Nate Benditzson
__________________________________

Amen, brother
?David Lizerbram
__________________________________

Good for him. It takes Balls. 
Scary to think what will happen to the Jews in a Post-Trump world. 

Thanks,
Ernie Canadeo
__________________________________

Cheers to you.  

Lizzz Kritzer
__________________________________

Wow, this is one of your worst emails! As a fan of yours I’m disappointed. Go visit the West Bank sometime and see what Palestinians are facing. Absolute nonsense bob.

Hassan El-Tayyab
__________________________________

It has been said that if the Palestinians put down their weapons today there would be peace in the region tomorrow, and if the Israelis put down their weapons today there would be bloodbath tomorrow.
   
dennis brent
__________________________________

And it’s a good song too. 

Bruce Greenberg
__________________________________

As usual I agree with you whole heartedly and I love the Boy George song and his support. Thank you for continuing to speak up.

Jed Garfunkel
__________________________________

Hi Bob-?I doesn’t matter if you agree with Boy George’s position or not. ?You have to appreciate the fact he is channeling the long, lost 60s/70s Rock Star. The artists who wrote songs about opposing the war in Vietnam, equal rights for blacks and women, opposition to nuclear power and much more. Many of whom paid a price for voicing their convictions and became legend with others. ?Long Live Rock….??Mark Maheu?Barrie, Ontario
__________________________________

Thank you, Bob. 

Amy Kraków
__________________________________

Gaza is not a genocide? The systemic control and withholding of basic supplies for living doesn’t meet your definition of a genocide? 

andres reyes
__________________________________

Right on Bob, truth to power!

Bruce Foster
__________________________________

The rest of the world is forming a different opinion and assessment. Maybe focus on the government of the country and not the country itself. It might help you and BG better understand that not every opinion falls under “antisemitism”.
 
Kinda like…Americans do not prefer blowing up an all girls school …but “America” did that, as well as shot and killed their own citizens in the street.
 
Trump and his policies around the world have most definitely created a fiercely negative view of America ….just as Bibi has with Israel.
 
Aben Eubanks
__________________________________

Thank you for speaking up. We are at defcon 1 when it comes to antisemitism. We should just call it Jew hate. The propaganda started by the Islamists has merged with the socialists and here we are. Enemies on the extreme left and extreme right. We should have learned from history but too many are just not paying attention.?Anat
__________________________________

I’m not a Jew, but I agree with you. The hypocrisy of the average “antizionist” is staggering. And it is nice to hear someone pro-Israel speak out against the settlements. I am anti organized religion in general as it seems the large religious institutions seem to inflict death, pain and suffering upon people in order to maintain their power. So, as you said, I assume the average Israeli is a decent person just as is the average Protestant, Catholic, Hindu or Muslim. It is the governments of theocracies that are usually the true evil.

Matt Grandi
__________________________________

“…But if you’re not willing to risk being castigated for going against groupthink, you’re not an artist, you’re a pussy.”
F*ckin’ A, brother….

Todd Schnick
__________________________________

So few things that hit my inbox these days make me feel hopeful. This was one of them. 

Sincerely,
C Goldstein 
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The mystery to me is the October 7 attack. It’s almost impossible to believe that Mossad, the best intelligence service in the world, as well as U.S. intelligence and others, could miss that this attack was coming. ??John Small
Florida 
__________________________________

I stand with Israel and the Jews. And even you, you crazy leftist. Grow up and abandon your lefty BS. Prayers and blessings. 

Douglas E. Quinn
__________________________________

Good on him.  Good on you.

–Charlie Sanders, Zionist and humanist
__________________________________

The UN has concluded Israel has met 4/5 of the criteria to commit genocide in Gaza

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds

Van Patton
__________________________________

Excellent missive, Bob. Don’t worry about the haters trolling your inbox. They’re on the wrong side of history and humanity, though their drunken ignorance tells them otherwise. Am Israel Chai!??Andrea Bergman ?Toronto
__________________________________

Thank you Bob.

Marc Sussman
__________________________________

Debate me live you coward.

Ash Avildsen
__________________________________

Hey Bob,
That is pretty amazing of Boy George. Never a big fan, but certainly aware of CC and his music, etc.
Your lines: “But I do know the rest of the world defines me as being a Jew. Someone who doesn’t conform. Who is loud and has an opinion. And I know even if I try and behave like them, they still see me as the other, a Jew.”, sound just like my father and stepfather! Both proud Jews. Gone 50 and 20+ year now.
The song is pretty good, hard to sing along, great lyrics. 
We will dance again will be on my brain for a while! If you’re ever confused….
Thanks,
Avrum Miller
__________________________________

Bob, those who unfollow will be the “antizionism isn’t the same as antisemitism” group, and honestly, they’re not the brightest of the bunch anyway.

Dorit Kalev
__________________________________

Boy George
This is great Bob…

Jack Tempchin
__________________________________

Cmon Bob, you know better than this. People who are pro Palestinian don’t hate the individual Jew; they hate Bibi and his militaristic murder. The government, not the people. 

You’re smart enough to know the difference. 
—
Paul Bordenkircher
__________________________________

Thanks for the post.
Best,
Brian Levi
__________________________________

I always loved Boy George.?Good for him.?“Church of the Poison Mind” was his masterpiece, IMO. A sophisticated love song, like many he wrote, but that was his best. ?—Emory Damron
__________________________________

Thanks for this.

Jay Shore
__________________________________

Bravo

Thank you,

David Wolle
__________________________________

Is Boy George the new Bono???I stand with you and all the Jewish people Bob.??Keep going as you always do…..??Kevin O’Donnell
__________________________________

keep yer Zionism and yer faith Bob.  we’ve earned it. 

David Elkins
__________________________________

Amen Bob.  Incredibly well articulated.  We all need to spread this message verbatim.   Very scary and precarious time for us as Jews.       Thank you for standing up and speaking the truth as usual no matter how personally risky or costly.     Andrew (fellow 4-22 birthday boy whose 23 and me came back 99.5% ashkenazi).     

Andrew M. Zacks
__________________________________

Every human rights org on earth calls this a genocide…you have the definition wrong yourself! Which is a common result of Israel’s PR efforts.

Boy George was probably the worst person they could have contracted for this (and yes, Israel is paying for it, the details of their influencer operation and contract structures was leaked already) – I do not know anyone in the gay community who wants him speaking for them, he’s a known abuser.

