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Could an Arab Party Play Kingmaker in Israel’s Election?

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According to the survey, the most qualified candidate for prime minister in the Arab sector is Benjamin Netanyahu, with 24.9 percent support, followed by Ahmad Tibi of the Joint Arab List with 14.3 percent.

By: Ariel Ben Solomon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to gain Israeli Arab votes by emphasizing his practical policy towards them by aiding with issues that concern them appears to be gaining traction. He has been seen in the media sitting with Bedouin sipping tea, visiting the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev and playing soccer on the beach with Arab children all to court a new swath of voters.

Mansour Abbas, the head of the United Arab List Party (UAL, also known by its Hebrew acronym, Ra’am)—the political branch of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement—broke off from the Arab Joint List of parties after angering them for seeking to improve ties with Netanyahu and the government.

Arik Rudnitzky of the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center told JNS that “it appears that many in the Arab public do not believe that the Knesset can further their interests.”

“But they do believe that the government is the real power-broker,” he said.

Against the backdrop of the social and economic crisis following the coronavirus pandemic in the past year and increasing bloodshed due to rising criminal incidents in the Arab sector, “quite a significant portion of the Arab voters will support Netanyahu, hoping that he will take care of their burning needs.”

An in-depth analysis of a survey carried out by the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at the Moshe Dayan Center reveals that those who intend to vote for Likud pay less attention to the party’s ideology and political platform than those who intend to vote for the Joint List.

“In other words, the ‘Likud Arab voter’ is not necessarily identified with Zionist ideology, but rather, is interested in getting results here and now,” explained Rudnitzky.

Surprisingly, according to the survey, the most qualified candidate for prime minister in the Arab sector is Netanyahu (24.9 percent), followed by Ahmad Tibi (Ta’al) of the Joint List (14.3 percent), and then Joint List and Hadash head Ayman Odeh. It also found that half of the Arab voters (46 percent) support an Arab party’s participation in any government after the elections.

And it discovered that the Joint List—made up of the Communist Hadash, nationalist Balad and Tibi’s Ta’al Party—would receive around eight Knesset seats while Abbas’ UAL would barely squeak into the Knesset with the minimum four seats.

(www.JNS.org)

Arab Terrorist Ordered to Compensate Yeshiva Student He Attacked in Jerusalem’s Old City

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An Arab who attacked a 19-year-old yeshiva student with his friends near the Old City of Jerusalem about two years ago will compensate the victim with NIS 40,000, Jerusalem District Court Judge Avraham Rubin ruled Monday. Photo by Esty Dziubov/TPS on 13 January, 2020

By: TPS

An Arab who attacked a 19-year-old yeshiva student with his friends near the Old City of Jerusalem about two years ago will compensate the victim with NIS 40,000, Jerusalem District Court Judge Avraham Rubin ruled Monday.

The compensation is in addition to a conviction in criminal proceedings during which the assailant was sentenced to 11 months in prison.

The ruling follows an attack that occurred about two years ago when the Jewish victim was walking to pray at the Western Wall. When he arrived in the Sha’ar Zion area, three young Arabs approached him and began beating him on all parts of his body, after they ensured that he was Jewish.

Shortly after the attack, the assailants were arrested and indicted. The court convicted one of the attackers, an adult, and sentenced him to 11 months in prison.

Throughout the criminal proceedings, Adv. Haim Bleicher of the Honenu rights organization accompanied the victim and his family and filed a civil lawsuit against the adult assailant.

Bleicher also filed another lawsuit against the recently convicted minor assailants.

In the indictment, Bleicher described the sequence of events and the nature of the assault, as evidenced by the indictment against the defendant. He noted the severe injuries the victim incurred, and the long process he is going through to recover from the assault.

Following the lawsuit, compensation was awarded to the young Jew in the amount of NIS 40,000.

The other two assailants, who were minors at the time of the attack, were also convicted and civil proceedings are now underway against them.

Bleicher stated that “such a ruling of charging the attacker to pay compensation to the victim is part of our effort to combat the anti-Semitic terrorist blight, and we are confident that this will help deter potential attackers.”

“We in the Honenu organization will continue to work tirelessly to prosecute those who dare to attack Jews. Every terrorist and perpetrator should know that he will be subjected to lengthy legal proceedings, at the end of which he will pay with his own money to the victim in addition to prison sentences. We are confident that this will contribute to deterrence and reduce terrorism,” he added.

(TPS)

3 Innovative Israeli-Developed Nanosatellites Launched into Space

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Three nanosatellites developed by Israeli scientists at the Technion in Haifa that will perform autonomous formation flights were launched into orbit on Monday on the Soyuz 2 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

By: TPS

Three nanosatellites developed by Israeli scientists at the Technion in Haifa that will perform autonomous formation flights were launched into orbit on Monday on the Soyuz 2 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Adelis-SAMSON (Space Autonomous Mission for Swarming and Geolocation with Nanosatellites) project was launched into space after years of planning, development, construction, and improvements.

SAMSON is an experimental mission that consists of three nanosatellites with a two-pronged mission: to demonstrate long-term autonomous cluster flight of multiple satellites without human intervention, and to receive signals from Earth and detect their precise location for search and rescue, remote sensing, and environmental monitoring missions.

The project was carried out by a team at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, led by Professor Pini Gurfil of the Asher Space Research Institute

Satellite tracking and data collection is take place at the Technion’s mission control center, which was inaugurated in 2018. Built with the support of the Adelis Foundation, the center contains an array of Israeli-made antennae manufactured by “Orbit,” which will maintain continuous communication with the satellites.

