Tag Archives: Israel

October 7 Video Shows IDF Helicopters Killing Israelis?!

Does a viral video show that it was really IDF helicopters that killed many Israelis during the October 7 attack by Hamas?!

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : October 7 Video Shows IDF Helicopters Killing Israelis!

People are sharing a short video clip on X (formerly Twitter), while claiming / suggesting that it shows IDF AH-64 Apache helicopters targeting and killing Israelis during the October 7 attack by Hamas!

Dr. Anastasia Maria Louis : It’s now been confirmed via a police investigation that this footage from October 7 Nova Festival showed IDF Apache helicopters killed the majority of civilians.

Israel did this🇮🇱

Syrian Girl : BREAKING🚨: Israel admits apache helicopters fired on their own civilians running from the Supernova music festival.

“The pilots realised that there was tremendous difficulty in distinguishing within the occupied outposts and settlements who was a terrorist and who was a soldier or civilian… The rate of fire against the thousands of terrorists was tremendous at first, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow down the attacks and carefully select the targets.”

Megatron : BREAKING: Footage has emerged of an Israeli helicopter killing many people at an October 7 concert in Israel.

The IDF basically fired on everyone fleeing that concert using helicopters. Still unconfirmed.

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IDF-Apache-helicopters-killed-Israelis-video.mp4?_=1

Truth : Video Does Not Show IDF Helicopters Killing Israelis!

This is yet another of FAKE NEWS circulating on X (formerly Twitter), and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Video Was Edited + Cut

First, I should point out that the viral video, which only lasted 14 seconds, was edited and cut from the end of the original video, which runs for 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

Fact #2 : IDF Released The Original Video

On top of that – the original video was released by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on October 9, 2023. It would not make sense for them to release a video showing their helicopters firing on Israelis.

Fact #3 : IDF Video Showed Attacks On Hamas

When the IDF posted the original video, it clearly stated that the video shows its attacks on Hamas. It never said that the footage showed attacks on Israelis.

מטוסי חיל האוויר מבצעים לאורך כל היממה האחרונה תקיפות נרחבות לאורכה ולרוחבה של רצועת עזה וממיטים הרס וחורבן על מחבלי חמאס. רק בשלוש השעות האחרונות נתקפו כ-130 מטרות באמצעות עשרות מטוסים. מוקדי התקיפה: בית חאנון, סג׳עיה, אל פורקן ורימאל>>

Throughout the last day, Air Force planes have been carrying out extensive attacks along the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip, wreaking havoc on Hamas terrorists. In just the last three hours, about 130 targets were attacked using dozens of planes. The focus of the attack: Beit Hanon, Sajaya, Al Furkan and Rimal >>

Fact #4 : IDF Confirmed Viral Claims Are Fake

When Newsweek contacted the IDF about the viral claims, an IDF spokesperson confirmed that claims that it showed IDF aerial attacks on the Nova festival are “fake”:

On October 9, a video was published on the IDF’s official Twitter account describing IDF attacks in the Gaza Strip.

The purpose of the strikes was to stop the murderous terrorists from penetrating into Israel to commit brutal and inhumane crimes. The viral post of an airstrike on the Nova festival is fake.

The 9/11 Commission report also pointed out that it was Osama bin Laden who ordered the September 11 attacks to proceed.

As final preparations were under way during the summer of 2001, dissent emerged among al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan over whether to proceed. The Taliban’s chief, Mullah Omar, opposed attacking the United States. Although facing opposition from many of his senior lieutenants, Bin Ladin effectively overruled their objections, and the attacks went forward.

Fact #5 : Geolocation Puts Video Far From Festival Ground

Perhaps you don’t believe what the IDF said – even though its pilots were the ones that recorded those videos. Its confirmed was corroborated by an independent party – the GeoConfirmed team.

The GeoConfirmed volunteers confirmed in a detailed post that the location of the video is approximately 10.5 kilometres / 6.5 miles away from the site of the Supernova Music Festival.

In other words, the video was recorded far away from the civilians who were massacred at the Supernova Music Festival.

Fact #6 : IDF Did Shoot At Some Israelis By Mistake

During any fighting, it is easy for civilians to get caught up in the crossfire – in the fog of war. There were reports that IDF personnel did fire at people fleeing the Supernova music festival, but only because they were misidentified as Hamas terrorists.

Danielle Rachiel, whose story was recounted in the Middle East Monitor article that was shared with some examples of the viral video, said:

… witness Danielle Rachiel … described nearly being killed after escaping from the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival. As she drove to safety, Israeli security forces shot directly at her vehicle until she shouted in Hebrew to identify herself as Israeli.

Later, Rachiel and Ronald Rozenfeld – the man who was driving the car that came under attack, explained in greater detail what transpired that day.

As we reached the roundabout we saw security forces. Israeli security forces! We saw a large vehicle with Hebrew writing on it, ‘SECURITY FORCES’. The Hebrew writing is an important point because earlier as we were driving through the parade of terrorists their vehicles had writing in Arabic.

We automatically held our heads down. We knew they’d be suspicious of us. A small beat-up car going up in smoke, no tires, racing at unbelievable speed from the same direction the terrorists were coming. Our forces began shooting at us!

At this point the [cell phone] conversation with his parents got cut off. When our forces fired at us the car windows shattered and they could hear us screaming, ‘Don’t shoot! We’re Israelis!’

They immediately stopped shooting and yelled at us, ‘Run! Run!’ They put us in a mobile shelter unit.

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Did Israel Orchestrate 9/11 False Flag Attacks?!

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Did Israel actually orchestrate the 9/11 attacks on the United States, as a false flag operation?!

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Israel Orchestrated 9/11 False Flag Attacks!

People are sharing photos or posts on X (formerly Twitter), which claim or suggest that Israel actually orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on the United States, as a false flag operation!

Matt Wallace : Rumors are circulating that the Israeli government orchestrated 9/11 as a false flag attack to get the United States Military involved in their conflicts in the Middle East. Do you believe that is possible?

Stew Peters posted what appears to be an AI generated photo of Jews dancing in front of the World Trade Center towers exploding during the September 11 attack.

Jake Shields : The Mossad agents arrested dancing and recording on 9/11 shows at the Minimum they were aware the attack was taking place Benjamin Netanyahu also said the attack is great for Israel

Truth : Israel Did Not Orchestrate 9/11 Attacks!

This is yet another of FAKE NEWS circulating on X (formerly Twitter), and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Osama Bin Laden Took Credit For 9/11 Attacks

First, I should point out that Osama bin Laden himself publicly took credit for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Translation of audio message that was posted on Islamist website on 14 February 2003:

Osama bin Laden : “On the blessed Tuesday 11 September 2001 … they launched their attacks with their planes in an unparalleled and magnificent feat of valor, unmatched by any in humankind before them. … Yet with the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York, there occurred an even bigger destruction: that of the great American Dream and legend of Democracy.”

Osama bin Laden was even captured on video, acknowledging that Muhammad Atta was the ringleader of the 9/11 attacks:

Osama bin Laden : Muhammad (Atta) from the Egyptian family (meaning the al-Qaida Egyptian group), was in charge of the group.”

Saudi Sheikh : A plane crashing into a tall building was out of anyone’s imagination. This was a great job. He was one of the pious men in the organization. He became a martyr. Allah bless his soul.

Osama bin Laden : The brothers, who conducted the operation, all they knew was that they have a martyrdom operation and we asked each of them to go to America but they didn’t know anything about the operation, not even one letter.

But they were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before they boarded the planes. Then he said: Those who were trained to fly didn’t know the others. One group of people did not know the other group.

They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I said to them: be patient. The difference between the first and the second plane hitting the towers was twenty minutes. And the difference between the first plane and the plane that hit the Pentagon was one hour.

Fact #2 : 9/11 Commission Confirmed Al Qaeda Was Responsible

The 9/11 Commission confirmed that al Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the United States, not Israel.

Its final report (link) detailed how the attack was planned and financed by al Qaeda, and conducted by 19 young Arabs. It also pointed out that Islamic extremists had given “plenty of warning” that they planned to “kill Americans indiscriminately and in large numbers”.

During the spring and summer of 2001, U.S. intelligence agencies received a stream of warnings that al Qaeda planned, as one report put it, “something very, very, very big.” Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet told us, “The system was blinking red.”

Although Bin Ladin was determined to strike in the United States, as President Clinton had been told and President Bush was reminded in a Presidential Daily Brief article briefed to him in August 2001, the specific threat information pointed overseas. Numerous precautions were taken overseas. Domestic agencies were not effectively mobilized.

The 9/11 Commission report also pointed out that it was Osama bin Laden who ordered the September 11 attacks to proceed.

Fact #3 : Many Jews Died In September 11 Attack

Claims that the Mossad warned some 4,000 Jews who worked at the World Trade Center through Jew calls about the September 11 attack have been proven false time and time again.

Approximately 400 of those who died in the World Trade Center were confirmed, or strongly believed, to be Jewish – accounting for about 15% of all WTC victims that day. The US Department of State even compiled a partial list of 76 WTC victims who were confirmed Jewish.

Fact #4 : No Evidence Of Dancing Jews

The AI-generated photo that Stew Peters posted of Jews dancing as the World Trade Center towers exploded is based on the recurring narrative that the 9/11 attacks were a false flag operation conducted by Israel.

The problem though is that – there never was any evidence of Jews or Israelis dancing in delight as they watched the Twin Towers burn and then collapse.

Instead, news media only reported that people were celebrating news of the September 11 attacks in the Palestinian Territories, as well as some Middle Eastern countries like Egypt and Lebanon.

Conspiracy theorists who keep promoting this claim over the years have consistently fail to provide any evidence of dancing Jews / Israelis. That’s probably why they have to resort to creating such images using generative AI…

Fact #5 : Arrested Israelis Deny Involvement

There was only one known incident involving Israeli citizens – five men who were arrested after someone reported seeing three of them taking photos or videos of the World Trade Center on fire.

Three of the men were reportedly “happy” while taking photos or videos in Liberty Park, which is located opposite the World Trade Center on the New Jersey side of the river.

When police officers tracked down their van and pulled it over, one of the passengers told the officers that they had been on the West Side Highway in Manhattan when the September 11 attacks took place.

The driver – Sivan Kurzberg, told the officers that the Palestinians were “the problem”, not them. The other passengers were his brother, Paul Kurzberg, and their friends, Aaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner, and Omer Marmari.

We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The Palestinians are the problem.

I should point out that the Israelis were only seen taking photos or videos after the first plane had already hit the WTC, and not during the attack itself.

On top of that, they thought the attacks were carried out by Palestinians, when none of them were from Palestine. 15 of the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, two were from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Egypt, and one was from Lebanon.

Finally – there ultimately was no evidence that the five Israeli men were involved in the 9/11 attacks. Conspiracy theorists have certainly not provided any evidence to back up their claims.

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Did Gal Gadot Return To Israel To Fight Hamas?!

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Did Gal Gadot just return to Israel to join the fight against Hamas?! Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

Updated @ 2023-11-11 : Added video, and some additional details.
Originally posted @ 2023-11-10

Claim : Gal Gadot Returned To Israel To Fight Hamas!

People are sharing a photo on WhatsApp, Telegram and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which claims / suggests that Gal Gadot just returned to Israel to join the fight against Hamas!

James J. Marlow : Israeli actress Gal Gadot who played Wonder Woman in the Hollywood movie turns up at for army service.

The Geopolitical Index : BREAKING: Israeli actress Gal Gadot who played Wonder Woman in the Hollywood movie turns up at for army service.

Boiled Anda : Famous Israeli heroine & supper model Gal Gadot, back home to do military service 🤘💪🇮🇱this is called PATRIOTISM ❤️🇮🇱

Raziel conta oficial… : Gal Gadot a mulher maravilha apresentando se ao serviço militar em Israel
Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman, reporting for military service in Israel

Truth : Gal Gadot Did Not Return To Israel To Fight Hamas!

This is yet another of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp, Telegram, and social media platforms, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Gal Gadot Just Hosted Hamas Attack Screening

First, I should point out that Gal Gadot has not returned to Israel. She is still in the United States. In fact, she just hosted a controversial short film screening in Los Angeles, on Wednesday night, 8 November 2023.

The short film, which is titled “Bearing Witness to the October 7 Massacre”, was a 43-minute compilation of “extremely graphic and violent” videos that documented “the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th, 2023”.

The private screening was held at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, with some 200 people attending, including an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, and Hollywood executives.

Despite a heavy police presence, two opposing groups of people ended up clashing outside the event. But Gal Gadot was reportedly not in attendance at that time.

To be clear – Gal Gadot has not returned to Israel for military duty, and is currently still in the United States.

Fact #2 : Gal Gadot Photos Are 18 Years Old!

I should also point out that these photos are very old. They were definitely not taken recently.

Some fact checkers have stated that the photos were taken when Gal Gadot was called up for military service at 18 years old. That’s actually incorrect. The photos of Gal Gadot serving in the Israeli military are about 18 years old.

According to her publicist, Melissa Raubvogel, those photos were taken when Gal Gadot was 20 years old. That would mean they were taken sometime in 2005, not 2023.

Gal was 20 years old.

According to The Washington Post, Gal Gadot participated in the 2006 Lebanon War, which took place between Israel and Hezbollah from 12 July to 14 August 2006. That would confirm that the viral Gal Gadot military service photos were taken in 2005-2006, not in 2003 or 2023.

Fun fact : The viral photo of was taken by photographer Shaul Golan, as confirmed by Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot in 2017.

Fact #3 : Gal Gadot Only Served 2 Years In IDF

Like other Israeli citizens, Gal Gadot (born Gal Gadot-Varsano on 30 April 1985) was required to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Military service is compulsory in Israel, with women required to serve for at least 24 months (men serve at least 32 months).

As part of her military service, Gal Gadot would have to learn basic military skills like how to use a gun, which would explain the photo of her posing with an Uzi submachine gun.

But she primarily served as a combat fitness instructor during her mandatory IDF service between 2005 and 2007, attaining the rank of Samal (Sergeant).

After her compulsory military service, she began studying at IDC Herzliya (now Reichman University), while working as a model and actress.

Fact #4 : IDF + Publicist Confirmed She Did Not Rejoin IDF

Just in case you still need convincing, her publicist, Melissa Raubvogel, confirmed that Gal Gadot really, truly did not rejoin the IDF.

She has not joined the Army in 2023.

A spokesperson for the IDF also said that Gal Gadot has not rejoined the Israeli army, and that the photo is “outdated”.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Malaysia Faces US Sanctions Over Hamas Support?!

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Is Malaysia facing US sanctions after the US House of Representative passed a bill to sanction Hamas supporters?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Malaysia Faces US Sanctions Over Hamas Support!

People are sharing this warning on WhatsApp, which claims that Malaysia is facing US sanctions after the US House of Representative passed a bill to sanction Hamas supporters!

Malaysia already in RM1.5 trillion in debt and now will be sanctioned by US. Ringgit surely touch RM5 to US dollar and expect country to be affected economically resulting in more hardship for all Malaysians

The US House of Representatives approved a bill to sanction foreign supporters of supporters of the Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad 4terrorist movements on Wednesday night.

Ready to brace another impact on our economy! 😭

To support the claim, the viral WhatsApp warning includes a link to an MSN article, which has the title – US House approves bill to sanction Hamas supporters

No Evidence Malaysia Faces US Sanctions Over Hamas Support!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created / propagated on WhatsApp, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : US House Bill Was Introduced In January 2023

First, I should point out that the US house bill in question – H.R. 340 : Hamas and Other Palestinian Terrorist Groups International Financing Prevention Act (PDF), was actually introduced on January 12, 2023 (history).

Also known as the “Hamas International Financing Prevention Act“, H.R. 340 was introduced almost 9 months before the terrible October 7 attack.

In short – this bill had nothing to do with the October 7 attack of Israel by Hamas, but its passage was accelerated by the attack.

Fact #2 : Bill Only Passed US House Of Representatives

Next, I should point out that the bill is not yet law – it only passed in the US House of Representatives, with a 363-46 vote.

The bill now heads to the US Senate for its consideration. It is uncertain whether this bill would actually pass in the US Senate in its current form.

Even if it passes the US Senate, it must be signed into law by President Joe Biden, who has the power to veto it. GovTrack rates it as having only 37% chance in being enacted.

Until it is signed into law – no country or entity faces US sanctions through this bill.

Fact #3 : MSN Article Did Not State Malaysia Faces US Sanctions

The MSN article – which is actually an article by The Jerusalem Post, was shared in the viral warning as “evidence” that Malaysia faces US sanctions over it support of Hamas.

However, anyone who spends just a few minutes to read the article would quickly realise that Malaysia was never mentioned at all. In fact, the article did not mention that any country is at risk of being sanctioned by the US for supporting Hamas.

Fact #4 : Sanctions Are Only Imposed On Foreign Persons

The bill – in its current form – only requires the US President to impose sanctions on any “foreign person” that:

a) “assists in sponsoring”, or providing “significant financial, material, or technology support” or “goods and other services” to enable acts of terrorism; or

b) engages, directly or indirectly, in a significant transaction with a senior member of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Lion’s Den, or their affiliates / successors.

However, HR340 leaves it to the President to determine which “foreign person” actually qualifies to be sanctioned. On top of that, the President can issue a waiver on a case-by-case basis.

Fact #5 : Only Limited Measures Are Imposed On Foreign States

The bill – in its current form – does not impose any sanctions on foreign states. It only imposes limited “measures” on foreign states that:

a) provides “significant material or financial support” for acts of terrorism; or

b) engages, directly or indirectly, in a significant transaction that contributes to the terrorist activities of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Lion’s Den, or their affiliates / successors.

Again, HR340 leaves it to the President to determine which “foreign state” actually qualifies to be targeted, and the President can issue a waiver on a case-by-case basis.

Even if a foreign state is identified by the US President as materially supporting terroristic activities by Hamas, HR340 only requires:

the President to suspend US assistance to that foreign state for at least 1 year,
the Treasury Secretary to oppose and vote against any loan, financial assistance, or technical assistance by any international financial institution to that foreign state for a period of 1 year
the President to prohibit the export of American weapons to that foreign state

Again – the bill does not technically impose sanctions on foreign states, only limited measures or penalties.

Fact #6 : HR340 Is Unlikely To Impact Malaysia At All

Even if it passes the US Senate in its current form, and is signed into law by President Joe Biden, HR340 – the Hamas International Financing Prevention Act is unlikely to have any impact on Malaysia.

For one thing – the bill only targets foreign states that provide “significant material or financial support for acts of international terrorism”.

And even if Malaysia is somehow identified as such a country, the limited measures imposed by HR340 will have minimal impact, if at all.

According to the US Department of State, the US government only invests $1 million annually to train Malaysian military service members as part of its International Military Education and Training. The US also provided $220 million in security assistance for the FY2018-2022 – about $44 million per year.

Assuming everything remained the same, Malaysia would only stand to lose a total of $45 million per year in US assistance. That’s a drop in the bucket – 0.05% of Malaysia’s 2023 budget of about $84 billion.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did Israel Just Tear Up UN Human Rights Notice?!