We Jews really have to get away from this victim stuff. We are not the victims here, it’s just such a bad look for us. Bleh.

Ryan Darlinbg
__________________________________

You can be a non-Jew (or in my case, a no-longer-practicing Jew) and still be an aggressive advocate for our people. I do my best each day, even when the Hamas-lovers try to kill me. Huzzah to Boy George!
?Adam Guillette
__________________________________

Thank you for speaking up. Kids don’t know history, most of them going to see the Odyssey this weekend had never even heard of it (including 2 of my own expensively educated 30-somethings). They don’t know history, or the classics.  But they were impressed.  I listen to Dan Senor’s podcast. He’s great.

Cathy Hausman
Mamaroneck NY
__________________________________

I’ve been enjoying your writing since 2013. I especially love it when you parse out albums from the 60s and 70s. But this piece, imho, is far and away the most incisive one you have ever written. It captures my thinking exactly, especially about the kind of Jews who voted for Mamdani. Thank you,?
From an ardent NJ Zionist,?
Fran Denmark
__________________________________

I find this truly sad, been a decades long subscriber. Some of the most respected Jewish genocide scholars call it exactly what it is, a genocide. Read Omer Bartov’s essay in the NY Times last week, or read Ungrounding by Eyal Weizman, The Architecture of Genocide (published this year). There are so many more Jewish incredible scholars and academics that speak to the horrific things happening to Palestinian people (Norman Finkelstein, Naomi Klein, Gabor Mate and many others). I won’t say more on it. This has nothign to do with antisemitism, but everything to do with an extremist government carrying out some of the most attrocious crimes against humanity, ones they themselves were victims of less than 100 years ago. Brave are those musicians taking an actual stance on this.??Marlon Ray
__________________________________

F*ck off gay boy…  Trumpstein lover…good old Natty is the puppet master…

Robert McMullin
__________________________________

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. My respect for Boy George is all encompassing. What a beautiful way of expressing solidarity and hoping for peace and love for the future. Let’s hope we can all dance again soon.

Best 

Rob Scott
Founder 
Source Music Australia
__________________________________

Hey Bob, Let me first say that I was born into the Jewish diaspora. No one asked my permission. I was bar mitzva Hà’d. That was the last time I cooperated with peer pressure to act Jewish. I don’t like cultural dividing lines. I think the Jews do. They like to be different, special.??Let me say this as clearly as I can: Netanyahu is a war criminal. He has access to 21st Century American-made war technology, and he is using it against a people who are helpless to defend themselves against repeated bombings and assaults against women and children. This is not a “war,” it’s a genocide. Boy George (bless his heart) is delusional. If he wants to stand by the side of Netanyahu, let him deal with the consequences when the chips fall. ??Don’t you know that Netanyahu is doing all this for one simple purpose? To forestall his inevitable trial for corruption. At least the Israelis, unlike the Americans, have a democratic judicial system to hold these scoundrels accountable. Take a look at Trump, then at Netanyahu. You see a difference? I don’t.??Yer pal,?Ted Myers
__________________________________

Amen! You go Boy!

Dan Wiethorn
__________________________________

Great song. I wish it had a bridge. I want to hear more bridges in new music.

Alex Walsh
__________________________________

Thank you for this, Bob.

Jon Gordon
__________________________________

Ummm, Israel absolutely has been committing a genocide.  Why do you think Netanyahu is a designated war criminal with international warrants out for his arrest?  Just because you’re Jewish doesn’t mean you have to downplay genocide and war crimes from Israel’s government.  You’re totally tripping and wrong on this, and just because Boy George made a pro-Israel song doesn’t mean he is right on the issue.

Gabe Lehner
__________________________________

Brilliant! Boy George is a hero on so many levels and Lefsetz calls it straight.

Mark Gresser
__________________________________

Another proud Jew here Bob.  Boy George’s  song is the best thing to happen for the Jews worldwide in a long time.. we need all the non- Jewish allies who can cut through the bullsh*t and show the truth!! ?
Dayle Levy
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Great.??Thank you.??Andrew Lurie?Mint Artist Managwmwnt
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I’m surprised at this angry, simplistic rant from you Mr Lefsetz – your binary way of thinking leaves out so much nuance and historical context, effectively suggesting everyone who disagrees with you is an anti-semite or stupidly uninformed. As a Jew of a similar vintage and secular inclinations like you, I try to leave room for critical perspectives of the conflict, its history and its perpetuation, that includes empathy for the innocents of both Palestine and Israel, for Muslims and Jews, who have suffered so much. The murderous horrors of October 7 and the killing of 10s of thousands of Palestinian citizens and near complete destruction of their country – neither can be justified nor supported. It doesn’t help to blame it all on one side or the other. Both are complicit. There has to be another way that acknowledges both realities. Would that perspective make for a good pop song?  Probably not. Nor is it a perspective that will make headlines. So we remain stuck in the mud. Shame.

Robert
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Thanks for this Bob.  Horrified and disgusted every day here.  Thank you for using your voice to speak this.  

Kia Kamran
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Great column. I’m proud of you. You’re a real mensch.

Thanks,
Jay Lewis
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I don’t agree with you very often politically, however on this I agree 1000%.

I was talking with my wife today and mentioned a similar situation where if the same things were being said and done to ANY other race, how most of the country would be in an uproar.  But it seems because it’s the Jews, the response is muted.

That, in and of itself, is sad.

I have long wondered how Jewish people in the US can support, primarily the Democratic Party with Omar, AOC and some others actively against the Jewish people simply because they are Jewish.

We have to get back to simply respecting each other for our differences and appreciating those differences before we’ll begin to heal as a country.

It starts with each of us, one action at a time. Speaking up against one injustice at a time.  Not a perceived injustice, a real injustice.

It’s hard, it takes balls, but it’s the right thing to do, and doing hard things is supposed to be hard.

Joie- Florida

Joie Davis
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Beautifully said

Steve
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Thank you for making your people and ancestors proud. 

Nick Scapa
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GFY

Michael Montes
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Thanks Bob

Thomas Kornfeld
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Excellent! Thank you. ??Etan G
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Thank you, Bob.

David Pearl
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Thank you for this. 

Wendy Leitman 
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Great for Boy George to take a stand. I’m so sick of the left and its pro Palestinian bullsh*t. 

