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Palestinian youths take part in Islamic Jihad summer camp, video shows. Leader calls them 'revenge camps.'
The AFP News Agency on Friday posted a video to Twitter showing what it said are Palestinian youths taking part in an Islamic Jihad summer camp while on break from school.
What are the details?
The AFP's video caption reads, in part, "Palestinian youths brandishing fake rifles, parade during a military-style summer camp, organized annually by the Islamic Jihad movement during the school holiday, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip."
An Islamic Jihad official identified in the AFP clip as Darwish Al-Gharabli said, "These boys are trained in various ways to defend their rights in their territory and homeland."
Al-Gharabli added, "The mobilization unit supervises these camps — the free people's revenge camps. Hundreds have participated in the camps of the al-Quds Brigades, the camps of glory and pride, ensuring that jihad and resistance will continue," the AFP clip indicated.
— (@)
What else?
Citing counter-terrorism expert Joe Truzman in the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Long War Journal, Legal Insurrection said the "two-week-long terror camp will be used to indoctrinate children in the ideology of jihad warfare, introduce them to terrorist tactics and seek recruits for future terrorist campaigns against Israel."
More from Legal Insurrection:
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an Iran-sponsored terrorist group that operates under the protection of Hamas in Gaza, fired more than 1000 rockets toward Israel in the latest round of aggression. The Israeli military responded by eliminating several key members of the PIJ top brass. Undeterred by the recent losses, the terrorist outfit [is] seeking new recruits in its ongoing jihad against the Jewish State.
On June 10, mosques operated by Islamic Jihad held open registration for Palestinian youth to attend military training camps in the Gaza Strip. The camp is called “Revenge of the Free,” which is the name given by Islamic Jihad to the latest conflict with Israel in May 2023. According to Islamic Jihad, the camp started on June 12 and will last for two weeks.
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including other militant organizations have held summer camps for more than ten years in Gaza, often publishing propaganda videos showing children undergoing military training.
How are folks reacting?
As you might expect, some commenters on the AFP's video didn't seem too thrilled about the camp:
- "Revenge camp sounds healthy," one commenter quipped.
- "Looks like fun," another user offered with a side of sarcasm.
- "How create more hate in this world...." another commenter wrote.
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Dramatic photos capture the moment Team USA swimming coach heroically saves unconscious swimmer
Harrowing photos capture the moment a Team USA swimming coach rescued an artistic swimmer who fainted in the water during the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
U.S. swimmer Anita Alvarez, 25, sank to the bottom of the pool after completing her solo free routine on Wednesday.
U.S. swimming coach Andrea Fuentes said the lifeguards didn't react fast enough to save the unconscious swimmer, so she took matters into her own hands.
"I have seen that instead of going up she has gone down and I thought, 'Something strange is happening here,' Anita was not breathing and she has not breathed for two minutes," Fuentes told Spanish broadcaster Cadena COPE in a radio interview. "When a swimmer finishes their routine, the first thing they want to do is breathe."
Fuentes explained, "I called for the lifeguards, like, 'Go into the pool, can't you see she's going down in the water?'"
She said the lifeguards "weren't reacting," adding, "So after a couple of seconds, I went in as fast as I could."
Fuentes told the BBC that she went into "problem-solving mode."
The coach – who was still fully clothed in a T-shirt and shorts – heroically raced to the water and swam to the bottom of the pool to rescue the lifeless Alvarez.
\u201cAn American synchronized swimmer was rescued by her coach after losing consciousness during a competition. @tjholmes reports. https://t.co/kWY5S6eOU4\u201d— Good Morning America (@Good Morning America) 1655984633
"I don't think I've swum as fast ever before, even when I got Olympic medals, and well, in the end, I was able to get her up and she wasn't breathing," Fuentes continued.
Fuentes previously won four synchronized swimming Olympic medals for Spain.
Dramatic photos show Fuentes pulling Alvarez – a two-time Olympian – to the surface with the assistance of another swimmer.
\u201cCoach Andrea Fuentes leapt in to rescue Team USA's Anita Alvarez, who had sunk to the bottom of the pool and was not breathing at the World Aquatics Championships.\n\n"It was a big scare. I had to jump in because the lifeguards weren't doing it" \n\nhttps://t.co/QzBH5TRcvD\u201d— AFP News Agency (@AFP News Agency) 1655947713
"In the end, everything came out OK," the hero coach remarked.