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Did an Israeli representative just TEAR UP a notice issued by the UN on Israel’s human rights violations in the 2023 Israel-Hamas War?!

Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Israel Envoy Tore Up UN Human Rights Notice!

People are sharing a video, which claimed to show an Israeli representative tearing up a 20-page notice that the UN issued to Israel for violating human rights during the Israel-Hamas War of October 2023.

BIG BREAKING 🔥⚡️
UN issued 20-page notice to Israel that it has violated human rights Israeli representatives came on stage for 2 minutes, took the notice in their hands tore it, and threw it away saying that terrorists have no human rights.
The World Loves Israel. #IsraelAttack #IsraelPalestineConflict #HamasWarCrimes

United Nations summoned Israel and gave them a report on human rights violations. Israeli representative come on the stage, tore the report and went away. 57 countries with green flags could do nothing about it. This is how a strong and powerful country answers.

Truth : Israel Envoy Tore UNHCR Report In 2021, Not 2023

We looked into the claim or suggestion that an Israeli representative tore up a notice that the UN issued to Israel for violating human rights, and here was what we found…

Fact #1 : Video Was Recorded In October 2021

The viral video is genuine, but it was recorded almost two years ago – on October 29, 2021.

This video has nothing to do with the October 2023 war between Israel and Hamas.

Fact #2 : It Was A Report, Not A Notice

The paper that was torn up in the viral video was not a notice that the UN issued to Israel for violating human rights. It was the UNHCR’s annual report.

Fact #3 : That Was Ambassador Gilad Erdan

The man in the video is Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who was addressing the UN General Assembly after the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) issued its annual report.

In his speech, he said that the UN had a history of anti-Israel bias, and referred to the 1975 General Assembly resolution that labelled Zionism as “racism” – a designation that was only revoked in 1991.

Today, I addressed the @UN General Assembly and spoke out against the baseless, one-sided, and outright false accusations from the Human Rights Council’s annual report.

…

It was on this stage at this very body that the very right of the Jewish people to have a national home was itself declared to be racist. A decision that was justly over-turned. A decision that Israel’s Ambassador at the time, Chaim Herzog, tore up before the United Nations.

So to, the Human Rights Council’s obsessive anti-Israel bias, embodied, once again, by this report, should have no place in any body concerned with human rights, security or peace. It’s only place is in the dustbin of antisemitism, and that is exactly how we shall treat it.

And that was when Gilad Erdan tore a page (or two) from the UNHCR annual report.

Gilad Erdan himself posted a video of his speech on X (formerly Twitter), confirming both the date and the circumstances behind his actions.

Today, I addressed the @UN General Assembly and spoke out against the baseless, one-sided, and outright false accusations from the Human Rights Council's annual report. 1/8 pic.twitter.com/b4YIv2jGaK

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) October 29, 2021

Fact #4 : Gilad Erdan Spoke For More Than 2 Minutes

The message that accompanied the viral video claimed that Gilad tore the report in his 2-minute speech. This may seem like a small point, but even this point is categorically false.

The video that went viral WhatsApp and social media is only 28 seconds long, and Gilad Erdan himself posted a video clip that lasted 1 minute and 29 seconds.

However, there is a longer video of his speech lasting over 3 minutes. So we know for a fact that Gilad spoke for at least 3 minutes, if not longer.

Fact #5 : Israel Has Been Condemned Many Times

Frankly, that is hardly the first time that Israel was condemned by the Human Rights Council and/or UNHCR; and it was unlikely to be the last time either.

As Gilad Erdan pointed out in the longer version of his viral speech, Israel had been condemned by the Human Rights Council with 95 resolutions so far.

Since the establishment of the council 15 years ago, it has decided to blame and condemn Israel not 10 times like Iran or 35 times like Syria….the Human Rights Council has attacked Israel with 95 resolutions. Compared to 142 against all other countries combined.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Is Highly-Vaccinated Israel Facing Dramatic COVID Surge?!

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Is highly-vaccinated Israel facing a dramatic surge in new COVID-19 cases?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Highly-Vaccinated Israel Sees Dramatic COVID Surge!

The infamous Died Suddenly account on X (formerly Twitter) just posted a screenshot of an article by Daniel Estrin which proclaims “Highly Vaccinated Israel Is Seeing A Dramatic Surge In New COVID Cases. Here’s Why“.

It has been shared by hundreds of people, with comments like these:

Mike Jagger : Imagine our Surprise …

WordOfMouth : The vaccine is the ‘virus’. Those March 2020 receipts feel so famn good.

Sovereign : RIP Sheep

Truth : Israel Is Not Currently Facing Dramatic COVID Surge!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS posted by the infamous Died Suddenly account on X (formerly Twitter), and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Screenshot Was From 2021 NPR Article

Whenever someone posts a screenshot, instead of a link to the article itself, you should be wary.

In this case, Died Suddenly posted a screenshot from an NPR article that was published by Daniel Estrin on August 20, 2021 (link).

That’s more than two years ago. Why would anyone post a screenshot of an old article???

Fact #2 : NPR Article Date Was Edited Out

Interestingly, the screenshot that Died Suddenly posted has a suspicious gap, where the article date was supposed to be.

It appears that the screenshot had the article date deliberately edited out. Now, why would anyone do that???

Fact #3 : Israel Didn’t Vaccinate Enough People

The NPR article explained how Israel was the first country on Earth to fully-vaccinated a majority of its citizens against COVID-19. That said, its “highly-vaccinated” status was only in comparison to the rest of the world.

As the article explained, Israel had only fully-vaccinated slightly over half its population by March 25, 2021; when it reopened its economy, even removing all restrictions in June 2021.

It also pointed out that only 58% of Israel citizens were fully vaccinated (at that time), which experts said isn’t high enough.

Fact #4 : NPR Article Clearly States Vaccination Helps

The NPR article explained how Israel was seeing a surge of new COVID-19 cases in August 2021, despite being highly-vaccinated. Protection from its early vaccinations waned, and coincided with the arrival of the more infectious Delta variant.

But while infection rates went up, the article also explained that “if you get infected, being vaccinated helps”. It pointed out that the rate of serious COVID-19 amongst unvaccinated people over 60 was 9X higher than the rate of serious COVID-19 in vaccinated people of the same age.

Fact #5 : Israel Does Not Currently Have Any COVID-19 Surge

Just in case you are wondering – Israel is not currently seeing any surge in new COVID-19 cases – dramatic or otherwise. In fact, Israel has recorded low numbers of COVID-19 cases in 2023, as this chart shows.

Fact #6 : This Is Just Fake News By Died Suddenly

This is ultimately just another example of fake news posted by the infamous Died Suddenly account on X (formerly Twitter). Here are other examples:

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Israel FM Eli Cohen Confirm Hamas Put Children In Cages?!

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Did Israel Foreign Minister Eli Cohen confirm that Hamas is putting Israeli children in cages?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Israel FM Eli Cohen Confirm Hamas Put Children In Cages!

People are sharing articles which claim that Israel Foreign Minister recently confirm that Hamas is putting Israeli children in cages, after capturing them in their October 2023 raid!

Jewish News Syndicate : Israeli foreign minister: Israeli toddlers being held in cages in Gaza

(October 9, 2023 / JNS) Kidnapped Israeli toddlers are being held in cages in Gaza, Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, said on Monday evening in a press conference in Israel.

“They’re monsters, inhuman terrorists,” Cohen said.

Akron Jewish News : Israeli foreign minister: Footage of Israeli toddlers in cages in Gaza is real

Cleveland Jewish News : Israeli foreign minister: Footage of Israeli toddlers in cages in Gaza is real

Photos and videos of kidnapped Israeli toddlers being held in cages in Gaza are authentic, Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, said on Monday evening in a press conference in Israel.

“They’re monsters, inhuman terrorists,” Cohen said. Adults are heard laughing in the video footage, as a camera pans across five crying children clinging to the bars of rows of cages.

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WhatsApp-Video-2023-10-09-at-13.08.04.mp4?_=2

Truth : Eli Cohen Said Hamas Put Children In Cages, But…

We looked into the claims that Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen confirmed in a press conference that Hamas were putting Israeli children it captured in cages, and here was what we found…

Fact #1 : Eli Cohen Did Actually Say That

None of those articles actually shared any video evidence of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen confirming that Hamas was locking up Israeli children in cages.

However, I located an ANI News recording of a livestreamed press conference (YouTube link), in which Eli Cohen can be seen saying this at around 1:55:

Even [in] the war between Russia and Ukraine, we did not saw murdering entire families, taking captives… small children, and putting them in cages. It’s vicious and evilness that I think the world did not saw before. I think that the only times we saw before was with the Nazis, and maybe with the ISIS.

Fact #2 : JNS Quietly Revamped Its Article

Despite video evidence that Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen did mention that Hamas was putting small children in cages, there appears to be some “walking back” of that claim.

The Jewish News Syndicate, on its part, appear to have quietly replaced its short article on Eli Cohen confirming that Hamas was locking up Israeli children in cages, to a more generic article called “Eli Cohen: ‘An evil that’s not created even by the devil’“.

However, JNS left its original URL as “https://www.jns.org/israeli-foreign-minister-toddlers-cages/” and we have an archive of its original post. If you compare it with the current post, you will see that they are completely different.

Both the Akron and Cleveland Jewish News websites appear to have obtained their articles as syndicated content from the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS). They have not updated their articles.

On the other hand, I found an article by VINnews that appears to have also quietly removed references to Eli Cohen confirming that Hamas was locking up small children in cages.

Unfortunately, I could not locate an archive of its original post, but the URL suggests that the original title was possibly “Horrific: Israeli Foreign Minister Confirms Footage Of Israeli Toddlers In Cages In Gaza Is Real“.

https://vinnews.com/2023/10/09/horrific-israeli-foreign-minister-footage-of-israeli-toddlers-in-cages-in-gaza-is-real/

Fact #3 : Children In Cages Video Not Related To Hamas Attack

We had earlier looked into the viral video showing small children in cages, and confirmed that it was unrelated to the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

For one thing – the viral video was posted on TikTok on 4 October 2023 – three days BEFORE the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel.

A much older example of this viral video was posted on YouTube (archive link) on 27 January 2020. Palestine News claimed that the video showed Palestinian children locked in cages by the Israeli army, and was filmed in Hebron (not Gaza)

Israeli Army Kidnapping Palestinian Children and throwing them in Cages , in Occupied Hebron , VIA B’TSELEM

Several commentators (example) however, claimed that this video was originally recorded in Syria, around 2015. They (example) claimed that the video was recorded by a father who found his children playing in the chicken coop, and locked them up for a laugh. The man, who appeared to be the person recording the video, can be heard laughing heartily in the background.

Unfortunately, I cannot confirm (at the moment) whether this video shows Palestinian children being held captive by Israeli soldiers, or Syrian children locked in a cage by their father. The B’Tselem website, for example, has way too many references to children in cages, and I cannot locate the original video allegedly posted by the Syrian father.

What is certain is that – this video is at least several years old, and is therefore not related to the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel.

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Is Hamas Keeping Jewish Children In Cages?!

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Is Hamas keeping Jewish children it kidnapped from Israel in cages in Gaza?!

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

Updated @ 2023-10-11 : Added details of Israeli Foreign Minister’s confirmation
Originally posted @ 2023-10-10

Claim : Jewish Children Held Hostage In Cages By Hamas!

Many people are sharing pictures and/or a video showing five children inside cages, claiming that they were being held hostage by Hamas after being kidnapped in its October 2023 attack on Israel.

Orthodox Canonist : Alleged footage of Hamas keeping children in cages. Why?

What purpose does this serve? Are they Israeli hostages? 🤔💭🇵🇸🇮🇱

Alon Tk : Jewish babies captive in birdcages in Gaza.
These are crimes against Humanity. The whole world needs to see this.
#Israel #Gaza

Ariel Dickmann : Jewish babies kidnapped and tortured in Gaza😡

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WhatsApp-Video-2023-10-09-at-13.08.04.mp4?_=3

Truth : Hamas Did Not Keep Those Children In Cages!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp, and social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), and here are reasons why…

Fact #1 : The Video Was Recorded Many Years Ago

First, I should point out that one example of this viral video can be found on YouTube (archive link) since 27 January 2020. It received little attention when it was released more than 3 years ago, garnering less than 60 views. Oddly enough, YouTube appears to have taken it down recently “for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines”.

Several commentators (example) have also claimed that this video was originally recorded in 2015. What is certain is that – this video is at least several years old, and is therefore not related to the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel.

The video was then posted by @user690306825181 (account now removed) on TikTok, where it went viral and was reposted to WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook.

Fact #2 : TikTok Video Was Posted Before Hamas Attack

The TikTok video itself was actually posted on 4 October 2023 – three days BEFORE the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel. Here’s the evidence that Fake Reporter on X found.

The TikTok video was not only posted three days earlier – on 4 October, it was being promoted on TikTok. The video therefore has absolutely nothing to do with the Hamas attack on Israel.

Fact #3 : The Video Does Not Show Jewish / Israeli Children

According to the YouTube channel – Palestine News, the video was recorded by B’Tselem – an Israeli NGO that documents human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

Palestine News claimed that the video showed Palestinian children locked in cages by the Israeli army, and was filmed in Hebron. Hebron, incidentally, is located in the West Bank, and not in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israeli Army Kidnapping Palestinian Children and throwing them in Cages , in Occupied Hebron , VIA B’TSELEM

On the other hand, other commentators (example) claimed that the video was recorded by a father who found his children playing in the chicken coop, and locked them up for a laugh. The man, who appeared to be the person recording the video, can be heard laughing heartily in the background.

The laugh seems jovial, and the children do not seem particularly upset. One boy even appears to be smiling. Another commentator said that the guy was saying, “You guys gave me a hard time“, and “Don’t bite me“. That would give some credence to the claim that this was a fun video recorded by a father.

However, what seems certain is that these are not Jewish or Israeli children held captive by Hamas, as a result of their 7 October 2023 raid of Israel. After all – this video was recorded and posted before the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas.

Fact #4 : Israel Foreign Minister Appeared To Confirm This

What arguably made this video go viral is the fact that some Jewish news media published reports that Israel Foreign Minister Eli Cohen confirmed that the video of Israeli children being held in cages in Gaza was genuine.

Cohen appeared to have made those comments during a live-streamed press conference. But it appears that it was a mistake, and some of those articles have removed references to the video, or Cohen’s claim.

For more details, you can read our separate fact check : Israel FM Eli Cohen Confirm Hamas Put Children In Cages?!

Fact #5 : This Is Just Misinformation

Ultimately, this is just another example of misinformation circulating on WhatsApp, and social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), using misappropriated videos.

Here are some other examples that we fact checked recently:

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Can Israel Seismic Wave Card Hack Your Phone?!

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Can the Seismic Wave Card containing photos of the recent Hamas attacks on Israel hack your phone?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Israel Seismic Wave Card Can Hack Your Phone!

This warning about the Seismic Wave Card containing photos of the recent Hamas attacks on Israel has gone viral on WhatsApp:

URGENT

Some people are going to upload pictures of the fighting in Jewish settlements on WhatsApp. The file is called Seismic Waves CARD.

Do not open it, it will hack your phone in 10 seconds and cannot be stopped in any way.

They talked about it on TV. A cyber attack on us from all kinds of directions is also starting.

Pass the information on to family and friends.

Truth : There Is No Israel Earthquake Seismic Wave Card!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp, and here are reasons why…

Fact #1 : There Is No Seismic Wave Card!

First, let me just point out that there is no such thing as a Seismic Wave Card.

The Seismic Wave Card is an Internet hoax that keeps getting recycled for every disaster that comes along, like these examples show:

They are going to upload some photos of the Moroccan earthquake on WhatsApp. The file is called Seismic Waves CARD, don’t open it and see it, it will hack your phone in 10 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way. Share the information with your family and friends.
DO NOT OPEN IT. They also said it on TV

They are going to upload some photos of the Cariaco earthquake on Whatsapp. The file is called Waves Seismic CARD, do not open or see it, it will hack your phone in 10 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way. Pass the information on to your family and friends. DO NOT OPEN IT. They also said it on TV.

Fact #2 : Photos Are Shared Directly On WhatsApp

There is no need to open any file, or install any app, to view photos on WhatsApp. You simply click to view photos shared by other people on WhatsApp.

Of course, people may sometimes share high-resolution photos in ZIP or RAR files, because WhatsApp greatly reduces the resolution of photos shared on its platform.

Those ZIP or RAR files may be opened using apps like WinZip (Android | iOS) or RAR (Android) or Unarchiver (iOS). However, you should be wary if you are asked to download and install any app.

Unless you know what you are doing, it’s best to only view photos and videos directly inside WhatsApp, and not download any compressed files at all.

Fact #3 : Seismic Waves Card Is Not A Browser Hijacker

Seismic Waves Card appears to be falsely labelled as a browser hijacker by at least one “cybersecurity” website:

The scam message known as Seismic Waves Card is notorious for its disruptive behavior while surfing the web. Generally, scams like this, and other like Mintnav and Lookaside fbsbx, are crafted to meddle with your browser’s settings, replacing homepages and default search engines to promote affiliated sites and generate advertising revenue.

This transgression doesn’t end here; they siphon sensitive data and create vulnerabilities in your system’s security framework, providing a gateway for more perilous threats, such as malware and phishing schemes, to invade.

The protracted presence of Seismic Waves Card in your system exponentially escalates the risk of serious compromises, emphasizing the dire necessity for its immediate removal. Recognizing the malicious potential of such unwanted apps is essential in maintaining a secure and safe digital environment. Stay vigilant and prioritize your cybersecurity.

Show less

There is no evidence that a malware or browser hijacker called Seismic Waves Card exists. The article itself does not offer any evidence to prove its existence. In fact, the article and its guide on how to “remove” the malware appears to be generic, and may possibly be AI-generated.

Fact #4 : Image-Based Malware Is Possible, But…

Digital steganography is a method by which secret messages and other data can be hidden in digital files, like a photo or a video, or even a music file.

It is also possible to embed malicious code within a photo, but it won’t be a full-fledged malware that can execute by itself.

At most, it can be used to hide the malware payload from antivirus scanners, which is pretty clever to be honest… but it cannot hack your smartphone by itself.

Fact #5 : Image-Based Malware Requires User Action

In January 2019, cybercriminals created an online advertisement with a script that appears innocuous and would pass any malware check.

However, the image itself has an “almost white” rectangle that is recognised by the script, triggering it to redirect the user to the cybercriminals’ website. Once there, the victim is tricked into installing a Trojan disguised as an Adobe Flash Player update.

This is an incredibly clever way to bypass malware checks, but even so, this image-based malware requires user action.

You cannot get infected by the Trojan if you practice good “Internet hygiene” by not downloading or installing anything from unknown websites.

Fact #6 : Malicious Code Executes Immediately

If you accidentally download and trigger malware, it will execute immediately. It won’t take 10 seconds, as the hoax message claims.

There is really no reason for malware to wait before it infects your devices. Waiting will only increase the risk of detection.

Whether the malware serves to take over your device, steal your information or encrypt it for ransom, it pays to do it at the first opportunity.

