Yesterday’s newsletter mentioned Josephus, who both participated in and wrote the definitive account of the first Jewish revolt against Rome, which lasted from 66 to 74 CE. But this was not the only attempt to liberate Judea. The recent discovery of a cache of ancient silver and bronze coins buried in the ruins of a large building in the city of Lod sheds light on one of them. Gavriel Fiske writes:

The 94 coins were probably buried for safekeeping during the events of the Gallus revolt (351–354 CE), a lesser-known Jewish uprising against Roman rule in the land of Israel, but the building was destroyed and the coins were never recovered. . . . The Gallus Revolt was named by historians after the Roman emperor Constantius Gallus (326–354), who at the time was presiding over a fractured, weakened empire.

The Roman empire at the time was experiencing the turmoil of a civil war, as Gallus strove against the usurper general Magnus Magnentius. . . .  There could have been other factors in the short-lived Jewish rebellion, as the Jewish community was suffering under steep taxes, and it was also a time when Christianity was growing in the Roman empire and taking a more belligerent tone vis-à-vis the Jewish communities.

Although the building was destroyed, archaeologists found “impressive stone and marble artifacts” along with “Greek, Hebrew, and Latin inscriptions” including one “bearing the name of a Jewish man from a priestly family, which is still being studied,” the Israel Antiquities Authority said. The building could have been used as “a synagogue, study hall, meeting hall of the elders, or all three of these functions as one.”

A short video can be found at the link below.

Offering a physical safe haven for Hamas’s leaders is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Qatar’s bad behavior. Danielle Pletka explains:

Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh and his cronies live a plush life in Doha. He is reputedly worth billions. Is all that dough under his mattress? Or in a bank in Qatar? I don’t know, but presumably the Treasury Department does.

Qatar has funneled billions to Hamas, an organization that currently holds 120—and five live American—hostages in Gaza. When the U.S. was playing the good guy in Afghanistan (before Biden’s disgraceful withdrawal), where were the exiled al Qaeda-loving emirs of the Taliban swanning about? Qatar.

Then there’s Qatar’s super-cozy relationship with Iran. Qatar’s cronies in the Washington lobbying world, at the Department of State, and—perhaps most importantly—at the White House, insist that the Qataris are only acting at America’s behest. Hamas? They wouldn’t be there if the U.S. hadn’t asked. Iranian money flowing through Qatari banks? Ditto.

Finally, . . . there’s Qatar’s nefarious influence on U.S. universities. Between the numerous “Qatar campuses” and the largely unreported cash gushing to U.S. institutions of higher ed, we shouldn’t be surprised to see Jew-hatred flourishing. And yes, there’s a direct correlation between that cash and anti-Semitism.

It’s way past time for the United States to get serious about this regime. And if the White House won’t, let’s hope that Congress will.