MIDDLE EAST - As this year’s summer camp session begins, children around the world find themselves playing games, doing arts and crafts, participating in sporting matches, and swimming in the pool. For children in the Gaza Strip, however, summer camp looks very different. Rather than playing soccer or outdoor camping, some 50,000 children in Gaza participate in camps run by armed groups like the al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Saraya al-Quds, which aim to instill radical Islamic values and provide military training to children. Promotional videos and advertisements entice young children into registering for such camps, culminating in the conscription of children in Hamas’ armed forces. On June 26, 2021, the Vanguards of Liberation camp was officially launched with a press conference given by camp spokesman Abu Bilal, who designated this year’s camps as the “Sword of Jerusalem.” The intention is for these camps to exemplify the Palestinian peoples’ achievements during the May 2021 war.

EUROPE - The EU has finally released its report on the Palestinian Authority's school curriculum, which documents the appalling material UK-funded teachers are delivering to Palestinian children. The report provides extensive examples of incitement to violence, anti-Semitism, denial of Israel's existence, and the near complete absence of any message about peaceful coexistence. Britain's government has rightly taken a zero tolerance approach to anti-Semitism, yet our continued support for Palestinian teachers who teach this material undermines our commitment to combating anti-Jewish racism [By UK Member of Parliament, Stephen Crabb].

ISRAEL - During the period of Israel's full control of the West Bank (1967-1992), the Arab population expanded by 79%, from 586,000 to 1,050,000, due to the unprecedented Israeli development of health, medical, transportation, education and employment infrastructure, following stagnation during the Jordanian occupation of the area (1948-1967). Arab infant mortality was drastically reduced, while life expectancy surged. The Arab population in the West Bank has also undergone massive urbanization (from 75% rural in 1967 to 77% urban in 2021). Israel, with a birthrate of 3.09 per woman (compared with 3.02 among West Bank Arab women), leads the 34 OECD countries in fertility. This is due to the Israeli state of mind, which is heavy on optimism, faith, patriotism, attachment to roots, collective responsibility, and the centrality of children. It is common for secular, highly-educated, working Israeli Jewish women to have three or four children, a trend unheard of elsewhere in the West. Israel's robust demography refutes the assertion that its Jewish majority is threatened by Arab demographic growth.

LEBANON - As a hybrid actor, Hezbollah has risen to become the most influential political organization in Lebanon. It enjoys legitimacy within the Lebanese state, but is able to operate without the accountability required of a state institution and without full responsibility to the Lebanese people. Holding power without responsibility is ideal for Hezbollah. In theory, the group has the military capability to take power in Lebanon by force, but it is not in its interest to do so. Western governments’ attempts to reverse Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon by focusing on curbing the activities of the group itself – such as through sanctions – are not sufficient. For as long as the current political system in Lebanon exists, it will not be possible to loosen Hezbollah’s hold over the Lebanese state.

ISRAEL - On Tisha B’Av, Bennett speaks of ‘freedom of worship’ for Jews on Temple Mount. Statement appears to be at odds with status quo at the site, under which Jews are allowed to visit but not pray; spokesman for police minister claims there is ‘no change in policy’ Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asserted on Sunday that both Jews and Muslims have “freedom of worship” on the Temple Mount, potentially hinting at a change in policy at the most contentious site in Israel. The statement, issued in English and Hebrew, came a day after Channel 12 news reported that groups of observant Jews have been ascending to the Temple Mount in recent months and quietly praying without interruption by police. The TV report called the development “a revolution, unfolding gradually, under the radar.”

JORDAN - King Abdullah will be visiting President Joe Biden at the White House on July 19. By granting the Jordanian monarch the honor of being the first Arab leader to visit the new president, the US administration is putting wind in Jordan’s sails as it seeks to fend off Saudi claims regarding custodianship of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. From the point of view of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other interested Muslim parties, Jerusalem is the crown jewel in what amounts to a battle for the soul of Islam.

USA - Anyone concerned about the future of American Jewish life pays attention when a new Pew Research Center report is released. While not always painting a rosy picture, the data has been helpful in stimulating discourse that focuses on Jewish relevance, inclusion, and new modes of involvement. However, the newest Pew Report offers some particularly worrisome data: “half of Orthodox Jews in the US say they have ‘not much’ (23%) or ‘nothing at all’ (26%) in common with Jews in the Reform movement,” while six-in-ten Reform Jews say they have not much (39%) or nothing at all (21%) in common with the Orthodox. This data, rarely highlighted in the glut of articles that came out after the report’s release, reveals an existential crisis facing the Jewish people: We are coming apart at the seams. As Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks put it: “We are united by a covenant of shared memory, of shared identity, of shared fate – even if we don’t share the exact same faith.” If we don’t recapture that spirit, if we don’t act now to come together, we may be facing an unraveling of the strong, proud history of the Jewish people.

ISRAEL - Europe must remember that Israel is under constant threat from Iran, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. Lapid called Iran "the Number 1 exporter of terrorism in the world, which never gave up on its ambition to attain a nuclear weapon and never hid who its target is for that weapon: Us. Israel." Iran backs Hizbullah in Lebanon to the north and Hamas in Gaza to the south, he said. Israel would like "to broaden the circle of peace" to include the Palestinians, Lapid said. "Unfortunately, there is no possibility at the moment… If there will be a Palestinian state, it needs to be a peace-seeking democracy… You cannot ask us to build with our own hands another threat to our lives."