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Why The West Voted Against UN Anti-Racism Bill!

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Find out why many Western countries repeatedly voted against a UN resolution calling for global action against racism and discrimination!

Updated @ 2023-09-29 : Refreshed after message went viral again
Originally posted @ 2023-04-30

Claim : The West Voted Against UN Anti-Racism Bill!

Pro-CCP netizens, as well as the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), are claiming that many Western countries like the US, the UK, and Canada voted against a UN resolution calling for global action against racism and discrimination!

UN introduced a bill that called for global action against racism and discrimination

Voting Summary:

Yes: 106.
No: 14. Abstentions: 44.
Non-Voting: 29.

All voting members:193
More than 100 countries voted “Yes.”

Guess who voted against it~ *USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Israel, France, Germany, Netherlands.
Major Europeans are NO.
Rest of the europe ABSTAINED.

These are the countries constantly calling out other countries on human rights & freedom.*

This is the real world we live in.

HYPOCRISY AT ITS BEST 🤫
PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY -MEDIA IS SILENT TOO- WHAT A SHAME!

👆🏽Yes, this is true. Read for yourself @ https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3896183?ln=en

Here’s Why The West Voted Against UN Anti-Racism Bill!

At first glance, it is easy enough to see why some netizens actually believe that Western countries are being hypocrites, with many sharing comments like these:

Hypocrites who tell you you have freedoms but actually you don’t. But you still think you do.

But the truth is – this is just another example of misinformation and propaganda created by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and shared by anti-West netizens, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : It Was A 2020 UN Resolution Against Racism

First, let me just give you some context on the resolution (not a bill) in question.

The claim refers to the 2020 UN resolution called A global call for concrete action for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

This resolution is not new, and has actually been introduced and voted on every year since 2014.

Fact #2 : It Was A Non-Binding Resolution

That UN anti-racism resolution is also non-binding, which means countries are not compelled to abide by it.

Fact #3 : Many Western Countries Voted Against UN Racism Resolution

Let me confirm that most Western countries voted No to that 2020 UN resolution against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.

Total voting membership : 193
Members voting Yes : 106
Members voting No : 14
Members abstaining : 44
Members who did not vote : 29

Countries that voted No that year were Australia, Canada, Czechia (Czech Republic), Congo, France, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Netherlands, Slovenia, United Kingdom, and United States.

Fact #3 : It Is Similar To Anti-Nazi Resolution

If this UN resolution seems familiar, that is because it is similar to the Anti-Nazi resolution that Russia has submitted every year since 2012, and one which many Western countries consistently voted against, or abstained from voting.

Like this anti-racism UN resolution, that anti-Nazi resolution was hypocritical in nature. Russia did not introduce it to fight Nazism or neo-Nazis, but to justify its annexation of Crimea in March 2014, and its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Russia claims that it had to invade Ukraine to “denazify” it, and is using that UN resolution to justify its invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to European Voice before the vote, Lithuania’s foreign minister, Linas Linkevičius, said that “no one should doubt that we are condemning fascism”, but, he continued, “under cover of this condemnation, Russia is pursuing its own agenda”.

Fact #4 : Western Countries Were Against Durban Declaration

Western countries have long boycotted the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), and the resulting Durban Review Conference that was called to implement it.

Even though the DDPA ostensibly has laudable goals – to eliminate “racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”, it is being used to promote anti-Semitism, impose restrictions on free speech, and does not address discrimination against the LGBT community.

In 2011, the Obama Administration specifically addressed its concerns over the DDPA:

Our concerns about the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) are well-known, including its unfair and unacceptable singling out of Israel and its endorsement of overbroad restrictions on freedom of expression that run counter to the U.S. commitment to robust free speech. But we will always stand ready to work with others in the effort to combat racism, bigotry, and racial discrimination.

After another vote on the same resolution in 2021, the Biden Administration reiterated that the United States remain opposed to the DDPA and its “restrictions on freedom of speech and expression“.

As in previous years, we deeply regret that we cannot support this resolution, which does not genuinely focus on countering racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Among our concerns are the resolution’s endorsement of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action (DDPA), the outcome of the Durban review conference and its endorsement of overbroad restrictions on freedom of speech and expression.

We reject any effort to advance the “full implementation” of the DDPA. We believe this resolution serves as a vehicle to prolong divisions , rather than providing an inclusive way forward for the international community to counter the scourge of racism and racial discrimination.

Fact #5 : US Voted No To Defend Freedom Of Speech

The United States also opposed the UN anti-racism resolution which called for UN States to implement Article 4 of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

And why is Article 4 of the CERD so offensive to the United States? After all, it calls for UN States to declare an offence punishable by law “all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred”, amongst other things.

That’s because the United States Constitution provides the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and association, and this includes even offensive beliefs like Nazism and racism.

As Nicholas Hill, the Deputy US Representative for ECOSOC explained on November 12, 2021, when the United States voted No on the similar Anti-Nazi UN resolution :

The United States Supreme Court has consistently affirmed the constitutional right to freedom of speech and the rights of peaceful assembly and association, including by avowed Nazis, whose hatred and xenophobia are vile and widely scorned by the American people. We nevertheless firmly defend the constitutional rights of those who exercise their fundamental freedoms to combat intolerance and express strong opposition to the odious Nazi creed and others that espouse similar hatreds.

For these reasons, the United States has voted against each new version of this resolution since 2005 and is, again, compelled to vote “No” on this resolution, and calls on other States to do the same.

Fact #6 : Western Countries Do Not Want To Pay Reparations

The United States also objected to the resolution because it called for “former colonial powers” to provide reparations. That is arguably one of the reasons why so many Western nations voted against the resolution, or at least abstained against it.

We also reject the resolution’s call for “former colonial Powers” to provide reparations “consistent with” the DDPA.

Regardless of the harm colonialism has done in the past, reparations have nothing to do with eliminating racism today and in the future, does it?

Fact #7 : Western Countries Are Less Homogenous Than China

Since the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) appears to be pushing this narrative, I should point out that Western countries are much less homogenous than China.

Most Western countries have a mix of different races, with a significant number of foreign immigrants. Hence, incidents of racism can appear to be more common, simply because their societies are less homogenous than China’s.

According to the China National Bureau of Statistics, there were 2.77 million foreigners living in China at the end of 2019. That may sound like a lot, but that is less than 0.2% of its population of 1.4 billion!

China proudly declares that it has many ethnic groups, but some 91.5% of its native population are Han Chinese. The 55 ethnic minorities constitute a mere 8.5% of its population.

In other words – China is an extremely homogenous society, so there are very few opportunities for racism. It doesn’t mean the Chinese are not racist. It just means that they just don’t have enough engagement with other races to show their tolerance or intolerance to different looks, cultures and beliefs.

Fact #8 : Western Countries Are More Equitable Than China

I should also point out that Western countries are more open to foreign immigrants, with many of them ending up in positions of political and economic power.

The United States, for example, allow foreigners who become its citizens to run for public office, and many do:

Mazie Hirono from Japan : Lieutenant Governor, US Representative, and US Senator for Hawaii
Pramila Jayapal from India : US Representative for Washington, and Washington State Senator
Young Kim from South Korea : US Representative for California
Ted Liu from Taiwan : US Representative for California
Ilhan Omar from Somalia : US Representative for Minnesota
Victoria Spartz from Soviet Union : US Representative for Indiana

It is the same even in business, where many foreign immigrants were able to rise to the top of their industries:

Sundar Pichai from India : CEO of Google
Satya Nadella from India : CEO of Microsoft
Elon Musk from South Africa : CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter
Jensen Huang from Taiwan : CEO of NVIDIA
Dr. Lisa Su from Taiwan : CEO of AMD

Even though there are many examples of racism in the United States, it remains far more equitable than China, where foreign immigrants do not have the same opportunities as the native Chinese.

Try asking your local pro-CCP activist to name any foreign immigrant who has rose to prominence in politics or business in China, and watch as they gape in stunned silence.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a central committee that consists of 205 full members, and 171 alternate members. Everyone of those 376 central committee members are Chinese natives – there are no foreign immigrants or their children. Not even a token immigrant just for show.

When the CCP Central Committee and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) proudly released their list of top 100 outstanding private entrepreneurs in 2018 – they were all Chinese natives as well. No foreign immigrants or their children were in the list.

Fact #9 : This Is Chinese Propaganda

This is really nothing more than yet another example of Chinese propaganda created by the infamous Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).

All of the wumao articles that I looked at so far have proven to be false in most instances. So please watch out for such false claims. Here is just the latest dozen,.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did Brooklyn Couple Steal Palestinian Couple’s Home?!

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Did a couple from Brooklyn steal a home that was once owned by an elderly Palestinian couple?!

Take a look at the photo that Michael Moore made viral, and find out what the FACTS really are!

Claim : Brooklyn Couple Stole Palestinian Couple’s Home!

People keep sharing this photo as evidence that Americans / Israelis are stealing Palestinian homes, every time there is a conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

It notably went viral in May 2021, after Michael Moore posted it on his Facebook wall, and keeps going viral every few months since then.

If someone took/stole your home right now, and moved you out because a theocracy ordered it — or what if this same theocracy bulldozed your home and tossed you out into a field and told you and your children to GTF outta here — what would YOUR response be?

What would you have the moral right to do about it? And to be perfectly clear, I don’t care if it was a Christian Fascist German soldier in 1941 forcibly removing you from your home, or an American bank in 2008 forcibly removing you and kicking you to the curb while taking your home — it’s gut-check time, folks (and yes, I mean you too, fellow pacifists):

What would you have the moral and human right and DUTY to do about it, to respond to it, to stop it? And would the rest of the world just stand by and let you suffer as it so often does?

When do we all just put a stop to this, to grind the gears of the machine to a complete halt and replace the plutocracy (we’re not a democracy), the theocracy (you’re not a democracy), and any racial, religious or corporate supremacy with TRUE democracy, FULL human rights, and love?

Truth : Brooklyn Couple Did NOT Steal Palestinian Couple’s Home!

This is a rather iconic photo – a Palestinian couple looking at what used to be their ancestral home, now occupied by an Israeli couple. We decided to investigate the photo, and here was what we found…

Fact #1 : The Photo Was Taken In Israel

This photo is genuine, and was taken in the village of Ijzim, about 30 minutes south of Haifa in Israel.

Just to be clear, Ijzim is not in the West Bank, or the Gaza Strip – territory under partial or full Palestinian control.

Fact #2 : The Photo Was Taken In 2020

Despite what people may say, this photo was not taken recently. It was taken and published in May 2020. The last time the elderly Palestinian couple was in Ijzim was 72 years ago.

Fact #3 : Ijzim Was Depopulated In 1948

Israel captured Ijzim during the 1948 War, and the majority of the villagers fled or were expelled during the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe). The Israelis quickly demolished the Arab houses to make way for permanent Jewish settlements.

Photo credit : Fred Csasznik – Front cover of The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem by Benny Morris, Cambridge University Press 1989.

Fact #4 : Palestinians No Longer Own These Lands

While the Nakba can be argued as morally wrong, this is not an uncommon practice whenever a country annexes or conquers a region.

For example, the Soviet Union expelled Germans from East Prussia after World War 2, and gave the southern part to Poland, while Lithuania was given the northern part.

Today, East Prussia is part of Poland and Lithuania – both members of the European Union and NATO. Germans who were expelled between 1945 and 1949 can visit their ancestral homes, but they cannot claim ownership over those lands.

More directly – there is no evidence the elderly Palestinian couple have any paper to prove their prior ownership of the land on which their home used to be.

Fact #5 : The House Was Not Their Home

The house in the photo is not the same house that the elderly Palestinian couple used to live in. That house, which belonged to the Palestinian man’s father, was demolished during the Nakba, and a new home was built on the land.

So it is factually wrong to say that the elderly Palestinian couple was looking at “the house they once lived in“. The house they were looking at is completely different from the house they once lived in.

That does not mean that the Palestinian couple has no right to feel hurt over their loss. It was, after all, where they once lived. But whether they are entitled to that land that they abandoned more than 70 years ago is another question altogether.

Fact #6 : It Was Part Of An Al-Jazeera Project

For those who doubt the authenticity of the photo, I can confirm that it is genuine and was taken as part of an al-Jazeera project.

In May 2020, Najwan Simri of Al Jazeera took an elderly Palestinian couple to visit their original homes and to meet their current Israeli residents. Here is the Al Jazeera video clip, as well as an English translation.

Some towns and cities inside the Green Line will become the hope of those in the diaspora. But they will also become a station of refuge for others.

Here lives a family uprooted from a nearby village. We had an appointment with Hajjeh Im Samir to accompany her there. Her [ailing] husband insisted on coming with us because he said the air of Ijzim is the best cure.

Despite its beauty, the road there seems desolate as if it gets you to the place but doesn’t take you there. Eagerly, Im Samir organizes our tour for us and tells us the names of the [Palestinian] owners of the houses.

Our first stop is God’s house. Its stones have been preserved as they were. Alone, the colors of its locked doors change each time the dryness of the seasons intensifies.

Here, Abu Samir does not stay in the car because this stop [station] is the location for which he has most longed in order to banish the other stations of his life. “This was our house, my father’s house. After the ‘48 wars, the Jews occupied it.”

After a few minutes, the residents of the house come out to [the gate]. They ask us what we want. We say, this is the owner of the house; how do you feel living in a house built on the wreckage of his house? [The answer] Frankly, I don’t feel anything. I am very happy. Living here is very enjoyable.

How strange is the distance between the owner of the house and he who is occupying it. How strange is the irony between he who has to stand inside the gate and he who must stand outside the gate. How strong Abu Samir is! For other uprooted people have refused to accompany us [on our tour]. One of them told us that he cannot bear to glimpse through the window of his father’s house a foreigner living there.

And that [glimpse] could possibly be of a strange symbol, like [what is glimpsed through the window] of a stolen [Palestinian] school converted into a temple with an emblem [the flag of Israel] that is not as old as the memory of the stones of the school.

And so, an extreme picture! It is said that the passage of time helps in forgetting, but, in the Palestinian case, it seems that the equation of time is different and that the years are merely a number. Rather, the longer the banishment of the Palestinians is, the more they remember.

– This is Najwan Simri, reporting from the depopulated village of Ijzim for Al Jazeera.

Fact #7 : No Evidence The Couple Was From Brooklyn

The most authoritative source for this photo was Al Jazeera, and even they did not identify the Israeli couple, much less confirmed that they were from Brooklyn, New York City.

Despite my extensive searching, I could find no source to back up this claim. None of the earlier posts using this picture – in May to June 2020 – even mentioned that the Israeli couple were from Brooklyn.

Therefore, it is highly likely that their Brooklyn origin is completely bogus, and was added much later.

Many detractors have pointed out that this is of no importance. If that is true, then I ask – why lie about this? Why claim, without evidence, that the couple was from Brooklyn?

IMHO, it must have been important for the people who added this “Brooklyn” connection to tie this “occupation” of Palestinian land to the Americans. Hence, the necessity to claim that the Jewish couple was from the United States.

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Did Mossad Just Admit NATO Is Losing Ukraine War?!

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Did the Mossad just reveal massive NATO losses in the Ukraine War, evidence that it is losing to Russia?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Mossad Just Admitted NATO Is Losing Ukraine War!

The Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) and pro-CCP netizens are sharing this article which claims that the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, just revealed massive NATO losses in the Ukraine War, evidence that it is losing to Russia!

It’s rather long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

The military loss data of Russia and Ukraine disclosed by Mossad, Israel’s world-renowned intelligence agency:

Russian military losses: 23 aircraft, 56 helicopters, 200 drones, 889 tanks and armored vehicles, 427 artillery pieces, 12 air defense systems, 18,480 killed, 44,500 injured, and 323 captured. The number of soldiers involved in the war was 418,000.

Ukraine lost 302 aircraft, 212 helicopters, 2,750 drones, 6,320 tanks and armored vehicles, 7,360 cannons, 497 air defense systems, 157,000 killed, 234,000 injured, 17,230 prisoners, and 734,000 soldiers, is in the ninth domestic mobilization of 100,000 soldiers to fill the gap.

234 NATO officers, trainers, and agents died (US, UK)

2458 NATO soldiers died (Poland, Germany, Lithuania…)
A total of 5360 mercenaries died.

The war between Russia and Ukraine made us have to care about international affairs after retirement. In this war between Russia and Ukraine, the victory or defeat of Russia will definitely affect the way of life and living conditions of us and future generations! Judging from the current battle situation, our current prediction results are all wild guesses.

But there are a few signs that have been exposed. It can be seen that this battle: the United States was defeated, the EU was fooled, NATO was stunned, Ukraine was smashed, public officials were silenced, and the third world was awakened.
It has made private property unholy, free speech, science and art have borders, cats and dogs have original sins, Switzerland is no longer neutral, and the hegemony of the US dollar is no longer stable. The Americans found that the third brother was disobedient.
The Germans discovered that no matter how high the GDP is, it cannot keep warm. The Chinese discovered that no matter how loud the speech is, it is not as good as having more nuclear weapons.

I don’t know how this battle will end, but the above results are a large class of realism education, which makes us realize more deeply how far-sighted our great leader Chairman Mao was.
Under such difficult and difficult conditions, he developed two A wise decision to bomb one star! This battle will cause the brainwashing and rhetoric techniques that the West has painstakingly worked on for a hundred years to collapse and be destroyed in one battle.
This battle has awakened the Chinese people. The country is rich, the people are strong and the army is stronger. If you have ammunition in your hands, you must have food. The real economy and the public ownership system play a leading role.
This battle further shows that peace depends on nuclear weapons and military strength! Peace is really made!

We should also soberly remember that Chairman Mao once said, “We must support whatever the enemy opposes, and we must oppose whatever the enemy supports.”
In recent decades, some wealthy and government officials have not only deposited money in American banks, Swiss banks, and European Union banks, but also sent their wives and children to live in these countries.
Now these people are restless and regretful! This is like putting meat next to a wolf’s mouth, and sooner or later, the wolf will eat the meat into its stomach!

The above article is reposted, it is really well written!

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Truth : Mossad Did Not Admit NATO Is Losing Ukraine War!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and pro-CCP netizens, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Mossad Does Not Comment On Ukraine War

Mossad is the national intelligence agency of Israel, and has a policy of not commenting publicly on its operations. Neither does it comment on geopolitics and current events.

Therefore, it is not surprising that there is no such Mossad report on NATO losses in the Ukraine War, or any Mossad statement that NATO was losing the war in Ukraine against Russia.

Fact #2 : There Are No NATO Forces In Ukraine

Even if Mossad does actually comment on current events, it would be ludicrous for it to announce NATO losses, because there are NO NATO forces in Ukraine!

NATO Allied Land Command had long confirmed that “there are no NATO forces or leaders in Ukraine in any capacity“.

While NATO nations are sending financial and military aid to Ukraine, no NATO soldiers or leaders are deployed to the country.

So the claim that 2,458 NATO soldiers died is utter nonsense. Like Russia, Ukraine has foreign volunteers, but these are not NATO forces.