Once out of the pool, Alvarez was given medical treatment before being taken away on a stretcher.
In a statement on the USA Artistic Swimming Instagram page, Fuentes gave an update on the condition of Alvarez.
"Anita is okay – the doctors checked all vitals and everything is normal: heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, blood pressure, etc… all is okay," she said.
"Anita feels good now and the doctors also say she is okay," the U.S. swimming coach noted. "Tomorrow she will rest all day and will decide with the doctor if she can swim free team finals or not."
Fuentes explained how swimming is different from other high-endurance sports.
"Marathon, cycling, cross country … we all have seen images where some athletes don’t make it to the finish line and others help them to get there," she said. "Our sport is no different than others, just in a pool, we push through limits and sometimes we find them."
USA Artistic Swimming told the Associated Press, "Watching yesterday’s medical emergency of 2x Olympian Anita Alvarez and subsequent rescue by coach Andrea Fuentes was heartbreaking for our community. She gave an exceptional solo performance and competed brilliantly in four preliminary and three final competitions across six days."
Alvarez – USA's 2021 Artistic Swimming Athlete of the Year – finished seventh in the final.
Last year, Alvarez fainted following a routine during an Olympic qualifier in Barcelona. In that instance, Fuentes also rescued her in the water.
Taliban flaunts newly seized US military hardware in victory parade
The Taliban did a victory lap this week after U.S. military forces were officially withdrawn from Afghanistan. In the days following the U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan, the Taliban held parades with American military hardware to celebrate the United States withdrawal after nearly 20 years of military engagement.
On Monday, the last American military plane departed Afghanistan, marking the formal ending of the Afghanistan War, which was the longest war in U.S. history. The Taliban held parades highlighting newly seized U.S. military equipment, including Black Hawk helicopters, armored tactical vehicles, and firearms.
Taliban victory parade feat. US equipment https://t.co/PC6nhV2fTv
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) 1630600415.0
#Taliban parade in Kandahar City, #Afghanistan, with U.S. weapons and equipment.Taliban also appear to fly US Bla… https://t.co/eiRJS7NhlV
— El American (@ElAmerican_) 1630518564.0
There was a cavalcade of captured Humvees driving in a procession outside Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city. There was also a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter flying overhead with the Taliban flag.
#UPDATE A Black Hawk helicopter flew circles over the Taliban's spiritual heartland of #Kandahar in southern Afghan… https://t.co/DgxTzhBQem
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) 1630510803.0
According to Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction quarterly reports, the United States sent 1,178 Humvees to the former Afghan government between April 2020 and July 2021, which have a total cost of more than $278 million, Barron's reported.
According to CBS News, the price tag for a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter is $5.9 million.
One video shows Taliban militants holding U.S. firearms investigating a hangar at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, which had four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, according to New York Times reporter Christiaan Triebert.
This is a hangar at Apron 10 on the military side of Hamid Karzai International Airport. Two weeks ago, these four… https://t.co/hVfEjexKhX
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) 1630360698.0
It is not immediately known the exact amount of viable weapons that the U.S. left behind in Afghanistan because of President Joe Biden's chaotic evacuation, but one U.S. intelligence official told Reuters that the Taliban likely controls "more than 2,000 armored vehicles, including U.S. Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones."
The BBC reported that the Afghan Air Force was operating 167 aircraft, including attack helicopters and planes, at the end of June, according to a report by the U.S.-based Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
Before the Taliban was able to capture the capital of Kabul, Afghan soldiers fled to neighboring Uzbekistan with 22 military planes and 24 helicopters, the New York Post reported.
"The kinds of equipment we're talking about, while certainly there's a lethality component to it, it doesn't pose a threat to the United States, it doesn't pose a threat to neighboring nations," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said. "These are not the kinds of things that the Taliban can make great strategic use out of."
Last week, former President Donald Trump blasted the Biden administration for leaving so much U.S. military equipment for the Taliban.
"And not, nobody can even comprehend that much equipment. Thousands of vehicles," Trump said. "It should be bombed. We cannot let them have that equipment."