Being the first project of its kind, the Adelis-SAMSON is considered a “technological leap” that is underway after years of interdisciplinary research and collaboration, including new and original developments.

For the three satellites to travel in formation and fulfill their missions, each was installed with sensors, antennae, computer systems, control systems, navigation devices, a unique and innovative propulsion system, and a mission receiver developed by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).

The three satellites were launched along with dozens of satellites from 18 countries, including Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.

About a month ago, TPS reported that the miniature TAU-SAT1 satellite, the first to be designed, assembled, and tested by an Israeli university, was launched into space aboard a NASA launcher.

The satellite, Tel Aviv University’s first nanosatellite, will orbit the earth at a speed of 27,600 km per hour, or 7.6 km per second, completing 1 orbit every 90 minutes and will measure cosmic radiation around the earth. The satellite’s dimensions are 10 by 10 by 30 cm, and it weighs less than 2.5 kg.

The scientific information collected in space by detectors developed at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center (SNRC) will help design better protective gear for astronauts and space systems.

The probe was developed at the Center for Nanosatellites, an interdisciplinary endeavor between the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, and the Soreq Nuclear Research Center.

The Adelis-SAMSON satellites entered orbit four hours and 20 minutes after the launch. They were activated 30 minutes later, and their systems started operating.

The first communication with the control center at the Technion is expected on Saturday afternoon.

(TPS)

High Profile Case Alleging Bribery, Illicit Relations at Top of Justice System Closed

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A high-profile case alleging the payment of bribes for the sake of promotion in Israel’s judicial system and illicit relations between senior officials which rocked the country a year ago was closed with no indictments. Photo by Hillel Maeir/TPS on 22 February, 2018

By: Aryeh Savir

A high-profile case alleging the payment of bribes for the sake of promotion in Israel’s judicial system and illicit relations between senior officials which rocked the country a year ago was closed with no indictments.

The police launched an investigation in January 2019 during which it arrested the head of Israel’s Bar Association Effi Naveh on suspicion that he exploited his power to influence the process of appointing judges.

According to the allegations, Naveh had used his power to promote the appointment of a judge while he was subject to a conflict of interests and while committing an offense, and also attempted to influence the promotion of a judge to the District Court while committing an offense, but the promotion failed. A senior female lawyer was involved in this failed attempt.

The magistrate under suspicion, Etti Kreif, was also questioned on suspicion that before her appointment she was involved in an attempt to illegally encourage her promotion as a magistrate to the District Court.

However, Deputy State Attorney Shlomo Lemberger decided Sunday to close the investigation file against Naveh and Kreif.

After hearing all the arguments raised during the several hearings, Lemberger decided that “there is no reasonable chance of conviction in this case” and that “despite problematic factual findings that emerged from the investigation – findings that allegedly amount to criminal acts – the case must be shelved.”

Kreif committed to not seeking a judgeship again.

Member of Knesset Betzalel Smotrich, who has been campaigning for reforms in the judicial system, said that “we are all now witnessing in real-time how the most powerful body in the country operates when there is no supervision, no criticism, and no one can restrict it: just open a case, move a person aside and close the case.”

H called to “return the judiciary to its natural size, and to restore the separation of state powers as it should be.”

In an unrelated development, TPS reported that the leadership that led the weekly protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday evening they were collapsing the tent they erected in front of the Prime Minister’s residents on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, ending nine months of a campaign that was meant to oust Netanyahu from there.

Various anti-Netanyahu organizations banded together and led weekly protests calling for Netanyahu’s resignation, primarily on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, at times in Tel Aviv and other locations, and at times violent.

The demonstrators had a mixture of messages, including charges that Netanyahu was harming Israel’s democracy, that he was on trial for criminal charges and therefore should step down, that he had failed in his leadership during the Coronavirus crisis, that he should cease with his plan to declare sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and an assortment of various other demands and messages.

      (TPS)

Israel Revokes PA Foreign Minister’s VIP Card

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Israel has revoked the VIP card from Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad Malki after he returned to Ramallah from a meeting with Fatuous Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague. Photo by Yehonatan Valtser/TPS on 2 December, 2019

By: Aryeh Savir

Israel has revoked the VIP card from Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad Malki after he returned to Ramallah from a meeting with Fatuous Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

The VIP card enables its holder to move freely between the PA and Israel and abroad.

Israeli authorities also reportedly canceled the VIP cards for two other PA foreign ministry officials who were traveling with Malki.

Malki was in The Hague to promote the ICC’s war crimes probe against Israel.

“The occupation authorities canceled the minister’s border pass coordination and withdrew his VIP card after he went to the ICC,” head of the foreign minister’s office, Ahmad al-Deek, told the PA’s official WAFA news agency on Sunday.

He said the PA “will initiate contacts with the international community” about the Israeli measures against Malki.

Other senior PA officials may face similar penalties.

In related news, Israel’s KAN broadcaster reported Monday that following the PA’s cooperation with the investigation against Israel in The Hague, Israel has made it clear that it will reject any economic projects between Israel and the PA.

A number of countries have reportedly approached Israel in recent weeks with the objective of initiating economic cooperation or projects between Israel and the Palestinians, and Israel has said that until the PA declares that it will not cooperate with the tribunal, no such cooperation will occur.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told the TASS news agency while in Moscow last week that “I do not know how familiar you are with Israeli society. Almost every family in the country has a relative who served in the army. And if anyone thinks we will agree with the decision to arrest our soldiers, it is a misconception.”