I’m starting to hate the leftist f*cking socialist Jew hating traitorous Mandami loving  quisling Dem party. I voted for Kamala in 2024 and frankly wonder why. Only Trump is addressjng Iranian terror state. Obama caved. Bernie Warren Kamala all represent entrenched labor unions govt unions universities big pharma anti AI rhetoric. Anti entrepreneurs anti growth and anti progress. I associate Dems w major labels. Like that bitch Hillary Rosen who helped sue Napster users. F*ck the major labels. Trump is an ass but I’m thinking he is better than the commie Dem alternatives   

Derek Morris
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Get a clue Bob, watch real journalism

Apartheid in Palestine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsVDPzJzc98&t=2236s

Peter Ferioli
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I wonder how many people in the U.S. have seen this?

“Hamas Massacre-Documented War Crimes”

https://www.hamas-massacre.net/

best,
Michael Laskow
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Hi Bob 
A Jewish Israeli here.  Thank you for this.  I couldnt agree more.?One love
Orly Marley
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Well said Bob, and well sung Boy George. ??Much love from a gentile,??Peter Brentnall
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As my dear late Grandma would say ‘”A lebn af dayne kishkes!” (Yiddish: ?? ???? ???? ????? ??????) 

Thanks for being a mensch as ever

Thanks for being here

Gezunt af dayn kop

Sheldon
?Sheldon Lazarus????
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Well said Bob!?And bravo Boy George, a true mensch!??Jamie Danan from London
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“Palestinians who’ve perished as a result of the activities of Hamas, blaming it all on Israel.”
Palestinians, in MULTIPLE DOZENS OF THOUSANDS have perished at the hands of the Bibi gang.
However vile the monsters of Hamas are, you cannot deny that the countless deaths in Gaza have been caused by the activities of Israel.
It’s not a misreading of the facts, it IS THE FACTS.
Stop falling into a trap of arms-length cultural fear, look at the political reality and get a sense of proportion.
Mark Studden
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Wow, you went there. ?Two positions can be true at the same time. ?Antisemitism is awful and a stain on humanity. ?But 100 years of displacement and brutality against Palestinians is equally horrendous – and the latest escalation over the past few years is disproportionately cruel.?Conflating antisemitism with disdain for a rightwing, racist and hateful Israeli government and its ministers is schoolboy error 101.?Maybe you should moderate a talk with Boy George and Roger Waters… that would be fun.

Louis Warner
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Point of fact, “genocide” is a technical term whose definition can be read here: https://www.un.org/en/genocide-prevention/definition

You may have a different definition; but, when genocide scholars declare what Israel is doing in Gaza to be a “genocide”, this is the definition they’re using. 

Just to be clear, I do believe antisemitism is a problem. However, when you conflate Judaism with the actions of the Israel government, then you contribute to the problem.

Paul
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We just hate Zionists who want to link the USA and Israel together bro. Chill out. And why did so many Gaza children have 5,56 rounds to the face????  That’s odd isn’t it??? Thousands of them. 

Dank 215
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Hi Bob?I just want to thank You and Boy George for standing up for decency. All the best,?//Bengt Kirschon
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Hello Bob
Thank you so much for your current email and alerting us to what is going on and the release of this song. I think it really took courage for Boy George to put himself out there and come up with such a strong statement that had great conviction.. if somebody was going to do this, it just couldn’t be some half assed song that was just thrown together.

This is a work of quality up and down from the song to the production, and that speaks volumes about what this all meant to him. It means a lot to me and it can’t be denied what he is saying.. it’s amazing and the truth for him to say how many Jewish friends has had in his life and now is not the time to abandon them. Many can say the same thing.. and I hope they do.

Let’s see how strong this message is and how many people come and embrace it.. I will just say I’ve got incredible respect for him, his courage and his artistry to put this all together

Peace,Jason Miles
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You are on the wrong side of history. My father was a Jewish teenager from New Jersey when he helped liberate the Leipzig-Thekla concentration camp toward the end of World War II. He was on the right side of history his entire life (including telling our family he would move us to Canada if either of my two older brothers were drafted for the Vietnam War).

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry “released a report concluding that Israeli authorities and security forces committed acts meeting four of the five definitions under the 1948 Genocide Convention: killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, inflicting conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction, and imposing measures to prevent births.” The International Association of Genocide Scholars “passed a resolution stating that Israel’s conduct in Gaza fulfills the criteria for genocide.” 

This is not what my father and millions of other soldiers fought for. If my dad was alive today, he would be appalled. 

I’m not going to deny that antisemitism exists – it has for centuries. But being anti-genocide, anti-war and/or anti-Netanyahu are not acts of antisemitism.

Neil Krupnick
American Immigrant in Porto, Portugal
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Thank you for speaking out 
?Aaron Stern
__________________________________

Jews support Mamdani. Jews are Democrats. Democrats hate jews. Bob, that’s who you are too. You vote for the Democrats to hate Jews. 

No sympathy for Isreal or Gaza because you’re both stupid.

Chris Badynee
Detroit 
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Wow! Thank you for sharing this. News of this song would have otherwise not reached me. And your analysis is spot on (accept for maybe the settlement piece).

Meditesh Rock_N_OM
__________________________________

Pretty much agree on your stance of Israel. I happened to get invited to a golf trip with seven very successful jewish guys and me. Most traditional liberals voting D.  The topic of Israel came up. I mentioned that I though Israel was in real trouble when the Democrats come back into power. It got pretty quiet.
 
I get people truly hate Trump and are lifetime liberals but not quite sure how anyone could support the democratic party given where it is going. That was before the DSA, which seems to be making significant inroads on the party.
 
Ed Crowley
 
PS – I’m small c conservative and think both parties suck
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If “systematic elimination of an entire populace” was the operative definition of genocide, then we may as well argue that what Myanmar is doing to Rohingya Muslims, and China to Uyghurs, is not genocide since there are still Rohingya and Uyghur people. 

For your convenience, here’s the UN’s definition of genocide:  https://www.un.org/en/genocide-prevention/definition

And the reason why public opinion has turned so sharply against Israel is not because Hamas has found their Goebbels. It’s not because every Gentile who criticizes them is antisemitic, and every Jew who criticizes them is self-hating. 

It’s because murdering kids and innocent civilians shocks the conscience, and when people see Israel doing that in 4K on a routine basis, it’s hard to defend the indefensible. 

Count me in as a lobbyist for Big No Dead Kids. 

