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Title: August 18, 2025

GATHERING STORM BRIEF 18 AUGUST 2025

PROTESTS IN MANHATTAN

Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators reportedly flooded midtown Manhattan Saturday afternoon, calling for a "global intifada," a slogan many view as an incitement to violence against Jewish communities.

The Stand with Gaza protesters, carrying signs seeking to "end all aid to Israel," clanged cowbells while chanting "free, free Palestine" and "Palestine will live forever."

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack by Hamas in southern Israel, the phrase "globalize the intifada" has been referred to as a call for antisemitic violence.

Why It Matters:

• Intifada (Arabic: انتفاضة, romanized: intifāḍah) is an Arabic word for a rebellion or uprising, or a resistance movement.

• Rebellion. Revolt. These terms all describe a resistance against authority, similar to the nature of an intifada.

• Zohran Mamdani is a dual citizen of Uganda and the United States; he was naturalized in the latter country in 2018. He is Shia Muslim and identifies with the Twelver branch. He is currently a mayoral candidate for New York City.

U.S. STATE DEPT ON GAZANS & VISAS

The State Department announced on Saturday that it was halting all visitor visas to individuals from Gaza while it reviews the issuing process.

All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days," a post on X from the State Department read.

Neither the State Department nor Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on what triggered the sudden review.

Why It Matters:

In June, the Trump administration began cracking down on vetting for visa applicants. This involved the introduction of a "comprehensive and thorough" review of all applicants' "online presence."

"Every visa adjudication is a national security decision. The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission," the State Department said at the time.

GZB INFOCUS: ISRAEL & GAZA

• Hamas's terrorist leadership has demonstrated unequivocally it has no interest in agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

• One of the main sticking points in the Qatar talks was Hamas's insistence that it remains in control of Gaza, despite a number of Arab states issuing a joint declaration for the terrorist organization to disband and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.

• Hamas's terrorist leadership was encouraged to adopt this hard-line position after a succession of naive Western leaders announced their intention to recognize a Palestinian state at next month's meeting of the UN Security Council, even though there is actually no such Palestinian state in existence.

• The pitfalls of this completely unnecessary diplomatic grandstanding, which may well effectively cause the murder of the remaining 50 hostages who might still to be alive, were clearly evident when Hamas responded to Starmer's pledge by publicly hailing it as a "victory."

• It is unclear how recognizing a terrorist state committed to obliterating its neighbor will bring about any kind of "peace."

• US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, alluding to the novel Frankenstein, responded to Macron's declaration: "Macron's unilateral 'declaration' of a 'Palestinian' state didn't say WHERE it would be. I can now exclusively disclose that France will offer the French Riviera & the new nation will be called 'Franc-en-Stine.'"

• Hamas's intransigence has left Netanyahu with little option but to maintain military operations in Gaza until Israel has achieved its ultimate objective in the war -- namely the complete destruction of the terrorist organization’s military and political infrastructure in Gaza.

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