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Michael Bilow

@mikebilow.bsky.social
3.5K followers 6.6K following 911 posts

News Editor covering news, politics, law, theater, film, and weather for Motif Magazine — Rhode Island's leading arts, entertainment, music, and culture magazine.

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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Gaza is not "another country."
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I have been perfectly citing ICRC rules that are universally applicable
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The customary protection of hospitals is lost when they are misused for military purposes.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
No, I see Hamas as murderous terrorists with no respect for laws of war.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It does; see my extensive thread on this. bsky.app/profile/mike...
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
MSF confirmed Hamas misuse of hospitals. www.fdd.org/analysis/202...
fdd.org
Doctors Without Borders Admits Terrorists Are Using Gaza’s Nasser Hospital
The Nasser Hospital in Gaza reacted indignantly to the accusation by Doctors Without Borders — known by its French name, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) — that armed men have been witnessed roaming...
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Hamas has misused hospitals for military purposes for years. www.ajc.org/news/setting...
ajc.org
Setting the Record Straight About Hamas’ Use of Gaza’s Hospitals and Israel’s Efforts to Help Patients
The IDF entered Al-Shifa Hospital and found weapons and uniforms that unequivocally confirmed Hamas is using the hospital for terror, violating the laws of war. Here is what you need to know about Gaz...
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The misuse of hospitals by Hamas has been widely reported and confirmed by US intelligence. abcnews.com/Internationa...
abcnews.com
US says it has intelligence Hamas has used Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital to hold hostages
White House spokesman John Kirby made the claim, followed by the Pentagon.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
That's insane! Cite your source.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I'm in Rhode Island: this would be hilarious.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
bsky.app/profile/mike...
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Specific protection of medical establishments and units… is the general rule under IHL. Therefore, specific protection to which hospitals are entitled shall not cease unless they are used… to commit, outside their humanitarian functions, an "act harmful to the enemy". www.icrc.org/en/document/...
icrc.org
The protection of hospitals during armed conflicts: What the law says
According to international humanitarian law (IHL), health establishments and units, including hospitals, should not be attacked. This protection extends to the wounded and sick as well as to medical s...
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Israel's proportional representation system is badly broken, giving sinecures and portfolios to tiny fringe parties. In the entire history of the state since its founding, Israel has never elected a parliamentary majority government.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Arabs immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, attracted by the better standard of living and modern economy created from scratch by Zionists out of the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire. www.commentary.org/articles/efr...
commentary.org
1948, Israel, and the Palestinians—The True Story
For a fully annotated version of this article, click here. Sixty years after its establishment by an internationally recognized act of self-determination, Israel remains the only state in the world
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Ben-Gvir is lunatic fringe who does not make policy. Israel signed the Oslo accords and Palestinian Arabs twice turned down offers of a state. Almost no one on either side supports a one-state solution.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Hamas started this war: before the attack, Israel and Netanyahu allowed Qatar to channel $15 million monthly into Gaza, hoping Hamas would be forced to moderate by the needs of practical governance, but the money was diverted to building rockets and tunnels.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Under international humanitarian law, protected sites such as schools and hospitals lose their protection when they are abused by Hamas for military purposes.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The issue is absence of intent to eliminate the Palestinian Arab people as such. www.justthefacts.media/p/genocide-f...
justthefacts.media
Genocide for Dummies
Before you say the word, you should know what it means, what it requires, and why Gaza doesn't meet the test.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Deaths in Gaza are tragic consequences of war, but alleging genocide falsely implies an intent to destroy the Palestinian Arab people as such, which is demonstrably untrue. motifri.com/opinion-davi...
motifri.com
Opinion – PVD Mayoral Candidate David Morales May Not Hate Jews: But the Jew-haters support him – Motif
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I explained at length why accusations of genocide against Israel are untrue, motivated by a combination of ignorance, naivety, and antisemitism: this encourages hatred of Jews and gives tacit permission to those whose hatred of Jews motivates violence.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Arabs have been killing Jews for over a century, long before Israel existed and Netanyahu was in power: as long as they choose nihilist murder and fanatical martyrdom instead of responsible statecraft, Palestinian Arabs will continue to immiserate themselves.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I generally agree with you, and Netanyahu needs to account for the Hamas attack occurring on his watch. He is likely to lose the election on Oct 27. But the obstacle to peace is Hamas and militant Arabs, not Netanyahu.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Not exactly: www.commentary.org/articles/efr... Any eventual Palestinian Arab state would have to be in the West Bank and Gaza as contemplated by Oslo, but they would have to give up fantasies of destroying Israel. That may take a long time, but until it happens they will immiserate themselves.
commentary.org
1948, Israel, and the Palestinians—The True Story
For a fully annotated version of this article, click here. Sixty years after its establishment by an internationally recognized act of self-determination, Israel remains the only state in the world
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's a war: get Hamas to disarm as they agreed, and the war will stop.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Brett McGurk acknowledges mistakes, especially his own. Even for those not intimately familiar with foreign affairs, he explains enough to understand the often complicated background. In more than 40 years reading books on the Middle East, I find this one among the most honest and candid.
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Reposted by Michael Bilow
Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It's almost like putting a quack anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist in charge of the nation's health policy has consequences. "The United States has now had more measles deaths in the past two years than we have had in the previous three decades combined...": www.ms.now/news/pennsyl...
ms.now
Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak is the largest in decades in the U.S.