Garrett Gravley
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Thank you Bob and Boy George for expressing how myself and  my family feel today as Jews in America. My father recently turned 100 and he somehow managed to escape Genocide growing up in Poland in the 1930’s. He lost his parents, 5 siblings and basically the rest of his relatives as The Nazi’s systematically destroyed Jewish Life in Eastern Europe . That is the definition of Genocide . Why are people including many Jews so ignorant to the facts . 
?My son went to see Phish at The Garden Monday night. Phish has incorporated several Jewish themed songs into their live set since their inception . Monday night  for the second time during this summer tour they played Avinu Malkeinu . It’s a prayer mostly associated with the Jewish High Holidays but it is also recited in times of crisis . A very cool thing happened in The Garden as the crowd picked up on it ,and joined in the band in singing this unique hymn. The young adults are feeling the same isolation as the older generation Jews are feeling . Why did Phish Avinu Malkeinu Monday night ? Phish bassist Mike Gordon’s father recently passed . Mike and Phish drummer Jon Fishman are Jewish . Mike’s Dad Bob Gordon founded one of the country’s most active grassroots organizations supporting Soviet Jews . Millions of Jews in The Soviet Union in the 1960’s and 1970’s were prevented from practicing Judaism openly. In addition many were denied permission to to emigrate to Israel or elsewhere . This is when Bob Gordon decided to take action and founded ‘ The Action for Soviet Jewry ‘ in Boston . Over time more than 1.6 million Soviet Jews were able to emigrate . Many settling in Israel and The United States . ?Perhaps Mike and Jon are feeling just as isolated as we are and were crying out for help . Hopefully this cry for help will galvanize the young people to continue the work of Bob Gordon .

Ray Glenn
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Hey Bob,??Thanks for speaking to this.??David Draiman from Disturbed is another artist who is taking a strong stand?against antisemitism. Billy Corgan does a great interview with him on?Billy’s “The Magnificant Others” podcast. If you haven’t already, have a?listen. David is extremely articulate and he’s  well versed on the subject.??Thank you,?Robert Budowsky
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Bob–Did you hear Billy Corgan’s interview with David Draiman (Disturbed) on his “The Magnificent Others” Spotify podcast April 15? David was clear and strong; worth your time if you missed it. But you’re right–two voices out of how many?!

Jim Greenberg
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An EXCELLENT piece of writing.  Thank you, Bob.??Best regards,??Ron Zeelens
__________________________________

I love this, as a Republican ( the only Pro Israel party ), you are going to get tons of sh*t from your lib friends for this email. I am a Christian , but feel the anti Jewish sentiment has never been stronger in in life ( I am 52) and it all comes from your beloved left.

Anthony Taylor
__________________________________

I love you Bob! You’re a tzadik. Keep shining light, speaking the truth… and f*ck the haters.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Brad Pasternak
__________________________________

Bob!
 
Go for it. Love this note.
 
You know my stand on this issue as I am a Zionist from way back, and 10/07/2023 simply made the truth obvious. Unfortunately, your beloved TikTok is super successful at spreading the opposite from Hamas-fluffers like Hasan Piker and NYC mayor (as an aside, how can such an incredible filmmaker of a mother raise such a dimwitted monster?).
 
As a late Boomer in grade school, I learned from an early age what “Never Again” meant and why. It’s been unfortunately forgotten. It’s the world’s oldest hate, and to paraphrase Bari Weiss (love her – sorry not sorry), antisemitism is the canary in the coalmine of a society in decline.
 
People who think anti-Zionism isn’t antisemitism are beyond help. They need castigation and utter contempt from people with a soul + brain. 
 
I never back down on this issue in public or private – keep up the good work. And G-d Bless Boy George!

Edward Ryan
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You’d better be careful. Those are some mighty conservative opinions there!

afleming
__________________________________

The world has always hated the Jews and I don’t f*cking get it. 

Over the last 70 or so years Palestine has had every opportunity for peace and they refuse. 
Then October 7th came and VERY CLEARLY forced Israel’s hand and here we are. 

Kudos to you Bob

T. Craig Toutant
__________________________________

Thank you, I shared this with about 50 people.

Brad Cole
__________________________________

Culture Club was on my TV Show Rock of the 80’s, while I was at Paramount, airing on Showtime.??While I never asked bands for an encore, I did ask George if he could do another.??He grabbed by cheek and said, “ for you I will do a few more… Boychick.”??He was and is a mench.??Marty Schwartz,
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Thanks Bob.  Well said, as a Canadian Jewish person, I believe it is worse in Canada than the US.  There are at least some leaders in the US who are taking action.  In Canada, Carney is just looking at vote counts.  Our local police (Winnipeg) do a pretty good job working with the Jewish community to stop the violence.  However, in our major cities (Toronto, Montreal) it is running wild, and has become scary stuff.  

As a man in his mid 60s, whose mother fled Nazi Germany, I never ever thought I would see this.  I guess we grew up in the “good times” for Jews, and now we all have to buckle up and take action to turn around the “bad times”.  It could take a generation.  However, I certainly hope not.

Take care,
Al Shpeller
__________________________________

 Your piece on Boy George has been sent to all my Jewish family and friends. As I just celebrated my 84th birthday, maybe before it’s over I learn what we did so wrong as JEWS.

Hugs,

Ron Alexenburg
__________________________________

Bob I’m 68 I never thought I’d see in my lifetime such a resurgence of antisemitism. I’ve actually had a cab driver say to me it’s not the Jews they are against but the Zionists. Here in Canada the hate crimes against Jews have skyrocketed recently. In Toronto just this week two Jewish bakeries were shot at. Numerous synagogues and schools have either been fire bombed or shot at.  

These criminals must be caught and prosecuted. 

I give Bob George full props for his song and stand!!!!

Doug Gillis
__________________________________

Dear Bob,
 
well said, thank you for your article. The Guardian newspaper here and the BBC journalist, head of middle east news, Jeremy Bowen,
sides with the IRGC/Palestinians and does not accept Hamas as a terrorist organisation. They somehow seem to think that Israeli’s should pack their bags and go where? and hand the keys back to an oppressive brutal regime. I won’t go on. but thank you, so many Jews staying silent  and worse like Zack Polanski (David Paulson) leader of the Green party in UK,  are loudly anti Israel even though he himself is Jewish and  gay where it is a criminal offence, punishable by prison, flogging or death penalty in Iran.  What makes some Jews deny this is beyond my understanding.  

Kind regards
Susan Collins
__________________________________

Thanks Bob,

I felt so exhilarated by Boy George’s honesty To express what so many feel People don’t seem to realize that Jews are the canary in the coalmine of democracy .