Israel has not joined the ICC and maintains that the ICC lacks any jurisdiction on the matter of war crimes allegedly committed by Israel since no sovereign Palestinian state exists nor does any territory belonging to such an entity.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the decision is “absurd” and is “undiluted anti-Semitism and the height of hypocrisy.”

“Without any jurisdiction, it decided that our brave soldiers, who take every precaution to avoid civilian casualties against the worst terrorists in the world who deliberately target civilians, it’s our soldiers who are war criminals,” he stated.

 (TPS)

Israel & UAE Rugby Teams Face Off in 1st Match After New Ties

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Israel’s Amir Fawarsa, left, is tackled by a UAE rugby player. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

A video of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was beamed onto the field with a dramatic speech about friendship.

By: AP

In the Middle East, where sport and diplomacy are closely intertwined, political passions can spill over onto the playing field.

On Friday, politics played a vastly different role. Months after the United Arab Emirates normalized ties with Israel, an Israeli national rugby squad touched down in Dubai to meet the Emirati team on the field for the first time. The more experienced Israeli team swiftly beat the UAE 33-0 in the first 7-a-side friendly match, held without crowds because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The rugby players and few spectators rose as “Hatikvah,” the Israeli national anthem, blared over the grassy field and through rows of skyscrapers. The players shook hands, slapped backs and bumped fists over a thumping electronic beat.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin beamed onto the field with a dramatic speech about friendship.

“This is insane, insane,” said Israeli player Ori Abutbul, shaking his head in disbelief. “I have no words when people ask me how I feel.”

Already, sport has become key to new Israeli-Emirati ties. Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, purchased a 50% stake in Beitar Jerusalem, a professional soccer team in Israel. Reports questioning the sheikh’s finances have since put the deal on hold.

On the field Friday, Emirati team captain Younes al-Blooshi said he didn’t want to talk about the region’s political intrigues and rivalries. He expressed relief, however, that certain old rifts were beginning to heal.

Earlier this year, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries announced the end to a yearslong boycott of Qatar.

Throughout the bitter dispute, the UAE rugby team played in Qatar, but “it was pretty difficult,” al-Blooshi acknowledged, declining to elaborate.

“Thankfully, things are all clear now,” he said, noting the team would be flying direct to Doha in May, a first since 2017 when the boycott closed borders.

Israel, meanwhile, will return to competing against European countries, with the 2021 European Rugby Championship Cup beginning next month.

(AP)

Former US Mideast Envoy Greenblatt: Saudi Arabia on ‘Path to Peace’ With Israel

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President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt. (Flash90)

“These deals are complex and take a great deal of time, but any one thing could spark the right opportunity for a deal to actually be announced and quickly consummated, as we have seen,” Greenblatt told JNS.

By: Ariel Ben Solomon

Saudi Arabia is on a path to peace with Israel, but it needs to be given space to move at its own pace, former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt told JNS in an exclusive interview.

“These deals are complex and take a great deal of time, but any one thing could spark the right opportunity for a deal to actually be announced and quickly consummated, as we have seen,” said Greenblatt.

The New York-born son of Hungarian Jewish refugees, Greenblatt is a father of six who lives in Teaneck, N.J. He worked as a top lawyer for the Trump organization before becoming former President Donald Trump’s special envoy for international negotiations in January 2017, one of the few Trump officials charged with the Middle East file.

Greenblatt weighed in on his experiences negotiating on behalf of the Trump administration’s efforts towards Israeli-Palestinian peace and the Abraham Accords, as well as his thoughts on the Biden administration reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA ) and its critical approach vis-à-vis the Saudis.

He noted that in its first months, the Biden administration seems to be giving too much credence to the European position, even though the European Union was a main force behind what he called the “disastrous” Iran nuclear deal.

Below is the full text of questions and answers with Greenblatt:

Q: In your recent article in Newsweek, you seem to rebuke the Biden administration’s foreign policy that seeks a rapprochement with Iran at the expense of the moderate Gulf and Arab states, as well as Israel. How will this affect the peace deals between Israel and the Arab world that you helped orchestrate? Will it make their alliance stronger?

A: My position on whose voices truly matter on the Iranian threat has been clear. The Biden administration has put a great deal of emphasis on the Europeans being the relevant parties at the Iranian table.

While some of these European countries are relevant in the sense that they were involved in the disastrous JCPOA, and indeed they have a relationship with the Iranian regime which is helpful, the European outlook often is not aligned with ours or our important allies in the Middle East- Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan.

It is our allies in the Middle East who are in the most danger from the Iranian threats, including nuclear, missiles, drones, proxies, terrorism and other malign activity. These countries should have a seat at the front of the table at all these meetings to ensure their voices are heard loud and clear.

Q: From Israel’s perspective, how should it pursue a peace deal with Saudi Arabia and some of the other Arab countries that have not done so yet? Will the current administration’s policies push Saudi Arabia and Israel closer?

A: These deals are complex and take a great deal of time, but any one thing could spark the right opportunity for a deal to actually be announced and quickly consummated, as we have seen.

Israel should continue to do what it is doing by being a force for good in the world and security in the region and elsewhere. Israel should walk tall and proud, and over time, more and more countries will realize that being Israel’s ally is a big benefit for so many reasons.

I think Saudi Arabia will get there, but we have to be patient and give Saudi Arabia the space it needs. Pressure from any party, including the U.S., will not yield a peace deal that is worth much or long-lasting. Peace will come when everyone is ready for it, for the right reasons. Encouragement is important, but pressure is not worthwhile.

Q: What do you make of the latest spat between Israel and Jordan, and the report that Jordan blocked its airspace to Netanyahu?