Fact #3 : Russian Losses Far More Than Ukrainian Losses

While Russia has not revealed its losses, Ukraine has publicly posted Russian losses on a daily basis. Of course, Ukrainian figures have not been verified, and are likely inflated.

But the open source intelligence website, Oryx, has been keeping track of material losses on both sides. It collects visual evidence, to verify those losses.

I created this table of the latest Russian and Ukrainian material losses, based on the latest Oryx intelligence results published on Thursday, February 24, 2023.

What is readily obvious is that, with few exceptions, Russia has suffered 3-4X more material losses than Ukraine.

Total Losses	Russia	Ukraine
Tank	1,770	468
Armoured Fighting Vehicle	793	266
Infantry Fighting Vehicle	2,118	493
Armoured Personnel Carrier	298	226
MRAP	44	42
Infantry Mobility Vehicles	180	288
Command Posts	233	9
Engineering Vehicles	283	46
Anti-Tank Missile Systems	38	21
Artillery Support Vehicles	91	22
Towed Artillery	176	103
Self-Propelled Artillery	348	116
Multiple Rocket Launchers	177	39
Anti-Aircraft Guns	17	4
Self-Propelled AA Guns	23	5
SAM Systems	95	87
Radars	23	51
EW Systems	25	1
Aircraft	74	59
Helicopter	78	30
UCAV	7	17
UAV	186	66
Naval Ships	12	25
Trucks, Tankers + Jeeps	2,302	517

Fact #4 : Chairman Mao Zedong Killed Millions Of Chinese Citizens

The article spoke highly of Chairman Mao, so it is incumbent upon me to remind everyone that Mao Zedong is responsible for the deaths of millions of Chinese citizens.

When Chairman Mao initiated land reforms and his Campaign to Suppress Counter-revolutionaries, millions of Chinese citizens were killed. Mao himself claimed that 700,000 people died as “counter-revolutionaries” from 1950-1952.

But nothing beat his Great Leap Forward, which killed approximately 15 to 55 million Chinese citizens from famine, and several million more would die from torture by CCP militia, or suicide.

If that’s not enough, Mao would go on to trigger the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which saw a million or so additional Chinese citizens killed. With glorious leaders like Mao Zedong, China does not need enemies.

Fact #5 : This Is Just Chinese Propaganda

This appears to be yet another example of Chinese propaganda created by the infamous Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), or pro-CCP netizens.

Here is just the latest dozen the other wumao articles and videos that I looked at so far:

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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MIT Professor Retsef Levi Vaccine Claims Examined!

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Take a look at the viral video by MIT professor Retsef Levi, who called for the immediate suspension of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, and find out what the facts really are!

MIT Professor Retsef Levi Calls For Suspension Of mRNA Vaccines!

A video by MIT professor Retsef Levi has gone viral, after he claimed that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were causing serious harm to young people, and called for their immediate suspension!

Here is my rough transcript of what Retsef Levi said in his viral video. It’s VERY long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

Hi, my name if Retsef Levi, and since 2006, I’m a faculty member at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I have more than 30 years experience as a practitioner and an academic in using data analytics to assess and manage risk, particularly in the context of health systems, health policies, as well as the management of safety and quality of manufacturing of biologic drugs.

I’m filming this video to share my strong conviction that that at this point in time, all COVID mRNA vaccination programs should stop immediately. They should stop because they completely failed to fulfill any of their advertised promises regarding efficacy. And more importantly, they should stop because of the mounting and indisputable evidence that they cause unprecedented levels of harm, including the death of young people and children.

I personally became concerned with the vaccine safety around the middle of 2021 when it became known that the mRNA vaccines cause myocarditis, and inflammation of the heart. Since myocarditis is known to be hard to diagnose because it often has the vague symptoms, or can even be subclinical with no symptoms, it is also known to a frequent cause of out-of-the-hospital sudden cardiac arrests, especially in young people.

I was very concerned that it would not be detected by the existing vaccine safety surveillance systems. Motivated by that, we decided to analyze the Israel National EMS data to see if there are any signals of increased out of hospital adverse events,.

The analysis of the EMS calls and the diagnosis data from 2019 throughout the first half of 2021 reveals some very concerning signals. We detected an increase of 25% in the calls with cardiac arrest diagnosis amongst ages 16-39 in the first half of 2021. Exactly when the vaccination campaign in Israel was launched.

A smaller increase was also detected in the older ages. Moreover, we also detected a statistically significant temporal correlation between the number of the Pfizer vaccine doses administered to this population and the number of EMS calls with cardiac arrest diagnosis.

Interestingly, we did not find any statistically significant correlation with the number of COVID-19 infections during this period of time.

While this is not a proof of causal relationship, it left us very concerned especially given the known suspect of clinical mechanism. And we called for an immediate thorough investigation by the Israeli Ministry of Health, to investigate what are the underlying causal mechanisms of these observed increase in cardiac arrest calls. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, such thorough investigation was never conducted.

By now, I believe that the the cumulative evidence is conclusive and confirms our concern that the mRNA vaccines indeed cause sudden cardiac arrest as a sequel of vaccine-induced myocarditis. And this is potentially only one mechanism by which they cause harm.

Data from the UK, Scotland, and Australia replicate the data from Israel. Additional data from Israel indicates that in 2021, the EMS in Israel conducted more than 3,000 more resuscitations compared to 2019, which amounts for an increase of 27%. Two prospective studies from Thailand and Switzerland in which vaccinees were tested before and after they received a vaccine, indicate that the rates of heart damage are likely to be significantly higher than the rates detected by clinical diagnosis. This is exactly the same finding that the US military found in 2015, when it conducted a similar study on the smallpox vaccine.

Another study from the Harvard Medical School detected in the blood of children with vaccine-induced myocarditis, an entire spike, which is another indication of the underlying mechanism of harm, but in fact has even broader implications about the safety of the vaccine given the repeated evidence that we have that the mRNA and the lipids are actually penetrating the blood system.

And finally, autopsies of people that died closely after they received the vaccine indicate that in a large number of cases, there is strong evidence that the death was caused by vaccine-induced myocarditis. So presented with all of this evidence, I think there is no other ethical or scientific choice but to pull out of the market, these medical products and stop all the mRNA vaccination programs. This is clearly the most failing medical product in the history of medical products, both in terms of efficacy and safety.

And we need to investigate and think hard how did we end up in a situation that is also the most profitable medical product in the history of medical products. Thank you for your attention.

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MIT Professor Retsef Levi Vaccine Claims Examined!

You do not have to be an MIT professor like Retsef Levi to go through his claims, and discover these facts for yourself. It’s really not difficult at all. Let me show you…

Fact #1 : Retsef Levi Is Professor of Management + Operations Management

Normally, I do not like to comment on anyone’s credentials, as the merits of their facts and arguments should stand on their own. However, Retsef Levi made a point of promoting his credentials, so I feel it is necessary to have a clearer picture of his credentials.

Retsef Levi is a professor of Management, as well as Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, which is a separate business school under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

MIT Sloan focuses on MBA, Finance, Business Analytics, Management, etc. and is separate from the MIT School of Science, where the faculty teaches and researches the hard sciences from physics and biology to computational biology and statistics.

Management and Operations Management deal with business administration practices to create the highest level of efficiency within a business organisation, which are critical in managing large corporations like Pfizer and Moderna, but would have virtually nothing to do with the actual research and development (R&D) of their products.

Fact #2 : MIT Study Did Not Prove Pfizer Vaccine Raised Heart Problems!

The first study that Retsef Levi mentioned was the one he co-authored in April 2022, which I fact checked in May 2022. In my fact check article, I pointed out these problems:

No clinical research was conducted on any patient. The study only “analysed” data collected by a third party – the Israel National Emergency Medical Services.
The study relied on call data based on initial diagnosis by responding paramedics, not the final / actual diagnosis by doctors after the patients undergo all necessary clinical and laboratory investigations at the hospital.
The data did not include about 50% of cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome cases in Israel for that period of time.
The data was not tied to COVID-19 infection, or COVID-19 vaccination, or even pre-existing heart problems.
The authors themselves pointed out that they did not establish any causal relationship between COVID-19 vaccines and heart problems.
The authors also pointed out that the increase in cardiac arrests and acute coronary syndrome may be caused by “other underlying causal mechanisms”.

My fact check article goes much further, but suffice to say – that MIT study did not prove that the Pfizer vaccine increased the risk of heart problems like cardiac arrests in young adults.

Fact #3 : Adverse Events of Special Interest Are Not Vaccine Side Effects!

As supporting evidence, Professor Retsef Levi shared a September 2022 article called “Serious adverse events of special interest following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in randomized trials in adults“.

That article claimed that “secondary analysis of serious adverse events reported” in the Phase 3 trial of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines showed that they were associated with significantly higher risk of serious adverse events of special interest (AESI):

Pfizer : 36% higher risk of AESI
Moderna : 6% higher risk of AESI
Pfizer + Moderna combined : 16% higher risk of AESI

What I don’t understand about the article is why the authors performed their “analysis” of adverse events of special interest (AESI), when they are not side effects of the vaccines!

The AESI list is not specific to the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
The AESI list includes “exposure to SARS-CoV-2”, and other viruses like Herpes, MERS, Varicella, as well as other “communicable disease”.
The AESI list includes manufacturing and lab test issues like “Manufacturing laboratory analytical testing issue, Manufacturing materials issue, Manufacturing production issue“.
The AESI list includes product supply issues like “Product availability issue, Product distribution issue, Product supply issue“.

That’s not all, but I think you catch the drift – the Adverse Events of Special Interest (AESI) list is not a list of vaccine side effects!

Fact #4 : Smallpox Vaccine Does Not Use mRNA Technology

Oddly enough, Retsef Levi referred to a 2015 US Military finding that the smallpox vaccine caused heart problems.

In this 2019 case study by the US military, the rate of myopericarditis was shown to increase by 50X after they switched from the older Dryvax smallpox vaccine, to the new ACAM2000 vaccine.

However, that new ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine does not use mRNA technology, but a single plaque-purified vaccinia virus derivative of Dryvax (NYCBH strain).

In other words – the smallpox vaccine uses a live but less dangerous virus called vaccinia, to help your body develop immunity against the smallpox virus.

Viral infections, even if they are mild, can lead to heart inflammation, so it would not be surprising if the smallpox vaccine (which uses an actual virus) can trigger heart inflammation in a small number of people.

Fact #5 : Implication Of Free Spike Protein In Vaccine Myocarditis Still Unknown

On 4 January 2023, a study published in the journal Circulation showed that 16 patients who developed myocarditis after mRNA vaccination had “markedly elevated levels of full-length spike protein” that were “unbound by antibodies”.

In contrast, no free spike proteins were detected in 45 control subjects who did not develop myocarditis after mRNA vaccination.

This is a very interesting finding, which suggests that free spike proteins (unbound by antibodies) may possibly be the cause of myocarditis in young adults who receive the mRNA vaccine. However, the implication isn’t clear because it is not known why there are free spike proteins in the first place.

The mRNA vaccines teach some of our cells to create spike proteins. Because they are expressed on the cell surface, those spike proteins do not float freely in the blood, but rather, trigger the immune system to develop antibodies that bind to them.

As the study noted, people who do not develop myocarditis after receive the mRNA vaccines do not show any free spike protein – precisely what was meant to happen.

So the implication of that finding of free spike protein is still unknown, and warrants additional research. It is, however, not evidence that the mRNA vaccines cause heart problems.

Fact #6 : Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis Can Be Confirmed

It is important to point out that vaccine-induced myocarditis can be clinically differentiated from classical myocarditis, as well as proven through histopathology.

Instead of relying on “statistical analysis” of partial data from emergency call centres, we should rely instead on proper medical diagnoses based on clinical and laboratory investigations.

That is how we can avoid prematurely claiming that people died from the COVID-19 vaccines, only for their autopsies to prove otherwise, like these cases:

Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next death / tragedy…

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Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did Netanyahu Deny Anwar Ibrahim Is Israeli Agent?!

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Did Benjamin Netanyahu defend Anwar Ibrahim against accusations that he is an Israeli agent?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Benjamin Netanyahu Denies Anwar Ibrahim Is Israeli Agent!

After Anwar Ibrahim became the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, an audio message went viral, claiming that he is an Israeli agent.

Days later, a screenshot went viral, purporting to show Benjamin Netanyahu defending Anwar Ibrahim, and denying that he is an Israeli agent.

Hadi Awang! Israel has absolutely no relationship with any political leader from Malaysia.

You should not try to convict Israel in Malaysian politics. Strict action and punishment will be taken if you still call Anwar an Israel agent.

You should blame yourself all this time. PAS itself failed to practice the true way of Islam, you are just rhetoric or a religious rider.

Claim : Netanyahu Did Not Comment On Anwar Ibrahim As Israeli Agent!

That is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Audio Message Was Not By Hadi Awang

First, there appears to be some confusion over who said that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is an Israeli agent.

The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) opened up an investigation into claims that the audio recording was by Hadi Awang, the President of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).

However, it was later clarified that the audio recording was of the Baling Member of Parliament Hassan Saad, also of the PAS party.

Hadi Awang had nothing to do with the audio recording, so there is no reason for Benjamin Netanyahu to call him out for that Israel agent allegation against Anwar Ibrahim.

Fact #2 : LOD + Police Report Made Against Hasan Saad

In fact, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim filed a letter of demand against Hassan Saad on November 30, 2022, seeking an unconditional apology over the viral audio recording alleging that he is an Israeli agent.

The PDRM also initiated investigations against Hassan Saad over the viral audio message, under Section 504 and Section 500 of the Penal Code for intentionally insulting the intent to defame a person, as well as Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

Therefore, there is simply no reason for Benjamin Netanyahu or any other persons to criticise Hadi Awang for calling Anwar Ibrahim an Israel agent.

Fact #3 : Benjamin Netanyahu Does Not Post In English

Anyone who bothers to check Benjamin Netanyahu’s official Twitter account (@netanyahu) would immediately realise that the viral screenshot was faked.

The first thing you will realise is that Benjamin Netanyahu does not post in English. He only posts in Hebrew – the official language of the State of Israel.

The viral screenshot cannot be of an English translation either, because it would have shown the original Hebrew words, with a disclaimer before the English translation – Translated from Hebrew by Google.

Fact #3 : Benjamin Netanyahu Did Not Comment On Anwar Ibrahim

The second thing you would realise if you look at Benjamin Netanyahu’s official Twitter account is that he did not post any tweet that mentions Malaysia, Hadi Awang, or Anwar Ibrahim.

Going back until November 19, 2022 – the date of the 15th Malaysia General Election, Benjamin Netanyahu has only commented on Israeli issues and politics.

Note : I placed a FALSE overlay to prevent the viral message from being further abused.

Fact #4 : Benjamin Netanyahu Is No Longer Prime Minister of Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu was ousted as Prime Minister of Israel on June 13, 2021, replaced by Naftali Bennett, and then Yair Lapid on July 1, 2022.

Netanyahu has not been the Prime Minister of Israel for over 18 months now, and would not have any standing to comment or act on behalf of the State of Israel.

Fact #5 : Fake Message Likely Written By Malaysian

The viral English message that was allegedly written by Benjamin Netanyahu has a curious term – religious rider.

That is a direct English translation of a very unique Malaysian slang term – penuggang agama, which refers to a hypocrite who uses religion for personal / political / financial gain.

There is no English or Hebrew equivalent for penunggang agama that I know of, which leads me to believe that this fake message was written by a Malaysian.

Now that you know the facts, please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by SHARING this fact check article out!

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did 9 Countries Issue Travel Warning On US Violence?!

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Did nine countries just issue travel warnings against the US because of the rising violence there?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : 9 Countries Issued Travel Warning On US Violence!

The Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) and pro-CCP netizens are now promoting articles claiming that nine countries just issued travel warnings against the US because of the rising violence there!

Even Chinese state propaganda outlet Global Times wrote about these new travel warnings of US violence. Here’s an excerpt:

As the conflict between Americans with different political demands becomes increasingly violent, some countries close to the US have expressed concerns about the safety of their citizens in the US, reflecting their growing lack of confidence in Washington’s political system and governance capability.

A CNN report on Sunday observed the rare phenomenon that nine countries – Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and Israel – have issued various levels of travel warnings against the US due to increasing violence in the country.

It is worth noting that these nations are all US neighbors or closest allies that know the country quite well and have relatively frequent and close exchanges with it. Therefore, it says a lot about how chaotic US society is when they warn their citizens about the risks of traveling to the US.

The fact that these countries worry about violence, especially gun violence, seriously put into question the stability of US society.

The root cause behind such chaos is that Washington’s political system, especially the electoral system – the core of the so-called US democratic framework – is no longer effective in alleviating the problems through governance. More and more people are starting to realize that no matter how many elections are held, almost no social issues in the US can be solved.

Elections have failed to improve the lives of US citizens, especially those who are already dissatisfied with society. With no confidence in elections, these people can easily seek to use violence to vent their anger and discontent in an indiscriminate way that threatens the lives of innocent people.

In that case, it should not be surprising if more of US’ close friends upgrade warnings to their citizens about traveling to the US. Perhaps even helmets and bullet-proof vests will soon become suggested must-have items to those who want to visit the country.

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Truth : Those Travel Warnings On US Violence Are Not New!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and pro-CCP netizens.

In the following sections, I will share with you what exactly did those nine countries advise, and show you why they are nothing more than common sense advice.

Yes, the US has a gun violence problem, but those nine countries did not advise its citizens against travelling to the US.

Fact #1 : CNN Report Was Not Referring To New Travel Advisories

The CNN report that Global Times and other media outlets referred to was not a “news report”, but a travel article called “What travel warnings do other nations give their citizens about US violence?”

Anyone who reads the article would have noted that the writer, Forrest Brown, did not state that these travel advisories were new.

He was writing to show the people of America what other countries think of them, and was not specifically

American travelers — at least those of the cautious variety — might be familiar with the US State Department’s travel advisories.

The agency monitors the world for potential trouble and issues warnings from “Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions” to “Level 4: Do Not Travel,” alerting would-be visitors to terrorism threats, war, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, high crime rates and other personal security issues.

But have you ever wondered how other countries’ governments caution their citizens about coming to the United States? What kind of reputation does America have?

Fact #2 : Australia Advised Normal Safety Precautions

Australia did not change its travel advisory for the US, which remains at “Exercise normal safety precautions in the United States of America“. Here are its advice with regard to crime:

Avoid areas where demonstrations and protests are occurring due to the potential for unrest and violence. Monitor the media for information and updates. Follow the instructions of local authorities, and abide by any curfews in place.
Violent crime is more common than in Australia. Gun crime is also prevalent. If you live in the US, learn active shooter drills.
Thieves target travellers. Take care in crowded areas and on public transport. Conceal your valuables, and don’t leave items unattended in your car.
There is a heightened risk of terrorist attacks in the US. Be alert, particularly in public places and at events.

