Wayne Besen

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  June 22, 2026 • Opinion, Politics, Weekly Column • 97

  Ireland Loathes Zionism, Yet Its Actions Helped Create Israel

  Northern Ireland’s Anti-Immigrant Pogrom Validates Israel’s Existence

  Oh, the irony of poor Ireland. It is one of Europe’s most strident opponents of Israel, yet, perhaps, the foremost example irrefutably proving why Israel must exist.

  For starters, The Republic of Ireland’s fire-breathing animosity towards Jewish self-determination is rooted in irrationally grafting its own troubled history onto that of Israelis and Palestinians—when there is no coherent commonality.

  “There is little need to explain why, in the Republic of Ireland, which gained independence after centuries of brutally imposed British rule, such sentiments are strong,” concluded a 2026 report by Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry. “In 2026, anyone who sees themself as a David fighting Goliath automatically identifies with the Palestinians.”

  Ireland’s latest attack on the Jewish State was boycotting Eurovision. Instead of airing the finals, state broadcaster, RTÉ2, aired the Eurovision-themed Father Ted episode “A Song for Europe,” known for the parody song “My Lovely Horse.” But they looked like horses’ asses when the Israeli singer Noam Bettan placed second with the song “Michelle.” Whoops.

  Ireland’s undignified, discriminatory behavior is not shocking. In fact, punitive boycotts against Jews seem to be part of their DNA. This was most evident in what is known as the Limerick Pogrom of 1904.

  

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  June 15, 2026 • Opinion, Politics, Weekly Column • 103

  The Iran Debacle Ended America’s Superpower Status

  The U.S was Humiliated and Few War Aims Were Achieved

  It appears that President Donald J. Trump’s copiously embarrassingly and utterly disastrous war with Iran is limping towards an inglorious conclusion. I say “appears” because nobody outside the negotiating room has seen a copy of the shaky agreement, while every intractable issue, that was cited by the United States and Israel for commencing this war, remains unresolved.

  Yet, the vainglorious Trump is celebrating this monstrosity as a victory—because he reopened the Strait of Hormuz, which had been completely open to global shipping prior to the war.

  The results of this misadventure were entirely predictable. Although there were legitimate reasons to seek regime change in Iran, it was a forgone conclusion that the Trump regime would botch the job. On February 23, five days before the war, I outlined why the war was a bad idea:

  Whether Iran must ultimately be left alone or held fully accountable is no longer the question. We must factor in that this war would be directed by an irrational crackpot, cheered on by incompetent sycophants and religious extremists, initiated with no genuine national debate, and carried out with no coherent strategy for the day after the bombing stops.

  For these reasons, virtually any war with Trump as Commander in Chief—including this one–must be opposed.

  It did not take Nostradamus to make this prediction—just the simple observation that whatever Trump touches ends up as Atlantic City. He habitually wrecks everything in his wake, while narrowly absconding on a Trump-branded golden parachute. His modus operandi is a robust fifty-year pattern, so, other than wishful thinking, why did any sane person think the outcome in Iran would end differently?

   

  

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  June 8, 2026 • Opinion, Politics, Weekly Column • 83

  Graham Platner is a Slimy Oyster, Not a Pearl

  Platner’s Scandals Put Democracy at Risk in Existential Election

  If Platner is elected, I personally nominate him as most likely to be found with a stove full of cash or caught naked with a Capitol Hill intern in a dusty broom closet. Yet, there is still the slimmest of possibilities that I’m wrong and Platner defies expectations. While there is a 100% certainty that Collins is a two-faced serpent who will nauseatingly express “concern” over Trump’s excesses, while voting for MAGA’s undemocratic, poisonous policies.

  Nevertheless, it is unforgivable that populist “progressives” gambled with American democracy by selecting the worst possible candidate. They knew the consequences of having a sleazy, offensive, scandal plagued nominee and blithely chose him anyway.

  I hope Graham P’s latest hustle is the last time I’ll be forced to stand by such a manifestly unfit candidate. If progressive populists continue swimming in this stinky cesspool, it’s a one-way ticket to wrecking the Democratic Party, and by extension destroying the country.