A: I don’t have the inside scoop on what actually happened, and I am not sure which news reports are accurate. But I think Jordan is not only an important ally of the U.S., it is an important neighbor to Israel.

I hope that Israel and Jordan work in good faith to repair that very important relationship. Rhetoric from some sectors turning this into a religious dispute is very harmful, and I doubt there is any truth to those stories. Frankly, if it were up to me, I would invite Crown Prince [Mohammed bin Salman] to visit Jerusalem and pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and ensure that he has the security he is comfortable with.

Israel tries hard to do as good a job as possible to allow Muslims to worship at Al-Aqsa; in fact, it is Jewish worship that is forbidden. The more people understand that the better.

Q: What is the biggest misconception you observed in Washington circles and the foreign-policy establishment regarding the overall situation in the Middle East?

A: I will actually list several misconceptions because they are so important to understanding the conflict and its potential resolution.

First, that the Arab-Israeli conflict can only be solved when solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Perhaps that was true years ago. Clearly, it is no longer true for some countries, and hopefully, for many others. The conflicts are tied together, but can be broken apart and solved separately.

Another is the total acceptance of many of the Palestinians’ talking points as if they were valid, legally binding rights, such as their demand for all of East Jerusalem (including Judaism’s holiest sites) and that a peace deal must be largely based on the so-called 1967 borders, as if Israel is illegally occupying land that actually once belonged to Palestinians, as opposed to the land being disputed and claimed by Palestinians.

Or that other countries or groups of countries, such as the United Nations or the European Union, can demand a solution to the conflict out of Israel, as opposed to a solution to the conflict, if any, coming from direct, good faith negotiations between the parties.

(www.JNS.org)

Will Biden Serve Out His Term?

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The chief White House physician to former President Barack Obama is worried about the mental health and stamina of Joe Biden, suggesting that “something is not right” with Joe Biden. Photo Credit: WABC News

There is not one of us who cannot recall slipping, tripping or falling at times. It happens to everyone. But when a sitting United States President does it while caught on camera, it’s a big deal to the media. Especially and only if, the person in question is a Conservative. Presidents Trump and Ford elicited a flurry of debasing comments regarding their ability to walk and chew gum at the same time because of their stumbles. And who knows how many such incidents occurred before every move of our leaders was captured on camera by an official White House photographer to be seen by millions? But the latest in a series of incidents involving President Biden, his tripping three times while clambering up the steps of Air Force One, on his departure from Georgia, should disturb and raise more eyebrows from the media and the entire nation because it was not a singular issue regarding Biden’s increasingly problematical evidences of failing physical and mental capabilities. He’s exhibited many disturbing signs of control problems in both areas over the past year.

The Associated Press’ Jonathan Lemire hit the nail on the head writing: “The matter of a President’s health is of great importance to the American public…It is absolutely harder to make the case when we see videos like this where he’s having momentarily stumbles, momentary lapses, straining for a word.” In his 2020 campaign stops he got into a couple of verbal disputes with members of the audience. In Iowa he lashed out at an attendee with, “You’re a damned liar!” In a Detroit auto plant, he yelled out to a hard-hatted worker, “You’re full of sh-t!” The chief White House physician to former President Barack Obama is worried about the mental health and stamina of Joe Biden, suggesting that “something is not right” with Joe Biden. “The best way I can describe him every time I see him is that he’s just lost,” said former Navy Rear Admiral, Dr. Ronny Jackson. “I won’t make any particular diagnosis about dementia..But what I will say is that something is not right.”

If you watch only CNN, MSNBC or PBS, you will not know of President Biden’s struggles to read and pronounce words from his always present teleprompter. Or his confusing his wife with his sister during a campaign stop. And in Philadelphia, he introduced his granddaughter as his deceased son to a bewildered group of supporters. The media, at this time is protecting the President until the signal is given that it’s time for VP Kamala Harris to take over the reins. Biden has already referred to her, more than once, as “President Harris.” In a recent speech to the nation he proudly announced twice at different intervals, that he that “300 Americans” will soon be inoculated against the Chinese virus. Once is a mistake. Twice, the alarm bell rings.

It troubles us that the powers that oversee our President are covering up for him. He has yet, at this writing, to have an open, unrehearsed press conference. His staff is scrambling, holding off the inevitable announcement that, “President Biden has received problematical medical reports that appear to be serious and at the urging of his family and medical team, has reluctantly decided to step down from his office for treatment of such and to be with his beloved family at home. Vice- President Kamala Harris will be sworn in shortly as President of the United States and will take over such responsibilities that she has been thoroughly prepared for.”

We all knew it was coming. End of story and perhaps much more.

Cuomo’s Resign Clock is Ticking Away

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AP

If you thought the Chinese Virus was tough to get rid of, it can’t come even close to the survival techniques of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo. He could give that deadly disease some lessons in endurance and resurgence. At that, he’s a master, learning how to scratch and scrape and keep breathing under stress, from his Dad, former Governor, Mario Cuomo. Political Royalty does not bend to pressure. Their crowns are handed down from heaven above. “But,” you say, “Andy Boy is responsible for the deaths of what we think is 15,000 elderly during this crisis and has been accused of sexual misconduct by, at last count, 8 women who served under him. And their charges appear to be authentic, backed up by photos and witnesses. He’s got to go!” And you’d be right. All bets were that he would be gone by this date. No way. He’s still strutting around like a king. n arrogant one, at that.