Fact #3 : Canada Advised Normal Security Precautions

Canada also did not change its travel advisory for the US, which remains at “Take normal security precautions“. Here are its advice with regard to crime:

Criminal incidents associated with drug trafficking are more frequent at the border with Mexico, in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.
Petty crime, such as pickpocketing and purse snatching, occurs, particularly in urban centres and tourist locations.
Within large urban areas, violent crime more commonly occurs in poor neighbourhoods, particularly from dusk to dawn. It often involves intoxication.
Incidents of violent crime are mainly carried out by gangs or members of organized crime groups but may also be perpetrated by lone individuals. Although violent crime rarely affects tourists.
The rate of firearm possession in the US is high. It’s legal in many states for US citizens to openly carry firearms in public.
Incidences of mass shootings occur, resulting most often in casualties. Although tourists are rarely involved, there is a risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Fact #4 : UK Advised Sensible Precautions

UK did not appear to change its travel advisory for crime in the US since 9 June 2022, where it asked people to take “sensible precautions”:

Take sensible precautions to protect yourself and your property against petty crime.
Violent crime, including gun crime, rarely involves tourists, but you should take care when travelling in unfamiliar areas. Avoid walking through less travelled areas alone, especially at night.
Incidents of mass shooting can occur, but account for a very small percentage of homicide deaths.
Crime associated with the illegal drugs trade is a major issue in Mexican states bordering Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.

Fact #5 : Israel Says There Is No Travel Threat

Israel did not change its travel advisory for the US, which remains at Threat Level 01 (No Travel Threat). It only asked that its citizens take “basic precautionary measures”.

Fact #6 : France Calls US Among The Safest Countries To Visit

France did not change its travel advisory for the US. In fact, it called “the United States of America is among the safest countries” to visit.

It does, however, tells its citizens to be wary of gun violence and crimes in very specific locations like :

Boston : gun violence and crime in certain localised areas.
New York : petty and medium crime, as well as assaults in the subway
Washington : ordinary crimes like thefts and assaults at night
Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta : certain areas to be avoided at night
New Orleans : many cases of pickpocketing and assaults
Florida : petty crime in tourist areas

Fact #7 : Germany Did Not Change Its Travel Advisory On US Crime

Germany did not change its travel advisory on US crime recently, only on “entry by land via Canada or Mexico”. It tells its citizens to be wary of gun violence and common crimes:

Pickpocketing, muggings and car break-ins occur in many metropolitan areas in the United States, but the danger varies greatly depending on the town and even within a large city depending on the neighborhood.
In poorer neighborhoods, risks for travelers increase, especially after dark, as well as in some tourist areas and on public transport. Shop robberies have increased noticeably in some cities in recent months.
It is easy to obtain guns in the United States , leading to increased use of firearms and occasional killing sprees. The number of arms and ammunition purchases has increased significantly during the COVID-19 crisis.

Fact #8 : Mexico Does Not Even Have Travel Advisory For US!

Anyone who read the CNN article would have known that Mexico (currently) does not have any travel advisory for the US. The CNN research team had to dig up a May 2021 travel advisory, which stated that:

historical racial and ethnic tension, including opposition to immigration, have led to attacks by violent extremist groups
citizens are advised to avoid large crowds, and should always carry a copy of their Mexican passport and an official photo ID

Fact #8 : Japan Warns Its Citizens About Gun Crime

As Japan is a gun-free nation, its government warned its citizens visiting the US that “one of the main security concerns in the United States is gun crime“, with advice on how to get out of an active shooter situation:

Find security exits in a new place and have an evacuation plan
Escape regardless of whether others agree or not
Hide in a room and barricade the door using heavy furniture
Keep quiet and mute cell phones

Fact #9 : New Zealand Was Worried About Terrorism Threat

New Zealand did not change its travel advisory on US crime for quite a long time, with the threat level remaining at Level 2 of 4 (Exercise increased caution), due to the “threat of terrorism”.

When it comes to crime, it offered the same common sense advice as other countries:

Petty crime such as theft and pickpocketing can occur, particularly in urban centres, tourist locations and on public transport.New Zealanders should stay alert to their surroundings, stay vigilant on public transport and avoid leaving belongings unattended, including in rental vehicles.
You should avoid crossing the border by car into Mexico from Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. There have been increased incidents of crime associated with drug trading.
There is a higher incidence of violent crime and firearm possession than in New Zealand. In many states, it is legal for United States citizens to openly carry firearms in public. However, crime rates vary considerably across cities and suburbs and incidents rarely involve tourists. New Zealanders should take care when travelling in unfamiliar areas.
Active shooter incidents occur in the United States.

Ultimately, this is just another example of Chinese propaganda propagated by the infamous Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and pro-CCP netizens.

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WHO Convenes Emergency Meeting On Monkeypox Outbreak!

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The WHO has convened an emergency meeting on the monkeypox outbreak that has spread to 56 countries!

Here is what you need to know…

WHO Convenes Emergency Meeting On Monkeypox Outbreak!

On 23 June 2022, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened an emergency committee meeting under Article 48 of the International Health Regulations to discuss the current monkeypox outbreak.

Chaired by Dr. Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele and Dr. Nicola Low, this emergency WHO meeting on monkeypox is only open to members and advisors of the Emergency Committee.

The findings of this emergency meeting would be conveyed to the Director-General of WHO, on whether the outbreak should be classified as a public health emergency of international concern, and also on potential recommendations on how to address it.

This meeting comes as an NGO called World Health Network (unrelated to WHO) issued a press release describing the current monkeypox outbreak as a “pandemic”, urging “immediate and effective action” from country and global health authorities.

This led to a bit of confusion, as their names and acronyms were similar (WHO vs WHN). To be clear, WHO has not declared a monkeypox pandemic.

Read more : What You Must Know About Monkeypox!

Over 4,000 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 56 Countries!

Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.

Monkeypox became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014, and several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019)..

However, nothing has come close to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak which has now affected at least 56 countries outside of endemic African countries, with over 4,000 cases!

Country	Confirmed Cases	Suspected Cases	Total
Spain	918	100	1,018
United Kingdom	793	–	793
Germany	676	–	676
France	330	–	330
Portugal	328	–	328
Canada	223	45	268
United States	173	–	173
Netherlands	167	–	167
Italy	85	–	85
Belgium	77	1	78
Switzerland	52	–	52
Ireland	28	–	28
Ghana	18	–	18
Brazil	11	6	17
Israel	16	–	16
Australia	13	–	13
Denmark	13	–	13
Sweden	13	–	13
UAE	13	–	13
Austria	12	–	12
Poland	12	–	12
Mexico	9	–	9
Slovenia	9	–	9
Hungary	7	–	7
Czech Republic	6	–	6
Uganda	–	6	6
Romania	5	–	5
Argentina	4	–	4
Finland	4	–	4
Malta	4	–	4
Norway	4	–	4
Somalia	–	4	4
Chile	3	–	3
Colombia	3	–	3
Greece	3	–	3
Iceland	3	–	3
Bulgaria	2	–	2
Latvia	2	–	2
Morocco	1	1	2
Bahamas	–	1	1
Cayman Islands	–	1	1
Fiji	–	1	1
Georgia	1	–	1
Gibraltar	1	–	1
Haiti	–	1	1
Libya	–	1	1
Lebanon	1	–	1
Luxembourg	1	–	1
Serbia	1	–	1
Singapore	1	–	1
South Africa	1	–	1
South Korea	1	–	1
Uruguay	–	1	1
Venezuela	1	–	1
Zambia	–	1	1
TOTAL	4,049	170	4,219

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Over 560 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 25 Countries!

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Over 560 monkeypox cases have now been confirmed in at least 25 countries outside of Africa!

Find out if the monkeypox outbreak could become a new pandemic we have to worry about!

Over 560 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 25 Countries!

People are now worried about the rapid spread of monkeypox globally. although the WHO has said that it is unlikely to become a pandemic like COVID-19.

Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.

Monkeypox became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014, and several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019)..

However, nothing has come close to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak which has now affected at least 25 countries outside of Africa, with over 560 cases!

Country	Confirmed Cases	Suspected Cases	Total
United Kingdom	179	–	179
Spain	120	–	120
Portugal	96	–	96
Canada	26	37	63
Germany	33	–	33
Netherlands	26	–	26
France	17	–	17
United States	15	–	15
Italy	14	–	14
Belgium	9	–	9
Czech Republic	5	–	5
Switzerland	4	–	4
UAE	4	–	4
Sweden	3	–	3
Ireland	2	1	3
Argentina	2	–	2
Australia	2	–	2
Denmark	2	–	2
Israel	2	–	2
Slovenia	2	–	2
Austria	1	–	1
Finland	1	–	1
Malta	1	–	1
Mexico	1	–	1
Thailand	1	–	1
TOTAL	568	56	617

Monkeypox Cases May Increase, But Unlikely To Become Pandemic

On 30 May 2022, the World Health Organisation’s top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, gave a public briefing on the 2022 monkeypox outbreak.

Here is a summary of the key points Dr. Lewis shared in that public session :

She does not expect the monkeypox outbreak to turn into another pandemic like COVID-19.
There are still many unknowns about this outbreak, including how exactly it is spreading.
The suspension of mass smallpox immunisation decades ago may have resulted in increased transmission.
Vast majority of current cases seen in gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men.
There is a higher proportion of people with fewer visible lesions that are more concentrated in the genital region, and sometimes nearly impossible to see. This is a danger because they are infectious even though their lesions are not visible.
There is a window of opportunity to shut down the outbreak so it does not become endemic in new areas.

Fortunately, the 2022 monkeypox outbreak appears to be of the less virulent West African strain, because there is no proven treatment.

The smallpox vaccine can offer up to 85% protection against monkeypox, and certain antiviral treatments can be attempted.

But otherwise – hospitals can only offer supportive treatment as the patient isolates for 2-4 weeks until the disease resolves.

Read more : What You Must Know About Monkeypox!

Monkeypox primarily spreads through close contact, but can spread through respiratory droplets. However, it is far less contagious and is not airborne like COVID-19.

Infected people are also not considered contagious until they start showing symptoms, which limits transmission. This is unlike COVID-19 which is often spread by people who are asymptomatic.

The best way to describe its ability to infect people would be to understand its R0 (Reproduction Number, pronounced as R naught) – how many people an infected person is expected to pass the disease along to.

The ancestral COVID-19 virus has an R0 of between 2 to 3, which increased to 8 with the Omicron variant. That’s really contagious – every infected person will (on average) transmit the virus to 8 other people.

On the other hand, past outbreaks of monkeypox had an R0 of less than one. That means even though there may be clusters of several cases, even outbreaks, the cases die out on their own.

Virus	R0
Measles	12 to 18
Omicron COVID-19	8
Smallpox	5 to 7
Ancestral COVID-19	2 to 3
H1N1 (2009)	1.5 to 2.5
Monkeypox	<1

Monkeypox fortunately does not spread very efficiently between humans. Generally, you need to have skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, or come into contact with his/her bodily fluids, to get infected.

The people most at risk would be close contacts of the infected person, like family members or healthcare workers taking care of them.

Transmission is really happening from close physical contact, skin-to-skin contact. It’s quite different from COVID in that sense.
– Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Infectious Disease Epidemiologist

It’s not as highly transmissible as something like smallpox, or measles, or certainly not Covid. It does not spread easily from person to person, the risk to the general public is low.
– Anne Rimoin, infectious disease epidemiologist at University of California.

That is why it is very unlikely to become a pandemic, although if it spreads to susceptible rodent populations, it could become endemic in those areas.

There is also the fact that the monkeypox is so closely related to the smallpox virus, the smallpox vaccine offers 85% protection against monkeypox infections.

In fact, one smallpox vaccine – JYNNEOS – was approved in the United States to serve as protection against monkeypox. Even though there is no public access to this vaccine, that can quickly change.

Several countries, including the United States, have strategic reserves of smallpox vaccines, which can be deployed in a monkeypox outbreak.

Countries have also started purchasing smallpox vaccines :

19 May 2022 : Spain’s Ministry of Health announced that it was in the process of purchasing thousands of doses of smallpox vaccines
24 May 2022 : CDC announced that the US is in the process of releasing some JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine doses for people who are “high risk”.
25 May 2022 : the German government announced that it was buying 40,000 doses of the JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic.
26 May 2022 : the UK Health Security Agency announced that it purchased 20,000 doses of the JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic.

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Monkeypox Outbreak In 20 Countries : Is It A New Pandemic?

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The Monkeypox outbreak has been confirmed in at least 20 countries outside of Africa!

Find out what Monkeypox is all about, and whether it is a new pandemic we have to worry about!

Monkeypox Outbreak : Is It A Pandemic Risk?

People are now worried about the rapid spread of monkeypox globally.

Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.

However, it became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014.

There were also several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019), but nothing matched the latest 2022 outbreak.

As of 25 May 2022, there were 230 confirmed cases in at least 20 countries outside of Africa, and suspected cases in two other countries.

Country	Confirmed Cases	Suspected Cases	Total
Argentina	–	1	1
Australia	2	–	2
Austria	1	–	1
Belgium	6	1	7
Canada	15	1	16
Czech Republic	1	–	1
Denmark	2	–	2
Finland	1	–	1
France	5	–	5
Germany	5	–	5
Israel	1	–	1
Italy	6	2	8
Morocco	–	3	3
Netherlands	6	–	6
Portugal	49	–	49
Slovenia	1	–	1
Spain	51	43	94
Sweden	1	–	1
Switzerland	2	–	2
UAE	1	–	1
United Kingdom	71	–	71
United States	2	6	8
TOTAL	230	56	286

Monkeypox Outbreak : More Deadly, Unlikely To Cause A Pandemic

Monkeypox is more deadly than COVID-19, with mortality as high as 10% depending on the strain :

West African strain : 1% to 3%
Central African strain : 10%

Fortunately, the 2022 monkeypox outbreak appears to be of the less virulent West African strain, because there is no proven treatment.

The smallpox vaccine can offer up to 85% protection against monkeypox, and certain antiviral treatments can be attempted.

But otherwise – hospitals can only offer supportive treatment as the patient isolates for 2-4 weeks until the disease resolves.

Read more : What You Must Know About Monkeypox!

Monkeypox primarily spreads through close contact, but can spread through respiratory droplets. However, it is far less contagious and is not airborne like COVID-19.

Infected people are also not considered contagious until they start showing symptoms, which limits transmission. This is unlike COVID-19 which is often spread by people who are asymptomatic.

On the other hand, past outbreaks of monkeypox had an R0 of less than one. That means even though there may be clusters of several cases, even outbreaks, the cases die out on their own.

Virus	R0
Measles	12 to 18
Omicron COVID-19	8
Smallpox	5 to 7
Ancestral COVID-19	2 to 3
H1N1 (2009)	1.5 to 2.5
Monkeypox	<1

The people most at risk would be close contacts of the infected person, like family members or healthcare workers taking care of them.

Transmission is really happening from close physical contact, skin-to-skin contact. It’s quite different from COVID in that sense.
– Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Infectious Disease Epidemiologist

That is why it is very unlikely to become a pandemic, even though it is really abnormal for so many outbreaks to occur simultaneously.

There is also the fact that the monkeypox is so closely related to the smallpox virus, the smallpox vaccine offers 85% protection against monkeypox infections.

Several countries, including the United States, have strategic reserves of smallpox vaccines, which can be deployed in a monkeypox outbreak.

We have already worked to secure sufficient supply of effective treatments and vaccines to prevent those exposed from contracting monkeypox and treating people who’ve been affected.
– Dr. Raj Panjabi, White House Pandemic Office.

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Did MIT Study Prove Pfizer Vaccine Raised Heart Problems?!

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Did a new MIT study prove that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine caused a surge of heart problems in Israel?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : MIT Study Proved Pfizer Vaccine Raised Heart Problems!

People are sharing links and screenshots of a new MIT study, as evidence that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes heart problem, and is more dangerous than getting COVID-19.

Despite claims of censorship, Twitter is a hotbed of such posts. Here are a few examples :

If there is even a shred of doubt that vaccines could be doing more harm than good to the under 40s, they should be discontinued for younger age groups immediately.

25% increase in ambulance calls for cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome among 16–39 yr-olds in early 2021 compared with the same period in 2019 and 2020. Strongly correlated with timing of vaccine rollout to these ages, but not with COVID-19 cases.

New paper on increased cardiovascular events🫀, by leading researchers from MIT and Israel National Emergency Medical Services, published in a most prestigious medical journal.

It exposes the lies of Israel Ministry of Health, which denied any increase.

Claim : MIT Study Did NOT Prove Pfizer Vaccine Raised Heart Problems!

People are jumping to wholly unjustified conclusions based on the little they read about the MIT study, often without even reading it!

The truth is – the MIT study did NOT prove that the Pfizer vaccine raised the risk of heart damage in people who received them.

If you are “too busy” to actually read the study yourself, here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : It Was A Statistical Analysis

The study that people are excitedly sharing as “proof” that the Pfizer vaccine is dangerous, is called “Increased emergency cardiovascular events among under-40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and third COVID-19 wave“. You can read it in its entirety here.

Written by Christopher L. F. Sun and Retsef Levi from the Sloan School of Management, MIT, and Eli Jaffe from the Israel National Emergency Medical Services (IEMS) and Ben-Gurion University, the study was a statistical analysis of IEMS data.

In other words, the authors did not actually conduct any clinical research. Rather, they analysed the data collected by the Israel National Emergency Medical Services in order to determine if there was any “signal” that would suggest a problem.

Fact #2 : They Analysed EMS Call Data

The authors relied on call data, specifically people who called IEMS for help with Cardiac Arrest (CA) and Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS), but removing cases that were obviously related to trauma, drug overdose or suicide.

However, it is important to note that the CA and ACS data was based on diagnosis by the responding paramedics, and not the final diagnosis by doctors at the hospital at the conclusion of all necessary clinical and laboratory investigations.

Fact #3 : Data Did Not Include Half Of Cases

The study authors also pointed out in the discussion that their data did not include people who went to the hospital by themselves, which they estimate to be 50% of all events.

In other words, their statistical analysis was based on roughly HALF of cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome cases in Israel.

While we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, that’s a LOT of data that could certainly change the final results of this statistical analysis.

Fact #4 : Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis Can Be Confirmed

It is important to point out that vaccine-induced myocarditis can be clinically differentiated from classical myocarditis, as well as proven through histopathology.

So statistical analyses like this MIT study cannot be remotely compared to diagnoses based on clinical and laboratory investigations, which would be the gold standard.

While this MIT study used Israeli EMS data to see if there was a higher incidence of heart problems than reported, it was frankly superfluous.

The heart conditions of those patients would have been properly diagnosed at the hospitals after thorough investigations, and any vaccine-induced myocarditis would have been properly identified and reported.

The authors would have far more accurate results if they used clinical data from the hospitals, instead of IEMS call data… like the SAFECOVAC study.

Fact #5 : Cases Not Tied To COVID-19 Vaccination Or Infection

It is also important to note that the IEMS data did not directly tie each case to either COVID-19 infection, or COVID-19 vaccination.

Therefore, the study authors have NO IDEA if the person who complained of a cardiac arrest or acute coronary syndrome actually had COVID-19, or was vaccinated against COVID-19, or neither.

They do not even know if the patients had pre-existing heart problems, even though such patients would naturally skew the results of this statistical analysis.

It is important to note the main limitation of this study, which is that it relies on aggregated data that do not include specific information regarding the affected patients, including hospital outcomes, underlying comorbidities as well as vaccination and COVID-19 positive status.