  I’ve been a Democrat since 1988. But, if Graham Platner is the Party’s future, I’m out. Never had I previously thought of registering as an Independent, but if this is the slop Democrats are offering—an “I” on my voting registration is suddenly looking plausible.

  I’ve watched this movie before, and it doesn’t end well. Beginning in 1979, Ronald Reagan embraced the Religious Right. This mistake morphed into Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, which then became the Tea Party, which led to MAGA. Each step along this perilous path, mainstream Republicans held their noses and pulled the lever for increasingly unacceptable and extreme candidates. Every moral compromise led to more ethical collapses—until we got to January 6 and Trump’s subsequent reelection.

  The Democrats are today standing at the equivalent of 1980. How far down this sickening abyss are we willing to go? The answer begins in Maine on Tuesday.

  

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  May 25, 2026 • News, Opinion, Politics, Truth Wins Out, Weekly Column • 118

  Former ‘Ex-Gay’ Leader Alan Chambers Arrested for Soliciting 14-Year-Old Was Predictable

  Right Wing Churches Still Support Exploitative ‘Ex-Gay’ Programs

  In 2012, Exodus International, the world’s largest “ex-gay” ministry, began to crumble. The movement, which had existed since 1973, convulsed when then-Exodus President Alan Chambers announced at a Gay Christian Network conference that “the majority, meaning 99.9% of them [Exodus clients], have not experienced a change in their orientation.” This was a damning admission coming from a high-profile organization with the motto, “Change Is Possible”.

  Exodus’ financial backers were furious that Chambers, for once, blurted the truth. The Family Research Council and Focus on the Family summoned him into their respective offices to demand Chambers return to spouting the party line, that people could “pray away the gay”.

  Under immense pressure, a deeply conflicted Chambers alternated between walking back his admission and moving forward towards the undeniable fact that the “ex-gay” industry was a noxious experiment that had failed. It was during this tumultuous era, a year before Chambers shut down Exodus, that I gave him the nickname “Tortured Chambers.”

  I knew Chambers was deeply troubled, full of contradictions, and wrestling with internal demons. However, I only learned this week the depths of his depravity.  Chambers was arrested after an online sexual relationship with a police officer he thought was a 14-year-old boy, with the intention to meet the phantom child.

  Chambers sent sexually explicit material during the illicit conversations, including pictures of his torso and genitals. The affidavit states Chambers made references to “forbidden love” and asked the undercover cop, “Is it bad that I want to make love to someone who is 14?” The police also unearthed messages from secret email accounts that Chambers allegedly used to solicit male sex workers.

  “Today our detectives stopped a predator before he had the chance to harm a child,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on X.

  

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  May 18, 2026 • News, Opinion, Politics, Weekly Column • 111

  The Epic Failure of the Pro-Palestine Movement

  It Increased Hate For Jews While Delivering Zip For Palestinians

  The Pro-Palestine movement could have embraced justice. Instead, it foolishly chose to demonize diaspora Jews. As a result, it has stirred up a toxic stew of antizionism and caused a marked rise in hate crimes. However, can anyone say that this increasingly radicalized movement has improved the lives of a single Palestinian?

  After hundreds of marches, cities routinely defaced with anti-Jewish graffiti, harassment of Jewish delis and synagogues, billons of grotesquely antisemitic memes that would make Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels blush, and anti-Jewish influencers across the political spectrum spewing bile—life is undeniably worse for Palestinians than before this spasm of hate.

  Unfortunately, the antizionist hate movement persists because it routinely confuses social media likes with actual success—when in truth their bullying tactics have backfired. Isn’t it time to admit that this failed movement has strategically blundered into near irrelevancy?

  Their increased belligerence and descent into wanton violence does not denote momentum—it only highlights madness and suggests frustration over a movement that offers no plan other than slandering Jews as viciously as possible. If anything, the constant stream of blood libels and physical attacks have accomplished the exact opposite of what this movement intended. It has strengthened the resolve of Israelis and proved, beyond a doubt, the necessity of supporting Israel as a global refuge for diaspora Jews who no longer feel safe in their home countries.

  

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