Just last week he appeared at a mass vaccination site at Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem getting his virus shot with former Rep. Charlie Rangel and the NAACP Prez. Hazel Duke, standing guard, praising him to the black community. “Thank you governor for all you have done, we stand with you.” She also referred to him as her son. Grass roots support he has. He was on TV daily, blustering, brandishing his self serving accounts, now seen as lies, of how he was battling and beating the virus. He’s a good actor. He actually received an Emmy award for his performances. But he was only acting, not serving the public who was owed more than mere words.

So who’s going after him? Strange as is seems, not the Right but the Left. Not the old, but the young Progressives who no longer need Andy to attack the Devil Trump. His usefulness as a sword is gone. He must now go. He’s in their way to a more liberal Albany. The Progressive Left wants higher taxes on income, capital gains and estates. All against the wisdom of Cuomo, who sees the flight of the wealthy out of his state to others, taking their assets, businesses, families and stability with them. He knows their loss leaves a huge vacuum to fill. We agree with him. But he has no one else to blame for his problems.

This nation is now obsessed with punishing white guys in power no matter their political views. The rights of women are in the ascent, their charges against men abusing their bodies must now go unchallenged. And Andy is one of the convenient political victims. But he’s a street fighter not a wimp. He will be the last to apologize in order to win favor with anyone. But we see no chance for him to escape these charges. In a sense, he’s fighting against time. Actually, in our eyes, he’s dead meat.

Letters to the Editor

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The Grammys, CBS & Jewish Hate Speech

Dear Editor:

I guess it’s peace and love time for everyone except Jews,Zionists, and Israel. Tamika Mallory, a Farrakhan supporter featured at the Grammys???!!! Antisemitic lyrics of Jay Electronia applauded and featured???!!! with images of burning American cities as an image of “racial” protest? Speeches demanding Biden give equity to all, or else, as the screens on stage, with images of cities in flames, imply???!!!

If these same featured and applauded bias were about any other minority, Blacks, Muslims, Asians, Hispanics…CBS, and the Grammys would refuse to air their supporters but when it comes to Jews, the Jew hate expressed by some in the Black community is accepted and applauded. Mallory’s support of Jew, White, Gay hater Nation of Islam’s Farrakhan was one of the primary reasons for the Women’s March being cancelled. Have you learned nothing from the sordid lessons of WWII? No hatred should be tolerated, and Jew hate is as important to condemn as any other hate. Either refuse to air the Grammy’s or have an on air disclaimer.

If Dr. Seuss can be cancelled, why can’t this hate be cancelled? I guess this is the thanks the 600 Jewish Groups get from taking out their ad in that Israel bashing rag, the NY Times, giving unequivocal and unconditional support to BLM and condemning anyone who gives conditional support as a bad guy. Maybe these same 600 need to take out another ad, as this one apparently didn’t work. When will American Jews learn the more they bend over backwards, the harder they will get kicked.

Kumbaya with Accountability, which should define what true progressivism is about, calls for qualified support of any group(s), and accountability for their speech and actions. That is what progressivism should be about. Not bending over and then ignoring the Jew hate coming at them.

Will you CBS, The Grammy’s and American Jews stand up and be heard? That is what happened in 1930’s Germany. Slowly, sadly, Jew hate is now again becoming the norm, becoming part of our daily lives. What side of the moral compass are you on?

Sincerely
Oscar Schwimmer

 

America: The Land of the ‘Oppressed’

Dear Editor:

Princess Meghan, the latest Victim of the Oppressed Elite, ran from the U.K. to big bad Oppressive America, ((yes that same America who bent, and is still bending a collective knee as a nation, in support for racial justice)) where she is making millions from her ‘oppression’, along with other elite victims, such as Beyonce, Oprah, sports and music’s millionaire minority members. Just can’t help feeling sorry for this new class of Victim Millionaire Oppressed Elites behind their gate guarded mansions.

Beyonce bought her husband Jay Z a luxury diamond-encrusted Hublot watch costing $5 million as a present for his 43rd birthday and gave him a $40 million private jet. She is now busy thanking Meghan, says she’s “inspired” by her. Maybe Beyonce and other Victim Oppressed Elite, especially media minority anchors, can be “inspired” enough to actually walk the streets of our inner cities, do an interview or photo op, and actually talk to mothers, kids, teachers, small business owners who live in dangerous and distressed neighborhoods. Then perhaps they can begin spending a fraction of their millions for Chicago or Baltimore’s inner city Black kids needing smaller class size, social supports, mentoring, safe streets and help to get rid of the drug dealers.

Or, better yet, follow the example of a White Capitalist, “Jeff Bezos is opening the doors of his first preschool, the Bezos Academy. It’s the first location of a network of tuition-free preschools serving children in underserved communities spearheaded by Bezos’ philanthropic arm, Day One Fund. The “Montessori-inspired” preschool will operate year-round, five days a week, during which “the child will be the customer.”

The whining coming from these perpetual victims, diamond studded Oppressed Victim Elites is enough to make one run for the nearest bathroom.

Sincerely
Deidre Zurkowsky

 

Indoor Dining at NYC Restaurants

Dear Editor:

What a great way to celebrate Spring, now that NYC restaurants are open for indoor dinning at fifty percent capacity. As more and more of us receive our COVID-19 vaccines, it is now easier and safer to patronize our neighborhood restaurants.

My wife and I don’t mind paying a little more to help our favorite restaurants survive. Don’t forget your cook and server. We try to tip 20 to 25 percent against the total bill including taxes. If it is an odd amount, we round up to the next dollar.