This is not a slight on the authors, but to point out one of the many limitations of the data they were working with.

Fact #6 : MIT Study Did Not Establish Causation

It is now important to point out that correlation does not imply causation.

In fact, the authors themselves noted in the very first paragraph that they did not establish “causal relationships” between vaccines and heart problems.

How could they? It was a statistical analysis of half the available data that was not directly correlated to COVID-19 infection or vaccination, and did not have pre-existing heart conditions ruled out.

Fact #7 : EMS Calls Could Have Been Affected By Lockdown / Fear

The MIT study authors also pointed out that increases in CA and ACS may be caused by “other underlying causal mechanisms indirectly related to COVID-19, for example, patients delaying seeking emergent care because of fear of the pandemic and lockdowns.”

This is an important factor that would negate their findings – calls for cardiovascular problems during the “pandemic period” could be artificially low because of the strict lockdowns at that time, or fear of contracting COVID-19 from the paramedics.

On the other hand, people who were fully vaccinated may feel safer in calling for medical assistance, leading to higher EMS calls.

There is also fear of the vaccines to consider. Due to the rampant amount of misinformation online, people may be overly anxious, and calling for EMS assistance over common post-vaccination side effects that may be labelled as cardiac out of an abundance of caution.

Fact #8 : They Were Looking At Trends

What the MIT study authors did was look at the trend of CA / ACS calls, based on when Israel started vaccinating its population.

Again, they had NO WAY of knowing whether anyone who made those CA / ACS calls actually had a COVID-19 infection, or was even vaccinated against COVID-19.

That’s why we can only rely on statistical analysis to infer “potential signals”, but not actually arrive at a conclusion about anything at all.

Fact #9 : There Were Few Infections In Israel In 2020

The study looked at COVID-19 infections up to 31 December 2020 – a “pandemic period”, during which there was no vaccination.

At that time, Israel had relatively few COVID-19 infections – only 425,670 cases with 3,373 deaths. That was only 4.6% of the population.

In other words – it would be impossible to correlate CA / ACS calls with COVID-19 infection, due to the low attack rate.

In contrast, Israel had 10X more COVID-19 infections (over 4.08 million cases) and triple the deaths (almost 10,700) by April 2022.

Fact #10 : Less Than 60% Were Vaccinated At That Time

The MIT study used Israel’s vaccination data for first five months of 2021. Accounting for the 3-week lag between Dose 1 and Dose 2, only about 56% of its population was fully-vaccinated by June 2021.

Now, this is important for two reasons.

We cannot directly draw a direct conclusion from any increase in CA / ACS rates because there is still a high chance (39%) that the patient may not even be vaccinated at all.
The 56% vaccination rate was 12X higher than the 4.6% infection rate, so it would be wrong to directly compare the trend for CA / ACS rate for the vaccinated period against the trend for CA / ACS rate for the pandemic period.

I’m sure the authors would have corrected for this, or their results would be fatally wrong.

But the point remains – the results cannot be directly correlated to the person’s vaccination status (or past COVID-19 infection), and therefore, we cannot draw any conclusions based on those results.

Fact #11 : COVID-19 Infections Cause Heart Problems Too

The MIT study authors themselves pointed out that COVID-19 infections also cause myocardial injury and myocarditis in the 5th paragraph of their introduction.

In fact, the massive SAFECOVAC study showed that the risk of myocarditis was 167X higher with a single COVID-19 infection than from three doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

It is also important to note that the increased CA / ACS reports in this study may be caused by previous COVID-19 infections.

Again, this is why we cannot come to any conclusion based on the statistical analysis presented by this MIT study.

Fact #12 : This Is Part Of Scientific Process, Not The End

Such statistical analyses are useful for spotting potential signals, but they are not the conclusion of any scientific investigation.

There is nothing in this study that remotely proves that the Pfizer vaccine used by Israel resulted in a surge of heart problems.

What it suggests is that it may be worth taking a closer look at why there was a surge in CA and ACS cases in young adults in Israel in the first half of 2021.

But as the authors admitted – vaccine-induced myocarditis can be differentiated from typical myocarditis, and that the “Israel Ministry of Health and the large HMOs have access to such data“.

So again, this study only suggests a potential problem. At most, it will trigger a closer look. But under no circumstances is it proof of any real cause for concern.

We are already aware of the risk of myocarditis in young adults from the mRNA and adenovirus COVID-19 vaccines. This study does not change that.

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Fact Check : Video Of Prof. Jacob Giris On COVID-19 Vaccine

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Did Professor Jacob Giris admit on video that the COVID-19 vaccine cannot prevent severe COVID-19 disease?

Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!

Video : Prof. Jacob Giris Says COVID-19 Vaccine Cannot Prevent Severe COVID-19!

Antivaxxers have been sharing a video of Professor Jacob Giris (whom they wrongly call Yaakov Jerris) speaking on Israel’s Channel 13 news.

They claim that the video is proof that Professor Giris admitted that the COVID-19 vaccine cannot prevent severe COVID-19 disease.

Here is an example of the kind of comments accompanying the viral video :

“In Israel, 80% of severe COVID cases are fully vaccinated,” Ichilov Hospital director, Professor Yaakov Jerris told Channel 13 news TV, “Vaccine has no significance when it comes to severe illness“.

Truth : Prof. Jacob Giris Was Quoted Out Of Context

The video is genuine, but what Professor Jacob Giris said in the Channel 13 news interview was taken out of context.

Whether that was intentional or not, I do not know. But I do know now that it was WRONGLY / FALSELY reported as evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine does not work.

The Channel 13 news segment was in Hebrew, which I did not understand. So I roped in a native Hebrew speaker to check it out for me, and this was the opinion :

The translation and explanation in the articles you sent were taken out of context.

He was saying that for critically ill people with existing health conditions, the vaccine is less relevant. In his hospital, most COVID-19 patients are much older and come in with co-morbidities.

He was not against the vaccine, he was just saying that it was less relevant for this particular group of patients.

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Professor-Jacob-Giris-on-Channel-13-News.mp4?_=4

Let me emphasise this – Professor Giris was telling Channel 13 that the COVID-19 vaccine had “no significance” because most of his patients were elderly, and coming in sick from another disease, with co-morbidities.

Those factors are why they developed severe COVID-19 disease, not the fact that they were fully-vaccinated.

This actually matches what he stated just days earlier (27 February 2022) on the official hospital Facebook page.

most patients are coming into his hospital for other conditions, and incidentally found to have COVID-19
the mortality rate is very low
COVID-19 is often not the cause of death for his patients
the public should not panic

He posted in Hebrew, which does not translate well using machine translation, so I had to correct some of the grammar to make it readable :

Hi, this is Prof. Jacob Giris, the Director of Internal Medicine Department and COVID-19. My team and I have been on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 since the second wave.

I read the news about the mortality reports, hospital wards that are full of patients and expert alerts to postpone the cancellation of isolation for children and I would like to give you a snapshot of the situation in my department here in Ichilov.

This wave is different from the previous waves. The patients that arrive are coming in because of other diseases and not because of the Omicron variant. The rate of turnover in the ward is like that of a movie – every day ten patients are admitted and discharged on average.

Most of them come to get treatment for some other disease. The mortality rate is very low, and even when it happens, the Omicron variant is not the cause of death.

In fact, I remember much more turbulent times, where we suffered especially violent outcomes like 4 waves ago. This wave, what’s different for me is that I treat a wider variety of internal diseases and we are all suffering from isolation.

I felt compelled to give you the real picture of the situation in the field, give the public confidence and prevent unnecessary fear. We should not only strengthen internal medicine measures during difficult times, or when there is an epidemic, but as part of a national plan.

Until then, have fun with the children who need to see the spectacular sights of snow and breathe the fresh air outside in our beautiful country. Have a peaceful, white weekend.

The truth is – antivaxxers are intentionally quoting the video out of context, to falsely suggest that the vaccines do not work.

COVID-19 vaccines have been proven, over and over again, to greatly reduce hospitalisation and death.

For more details, you can read my exhaustive fact check of the false claims about what Professor Jacob Giris told Channel 13.

Please help us fight fake news – SHARE THIS fact check with your friends!

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Prof Yaakov Jerris Said Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID?

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Did Professor Yaakov Jerris from Ichilov Hospital just admit that the vaccine cannot prevent severe COVID-19 disease?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Prof Yaakov Jerris Said Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID!

Antivax and conspiracy websites are claiming that Ichilov Hospital director, Professor Yaakov Jerris admitted that the vaccine cannot prevent severe illness from COVID-19.

Are Israeli hospitals really overburdened with COVID patients who haven’t been vaccinated? The situation, according to Prof. Yaakov Jerris, director of Ichilov Hospital’s coronavirus ward, is radically different. According to the professor, COVID vaccines cannot protect us from severe illness as we are being told.

“Right now, most of our severe cases are vaccinated,” Jerris told Channel 13 News. “They had at least three injections. Between seventy and eighty percent of the serious cases are vaccinated. So, the vaccine has no significance regarding severe illness, which is why just twenty to twenty-five percent of our patients are unvaccinated.”

Jerris also highlighted some of the ambiguity in case reporting. He addressed ministers at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, “Defining a serious patient is problematic. For example, a patient with a chronic lung disease always had a low level of oxygen, but now he has a positive coronavirus test result which technically makes him a ‘serious coronavirus patient,’ but that’s not accurate. The patient is only in a difficult condition because he has a serious underlying illness.”

Prof Yaakov Jerris Did Not Say Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID!

This appears to be a “variant” of the earlier misinformation being shared on anti-vaccination and conspiracy website.

Just like the earlier version, this is FAKE NEWS created by antivaxxers, who likely based it on a bad translation (which could be intentional).

Here are the facts of this case…

Fact #1 : Hospital Is Called Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

There is no longer an Ichilov Hospital. That is the former and colloquial name for the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

The original Ichilov Hospital was established in 1961, and renamed as the Sourasky Medical Center in June 1973.

That hospital was then combined with two other municipal hospitals in 1980, and renamed as the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

Fact #2 : He Is Professor Jacob Giris, Not Yaakov Jerris

There is no Professor Yaakov Jerris listed amongst the staff of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. That name was likely a translation mistake by someone using Google Translate / Bing Translate.

His actual name is Professor Jacob Giris (יעקב ג’ריס), and he is the director of their Internal Medicine department.

Fact #3 : His Words Were Taken Out Of Context

I managed to obtain a video of Professor Giris speaking on Channel 13, which I will share below.

It was in Hebrew, which I don’t understand. So I had a native Hebrew speaker check it out for me, and this was the opinion :

The translation and explanation in the articles you sent were taken out of context.

He was not against the vaccine, he was just saying that it was less relevant for this particular group of patients.

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Professor-Jacob-Giris-on-Channel-13-News.mp4?_=5

Fact #4 : He Said Earlier That Most COVID-19 Patients Now Don’t Die

About a week earlier, Professor Giris posted this statement in Hebrew on 27 January 2022, where he stated that :

most patients are coming into his hospital for other conditions, and incidentally found to have COVID-19
the mortality rate is very low
COVID-19 is often not the cause of death for his patients
the public should not panic

היי, כאן פרופ׳ גריס יעקוב, מנהל מחלקה פנימית ו׳ קורונה. הצוות שלי ואני נמצאים בחזית המאבק לקורונה מאז הגל השני ברציפות. אני קורא את הידיעות על שיאי התחלואה, המחלקות שמפוצצות בחולים והתראות מומחים לדחות את ביטול הבידודים לילדים ואני מבקש לתת תמונת מצב מהמחלקה שלי כאן באיכילוב.

הגל הזה אמרו לפניי ואחזור גם כעת, שונה מכל הגלים. החולים שמגיעים הינם עם מחלות רקע רבות ולא בגלל האומיקרון. קצב התחלופה במחלקה הוא של סרט נע – כל יום מתקבלים ומשתחררים עשרה חולים בממוצע. רובם באים לקבל טיפול למחלה המקורית ממנה הם סובלים. אחוז התמותה מאוד נמוך וגם כשכן האומיקרון זו לא סיבת המוות. למעשה, אני זוכר חורפים הרבה יותר סוערים אז סבלנו משפעות אלימות במיוחד כמו לפני 4 שנים. החורף הזה, הדבר ששונה עבורי זה שאני מטפל במגוון רחב יותר של מחלות פנימיות ושכולנו סובלים מהבידודים.

הרגשתי חובה לשקף תמונת מצב אמיתית מהשטח כדי לתת בטחון לציבור ולמנוע פחד מיותר. השינוי צריך להיות בחיזוק הרפואה הפנימית לא רק בחודשי החורף או כשיש מגיפה אלא כחלק מתוכנית לאומית. עד אז, תהנו עם הילדים שזקוקים לזה כל כך ממראות השלג המרהיבים ותנשמו את האוויר הצח בחוץ של ארצנו היפה.

סוף שבוע רגוע ומלא לבן

Show less

Here is the English translation, which I attempted to clean up and make more understandable :

Hi, this is Prof. Jacob Giris, the Director of Internal Medicine Department and COVID-19. My team and I have been on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 since the second wave.

Most of them come to get treatment for some other disease. The mortality rate is very low, and even when it happens, the Omicron variant is not the cause of death.

Until then, have fun with the children who need to see the spectacular sights of snow and breathe the fresh air outside in our beautiful country. Have a peaceful, white weekend.

Show less

Fact #5 : It Was Likely A Bad Translation

The viral news report called him Professor Yaakov Jerris, and the quotes attributed to him are grammatically odd.

After using Google Translate and Bing Translate to translate his Hebrew post (see Fact #3), I realised that the viral news report was most likely mistranslated from Hebrew.

With that in mind, and based on what he said a week earlier, this was my interpretation of what he said :

He believes that the reporting of severe cases is wrongly labelling serious COVID-19 patients, when they have a different serious condition and only happen to have COVID-19.
Between 70% and 80% of his severe cases are vaccinated with at least three shots.
Vaccination status has no significance, because these patients are seriously sick from their admitting condition

This would match what he said a week earlier, about many patients coming into his department with other diseases, and incidentally discovered to have COVID-19.

And this was confirmed by the Hebrew translator who watched the video. See Fact #3.

Fact #6 : He Never Said Vaccine Can’t Prevent Severe COVID-19

A bad translation is one thing, but this new fake news “variant” claims that Professor Giris admitted that the vaccine cannot prevent severe COVID-19 disease.

That’s not what he said. He is quoted to have said, “the vaccine has no significance regarding severe illness“.

You don’t have to be a linguist to know that there is a big difference between “no significance regarding severe illness”, and not being able to prevent severe illness.

And in the video, he actually said that the vaccine had no significance, because the patients that came in were already severely sick with other diseases. See Fact #3.

Fact #7 : Misleading To Use Percentage

It is misleading to report that 80% of severe COVID-19 cases are of vaccinated people, without the necessary context. After all…

In a country with zero vaccination, 100% of severe COVID-19 cases will be of unvaccinated people.
In a country with 100% vaccination, 100% of severe COVID-19 cases will be of vaccinated people.

In addition, the vaccinated-unvaccinated ratio for severe COVID-19 is highly dependent on age, co-morbidities, and whether the patients came in for other medical problems.

Senior citizens with co-morbidities, and coming in for other medical problems, are far more likely to develop severe COVID-19, than young adults without co-morbidities.

Without context – data – it is impossible to know the true situation. But that is perhaps why anti-vaccination and conspiracy websites are reporting the claim without context.

Fact #8 : This Is Base Rate Fallacy At Work

As explained above, we should expect more cases of vaccinated people getting severe COVID-19 than unvaccinated people, simply because there are far more vaccinated people than unvaccinated people.

This concept is sometimes difficult to grasp, which is why it’s being abused by antivaxxers to trick you into thinking that vaccinated people are more likely to get severe COVID-19. That’s nonsense.

This is the Base Rate Fallacy at work, which Marc Rumilly demonstrates in this visualisation.

At first glance (left), it may appear that more vaccinated people are getting hospitalised than unvaccinated people.

But if you “zoom out” and look at the population as a whole (right), the risk profile is completely different. It is obvious now that unvaccinated people are far more likely to be hospitalised than vaccinated people.

Fact #9 : Unvaccinated People Have 6X Higher Risk Of Severe COVID-19

Marc took actual data from the Israel Ministry of Health, to demonstrate how the Base Rate Fallacy masks the fact that unvaccinated people in Israel are 6X more likely to get severe COVID-19 than vaccinated people.

Fact #10 : Vaccines Greatly Reduced Infections + Deaths

Many studies have already proven, time and time again, the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing infections, hospitalisations and deaths.

Let’s take a look at one example – the October 2021 study in Israel which looked at the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in preventing new infections and deaths of people over 70 years old.

New Cases dropped by 20X after vaccination

Deaths dropped by 6X after vaccination

Please help us fight fake news – SHARE THIS fact check with your friends!

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Are Most Severe COVID-19 Cases In Israel Fully Vaccinated?

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Did Professor Yaakov Jerris just admit that 80% of severe COVID-19 cases in Israel are fully-vaccinated?

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Most Severe COVID-19 Cases In Israel Fully Vaccinated!

Antivax and conspiracy websites are claiming that Professor Yaakov Jerris, an Ichilov Hospital director, admitted that 80% of severe COVID-19 cases in Israel are fully-vaccinated.

Are Israeli hospitals really overloaded with unvaccinated COVID patients? According to Prof. Yaakov Jerris, director of Ichilov Hospital’s coronavirus ward, the situation is completely opposite.

Jerris also revealed some of the confusion in reporting cases. Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, he told ministers, “Defining a serious patient is problematic. For example, a patient with a chronic lung disease always had a low level of oxygen, but now he has a positive coronavirus test result which technically makes him a ‘serious coronavirus patient,’ but that’s not accurate. The patient is only in a difficult condition because he has a serious underlying illness.”

Truth : Fully Vaccinated In Israel Not At Most Risk Of Severe COVID-19!

I can now confirm that this is FAKE NEWS created by antivaxxers, who likely based it on a bad translation (which could be intentional).

Here are the facts of this case…

Fact #1 : Hospital Is Called Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

There is no longer an Ichilov Hospital. That is the former and colloquial name for the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

The original Ichilov Hospital was established in 1961, and renamed as the Sourasky Medical Center in June 1973.

That hospital was then combined with two other municipal hospitals in 1980, and renamed as the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

Fact #2 : He Is Professor Jacob Giris, Not Yaakov Jerris

The Ichilov Hospital director mentioned in the news report was extremely hard to track down, because he was wrongly named.

There is no Yaakov Jerris or Yaakov Jeris listed amongst the staff of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. That name is most likely a translation mistake by someone using Google Translate / Bing Translate.

However, I managed to track him down as Professor Jacob Giris (יעקב ג’ריס), the director of their Internal Medicine department.

Fact #3 : His Words Were Taken Out Of Context

I managed to obtain a video of Professor Giris speaking on Channel 13, which I will share below.

It was in Hebrew, which I don’t understand. So I had a native Hebrew speaker check it out for me, and this was the opinion :

The translation and explanation in the articles you sent were taken out of context.