"I want every single nail, screw, and bolt," he said of U.S. equipment in Afghanistan. "I then would have, with the exception of Bagram, which I would have kept, I would have bombed all of the bases, because I don't want to give those bases to Russia, China, or even the Taliban. I would have bombed every base."
In the city of Khost on Tuesday, Taliban supporters held mock funerals with coffins draped with the flags of the United States, NATO, and European nations, according to Reuters.
Taliban supporters held a mock funeral with coffins covered in US, UK, French, and NATO flags as troops left the co… https://t.co/txxOH8UX4i
— TRT World (@trtworld) 1630494228.0
Taliban fighters wearing US gear mock iconic WWII image of Marines raising American flag on Iwo Jima: 'The humiliation continues'
The Taliban appear to be mocking the United States in a new propaganda photo. The image, which some have called "humiliating," shows an elite Taliban fighting unit donned in U.S. military gear and hoisting up the flag of the fundamentalist Islamic group in nearly the exact same pose that U.S. Marines hoisted up the American flag during World War II.
The Badri 313 Battalion is reportedly the Taliban's special commando unit, which was allegedly named after the Battle of Badr where the Prophet Mohammad led the Muslim community to a major military victory with just 313 men in 624 CE.
A propaganda photo shows members of the Badri 313 Battalion wearing what appears to be U.S. military gear raising up the Taliban flag in a similar fashion to the six U.S. Marines who raised the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.
Taliban fighters release photo mocking iconic photo of US Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima during Worl… https://t.co/FfGA8BdyAj
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) 1629569355.0
There were heated reactions to the Taliban seemingly mocking the iconic U.S. military photograph.
Tom Bevan, the co-Founder of RealClearPolitics, wrote: "The humiliation continues."
Conservative commentator John Cardillo declared: "The Taliban is wearing our gear, mocking Iwo Jima. Biden must resign or be impeached and removed."
Army Ranger and UFC fighter Tim Kennedy exclaimed: "Taliban soldiers wearing all U.S. supplied equipment MOCK iconic World War II image of American Marines raising flag on Iwo Jima as soldiers don US military gear in propaganda footage. It is straight up NUKE time."
Former Navy SEAL Jonathan T Gilliam said: "This just keeps getting worse and worse! #Taliban mocks iconic Iwo Jima picture wearing US gear left behind by the @JoeBiden woke administration."
James Glancy, ex-member of the Royal Marine Commandos, reacted by saying: "The Taliban 'Special Forces - Badri 313' are just mocking America now with their PR machine."
The Taliban also published a propaganda video this week with the Bardi 313 Battalion wearing what appears to be U.S. military gear, including tactical helmets, night-vision goggles, and modern firearms.
A photo posted by Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, shows Taliban fighters "with their new American gear" and a militarized Ford pickup truck.
An AFP tweet shows "Taliban fighters carrying M4 and M18 assault rifles and M24 sniper weapons, driving around in iconic US Humvees."
Videos posted on social media show that the Taliban has seized thousands of firearms, ammunition, body armor, and other military equipment.
Taliban with their new American gear. (pic: @AsaadHannaa) https://t.co/CJFnpLMU5X
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) 1629552703.0
Taliban's arms seizures embarrass US.Social media images show Taliban fighters carrying M4 and M18 assault rifles… https://t.co/g5ShObHYIZ
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) 1629340069.0
The U.S. gave Afghan forces an estimated $28 billion in weaponry between 2002 and 2017, according to Business Insider.
"Everything that hasn't been destroyed is the Taliban's now," an anonymous U.S. official told Reuters.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said this week that the Taliban now controls a "fair amount" of the weapons supplied to the Afghan government.
"We don't have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone. But certainly a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban," Sullivan said, "and obviously we don't have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport."
The Taliban likely have possession of 2,000 armored vehicles, including U.S. Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft, including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones.
"When an armed group gets their hands on American-made weaponry, it's sort of a status symbol. It's a psychological win," Elias Yousif, deputy director of the Center for International Policy's Security Assistance Monitor, told The Hill.