Let’s hope many of the over one hundred thousand NYC residents whose livelihood depends on restaurants will be rehired. This includes bar tenders, waiters, bus boys, cooks and cashiers. Wholesale food sellers, distributors and linen suppliers are also effected along with construction contractors and their employees, who renovate or build new restaurants.

Our entrepreneurs who have been lucky enough to remain open continue to work long hours, pay taxes and provide local employment opportunities. If we don’t resume patronizing these establishments, they don’t eat either.

Sincerely,
Larry Penner

Democrat Hypocrisy: Capitol Wall for Me, No Southern Border Wall for Thee

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The awful truth is that the Democrats are lying to the American public about what’s happening at our southern border while also lying about what’s happening in D.C.. Photo Credit: AP

By: Lauri B. Regan

Democrat hypocrisy has been on display for years, with recent offenses involving Democrat leaders breaching pandemic rules that apparently apply to the masses but not to the Marie Antoinettes imposing the rules on the rest of us. There are also more subtle examples of Democrats picking and choosing when rules should apply and when they should not.

Following the science is a big one that we’ve seen Democrats flout for years. While they scare the country into submission lest climate change destroy the world in a few years, they fly in their private jets around the globe dictating the climate change rules that everyone else must follow. Science prescribes that schools are safe to open and should be open for the health and welfare of students. Democrats’ benefactors, the teachers’ unions, don’t like that idea, so Democrat leaders send their kids to private schools while the rest of the nations’ children suffer and fall behind.

Science dictates that there are two sexes, yet Democrats impose their bizarre notion on the 99.4% of the country who are not transgender that “gender identity” is fluid. They rule that boys may compete against girls in women-only sports programs while also using female bathrooms and locker rooms. One of the vilest Democrat policies is legislating abortion on demand up to delivery.

More recently, Democrats have stepped into the untenable position of insisting on spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a seemingly permanent (and hideous) fence around the Capitol Building while defunding and shutting down construction of our southern border wall. The rationale is clear: lawmakers require protection from American citizens, including all of their constituents, who are no longer permitted to exercise their First Amendment right to petition the government. On the other hand, American citizens, in the infinite wisdom of the Democrats, do not require, nor are they entitled to, protection from illegal aliens who are streaming into the country in numbers we have not seen in a long time.

Once again, Democrats are putting their self-serving interests above the safety and welfare of the American people who elected them and to whom they answer. To them, the Capitol fence is all a political ploy to keep Americans hating Trump and his supporters, while the southern border wall is billed as a Trump-era xenophobic, cruel, and unnecessary expenditure (that had prevented future Democrat voters from entering the country in large numbers).

Keep in mind that Pelosi and the Democrats turned down offers to bring in the National Guard on January 6 as well as during the summer, when Democrat mayors and governors refused National Guard troops while their cities were burning during the Black Lives Matter protests. Trump was pilloried for even making the offer, and a New York Times editor was basically fired for publishing Senator Tom Cotton’s opinion piece supporting the idea. Yet now that the Democrats have decided they like the idea of a police state when they’re in control of the federal government, the National Guard is all the rage.

As we listen to Democrats’ lame justification for building fencing around their workplace based on faux fears of insurrection, they ignore the country’s borders, leaving them open for illegal entry by the likes of drug-runners, coyotes, and human-traffickers, unaccompanied children, terrorists, and violent gang members. The hypocrisy runs even farther as we learn that hundreds of these illegal migrants are testing positive for COVID-19 and yet are still being released to wander about the country, spreading a disease that has shut down the entire world. In particular, many Americans have been subject to complete lockdowns due to unfounded fears of viral spread by mostly Democrat lawmakers, resulting in businesses destroyed and the economy in ruins. Yet those fears are simply ignored for the sake of bringing in as many new Democrat voters as possible — the vast majority of whom will receive welfare, Medicare, Obamacare, and other free stuff.

It is difficult not to feel disgust with the blatant hypocrisy emanating from the party that looks down on the rest of Americans as deplorables, Neanderthals, lying dog-faced pony soldiers, people who cling to guns and religion, or whatever other condescending description they choose to label Americans who disagree with them and whom they haven’t quite figured out how to cancel.

The irony is that for almost two decades, Democrats have criticized Israel for building a security fence in order to protect its citizens from terrorists and suicide bombers who were committing acts of violence on an almost daily basis around the country. After decades of murders, Israel was forced to finally build a security barrier in order to protect all Israelis. The Israeli government didn’t build a fence around the Knesset to protect only lawmakers; it chose to protect its entire citizenry rather than an elite few.

No matter — liberal Americans, social justice warriors, and many Democrats to this day continue to argue over the morality and necessity of Israel’s security barrier, claiming that it violates Palestinian human rights, while failing to consider the right of Israelis to live without fear of a suicide bomber murdering them and their families. At least Democrats are being consistent in not giving a damn about the safety of American citizens while they cheer on open borders and unimpeded immigration. As long as the fence exists to protect them, who cares about the rest of us?

The awful truth is that the Democrats are lying to the American public about what’s happening at our southern border while also lying about what’s happening in D.C. While Biden tries to hide the border mess by silencing senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security, established in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to help protect our homeland, Pelosi plays up the threat to the Capitol from the deplorables who voted for Trump. The woman who views Trump and Republican lawmakers as “domestic enemies” and “enemies of the state” is now establishing commissions and infrastructure to confront white supremacists and what she calls domestic terrorism. Keep in mind that the Democrats remained silent for months watching Black Lives Matter and Antifa rioters tear up our cities as they lied to the American public, claiming that it was all just a bunch of “peaceful protests,” and ignoring the innocent Americans who lost their businesses and livelihoods while facing violence daily.

