In this week’s edition of the Action Update, we return to covering three separate topics! Please don’t get used to it.

Gaza

For months there have been two Gaza Strips. One is where the Gazans are, and among them thousands of terrorists who refuse to put down their guns. The other Gaza Strips is behind what’s known as the yellow line, and that area is an IDF controlled buffer zone protecting Israel’s southern communities from another massacre.

And lest you think we are being dramatic, just recently the Israelis uncovered a tunnel which stretched from the part of Gaza controlled by Gazans into the buffer zone. That’s right folks, they’re still at it. Still.

Despite Hamas’s refusal to disarm, the US created Board of Peace continues to place pressure upon Israel to take one or another measure in the hopes that such will somehow get Hamas to change its mind about wiping all of Israel off the map. Spoiler alert: that’s not gonna work.

In one respect, we understand the Board of Peace wanting to simply move in the right direction, hoping to drag Hamas and the rest of Gaza along. In 2006, the Israelis likewise tried to behave as if their adversaries’ actions could be ignored and proactive positive developments on the ground would lead to a sustained peace. That is not what happened, and Jerusalem, regardless of who wins the upcoming Israeli election, is not going to repeat mistakes than enabled October 7th.

Taxpayer Funded Hate

According to a newly released report by the Middle East Forum, the thinktank has compiled hundreds of “examples of violent or extremist rhetoric at the Islamic Center of Detroit, including praise for jihadist fighters and repeated, frantic calls for the killing of Israelis.”

Now, we live in a free country, so yes, you can stand in the pulpit and declare, “O Allah, grant victory to our brothers in Gaza, make their footing firm and make their aim accurate… O Allah, destroy the state of the Zionists, O Allah, destroy them utterly.”

However….

The Islamic Center of Detroit has received, according to the same report, over $45 million in US taxpayer funding, including a whopping one-time transfer of $31 million to the Center under the Biden Administration.

The findings in this report demand Congressional investigation. No taxpayer dollars should go to any entity that platforms hate, and yes, this is hate: “O Allah, deal with the aggressor Zionists. O Allah, curse them, burn them, and seize them…”

Arabian Boots on the Ground

For over a decade, the Houthis and the Yemeni government have been in conflict. In 2022, this reached a fever pitch, with Saudi involvement on the side of the government, and the Houthis attacking the Arab Kingdom directly and repeatedly. A 2022 ceasefire put a pause in the action for a bit, but nothing was resolved.

Between 2022 and 2026 the Houthis focused much of their attention elsewhere – occasionally flinging explosive garbage at Israel in solidarity with other terrorists. But today, they’re fully committed to gaining complete control of shipping between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. That cannot become the new reality; the Arab world needs to strap on its boots and fight.

This is not one of those fronts where the U.S. Marines are going to show up – nor should it be. Houthis are a local problem demanding a local force crush them. International support, including intelligence sharing should be flowing to Riyadh, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, and so forth, but ultimately, the Arabs needs to handle this one effectively and without infighting.

Lest anyone forget, while Israel’s Arab neighbors have been involved in many wars, they rarely win or even resolve one. 

Saying nice things about the U.S. in English isn’t enough anymore; doing mutually beneficial business together isn’t enough anymore; not even saying nice things about Israel is enough anymore. It’s time for the leading Arab nations to start stamping out ALL the terrorists in their midst – and they can begin with the ones trying to control trade through the Gulf of Aden.

Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s Update. We’ll be back with more unfiltered truth next week.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team