He is saying that for critically ill people with existing health conditions, the vaccine is less relevant. In his hospital, most COVID-19 patients are much older and come in with co-morbidities.

He is not against the vaccine, he was just saying that it was less relevant for this particular group of patients.

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Professor-Jacob-Giris-on-Channel-13-News.mp4?_=6

Fact #4 : He Said Earlier That Most COVID-19 Patients Now Don’t Die

About a week earlier, Professor Giris posted this statement in Hebrew on 27 January 2022, where he stated that :

most patients are coming into his hospital for other conditions, and incidentally found to have COVID-19
the mortality rate is very low
COVID-19 is often not the cause of death for his patients
the public should not panic

What he said earlier matches what he said in his Channel 13 news interview.

סוף שבוע רגוע ומלא לבן

Show less

Here is the English translation, which I attempted to clean up and make more understandable :

Hi, this is Prof. Jacob Giris, the Director of Internal Medicine Department and COVID-19. My team and I have been on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 since the second wave.

Most of them come to get treatment for some other disease. The mortality rate is very low, and even when it happens, the Omicron variant is not the cause of death.

Until then, have fun with the children who need to see the spectacular sights of snow and breathe the fresh air outside in our beautiful country. Have a peaceful, white weekend.

Show less

Fact #5 : It Was Likely A Bad Translation

The viral “news report” called Professor Giris “Yaakov Jerris” or “Yaakov Jeris“, and the quotes attributed to him were peculiar grammatically.

After using Google Translate and Bing Translate to translate his Hebrew post (see Fact #4), I realised that the viral news report was most likely mistranslated from Hebrew.

With that in mind, and based on what he said a week earlier, this was my interpretation of what he said :

He believes that the reporting of severe cases is wrongly labelling serious COVID-19 patients, when they have a different serious condition and only happen to have COVID-19.
Between 70% and 80% of his severe cases were vaccinated with at least three shots.
Vaccination status has no significance, because these patients are seriously sick from their admitting condition

This would match what he said a week earlier, about many patients coming into his department with other diseases, and incidentally discovered to have COVID-19.

And this was confirmed by the Hebrew translator who watched the video. See Fact #3.

Fact #6 : Misleading To Use Percentage

It is misleading to report that 80% of severe COVID-19 cases are of vaccinated people, without the necessary context. After all…

in a country with zero vaccination, 100% of severe COVID-19 cases will be of unvaccinated people.
in a country with 100% vaccination, 100% of severe COVID-19 cases will be of vaccinated people.

In addition, the vaccinated-unvaccinated ratio for severe COVID-19 is highly dependent on age, co-morbidities, and whether the patients came in for other medical problems.

Senior citizens with co-morbidities, and coming in for other medical problems, are far more likely to develop severe COVID-19, than young adults without co-morbidities.

Without context – data – it is impossible to know the true situation. But that is perhaps why anti-vaccination and conspiracy websites are reporting the claim without context.

Fact #7 : This Is Base Rate Fallacy At Work

As explained above, we should expect more cases of vaccinated people getting severe COVID-19 than unvaccinated people, simply because there are far more vaccinated people than unvaccinated people.

This is the Base Rate Fallacy at work, which Marc Rumilly demonstrates in this visualisation.

At first glance (left), it may appear that more vaccinated people are getting hospitalised than unvaccinated people.

Fact #8 : Unvaccinated People Have 6X Higher Risk Of Severe COVID-19

Fact #9 : Vaccines Greatly Reduced Infections + Deaths

Many studies have proven, time and time again, the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing infections, hospitalisations and deaths.

Let’s take a look at one example – the October 2021 study in Israel which looked at the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in preventing new infections and deaths of people over 70 years old.

New Cases dropped by 20X after vaccination

Deaths dropped by 6X after vaccination

Please help us fight fake news – SHARE THIS fact check with your friends!

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Go Back To > Health | Fact Check | Tech ARP

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New Measures To Block Omicron Variant From Malaysia!

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With the Omicron variant rapidly spreading across the globe, Malaysia has initiated new measures to block it from reaching our shores.

Here is what you need to know…

New Measures To Block Omicron Variant From Malaysia!

On 1 December 2021, the Malaysia Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin announced a series of new measures to block the Omicron variant from reaching our shores.

This decision came after 20 countries reported over 200 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 :

Country	Omicron Cases	Country	Omicron Cases
South Africa	128	Austria	4
Botswana	19	Brazil	2
Portugal	13	Canada	2
The Netherlands	12	Japan	2
United Kingdom	9	Denmark	2
Australia	6	Spain	1
Hong Kong	5	Reunion Island (France)	1
Germany	5	Belgium	1
Italy	4	Czech Republic	1
Israel	4	Sweden	1

How Malaysia Intends To To Block Omicron Variant!

Temporary Travel Ban

Malaysia will no longer allow flights from or transiting through countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high risk countries, will be blocked.

These are the eight (8) countries that the Malaysia Ministry of Health (KKM) has listed under the travel ban :

South Africa
Botswana
Eswatini
Lesotho
Mozambique
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Malawi

There is also a temporary travel ban for non-Malaysian citizens from those countries, including travellers who have been in those countries during the last 14 days prior to arrival.

Malaysian citizens and holders of long-term passes (PR status, spouse visa, MM2H and resident pass) are still ALLOWED to return to Malaysia, subject to these restrictions :

Irrespective of their vaccination status, they must undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a quarantine station.
They must undergo three RT-PCR COVID-19 tests :
– within 72 hours before departure,
– on arrival in Malaysia, and
– on the 10th day of the mandatory quarantine
A risk assessment will be conducted on the 14th day of quarantine, which may be extended if the traveller is symptomatic.

Malaysian citizens who are planning to visit the listed countries are NOT ALLOWED to continue with their travel plans.

Vaccinated Travel Lane

Arrangements to create a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) with countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high risk countries, have been postponed.

In addition, the Malaysia-Singapore VTL programme for both air and land travel has been amended to require travellers to undergo additional COVID-19 self-tests on the 3rd and 7th day after arrival.

They must then report their test results in MySejahtera.

Monitoring Of Countries With Omicron Variant Cases

The Ministry of Health (KKM) will monitor and provide the other government ministries with a DAILY LIST of countries with Omicron variant cases, or at high risk.

Strengthening Of International Gateways

The Immigration Department of Malaysia has immediately STOPPED the use of the Autogate system.

Flights carrying passengers from the listed countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high risk countries, are only allowed to enter Malaysia through KLIA.

Airlines are responsible for identifying passengers travelling from countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high-risk countries. This information must be submitted to the KLIA Health Office for easier handling of the arrivals.

MAHB is required to create a special “gate” and path for travellers from countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high-risk countries, to undergo a health screening before undergoing their special quarantine.

International Students + Foreign Workers

International students and foreign workers from countries with Omicron variant cases, or high-risk countries, will be temporarily BANNED from entering Malaysia.

Langkawi International Tourism Bubble

Tourists from countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high-risk countries; or those with history of travel to those countries in the past 14 days, are NOT ALLOWED to participate in the Langkawi International Tourism Bubble.

Malaysian citizens (Langkawi residents) returning from countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high-risk countries, are ALLOWED to return to Malaysia, but only through KLIA and must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a special quarantine station.

Foreign tourists who are confirmed to be positive with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will be isolated and treated in a private hospital, at their own cost.

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Did FDA Panel Reject Pfizer Booster Dose Over Myocarditis?

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Did the US FDA panel reject the Pfizer booster dose for those who are 16-65 years old over increased risk of myocarditis / pericarditis?

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the FACTS really are!

Gateway Pundit : FDA Panel Rejected Pfizer Booster Dose Over Myocarditis!

The notorious fake news website, The Gateway Pundit, is at it again, this time posting fake news that the FDA panel rejected the Pfizer booster dose for those who are 16-65 years old over increased risk of myocarditis / pericarditis.

Originally posted on 17 September 2021, this piece of fake news has been repetitively shared on WhatsApp and Facebook.

What The Gateway Pundit posted is a long read, so just skip to the next section for the FACTS…

On Friday, Biden’s vaccination plan hit a major roadblock after an FDA advisory panel declined to endorse authorization the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid booster shot for people aged 16 or older.

The 18 member group of influential experts was tasked with deciding if Pfizer’s latest clinical trials had provided adequate results that demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of their booster shot.

Unsurprisingly, the results did not make the cut, not even close.

The panel voted 16-2 to reject extra doses of experimental vaccine, citing insufficient data from incomplete clinical trials and the potential risk of heart inflammation – especially among young men.

The panel did, however, vote unanimously to endorse the booster for people aged 65 or older and “high-risk” individuals

The panel’s vote will now be weighed by the FDA to make a final decision on who will be eligible for the Pfizer booster.

The additional doses are being pushed because the original vaccine effectiveness has been fading quickly over time. Several studies have shown that people who have gotten the virus and then recovered – leaving them with natural immunity – are much better protected than those who are relying on the Pfizer jab.

In fact, one study that was conducted on 800,000 individuals showed that people who have taken both doses of the Pfizer jab are 13 TIMES more likely to have a breakthrough infection, and are at a “greater risk for Covid-19 hospitalizations.”

So much for the ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’..

The US health regime and Big Pharma have cleverly used the poor vaccine results to push another round of experimental shots. They have begun to acknowledge the decline in protection against infection, but refuse to mention anything about natural immunity and downplay the adverse reactions that have been well documented.

Show less

FDA Panel Rejected Pfizer Booster Dose Because It Was Not Needed Yet

The truth is – the FDA panel rejected the Pfizer booster dose, because they felt that the Pfizer vaccine was still effective and a booster was NOT NEEDED YET.

Here are the facts, and the reasons why it’s just fake news by The Gateway Pundit…

Fact #1 : The Gateway Pundit Is Notorious For Fake News

The Gateway Pundit is notorious for creating and propagating fake news and conspiracy theories.

The Gateway Pundit has been identified by the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology as a website that “primarily propagates fake news“.

CNN calls it “prone to peddling conspiracy theories“, while Newsweek straight up calls it “a fake news website“.

Even though it started out as a far-right political website, The Gateway Pundit joined LifeSiteNews and Natural News in peddling health-related fake news to cash in on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Everything that The Gateway Pundit posts should be regarded as FAKE NEWS, until proven otherwise.

Fact #2 : Higher Risk Of Myocarditis With COVID-19 Infection

What The Gateway Pundit knew but did not mention was the fact that there is a MUCH HIGHER RISK of getting myocarditis with a COVID-19 infection, than with the Pfizer vaccine.

The Gateway Pundit article even used this ultrasound image that was clearly labelled “Myocarditis Heart Failure From COVID-19” as their feature image!

For a better perspective of the risk of developing myocarditis, here is a comparison table that I created :

Myocarditis Risk	Per Million People	Difference
COVID-19 Patient	450	+2208%
Pfizer Vaccine (Adult Dose)	20	+2.6%
Normal Population	19.5	Baseline

As you can see, the risk of developing myocarditis is MUCH higher if you get infected with COVID-19, compared to getting the Pfizer vaccine.

There is no doubt that The Gateway Pundit is fully aware of that fact. They just don’t care about the truth, or your life. They are only interested in spreading misinformation.

Fact #3 : FDA Panel Rejected Pfizer Booster Dose Because It Was Not Needed Yet

On 17 September 2021, the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee met to discuss the data on the Pfizer booster dose.

They voted 16-2 not to recommend the blanket use of Pfizer booster dose for individuals age 16 years or older because :

the primary series of 2 vaccine doses is still effective against COVID-19.

The panel said that the US and Israel calculate COVID-19 illness differently, and the Israeli data showed that the vaccine’s protection against serious illness remained strong after six months.

“I don’t think a booster dose is going to significantly contribute to controlling the pandemic,” said Dr. Cody Meissner of Tufts University. “And I think it’s important that the main message we transmit is that we’ve got to get everyone two doses.”

it was more important to focus on vaccinating the unvaccinated.

Dr. Amanda Cohn of the CDC said, “At this moment it is clear that the unvaccinated are driving transmission in the United States.”

they wanted more safety data, especially on the risk of heart inflammation in younger men.

Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said that he “wanted to see more data on the risk of heart inflammation in younger men”.

Myocarditis / pericarditis is a rare side effect of the mRNA vaccines that is associated mostly with young males; but not of older adults.

Fact #4 : FDA Panel Recommended Pfizer Booster Dose For Selected Groups

The FDA panel was not particularly worried about the safety of the Pfizer booster dose, as claimed by The Gateway Pundit.

In the same meeting, they unanimously voted 18-0 to recommend the Pfizer booster dose for people who are at “high risk” of severe COVID-19.

individuals 65 years and older
individuals with co-morbidities or compromised immune systems
healthcare workers and other people whose jobs put them at high risk of being exposed to the coronavirus

They would not have done so, if they felt that the Pfizer booster dose posed significant risks. As stated in Fact #4, they were of the opinion that a booster dose was not needed at the moment.

Fact #5 : FDA Approved Pfizer Booster Dose For 18 And Older

On 22 September 2021, the FDA approved the Pfizer booster dose for :

individuals 65 years of age and older;
individuals 18 through 64 years of age at high risk of severe COVID-19; and
individuals 18 through 64 years of age whose frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19 including severe COVID-19.

The booster dose is the same formulation and dosage as the first two doses of the Pfizer COMIRNATY vaccine.

With that approval, the Pfizer booster dose can be given to any of those individuals, at any point after at least six months following the completion of their primary series vaccination.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Israel In Trouble For NOT Using Vaccines From China?!

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Is Israel in trouble with the Delta variant of COVID-19 because they did not use vaccines from China?

Take a look at the viral warning, and find out what the FACTS really are!

Claim : Israel In Trouble For NOT Using Vaccines From China!

This warning has gone viral on WhatsApp, claiming that Israel is in trouble with the Delta variant because they opted to use the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines, instead of superior vaccines from China.

The viral warning is quite long, so just skip to the next section for the FACTS!

Israel DOES NOT use China vaccines at all,
but Israel uses only Moderna+Pfizzer vaccines, and that is why Israel has record number of daily cases now, and the number of daily cases in Israel is now higher than before vaccination started, and the vast majority of Israel people have already been vaccinated .

The reason for the failure to stop virus spread in Israel and also in Singapore,
is because Moderna+Pfizzer vaccines, are NOT EFFECTIVE against the delta variant, and the effectiveness will keep dropping every month.

Both Israel and Singapore made the same mistake, of naively and trusting in full, the USA fake news media claim, that wildly overstate the effectiveness of vaccines like Moderna+Pfizzer vaccines, and the same USA fake news media FALSELY CLAIM that China vaccines are not effective, but in the real world, China vaccines turn out to be the most effective, especially against the Delta variant .

Click the graph below, and see for yourself,
the exploding and record number of daily virus cases in Israel, which uses the moderna and pfizzer vaccines at

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/israel/

Now click the graph below, and see for yourself that daily virus cases in China which uses only China vaccines, has already stabilized and life is back to normal since 17 months ago at
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/

Now click the graph below, and see for yourself that daily virus cases in Bahrain which uses mainly China vaccines, has already stabilized and life is back to normal at
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/bahrain/

Now click the graph below, and see for yourself that daily virus cases in Chile which uses mainly China vaccines, has already stabilized and life is back to normal at
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/chile/

Click to read more...

Truth : Vaccines From China Will NOT Help Israel With Delta Variant!

The truth is – vaccines from China will not help Israel with the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Chinese COVID-19 vaccines are decent, but they are NOT very effective against the Delta variant.

This is just another piece of Chinese propaganda, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Israel Showed That Lockdowns Work

In their first wave, Israel declared a national state of emergency on 19 March 2020, and underwent a strict lockdown with travel restrictions.

In their second wave, they announced another set of lockdown measures from July to September 2020, which rapidly cut down the numbers by end of October 2020.

In their third wave, Israel initiated their third nationwide lockdown on 27 December 2020, which they started lifting in March 2021.

Fact #2 : Israel Reopened Too Quickly + Too Early

By June 2021, masking was no longer required even indoors, and there are currently very few restrictions in Israel.

In spite of their high vaccination rate – 61.1% of their population are fully vaccinated – Israel has not achieved herd immunity.

Unfortunately, they got complacent and opened up too early. Coupled with the more transmissible Delta variant, this led to their fourth wave.

Fact #3 : Delta Variant Causes More Breakthrough Infections

We have known since June 2021 that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is partially-resistant to vaccines.

This allows it to cause more breakthrough infections, especially for those who are partially-vaccinated.

This is more of a problem for the AstraZeneca vaccine, and much less for the Pfizer vaccine used in Israel and Singapore.

COVID-19 Variant	Pfizer		AstraZeneca
COVID-19 Variant	1 Dose	2 Doses	1 Dose	2 Doses
Alpha (UK)	50%	93%	50%	66%
Delta (India)	33%	88%	33%	60%

Fact #4 : Vaccines Protect Against Hospitalisation + Death!

While the Delta variant can cause more breakthrough infections, COVID-19 vaccines offer excellent protection against hospitalisation and death.

What this means is fully-vaccinated people can get infected by COVID-19, but they will usually experience a mild or even asymptomatic disease.

COVID-19 Variant	Pfizer		AstraZeneca
COVID-19 Variant	1 Dose	2 Doses	1 Dose	2 Doses
Alpha (UK)	83%	95%	76%	86%
Delta (India)	94%	96%	71%	92%

Fact #5 : Sinovac CoronaVac Is LESS Effective

A large Brazilian preprint study was just released, comparing the efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine against the AstraZeneca vaccine.

This study which involved 60.5 million people confirmed that the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine was less effective than the AstraZeneca Vaxzevria vaccine.

Even so, I must point out that the Sinovac vaccine offers significant protection against hospitalisation and death that unvaccinated people are at risk of.

Protection Against	AstraZeneca	Sinovac
Infection	70.0%	54.2%
Hospitalisation	86.8%	72.6%
ICU Admission	88.1%	74.2%
Death	90.2%	74.0%

Fact #6 : Sinopharm BIBP Is LESS Effective

A recent study in Bahrain involving 1.24 million participants showed that the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine was less effective than the Pfizer Comirnaty vaccine, especially against the Delta variant.

The study showed that the Pfizer mRNA vaccine was 2.5X better at preventing infection, 10X better at preventing hospitalisation, 28.5X better at avoiding ICU admission and 7.5X better at preventing death.

But I must point out that the Sinopharm vaccine itself does a great job at preventing hospitalisation, ICU admission and death, compared to unvaccinated people.

It is just not as effective as the Pfizer vaccine, especially against the Delta variant.

Cases Per 100K Per Week	Pfizer	Sinopharm	Unvaccinated
Infection	136.3	350.5	643.0
Hospitalisation	2.8	28.4	51.1
ICU Admission	0.08	2.29	6.39
Death	0.22	1.64	4.42

Fact #7 : China’s Success Due To Lockdown, Not Vaccines

China successfully kept COVID-19 cases flat since March 2020 through extremely strict lockdowns and preventive measures. This allowed them to avoid multiple waves that have afflicted many countries around the world.