The state has surpassed 1,000 measles cases this year, health officials said Monday, making it the largest outbreak in the U.S. in more than three decades.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
At one time in the 1990s, I believed a Palestinian Arab state in peaceful coexistence with Israel was a desirable inevitability; after Oct 7, I no longer do. Even if only a minority would turn their state into a platform to kill Jews, it is an existential threat. motifri.com/hamas-israel...
motifri.com
Opinion — Has the Hamas attack on Israel started World War III?: We’ll soon find out – Motif
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I agree with you on Ben-Gvit, Smotrich, and vigilante settlers. But there is a clear link between antisemitic terrorism and clueless Westerners who want to "globalize the intifada." motifri.com/pvd-palestin...
motifri.com
Opinion — PVD City Council Flies Palestinian Flag: Check your privilege while globalizing the intifada – Motif
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Reposted by Michael Bilow
Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
MIT Media Lab’s Kevin Esvalt: “Russia's five-hospital quarantine, FSB involvement, and…hazmat use in response to the death of a single researcher at a weapons-lineage Irkutsk lab are inconsistent with a lab-acquired plague infection, which would have been treated with prophylactic antibiotics.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Gaza is not a genocide, and the use of the word in this context is an antisemitic blood libel. www.justthefacts.media/p/genocide-f...
justthefacts.media
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I hoped for a two-state solution after Oslo and believed it was inevitable, but the Second Intifada destroyed the peace process for a generation and Oct 7 destroyed it likely forever: a Palestinian Arab state can never be allowed to exist as a platform to attack Israel. motifri.com/hamas-israel...
motifri.com
Opinion — Has the Hamas attack on Israel started World War III?: We’ll soon find out – Motif
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I'm saying that outright antisemitism is becoming disturbingly normalized in PVD politics. "Free Palestine" from what? From Hamas? Does the slogan recognize the right of Israel to exist, or is it dog-whistling for "throw the Jews into the sea?" motifri.com/pvd-palestin...
motifri.com
Opinion — PVD City Council Flies Palestinian Flag: Check your privilege while globalizing the intifada – Motif
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
There are no independent journalists in Gaza because Hamas runs a totalitarian system where any honest journalist would be summarily executed. nypost.com/2026/09/21/w...
nypost.com
Gaza journalist who met with Mamdani admits he buried Oct. 7 footage of Israeli hostages being beaten to protect perpetrators
“I understood that Israel would use those videos to identify every person who was there and eliminate them.”
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
@lawrenceodonnell.bsky.social on @lastwordmsnow.bsky.social is unfair to Herbert Hoover: he was constrained by Congress on tariffs and given terrible advice by so-called economic experts, but he was honest, intelligent, and accomplished.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The US Supreme Court annual term begins today at 10am EDT with oral argument in Suncor Energy (U.S.A) Inc. v. Commissioners of Boulder County (25-170) and Johnson v. United States Congress (25-735). www.c-span.org/event/public...
c-span.org
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The Nobel Prize announcements will begin in about a half-hour with Physiology or Medicine. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGPp...
youtube.com
Announcement of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
YouTube video by Nobel Prize
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Providence is becoming scary and unfriendly to Jews. motifri.com/pvd-palestin...
motifri.com
Opinion — PVD City Council Flies Palestinian Flag: Check your privilege while globalizing the intifada – Motif
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Do you follow the news? www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/22/m...
bostonglobe.com
Providence is poised to have a pro-Palestinian mayor, leaving its Jewish community at a crossroads - The Boston Globe
Concerns about antisemitism come amid the rise of democratic socialist candidates winning elections across the country.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I prefer to survive first dates.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I cannot fault Providence Mayor Brett Smiley for standing on principle by refusing to endorse David Morales, and I doubt he will be the only Jew deciding it is safer to move out of town. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/01/m...
bostonglobe.com
Since losing to David Morales, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley’s behavior has raised a few eyebrows - The Boston Globe
With the US Conference of Mayors reportedly moving a 2027 meeting from Providence to Atlanta, it's starting to look like Smiley is turning heel on his way out of City Hall.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The state settled the complaint and now extends sales tax exemption to non-fiction books. www.riaclu.org/news/aclu-ri...
riaclu.org
ACLU of RI Resolves First Amendment Lawsuit Over State’s Discrimination Against Non-Fiction Authors - ACLU of Rhode Island
The ACLU of Rhode Island today announced the favorable resolution of a lawsuit it filed in May, challenging the state Division of Taxation’s position that a special sales tax exemption for Rhode Islan...
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
@kenblockri.bsky.social just said in his debate on @oceanstatemedia.bsky.social with moderator @iandonnis.bsky.social that he stopped selling his book in RI because of state sales tax hassles, but there is an exemption for authors directly selling their own work. motifri.com/aria-lawsuit/
motifri.com
ARIA v. Savage: Fiction, Non-Fiction, and the First Amendment – Motif
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Extinction is forever.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I suspect the pancakes.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
You are "nauseated," while something that makes you that way is "nauseous."
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Ed Sheeran concerts at Gillette Stadium tonight and tomorrow canceled due to high winds and heavy rain forecast: this will teach him not to mess with the Jews who control the weather! www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/25/m...
bostonglobe.com
Ed Sheeran’s weekend Gillette concerts canceled due to arriving nor’easter - The Boston Globe
"The decision was made with the safety of fans, staff and everyone involved in the shows as the top priority," the promoter wrote on social media.
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
bsky.app/profile/did:...
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
bsky.app/profile/did:...
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Michael Bilow @mikebilow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Kushner and Witkoff are untrained amateurs no more competent to conduct diplomacy than to perform surgery, with similar expected results. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...
nytimes.com
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Reposted by Michael Bilow
CNN @cnn.com · 24/09/2026
Federal Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the Trump administration to reinstate CNN, MS NOW and Politico's access to the White House after they were banned from the premises by President Donald Trump. cnn.it/4hI6EZI
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