Greetings, Angela Ballas
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On too many pro-Israel emails Bob. Love your music emails. Can’t read one more email defending genocide. See ya. 

Andrew Matthews
__________________________________

Hi Bob,??Kudos to you for the Boy George essay.  It takes guts for Boy George and it takes guts for you to speak the truth in this misinformed and hostile environment. ?Every line in your essay is on point. ??Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Truly from the bottom of our hearts.??Kevin Keegan??(PS. yeah you’ll lose some followers.  I forwarded it to almost a dozen people.  Most have already replied with a thumbs up or chimed in with a “Good one” )
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In the 1977/79, my best friend lived in Isreal because her stepfather worked for McDonnell Douglas and was a F-16 aircraft engineer. Her and her family’s social circle were mainly American Embassy and military personnel. What surprised me is that her circle of young Jewish/Israeli friends were pro-Palestinian, with the Ambassador’s daughter performing on the outlawed, offshore, Palestinian radio station ship. She returned to the US with both an Israeli flag and a keffiyeh. 

Marion Merritt
Records with Merritt (retired)
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“…being a Jew. Someone who doesn’t conform. Who is loud and has an opinion. And I know even if I try and behave like them, they still see me as the other, a Jew.”

I feel the same way. 

Unfortunately, the big shots in power like especially Stephen Miller are the opressors and dont realize that their policies mirror those of the National Socialists.

Also tech bro Zuckerberg thinks he is big pimpin and he can get in bed with the facisists in the GOP for financial gain… good luck.

Also, I recently read Gengis Khan by McLynn.  There was a time when the Mongols were invading Europe in the 13th century.  Conspiracy theory at the time was that Gengis was in Kahoots “with the Jews”

Alex Specht
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Bob. we love you, but you’re too old 
and on the wrong side of history.

first of all, this Boy George song
sounds like dogsh*t.
this is not taking a stand.
is it even him singing?
i doubt it. sounds like ai,
or he has autotuned the
crap out of his voice.
whatever. misses the point.

Israel is comitting SOMETHING. 
so you don’t wanna call it genocide,
grrrrreat- i will give you a slow Pelosi clap.
Denial is more than a river in Egypt.

so your answer is just kill 
ALL the Palestinians then?
because you offer no alternative
in the worldview you present here.
and that is what Israel seems intent on doing.

Israeli settlers committing crimes against
Palestinians….you don’t need links.

how many children have been murdered?
how many journalists? on and on and on.

how many international organizations have
said if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck,
smells like a duck, it’s genocide.

it’s a word. a rose by any other name
smells just as deadly.

all the world sees is Israel attacking
all the countries around it. 

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds

“For now, Israel’s impunity will enable its Jewish citizens to continue to ignore the genocide, the consequences of which will be a deepening degradation of Israeli ethics and morality, erosion of the rule of law, internal police violence against the state’s Palestinian and Jewish citizens and the undermining of whatever is left of Israeli democracy. Beyond being deprived of any justice and accountability for their suffering, the Gazan victims of Israeli actions will continue to live in dire conditions, under military supervision and with very limited prospects.”
?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/opinion/israel-gaza-palestinians-genocide.html

also your Bob Cavallo interview was amazing.
this political stuff is so boring.

Rob Preuss
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Hi Bob, well said/written. I have an ongoing battle with NY Times and their toxic demonizing of Israel and enabling it’s enemies. Why, nobody seems to know? Their last Saturday featured anti-Israel op ed by noted born in Israel, Jewish professor at Brown, Omer Bartov was despicable. “The Grim Lesson of Israel’s War in Gaza.”

I sent the below to times editors and to that schmuck Bartov. But who knows if they got it or read it. But I send something rejecting their support of Hamas consistently, never get a response?

ALAN SEGAL 

To the Editors:

As someone who has spent a lifetime studying history, media, and public rhetoric, I was stunned by Professor Omer Bartov’s recent oped, “The Grim Lesson of Israel’s War in Gaza.” The New York Times presents Bartov as a distinguished scholar of genocide, yet the argument he offers rests almost entirely on casualty numbers that originate from Hamas’s Gaza Health Ministry—numbers that Israel has never “admitted,” contrary to Bartov’s claim.

There is no public statement from the Israeli military confirming 70,000 deaths or 200,000 wounded. These figures appear only in Hamascontrolled reporting, which does not distinguish combatants from civilians and has a long record of inflating numbers for propaganda purposes. For a genocide scholar to treat these figures as verified fact is academically indefensible.

Equally troubling is what Bartov omits. He never mentions Hamas’s October 7 massacre—the largest mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust. He never acknowledges Hamas’s use of human shields, kidnapping and torture of hostages, its embedding of fighters in hospitals and schools, its theft of humanitarian aid, or its explicit commitment to Israel’s destruction. He never acknowledges that thousands of Hamas fighters are counted as “civilians” in the very statistics he cites.
Genocide is a grave accusation. It requires evidence of intent, not speculation based on casualty numbers supplied by a terrorist organization. Bartov provides no documentary evidence, no policy evidence, and no operational evidence of Israeli intent to destroy a people “in whole or in part.” He simply asserts it.

Opinion pages should welcome strong views. But they should not grant unearned credibility to claims that rely on unverifiable numbers and omit the central facts of the conflict. When a scholar of genocide adopts Hamas’s casualty figures and erases Hamas’s role in the war it initiated, the result is not analysis—it is advocacy.

alan segal  san diego
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Thank you for fearlessly raising this chilling subject with your subscribers in the hope that any that may be mindless anti-Zionist sheep will look at their consciences to see reality and help turn this relentless baffling tide of hatred for Jews.??You made some really good points, especially the complacency amongst younger Jewish communities, it’s the same here in the UK, thinking we’re blending in to an increasingly diverse mix of cultures over here, but that odium is there crawling out of the woodwork yet again just like it did in the thirties and past centuries.??Alas, I came to realise a long while ago that antisemitism must be embedded in humankind’s DNA, a proven fact throughout our long history. I’m a Jewish atheist very much like you, simply proud to be one of the tribe and who were finally given a Jewish home, a place for Jews to stand up for the right to exist and to live our lives.??I briefly chatted with Boy George on the tarmac in Bulgaria in 1994 as we were boarding a plane home. We were both seated in the last row in business class with his band taking up the first rows in economy behind us. 
?George had reserved all 3 seats to my right and stretched out to crash after their previous night’s gig in Sofia. His shoeless feet were hung into the gangway, and I had a quiet chuckle noticing both his well-worn brightly coloured stripey socks had large holes in them.
?Must’ve been his lucky ones he wore for concerts as he’s still a famous celebrity in Blighty and much loved all these years later for his music and unique charisma and here he is again, standing on his platform to speak out against antisemitism… Thanks a bunch BG, you’re the man!??Bob, keep your entertaining and informative dailies coming, I luv ’em all to read with my morning cuppa… even if some of your US jargon goes way over my head!??Stephen Levy?London, UK
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Well said, Bob. 