We know that their success had nothing to do with the superiority of Chinese vaccines, because China itself has been busy exporting vaccines instead of using them.

Despite being the first to approve a COVID-19 vaccine (from Sinopharm), China only vaccinated 24 million people (1.6%) by the end of January 2021.

They have since ramped up vaccination, after India’s Delta variant crisis rattled them. But their continued success in preventing another COVID-19 wave has, currently, little to do with their vaccines.

Fact #8 : China To Offer mRNA Booster Dose For Sinovac + Sinopharm Vaccines

In July 2021, Caixin Global reported that China is planning to offer the Pfizer Comirnaty mRNA vaccine as a booster dose for citizens vaccinated with the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines.

This decision came after Chinese CDC deputy director Dr. Feng Zijian said that two Chinese COVID-19 vaccines are “less effective” against the Delta variant, compared to other strains.

This is a tacit acknowledgement by the Chinese government that the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are not working well against the Delta variant.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Are Chinese Vaccines The Most Effective Vs. Delta Variant?

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Are Chinese vaccines the most effective vaccines against the Delta variant of COVID-19?

Find out what just went viral, and what the facts really are!

Claim : Chinese Vaccines Are The Most Effective Against Delta Variant!

This message has gone viral on WhatsApp, claiming that Chinese vaccines are superior to the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines, and are in fact, the most effective vaccines against Delta variant!

It is quite long, so just skip to the next section for the FACTS!

Click the graph below, and see for yourself,
the exploding and record number of daily virus cases in Israel, which uses the moderna and pfizzer vaccines at

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/israel/

Click to read more...

Truth : Chinese Vaccines Are Not The Most Effective Vs. Delta Variant

The truth is – Chinese COVID-19 vaccines are decent, but they are hardly the most efficacious vaccines in the market.

And they are definitely NOT the most effective vaccines against the Delta variant.

This is just another piece of Chinese propaganda, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Israel Showed That Lockdowns Work

In their first wave, Israel declared a national state of emergency on 19 March 2020, and underwent a strict lockdown with travel restrictions.

In their second wave, they announced another set of lockdown measures from July to September 2020, which rapidly cut down the numbers by end of October 2020.

In their third wave, Israel initiated their third nationwide lockdown on 27 December 2020, which they started lifting in March 2021.

Fact #2 : Israel Currently Has Few COVID-19 Restrictions

By June 2021, masking was no longer required even indoors, and there are currently very few restrictions in Israel.

In spite of their high vaccination rate – 61.1% of their population are fully vaccinated – Israel has not achieved herd immunity.

Unfortunately, they got complacent and opened up too early. Coupled with the more transmissible Delta variant, this led to their fourth wave.

Fact #3 : Delta Variant Causes More Breakthrough Infections

We have known since June 2021 that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is partially-resistant to vaccines.

This allows it to cause more breakthrough infections, especially for those who are partially-vaccinated.

This is more of a problem for the AstraZeneca vaccine, and much less for the Pfizer vaccine used in Israel and Singapore.

COVID-19 Variant	Pfizer		AstraZeneca
COVID-19 Variant	1 Dose	2 Doses	1 Dose	2 Doses
Alpha (UK)	50%	93%	50%	66%
Delta (India)	33%	88%	33%	60%

Fact #4 : Vaccines Protect Against Hospitalisation + Death!

While the Delta variant can cause more breakthrough infections, COVID-19 vaccines offer excellent protection against hospitalisation and death.

What this means is the fully-vaccinated people who get infected by COVID-19 will usually experience a mild or even asymptomatic disease.

COVID-19 Variant	Pfizer		AstraZeneca
COVID-19 Variant	1 Dose	2 Doses	1 Dose	2 Doses
Alpha (UK)	83%	95%	76%	86%
Delta (India)	94%	96%	71%	92%

Fact #5 : Sinovac CoronaVac Is LESS Effective

A large Brazilian preprint study was just released, comparing the efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine against the AstraZeneca vaccine.

This study which involved 60.5 million people confirmed that the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine was less effective than the AstraZeneca Vaxzevria vaccine.

Even so, I must point out that the Sinovac vaccine offers significant protection against hospitalisation and death that unvaccinated people are at risk of.

Protection Against	AstraZeneca	Sinovac
Infection	70.0%	54.2%
Hospitalisation	86.8%	72.6%
ICU Admission	88.1%	74.2%
Death	90.2%	74.0%

Fact #6 : Sinopharm BIBP Is LESS Effective

A recent study in Bahrain involving 1.24 million participants showed that the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine was less effective than the Pfizer Comirnaty vaccine, especially against the Delta variant.

But I must point out that the Sinopharm vaccine itself does a great job at preventing hospitalisation, ICU admission and death, compared to unvaccinated people.

It is just not as effective as the Pfizer vaccine, especially against the Delta variant.

Cases Per 100K Per Week	Pfizer	Sinopharm	Unvaccinated
Infection	136.3	350.5	643.0
Hospitalisation	2.8	28.4	51.1
ICU Admission	0.08	2.29	6.39
Death	0.22	1.64	4.42

Fact #7 : China’s Success Due To Lockdown, Not Vaccines

We know that their success had nothing to do with the superiority of Chinese vaccines, because China itself has been busy exporting vaccines instead of using them.

Despite being the first to approve a COVID-19 vaccine (from Sinopharm), China only vaccinated 24 million people (1.6%) by the end of January 2021.

Fact #8 : China To Offer mRNA Booster Dose For Sinovac + Sinopharm Vaccines

In July 2021, Caixin Global reported that China is planning to offer the Pfizer Comirnaty mRNA vaccine as a booster dose for citizens vaccinated with the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines.

This decision came after Chinese CDC deputy director Dr. Feng Zijian said that two Chinese COVID-19 vaccines are “less effective” against the Delta variant, compared to other strains.

This is a tacit acknowledgement by the Chinese government that the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are not working well against the Delta variant.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did Israel Agree Not To Disclose Pfizer Adverse Effects?

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Did Israel agree not to disclose the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine’s adverse effects for at least 10 years?

Find out what’s going on, and what the FACTS really are!

Did Israel Agree Not To Disclose Pfizer Adverse Effects?

Dr. Robert W. Malone, M.D., claimed on 8 August 2021, that Israel agreed not to disclose adverse effects from the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for a minimum of 10 years.

This is key to understanding "what the heck is going on". Apparently in Israel, I am told by Israeli scientist, the agreement between Pfizer and the government is that no adverse events from the vax are to be disclosed for a minimum of 10 years. https://t.co/aLcLUpVQHP

— Robert W Malone, MD (@RWMaloneMD) August 8, 2021

Truth : Israel Did NOT Agree Not To Disclose Pfizer Adverse Effects

Alternative fact and alternative health websites are sharing his tweet as if it’s true.

However, it’s completely FALSE, and here are the facts…

Fact #1 : Dr. Malone Did Not Invent mRNA Vaccines

First, it is important to get this out of the way, because alternative fact / health websites call Dr. Malone “credible” because he claims to be the inventor of the mRNA vaccine.

That’s demonstrably untrue.

Back in 1989, Dr. Malone published a paper called “Cationic liposome-mediate RNA transfection“. While his work on RNA transfection was important, it is merely ONE STEP in a chain of developments that gave us mRNA vaccines.

He cannot claim to be the inventor of mRNA vaccines because of his single paper, just like how the inventor of wheel cannot claim to be the inventor of the car, simply because he invented the wheel.

It is generally accepted that Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman were far more directly responsible for mRNA vaccines through their respective discoveries of RNA-mediated immune activation, and nucleoside modifications that suppress RNA immunogenicity.

Fact #2 : Israel Did Not Agree To Stay Silent About Pfizer Vaccine Adverse Effects

Dr. Malone claimed that an Israeli scientist told him that “no adverse events from the vax are to be disclosed for a minimum of 10 years“, but offered no proof.

Ironically, he provided the very evidence to refute his claim by retweeting Jan Kowalski Bunga’s link to the leaked agreement for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Clause 10.4 mentions that Confidential Information listed under Section 10 shall be held in secret for at least 10 years after the agreement expires.

However, the Confidential Information in Section 10 refers to stuff like :

trade secrets and industrial property rights,
financial or indemnification provisions in the Agreement
price per dose of Product
refund ability of the Advance Payment

Nowhere in the leaked Pfizer agreement was it mentioned that the signatory country must stay silent about the Pfizer vaccine’s adverse effects for 10 years.

Photo Credit :Reuters

Fact #3 : Israel Has Been Transparent About Pfizer Vaccine Adverse Effects

If the Israelies signed such a non-disclosure agreement with Pfizer (which they didn’t), it looks like they forgot about it.

They have been reporting about the adverse effects they encountered with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, including :

rare anaphylactic reactions
link between the second vaccine dose and myocarditis in young men
lower efficacy against the Delta variant.

In fact, Pfizer and the Israeli MOH even have a collaborative agreement to monitor the real-world impact of the vaccine, to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

It is sad that Dr. Malone would make such false allegations, when this is easily fact-checked by anyone who is remotely interested to know the truth.

But now that you know the truth, please SHARE this out, so other people won’t be fooled by Dr. Malone’s false claim.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Do We Need FIVE Vaccine Doses To Be Fully Vaccinated?

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Do we need FIVE vaccine doses to qualify as fully vaccinated against COVID-19?

Find out what’s the new viral claim, and what the FACTS really are!

Do We Need FIVE Vaccine Doses To Be Fully Vaccinated?

Alternative health and alternative news websites like Natural News have been pushing a new claim recently.

According to these websites, a Swedish professor, Matti Sällberg, claimed that we “will need FIVE vaccine doses for immunity” and if we “don’t submit“, we “no longer qualify as fully vaccinated“.

The underlying suggestion is that COVID-19 vaccines do not offer immunity or are useless against COVID-19, and are merely a money making scam by Big Pharma.

Natural News pointed out that in Israel, 85% to 90% of hospitalised patients were vaccinated.

Natural News also claimed that the Swedish professor has an ulterior motive – Sällberg is the founder of vaccine manufacturer Svenska Vaccin Fabriken (SVF).

Shocking? Let me show you what the FACTS really are…

Truth : We Do NOT Need FIVE Vaccine Doses To Be Fully Vaccinated

Naturally, Natural News is peddling fake news as usual, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Professor Sällberg Did Not Say We Need FIVE Vaccine Doses

Professor Sällberg did NOT say that we “require FIVE vaccine doses”, as alleged by Natural News and other websites peddling “alternative health” and “alternative facts”.

Here is a summary of what he actually said in his interview with Aftonbladet :

Planning for a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is extremely reasonable, as the immune response slowly subsides [over time].
We do not know yet if people may have lost their protection within the year, but if you get a third dose, [the protection] will be activated again.
There is no indication that protection has begun to fail, [but] it is not at all unlikely that … you have to give recurring doses.
Biology says that a fading immune response is not unlikely. If so, it may be a third, fourth, maybe fifth dose.

As you can see, he never once said that we will require five vaccine doses.

Where did those websites get the idea that we are required to have five vaccine doses? Did they make up the story? Think about that.

Fact #2 : We Don’t Need Five Doses To Qualify As Fully-Vaccinated

There is no requirement to receive five vaccine doses to qualify as being fully-vaccinated against COVID-19.

In fact, you cannot even get a third booster dose for COVID-19 in most countries, because that has not even been approved!

Professor Sällberg also pointed out in his Aftonbladet interview that :

Anyone who has received two doses is considered fully vaccinated according to the first vaccination schedule, and there is no indication that protection has begun to fail.

The fully-vaccinated status also depends on the vaccine. Some vaccines – like the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine – only requires a single dose to be considered fully-vaccinated.

Fact #3 : Booster Doses Are Like Refresher Classes

COVID-19 vaccines are nothing more than self-defence classes for our immune system, teaching it how to identify and produce antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

After you are fully vaccinated, you will have high levels of protective antibodies. But these will slowly decrease over time, unless your body is actively defending itself against COVID-19.

Even so, the immune system will still remember how to identify and create antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It just needs more time to ramp up its defences.

That’s where a booster dose comes in. It reminds your immune system that COVID-19 is still around, and triggers production of fresh antibodies.

It literally works like a refresher course of a COVID-19 self-defence class for your immune system.

Fact #4 : Israel Has Herd Immunity From Vaccines

Natural News insinuates that vaccination cannot prevent COVID-19 in Israel, stating that 85% to 90% of hospitalised cases were vaccinated.

That’s actually not true, because it involves cherry picking data to convey a false narrative.

85% of Israeli adults are vaccinated, so they have already achieved herd immunity. That’s why there are very few COVID-19 cases in Israel.

Not only are the vaccines protecting the vaccinated, they are also protecting the unvaccinated.

To get their alleged vaccine breakthrough rate of 85% to 90%, they have to look at very specific dates like 13 and 14 July 2021.

Fact #5 : SVK Does Not Currently Make COVID-19 Vaccines

Natural News falsely claimed that Professor Matti Sällberg has an ulterior motive to call for COVID-19 booster doses – he’s the founder of a vaccine company called Svenska Vaccin Fabriken (SVK).

The truth is SVK does not currently make COVID-19 vaccines, so is not able to financially benefit from any booster dose programme.

SVK is developing a COVID-19 vaccine – the SVF-002, but it is still in preclinical development, and has not even undergone a Phase 1 trial.

The SVF-002 vaccine candidate, even if it works, is unlikely to be approved until the middle or end of 2022.

With this fact check, I hope you can see how just dangerous websites that peddle alternative health and alternative facts really are.

They intentionally twist facts to convey a false narrative, to scare people into not protecting themselves with COVID-19 vaccines.

Why? Is it to sell the supplements and fake cures that they are always promoting? That is certainly an ulterior motive you have to think about.

Please think on that, and SHARE this fact check with your family and friends, so they won’t be fooled by such lies and misinformation!

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Newsmax Journo Said Pfizer CEO Not Fully Vaccinated?

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Is it true that Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla, had to cancel a planned trip to Israel because he was not fully vaccinated?

Take a look at this bizarre claim by a Newsmax journalist, and find out what the FACTS really are!

Newsmax Journo : Pfizer CEO Still Not Fully Vaccinated!

On 5 August 2021, Emerald Robinson – the White House correspondent for Newsmax – claimed that Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla had to cancel a planned trip to Israel, because he was not fully vaccinated.

She added for effect – “Let me repeat: BECAUSE HE WAS NOT VACCINATED.”

It seems obvious that Emerald was trying to imply that even Pfizer’s CEO is reluctant to get vaccinated with his company’s own COVID-19 vaccine.

The CEO of Pfizer had to cancel a planned trip to Israel because he was not fully vaccinated.

Let me repeat: BECAUSE HE WAS NOT VACCINATED.

The CEO of Pfizer had to cancel a planned trip to Israel because he was not fully vaccinated.

Let me repeat: BECAUSE HE WAS NOT VACCINATED.
https://t.co/k0kBAjKewc

— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) August 5, 2021

Truth : Pfizer CEO Is Fully Vaccinated

Emerald Robinson is supposed to be a trained journalist, who is supposed to fact check or confirm the story before posting it.

However, her claim that Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is not fully vaccinated is FALSE. Here are the facts…

Fact #1 : Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla, Is Fully Vaccinated

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in mid February 2021, and his second shot on 10 March 2021.

Excited to receive my 2nd dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech #COVID19 vaccine. There's nothing I want more than for my loved ones and people around the world to have the same opportunity. Although the journey is far from over, we are working tirelessly to beat the virus. pic.twitter.com/ES05WPBLJA

— AlbertBourla (@AlbertBourla) March 10, 2021

Fact #2 : Jerusalem Post Article Was From March 2021

The Jerusalem Post article that Emerald Robinson quoted is genuine, but was posted on 7 March 2021 – a few days before Bourla received his second shot.

It is bizarre that, as a professional journalist, she was not aware that Bourla had already received his second Pfizer shot in March 2021.

It’s even more bizarre that she did not notice the date when she read the article.

But it is possible, albeit unprofessional, that she did not read the article, only its title, before retweeting it with her comments.

Fact #3 : Emerald Robinson Refused To Admit Her Mistake

Even though she knew she was wrong, Emerald Robinson declined to post a correction, or admit that she was wrong. She only posted an “update” :

Update: The CEO of Pfizer announced on social media that he got his second vaccination shot on March 10.

It’s a shame that she not only kept her fake tweet up, she only posted an update, not a correction.

But at least you know that what she posted was FAKE NEWS. Share this out, so other people won’t get fooled!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did Israel Reject Al Jazeera Request For 10 Extra Minutes?

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Did Israel reject a request for 10 extra minutes to vacate the Al Jazeera building in Gaza, before bombing it?

Find out what’s this viral claim all about, and what the FACTS really are!

Claim : Israel Rejected Al Jazeera Request For 10 More Minutes!

A video showing a man pleading with Israeli authorities for 10 more minutes before a building is demolished, is being circulated, together with this message :

Director of Al Jazeera Palestine was begging for extra 10 minutes to Israel Army officer. But he refused to give any extra time and destroyed the Al Jazeera Building in Palestine in minutes.

They asked them to evacuate the building first and then used GPS Coordinate guided Bombs to destroy the Al Jazeera Palestine Head office building. The punishment is for broadcasting Fake news about Israel.

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jawad-Madhi-asking-for-10-more-minutes.mp4?_=7

Did Israel Reject Al Jazeera Request For 10 Extra Minutes? Not Quite…

Irrespective of our views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we must agree that they should be based on facts.

We investigated this video and claim, and here are the FACTS :

Fact #1 : That Is Not The Director Of Al Jazeera Palestine

The man in the video is not the director of Al Jazeera Palestine.

He is Jawad Mahdi – the owner of the al-Jalaa building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike on 15 May 2021.

Fact #2 : There Is No Al Jazeera Palestine, Or Al Jazeera Building

There is no organisation known as Al Jazeera Palestine, or a building called Al Jazeera Building.

The building in the video is the al-Jalaa, a 12-storey office tower which hosted the bureau offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera in Gaza.

Fact #3 : Israel Gave Them One Hour To Vacate

The IDF gave al-Jalaa occupants an hour to vacate the building. They would normally drop “roof knocker” bombs as a final warning before destroying the building.

However, it is impossible for anyone to vacate such a large building in such a short time frame, with anything more than some belongings.

Fact #4 : Israel Rejected The Request For 10 Extra Minutes

Jawad Mahdi was seen in the video asking an Israeli intelligence officer for an additional 10 minutes, so that four journalists can go in to retrieve their belongings.

The Israeli intelligence officer rejected his request, and the video shows the building collapsing after being bombed.

Fact #5 : Israel Claimed Hamas Secretly Used The Building

IDF and the Israeli government claimed that Hamas secretly used the building for “military intelligence purposes” and a unit operating out of the building had been “conducting sabotage operations against the IDF”.

However, they did not offer any evidence, or explain why it was justifiable to demolish a 12-storey office building that was “secretly” being used by Hamas.

It was also not explained why it was not possible to give journalist the extra 10 minutes to retrieve their belongings, when they had no issue giving the other occupants (and the secret Hamas operatives inside) an hour to evacuate the building.

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