As long as Democrats keep dividing the country, actually inciting riots and mobs as they did last summer, and lying about what the real danger to our country is, we can expect more barbed wire and National Guards, as we’re seeing in Minneapolis. Democrats like walls when they protect them, the rest of us be damned.

These double-standards are getting old. If we had a media establishment with real journalists rather than just a bunch of operatives who play in the Democrats’ echo chamber of lies and manipulation, these policies would be forced to end. Instead, our borders are open, with Lord knows who and what streaming in, but the Democrats could not care less because they’re safe and they see the glory days of forever holding the reins of power.

(American Thinker)

Fauci Blames Coronavirus on Our Failure to Live in ‘Harmony With Nature’

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“There are many examples where disease emergencies reflect our increasing inability to live in harmony with nature,” Fauci’s paper insists. “Living in greater harmony with nature will require changes in human behavior as well as other radical changes.”

“Living in greater harmony with nature will require changes in human behavior.”

By: Daniel Greenfield

“There’s a lot of folks who think that, due to climate change and due to the globalization in general, it is inevitable that we’ll deal with more and more viruses like this,” Dr. Fauci told Meet the Press.

The “lot of folks” in question include the patron saint of the pandemic.

In addition to appearing on every single news show on the planet, Fauci occasionally co-authors papers. But “Emerging Pandemic Diseases: How We Got to COVID-19” in the journal Cell is less of an academic paper and more of a survey and an advocacy editorial. It might not be all that significant except that its co-authors are David M. Morens, the Senior Scientific Advisor at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Fauci who heads it.

If you didn’t know that its authors are prominent figures in the scientific community, you might mistake its contents for the ravings of hippies at an Earth Day rally a generation ago.

“There are many examples where disease emergencies reflect our increasing inability to live in harmony with nature,” Fauci’s paper insists. “Living in greater harmony with nature will require changes in human behavior as well as other radical changes.”

It goes without saying that the proper way to live in harmony with nature would be to live in caves, hunt buffalo for food, and die at an average age of 38. Fauci’s $2 million D.C. house with its 5 bathrooms and 6,500 square foot lot size, is not in harmony with nature.

His Wesley Heights neighborhood was one of the country’s first “planned communities”: it’s described as “desirable” and “affluent”, and originally banned Jews and black people.

But living in harmony with nature and radical changes are for other people.

The paper lays out a bold prescription for “rebuilding the infrastructures of human existence, from cities to homes to workplaces” to “prioritize changes in those human behaviors that constitute risks for the emergence of infectious diseases”. The idea that we can change human behavior by transforming infrastructure is one of the basic ideas of Socialism. From the old Socialist utopian communes to the Soviet Union’s initial efforts to remove kitchens from apartments through Bauhaus and the housing projects of the United States, it ends badly.

But the two NIAID bigwigs essentially argue that every modern human behavior is a disease risk. Imagine lockdown and mask ‘safetyism’ culture applied to every facet of civilization.

“Some, and probably very many, of the living improvements achieved over recent centuries come at a high cost that we pay in deadly disease emergence,” Fauci and Morens contend.

But the agenda goes beyond some nebulous call for less dense living and working conditions to the much more ambitious and politically safer realms of the boilerplate wishlists of the Left.

The paper calls for “minimizing environmental perturbations such as deforestation, intense urbanization, and intensive animal farming” and “ending global poverty”.

But the only way to end global poverty is through industrialization and urbanization.

Fauci can have environmental purism or he can have less global poverty, but he can’t have both. And indeed, the coronavirus pandemic, like a number of previous outbreaks, came out of China which has dramatically reduced poverty by moving its rural population into cities.

The paper tiptoes around the China question. Nature appears repeatedly through the paper, even though it’s used as a vague and unscientific term, but China only appears twice.

Fauci calls for an end to “intensive animal farming”, but that’s why we don’t randomly eat wild animals from wet markets like the kind that may have caused the pandemic. We have massive herds of cattle, instead of bat soup, because we reacted to past famines with herding, while China learned to eat anything and everything that was available. Including wild bats.

Wet markets are much more in harmony with nature than the cattle herds of Wyoming.

Trapping and killing wild animals, and reselling them at fairs, is more natural. It integrates man with the existing natural ecosystem, rather than attempting to impose our own priorities on it.

And it may have helped cause the pandemic Fauci is exploiting to call for a return to nature.

Ending factory farming would make it harder for Fauci to get the burgers from Chef Geoff’s, grilled steak quesadilla from Millie’s, and barbecue pork rib tortellini from Sfoglina Van Ness that he loves so much, but living in harmony with nature is for other, less important people.

Fauci isn’t practicing science. This is touchy-feely hippie dogma from a man who is being paid a small fortune to act as a leading health expert and instead sounds like an aspiring leftist guru.

After sprinkling some sage and rosemary, Fauci’s paper warns that, “our increasingly extreme alterations of the environment induce increasingly extreme backlashes from nature”.

So much for science. Instead, Fauci tells us that Mother Nature is angry with us.

But what ‘backlash from nature’ caused the coronavirus pandemic? While the media and the expert class have tried to laboriously connect the pandemic, like everything else from higher crime rates and illegal migration, to global warming, they’ve done so with no evidence.

A paper in February finally managed to laboriously argue that global warming might have helped forests in China grow resulting in more bats which might have led to the pandemic.

In contrast to the usual environmental dogma, this theory blames global warming for not killing enough forests and bats. The logical conclusion must be that, in contrast to Fauci, we should be cutting down more forests and killing more animals to compensate for global warming.