I have stood up repeatedly for Jewish people over the years in various musical projects and songs, and have experienced first hand the sting of cancellation; ie, curtailment of bookings, especially in Poland, a country I used to perform in regularly.

I am of Polish-Jewish descent, was raised a Reform Jew, and learned at a very young age in 1958 about Anne Frank and the fate of my European family from my mother, 

after the Anne Frank diaries were serialized worldwide, and Anne’s photo was featured on the cover of Look Magazine.

“What happened to our European relatives?” I asked after my mom stunned my siblings and me with stories of the Holocaust, reading us excerpts from Anne Frank’s diary.

“All the Jews in the town of Jedwabne where our family hails from were rounded up and herded into a barn by order of the German army, which was then set on fire. 

The entire Jewish community of Jedwabne perished—principally through the actions of their Christian neighbors, who willingly rounded up the Jews and then pushed them into the barn. 

They then seized all their property and homes. The Jewish community had lived peacefully beside their Christian neighbors for hundreds of years. And then…”. 

This was shocking, frightening news. Especially when I did the math and realized that this incident had occurred a mere 17 years previous.

From that moment on, I have constantly scanned the world press and the horizon in general for signs of a recurrence of anti-semitism. 

Years later in July 2001 all surviving family members of the Jedwabne Massacre were invited to Poland for an official apology ceremony by the then liberal Polish government—

and I was asked to be our family’s Designated Mourner. No one else in my family had the stomach for it. 

I brought my acoustic guitar with me, and after the official ceremony, which got a significant amount of international coverage, I played mournful music in the desolate Jewish graveyard nearby. 

A rabbi who had flown in from Israel (there were mourners there who flew in from all over the world) took me aside and urged me to commemorate the Jedwabne pogrom in a song.

I took up the challenge and wrote “Jedwabne”, shortly thereafter and recorded it with my band Gods and Monsters. 

I put the song on my subsequent album “The Ordeal of Civility”: https://soundcloud.com/garylucas/jedwabne-gary-lucas-gods-and 

The next summer I performed this song at the annual Jewish Heritage Festival in Krakow—a city I had performed in at that point numerous times.

It caused a mini-scandal among the crowd, which mainly consisted of Polish Gentiles (there are very few Jews left in Poland, needless to say), who come every year to the festival to enjoy good old–fashioned klezmer music–which I can play and have played, 

but prefer to stick to my own guns.

My song proved to be Beyond the Pale, controversial after my public debut in Krakow in the Kazimierz district, a bizarre recreation of a Jewish shtetl from the 19th century built for Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” film, and owned and operated ever sincefilm wrapped as a tourist trap for American and European Jews looking to wax nostalgic about their roots, eat chicken soup etc.

 And I was never invited back to perform in Poland again. 

Well, their loss.

 I’m proud of my song and proud to stand up for Jewish people—especially Now.

I agree with you Bob that this is the worst outbreak of anti-semitism worldwide imaginable. And sad to say, I don’t see it blowing over any time soon.

I think it was a total mitzvah for Boy George to write and sing his song. I pray it changes some hearts and minds.

But in our era of dumbed-down mediocrity, I’m not holding my breath.

Frank Zappa sang “It Can’t Happen Here”. 

But it’s happening again, now.

Gary Lucas 
__________________________________

Bob for the record, I’ve never once thought of you as that “Jewish guy” who publishes a blog I love reading in my email feed. You’re Bob Lefsetz, an individual. I never even knew you were Jewish until you brought it up at some point. But then I don’t have good radar for that sort of thing, possibly because I’m a Goy..? 😉
I get that your people have been the most persecuted in history. It’s the oldest bigotry on Earth. But then I can’t help but notice how you then denigrate & castigate everyone else you mentioned here (Jewish milennials, college students, Palestinians, Muslims, Christians, GENTILES..etc.-your caps-).

As for anti-semitism, it hasn’t been a socially accepted bigotry since the late 20th Century. Meanwhile, you can still get away with saying Italians are greasy, smell like garlic and are all in the mob. And Irish people love to drink & fight, and not only is it a socially accepted bigotry, it still gets laughs out loud in almost any room you’re in. I’m not saying we should bring bigotry back, but let’s at least be consistent. The double-standards are glaring when you actually stop, look & reflect.
As for Israel, there IS a difference between being an American Ashkenazi, Israeli, Orthodox Hebrew, Sephartic, and most notoriously, Zionist. Zionists apparently look down at all other Jewish denominations the same way they have seething contempt for the Goyim, do they not? Have you seen the footage online of Orthodox Jews being beaten in the streets of Israel for protesting the war in Gaza and what their government is doing? That really made me tilt my head when I first saw it. I didn’t think the Israeli military would attack their own.. but again, I’m merely a Goy and not well versed in your people’s culture, apparently.??As for Gaza, the plan was always a systematic exile of the “other”. They never wanted a 2-state solution (at least not the Zionist fanatics who whisper in Bibi’s ear, most certainly, as well as the infamous banking dynasty that started all of this long ago, from their base in the UK).

And next is Lebanon, whom Israel has declared MUST become a “failed state” (source: a former CIA operative confirmed this). This is all part of a greater plan, a grander scheme, The Greater Israel Project. Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen & Saudi Arabia are next on their chopping block to carve out a greater Israel. The idea that they’ll remain on a plot of land the size of NJ is ludicrous. No, they have bigger, more lucrative plans than most realize.

So this idea that this is solely about Hamas is ludicrous. As for Iran, Bibi has been propagandizing that they’re now THIS close to obtaining nukes for over 30 years now. You can look this up. It’s not about nukes. Iran is the last of the “7 countries in 5 years” General Wesley Clark admitted he was told the U.S. needed to take down. WHY? Because they wouldn’t get on board with the Central Banks to form their 1-world government and obtain their dream of a 1-world digital currency. That’s when ALL sovereignty will come to an end, if that comes to pass. But I digress..