NYC veterans vow to sue city if Memorial Day parade is barred, point out Black Lives Matter protests and cannabis event were permitted: 'Slap in the face'
A veterans' group is threatening to sue New York City if they are not permitted to hold its annual Memorial Day parade. The United Staten Island Veterans' Organization was denied a permit for the parade, and the group is highlighting a double standard. American military service members are barred from marching in a patriotic parade, yet Black Lives Matter protesters were not only allowed, but encouraged, to hold protests throughout the city for the last year.
This year's Memorial Day parade would be the 102nd running of the distinguished procession to celebrate American service members. This year's parade was specifically going to honor Gulf War veterans since it is the conflict's 30th anniversary.
The United Staten Island Veterans' Organization, an association of 16 local veterans' groups that has sponsored the annual event for decades, filed a request for a parade permit with the New York Police Department on Feb. 27, according to Staten Island Live. The vets' group estimated that approximately 1,000 participants would "march down Forest Avenue from Hart Boulevard to Greenleaf Avenue, a 18-block stretch of the leafy commercial street in West Brighton," the New York Post reported. However, the NYPD denied their request to hold the parade.
The Memorial Day parade was denied because of Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's executive order signed last year restricting public events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Staten Island Veterans' Organization points out that Black Lives Matter protests, which have at times escalated into violent riots, have been allowed since May 28, 2020, in reaction to the death of George Floyd.
🎥🛑In #USA thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets of New York City during the weekend demand… https://t.co/cGxGZEEk3U
— ©halecos Amarillosᴳᴸᴼᴮᴬᴸ 🍀ʷAͤNͣOͬNͤYˡMͤOᵍUͥSͦⁿ (@ChalecosAmarill) 1601309777.0
Last June, thousands gathered in June for a black transgender lives rally in Brooklyn.
WATCH: Footage shows a speaker addressing the massive crowd at a rally for black transgender lives in Brooklyn, New… https://t.co/8cRYQcyOXs
— CBS News (@CBSNews) 1592193608.0
De Blasio even participated with a group that did not practice social distancing when they painted "Black Lives Matter" on a Manhattan street.
VIDEO: #NewYork Mayor Bill de Blasio and civil rights activist Al Sharpton participate in the painting of “Black Li… https://t.co/S1WcgPBG5D
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) 1594320420.0
Last July, the far-left de Blasio argued that Black Lives Matter rallies were permitted while other events were not, "This is a historic moment of change. We have to respect that but also say to people the kinds of gatherings we're used to, the parades, the fairs — we just can't have that while we're focusing on health right now."
The United Staten Island Veterans' Organization note that the Big Apple hosted the New York City Cannabis Parade on May 1. About 200 weed enthusiasts marched down Broadway with a giant inflatable marijuana joint. The Cannabis Parade organizers received a permit from the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and rally spokesman Stu Zakim gloated, "We had a police escort the whole way, they shut traffic down, all that stuff."
The marijuana event was not only allowed by New York City, but also had high-ranking government officials in attendance, including Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Attorney General Letitia James.
The annual Cannabis Parade was part protest, part celebration.- https://t.co/R63qzpaH3g https://t.co/yXZ3m3jlEz
— Empire State NORML (@NYNORML) 1620089962.0
It's the Cannabis Parade and Rally in New York City.This year, we finally and equitably legalized marijuana in Ne… https://t.co/oRcZTt3Xyj
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) 1619899508.0
The United Staten Island Veterans' Organization plans to sue the city over the decision to prohibit veterans from participating in the Memorial Day parade.
"Under the equal protection clause, it's unconstitutional for the city to pick and choose between groups like this," attorney Brendan Lantry, who is working pro bono for the Staten Island vets, said. "There's a clear double standard going on here."
"All we ask for is fairness under the law," John Haynes, CEO of the USIVO, said.
"It's a slap in the face," Jamie Gonzalez, a Marine infantryman who saw combat during Operation Desert Storm, said. "For many of us, a parade is a form of closure. We gather together and support each other."
"I'm incensed," Ted Cohen, an 82-year-old retired Air Force reservist, said. "It's pathetic."
"We have accommodated hundreds of marches, protests and other gatherings even without permits," NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller said. "Any group where the event is planned, the NYPD was made aware and it was conducted peacefully has been accommodated."
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