MIDDLE EAST - Palestinian movement Fatah called for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be expelled from the Arab League today as the Gulf state officially opened an embassy in Israel. Central committee spokesman Abbas Zaki branded Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed “a traitor” to the Palestinian cause for having normalised relations with Israel. “If the UAE’s doors are opened to naturalise the zionists, you will perish,” he said. “The people of the Emirates are free and great and we do not attribute this betrayal to them, because the only traitor is Mohammed bin Zayed,” Mr Zaki added. The opening ceremony at the new embassy in Tel Aviv was hosted by UAE ambassador to Israel Mohammad al-Khaja and attended by newly appointed Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid opened a new embassy in Abu Dhabi to represent his country in the UAE capital.

ISRAEL - Ron Prosor's new book, Undiplomatically Speaking (in Hebrew; English in 2022), reflects [on the characteristics of] one of Israel's outstanding diplomats: initiative, offense, standing up for Israel's national honor, and battling for the justness of Israel's path on all fronts. He explains: "A good diplomat is one who takes the initiative and thinks outside the box. Diplomatic war is being waged against Israel that no other country in the world is subject to. Every Israeli diplomatic mission is a frontline command center." "Israel is held up to a… special standard… one that is so high it can't be met. If rockets are fired at Israel, they say Israel has the right to defend itself. But then they don't really allow you to strike at the terrorists. You do everything with one hand tied behind your back, with a threat hovering overhead that your soldiers and officers will be arrested if they leave the country… I can give you a long list of things that are just unbelievable, that only Israel is subject to."

ISRAEL - Why did Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza, unlike any other conflict in the world, become a green light to intimidate and attack a minority community? Why are Jews and Jewish communities uniquely ascribed responsibility for actions in a decades-long, geo-political dispute thousands of miles away? In the dangerously simplistic binary world view which has gripped progressive circles, Jews are unjustifiably viewed as white and privileged, while Israelis are automatically seen as wicked oppressors, thanks to manufactured and frankly anti-Semitic stereotypes. Yet, too often, voicing concerns over anti-Semitism is treated as an affront, something of a threat to other minority groups. To express sympathy for Jews facing intimidation and attack is deemed offensive. Those concerned with equality and social justice should proudly demonstrate solidarity with any minority under threat, instead of singling out one sole minority undeserving of solidarity and protection.

MIDDLE EAST - The summer camps run by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are terrorist training camps for children to learn to become child warriors. A PIJ political leader explained that the children were being trained in how "to remove the alien corn [ie Israel] that was planted by the West and took over Palestine." What they are really doing is teaching kids to kill and die. Pictures from PIJ camps show children learning to field-strip and clean their Kalashnikov rifles, running obstacle courses, training under simulated battle conditions of fire and smoke, and learning how to clear rooms like SWAT teams. Those signing petitions expressing solidarity with "Palestine" should contemplate the disparity of sending their own children off to camp to sing around the campfire and play "Capture the Flag," while the children of Gaza sing songs of martyrdom and play "Butcher the Jews."

USA - Wheat farmers across the country are facing lower yields as 98% of the country’s wheat crop is in areas experiencing drought. In the Northern Plains, the Department of Agriculture said Monday that farmers were projected to harvest their smallest crop of spring wheat — crops planted in the spring and harvested in the autumn — in 33 years. This week, the North Dakota Wheat Commission noted in its weekly update that some farmers saw rain and lowered temperatures following last week’s searing heat, but conditions are still worrisome. The region is hardly alone; the USDA also said this week that 68% of the Pacific Northwest’s spring wheat was in “poor or very poor” condition. At this time last year, only 6% of the region’s wheat crop was in this state. All told, the USDA found that 98% of the US wheat crop is growing in areas hit by drought. June is when the wheat planted in the spring flowers, and is “a critical period” for the crop, said Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, an associate professor of applied economics at Cornell. “It’s getting hit very hard right now, the conditions being reported are pretty bad.”

USA - New Research Shows We’re on Schedule. A 1972 MIT study predicted that rapid economic growth would lead to societal collapse in the mid 21st century. A new paper shows we’re unfortunately right on schedule. A remarkable new study by a director at one of the largest accounting firms in the world has found that a famous, decades-old warning from MIT about the risk of industrial civilization collapsing appears to be accurate based on new empirical data. In 1972, a team of MIT scientists got together to study the risks of civilizational collapse. Their system dynamics model published by the Club of Rome identified impending ‘limits to growth’ (LtG) that meant industrial civilization was on track to collapse sometime within the 21st century, due to overexploitation of planetary resources. The controversial MIT analysis generated heated debate, and was widely derided at the time by pundits who misrepresented its findings and methods. But the analysis has now received stunning vindication from a study written by a senior director at professional services giant KPMG, one of the 'Big Four' accounting firms as measured by global revenue.

GERMANY - The German military has announced the creation of a separate command dedicated to space, becoming the latest of a handful of nations prioritizing more resources and missions among the stars. The Ministry of Defence introduced the new space command in a July 13 ceremony at the German Space Situational Awareness Centre in Uedem, located in the country’s North Rhine-Westphalia region. Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer provided a keynote speech for the event. The military is “responding to the increasing significance of space for our state’s ability to function, the prosperity of our population, and the increasing dependency of the armed forces on space-supported data, services and products,” the ministry said in a statement.