Power attracts the worst of the worst, regardless of race, religion, or political leanings. Politics is the control of wealth & power. The easiest way to get to the bottom of any issue is, “follow the money”. Who benefits? Which billionaires stand to profit from these wars of attrition?

And please don’t infer that I’m referring to Jewish bankers. That’s the eschewing of lazy psuedo-intellectuals blaming the Jews & Jew bankers for everything. It’s so short-sighted. The one thing people fail to realize every time they bring up that lazy, myopic trope is, the Rockefellers & The Morgans were 2 of the wealthiest banking dynasties in the history of the U.S.
Neither of them are Jewish.

But ALL billionaires have agendas. As a billionaire once said, “The United States is like our country club, and the president is merely our towel boy.”

-Rick Marino
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I’m not religious but I have never understood the hate on Jews! Are people that uneducated or stupid? My answer is probably so! Most aren’t successful so whose fault is it? Obviously it’s the Jew who is their boss or landlord or their doctor! The problem is us Jews are too good at almost everything! Most people don’t see how we are pushed from childhood to do better! For example they don’t see us getting screamed at by our parents for getting a 98 on a test and seeing my father ask about where is the other 2 percent! I think that most people don’t understand the struggle or the journey in being born a Jew and growing into your skin! When I was a child I remember some experiences growing up! I went to the u school in Davie fl and on the bus I remember kids talking about this religion that was so horrible and I went home and hoped I wasn’t that religion but I found out I was I was crushed I was 6 years old! I was a Jew! I remember at u of miami in college when Dave Phelps from Connecticut called me a dirty Jew and not one of my other roommates did anything! From embarrassment to a proudness that I will never hide or shirk from! I know nobody has contributed more than us and that bothers everybody as we do it so easily or it just appears this way! When you are born a Jew it doesn’t mean you will be a millionaire or successful! We are different from most in the way we are raised! We can challenge each other and this is an important fact! When we have dinners sometimes or other meals we discuss and this might look like an argument but it isn’t it’s just a way we do things! If you were in a gentile family and answered your father or mother the way a Jewish kid does you would get smacked across the mouth! I have seen this in the homes of many of my catholic or Episcopalian friends! 
?As you stated there are about 56-57 Muslim countries and NOBODY wants the Palestinians! They are a prop used by the world and mostly the Arabs to harm the Jews! This isn’t so tough except that a group of people don’t want another group to have a country! In our history when a country or countries are defeated then usually that status quo remains intact until it changes! I don’t see people especially these disgusting democrats standing up for Rwandans or Catholics who are oppressed in many countries or Indians in the USA! The Arabs tried to ruin and destroy Israel but they lost and this is the way it is! Tough luck! You lost and it ain’t going back! We aren’t walking into ovens or being tricked into them! If Israel’s ingenuity didn’t solve the problems of bombs and missiles being lobbed at them with the Iron dome or David’s sling then Israel would be destroyed! It’s not for lack of trying! It is sad to watch these esteemed pillars of education become these bastions of antisemitism and hate and intolerance! I now look at university in a different light and I am no longer impressed by these Ivey schools ! Harvard schmarmard! People shouldn’t be angry at Jews they should be angry at Germany as Germany basically made Israel come to fruition with the holocaust! Now this great Germanic country that was run by an Austrian painter let the whole world in! It really has no semblance of what they wanted or were from world war 2! So Israel comes to fruition and the geniuses or idiots like Javier Bardem and too many to list say Israel commits genocide! I think that they say this to needle or bother Jews as there has been no genocide! If Israel wanted to commit genocide they can drop a bomb and poof the Arabs in the Jewish area are vaporized, gone, kaput! But us Jews aren’t like that! We take every effort to protect life and these animals build under schools and hospitals! What is Israel supposed to do? When I hear people saying that Israel is committing genocide they are either uneducated or misinformed or very stupid or a combination there of! The people against Israel are either saying this because they are stupid or because they are b*stardizing the world holocaust and genocide! Israel is the farthest thing from this! Let’s call a spade a spade! If the Muslims could then they would wipe out Israel and all the Jews everywhere! It’s not like they ain’t trying or have tried! I believe that certain left people try and needle Israel or universalize this word genocide to bother the Jews! To take a word that means so much historically and now label an action as this when it isn’t shows hate, anger and complete and utter failure of the word! It’s misdirection and it’s dangerous! If I walked onto a campus and said the N word I would get my ass kicked but it’s ok to be horrible to Jews! Then u have people saying Israel takes all the USA money but they never say what Israel has contributed back to the world in technological advances that the USA uses in their everyday lives! I am in my fifties so I don’t know how long I will be here but anybody that says Israel is an apartheid state is a fool! You can have gays you can have Arabs in Israel! The Arabs are the ones committing apartheid!

There are no Jews in any Arab state! Whatever the people are accusing Israel of it’s actually the accusers who are doing this behavior!
?I don’t know what else I can say but people are really stupid! G-d bless Israel and her people and the IDF! Boy George is amazing! I cannot believe how stupid people are! It gives me much hope !
?Javier Bardem and these other useful idiots are a*sholes of a huge proportion! It’s really quite scary!?
Regards,?Jack Berman
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A Boy Named George and the Courage to Just Be Human

Somewhere between the third TikTok explainer on “from the river to the sea” and the fourth celebrity apology tour for a tweet nobody read, a fifty-something British pop icon in eyeliner did something almost nobody in music has the spine to do anymore: 

he told the truth and hit “release.”

Boy George — yes, that Boy George, the one who taught the ’80s how to wear a hat — dropped a song standing with Israel.

 Not a press release. 

Not a carefully lawyered statement. 

A song. 

With a chorus. 

That people will actually sing.

And the world short-circuited.

Here’s what gets me: nobody needs a justification to be human.

 Nobody should need a footnote to say “raping and murdering people at a music festival was evil” or “a nation being shot at by its neighbors is allowed to shoot back.” 

That used to be the starting line for a conversation, not the finish line for a controversy. 

Somewhere along the way, being decent became a political position, and the people most afraid of holding it are the ones who make their living being provocative for a paycheck.

I’ll say plainly what I believe, because I’m not interested in disappearing into a crowd to avoid being noticed: 

I’m a Christian, I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I believe that God has never once let go of Israel — not through Babylon, not through Rome, not through the twentieth century’s worst nightmare, and not now. 

History has tried to erase the Jewish people more times than anyone can count, and history has lost every single time. 

That’s not a coincidence. 

That’s a pattern, and patterns tell you something true.

So no, I’m not shocked Boy George got attacked for singing about October 7th like it actually happened. 

I’m shocked it took this long for a musician to say it out loud. 

Being pro-Israel isn’t a brand deal. 

It isn’t a costume you put on for Passover season. 

It’s just refusing to look away from what’s true because looking away would be more comfortable.
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Dance again? Sure. 

But first, somebody had to be brave enough to say the music stopped for a reason — and that reason had a name, a date, and a body count that nobody wants to put in the caption.

George put it in the caption anyway.

Daniel Kannan

Why are oldsters and Hollywood fighting a passé war?

At least CNN does more reporting than Fox, even MS Now, but the truth is hardly anyone is watching and the outlet, like its two political competitors, is basically a hotbed of analysis and argument which younger generations refuse to engage with.

CNN reaches 711,000 primetime viewers and 432,000 total-day viewers in a nation of 340+ million. In a world where influencers, whose names are unknown by these anti-merger protesters, reach more.

If you’re banking on the neutering of the Paramount/WarnerDiscovery merger… Let’s just say I hope you’re not placing a bet on Kalshi. Because if you leave all emotion out, the merger passes muster on an antitrust basis.

But this is what happens when people base their behavior on emotions, not facts.

We reside in a changed world, and the older generations refuse to accept this.

You constantly hear the refrain that young people are getting their news from TikTok… But the bottom line is they are! Just like there were complaints people were getting their news from late night TV in the past. Or TV news instead of newspapers before that.

And in truth, as bad as you might believe Fox News to be, the right wing is really run by online sites that you may not have even heard of. That’s the truth.

As for truth, we can lament its loss, but if you think leaving Bari Weiss outside the walls of CNN means truth will triumph, you probably don’t own a smartphone.

As for adjusting one’s take to appease the Administration, Jeff Bezos did this with the “Washington Post” and the end result was a loss of subscribers and influence, aided by a staggering reduction in reporters. If you don’t have eyes around the world, you’re just another opinion outlet.

The eyes remain on the staffs of the “New York Times” and the “Wall Street Journal,” the only two American outlets which still have bastions of reporters, especially the “Times,” around the world.

And the “Times” is denigrated, but the funny thing is if you even watch cable news, they can’t stop quoting the “Times” and the “Journal”…they reference the reporting and then argue over it.

Remember when there were limits on the ownership of terrestrial radio stations? Now Teslas don’t even come with AM radios. It’s a struggling business.

That’s another thing the establishment with its supposed heart in the right place doesn’t understand, nothing is forever. It’s not only the horse and buggy that are in the rearview mirror. And in a world where more power is needed, the Administration has crippled alternative energy and Detroit is making SUVs when BMW just laid off workers because it can’t compete with the Chinese.

At least fight the right war.

Make America Great Again? We can argue all day long how great it actually was, but in truth you must adjust for a new world. Look at the originalists on the Supreme Court…look at the twisted rationales these justices used in the Humphrey’s case. Even the Supreme Court can’t live in the past.

As for Bari Weiss… Are you really worried about someone who tanked the already struggling “CBS Evening News” with her handpicked host?

If you want to address hearts and minds, win people over, then you need to invest in reporting. As for swaying people…with attitude, jokes or analysis…this is done online today.

Do we end up with a Balkanized world, with no agreed upon facts? We most certainly do, but keeping CNN out of the hands of the Ellisons is not going to solve this problem. It’s like fighting a war with bows and arrows in the face of guns. Speaking of which, the U.S. doesn’t have enough expensive missiles to wage a full scale war in Iran, and Iran is staying alive partly due to cheap technology, i..e drones, which Ukraine is employing to keep Russia at bay. Turns out an innovative thinker is much more powerful than sheer dollars.

Drones. AI… This is the world we now live in. Not one from forty years ago with four networks and a slew of cable channels. If you’re worried about Paramount owning MTV, you must be the same wanker who is excited that CD sales just went up, they’re de minimis in terms of overall consumption.

Remember when everybody was bitching about Napster? The record companies who were happy when they used the legal system to shut the MP3 trading site down?

Well, whac-a-mole ensued and we ended up with Spotify, et al, which stabilized the market and returned revenues… Sure, it may be harder to get people to listen to an entire album, but maybe that’s just not what listeners want to do… Just like people don’t want to watch CNN.

As for CNN’s online presence, the company has been about as successful as the aforementioned MTV, which is not very. They have a pay product and if you can find anyone who is laying down their money, it’s probably you, because I don’t know a single soul who is coughing up for these stories behind the paywall. People will pay for the “Times” and “Journal” online, but not CNN.

Furthermore, Paramount is aligning with WarnerDiscovery because these companies operate in a mature sphere, all the innovation is elsewhere, this is just a matter of keeping the lights on. And if I hear one more Hollywoodite bitching about the number of movies that are made… Numbers tell us this is a product that the public doesn’t want, and chances are these same complainers aren’t going either, they’re watching in screening rooms or via digital screeners.

You can’t win if you fight the last war. Youngsters know this inherently, oldsters are oblivious. Which is why the Democratic party is in turmoil.

And it’s not only the Democrats, but the entire government. How can you rule over me, tell me what to do, when you’re not digitally-savvy?

As for Paramount/WarnerDiscovery… Digital outlets have many more customers and are making more money and are worth more. What next, an outcry over the merger of department stores?

It’s not only that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, old dogs just don’t want their cheese moved, ever. They want to skate along, never enduring a loss, never having to adjust to change.

But this is not the world we live in.

When was the last time someone sent me news from CNN? I can’t remember. But Jon Stewart is all over TikTok, as a result of having entertainment value and a viewpoint. And even the “New York Times” is pivoting to video, and it doesn’t plan to succeed by buying a cable outlet, but by spreading the word online.

But that does not mean the paper doesn’t publish the words of bloviators, bleeding heart liberals, trying to maintain the status quo.

If the bleeding heart liberals truly wanted to get their message across, they’d play online, where right wing viewpoints are effective and dominate.

You can only solve the problems of the future via leadership. But the so-called educated classes, the Democratic party, are so busy trying to maintain the status quo that they’re superseded.

One controller with a drone can challenge Putin.

And one person with a smartphone and internet access can change the course of history.

This is the world we live in. If only the intelligentsia and the supposed educated classes would wake up.