Earlier in their paper, Fauci and Morens argue that, “Gaining a better understanding of the enormous reservoir of bat coronaviruses has been an urgent priority since the 2002 SARS epidemic, and remains so today. Considerable surveillance and phylogenetic and experimental work remains to be done. In 2020, it is among our most urgent research priorities.”

And that might be exactly the problem.

Some months before Fauci’s paper, President Trump had ordered the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cut off all funding to the EcoHealth Alliance which under Obama had provided grants to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study coronaviruses in bats.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology houses China’s only Level 4 lab handling some of the most dangerous viruses around. That, as many non-experts have noted, is quite a coincidence.

An edgy maxim by a medieval Franciscan friar would suggest that the likeliest explanation for a global virus outbreak centering around a virology lab would probably be that very same lab.

Rather than Fauci’s theory of a backlash from Mother Nature.

But Fauci might favor the ‘Mother Nature is Angry at Foolish Mortals Over Cheap Burgers’ theory over the Chinese virus lab theory because the grants were funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases which he heads. There had been chatter about the lack of safety and precautions at the Wuhan Institute of Virology well before the pandemic.

The expert class and the media have dismissed such talk as an “unscientific conspiracy theory” in favor of the much more scientific theory that we’re experiencing a “backlash from nature”.

It’s easier to tell other people to live in harmony with nature from your D.C. mansion than acknowledge the possibility that your organization’s decisions may have been disastrous.

“Science will surely bring us many life-saving drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics; however, there is no reason to think that these alone can overcome the threat of ever more frequent and deadly emergences of infectious diseases,” Morens and Fauci’s paper concludes.

The top NIAID figures are telling us that drugs and vaccines won’t work. Science is futile in the face of Mother Nature’s wrath, the expert class, borrowing from a horror movie, lectures us.

We must repent of our wicked industrial ways.

Or perhaps Fauci and Morens should resign, move to Vermont, and live off the land.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is yet another reminder,” Fauci’s paper insists, “that in a human-dominated world, in which our human activities represent aggressive, damaging, and unbalanced interactions with nature, we will increasingly provoke new disease emergences.”

Science can’t help us, scientists at the organization that may have caused the disaster, insist.

We’re accused of provoking “the latest examples of a deadly barrage of coming coronavirus and other emergences” that will bring us to our knees if we don’t bow to Mother Nature.

“COVID-19 is among the most vivid wake-up calls in over a century. It should force us to begin to think in earnest and collectively about living in more thoughtful and creative harmony with nature,” the paper concludes.

Collectively and creatively are two things that don’t go together. Neither do credentialed experts who want to be treated like scientists, but insist on rambling about nature like hippie gurus. A scientific argument actually tries to reason out its own understanding of the world. Babbling about harmony with nature never requires any such exercises in logic.

The coronavirus pandemic was either caused by a wet market, the living embodiment of Fauci’s call for harmony with nature, or by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was funded by Fauci’s own organization. Either way, Fauci’s preferred answers to the pandemic are its likely cause.

Instead of blaming civilization for the pandemic, Fauci might consider a mirror.

And Americans might want to consider whether the people they’re paying to act as their leading scientists, but who dismiss science in favor of nature’s wrath, ought to be replaced by scientists.

(www.FrontPageMag.com)

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

The NY Times’ Latest Act of Journalistic Malpractice Against Israel

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It is well-known that the New York Times slants its coverage of Israel – in its reports from the Middle East, in its editorials, and in the Op/Ed submissions it chooses to publish.

By: Hugh Fitzgerald

It is well-known that the New York Times slants its coverage of Israel – in its reports from the Middle East, in its editorials, and in the Op/Ed submissions it chooses to publish. Israel is so often the villain, the Palestinians so often the victim, In the Times’ presentation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. A discussion of the latest example of the Times’ bias Is discussed by Stephen Flatow here: “New York Times Covers Up for a Terrorist — and Smears Golda for Good Measure,” by Stephen M. Flatow, JNS.org, March 9, 2021:

When is a Palestinian terrorist not a Palestinian terrorist? When The New York Times covers up her past and hopes nobody will notice.

I’m [Stephen Flatow] referring to a deeply troubling allegation contained in a major article in the Times on March 6, authored by its new Jerusalem bureau chief, Patrick Kingsley.

The article focused on a Palestinian disc jockey, Sama Abdulhadi, who was recently arrested by the Palestinian Authority for performing a concert near a mosque. Incredibly, Kingsley quoted Abdulhadi and others blaming “the Israeli occupation” for the mistreatment of Palestinian dissidents by the PA. I’m going to leave that absurdity aside because of an even more disturbing part of the article.

Sama Abdulhadi was arrested by the Palestinian Authority for the crime of performing a live concert near a mosque. There is also a suggestion that she is a “dissident” being punished not just for the decibel level of her music, but apparently for the anti-P.A. political message it contained. Israel had nothing to do with her arrest, but the Jerusalem Bureau Chief of the Times, Patrick Kingsley, reports without any questioning Abdulhadi’s preposterous claim that her arrest by the P.A. should be blamed on the “occupation” of the West Bank by Israel. How does that “occupation” – i.e., Israel’s presence in the West Bank — affect in any way the P.A.’s punishment of those who, like Abdulhadi, perform live music too close to a mosque, music whose lyrics, furthermore, may be perceived by the PA as “dissident” attacks on the regime?

In an apparent attempt to show the continuity of alleged Israeli misbehavior from generation to generation, Kingsley wrote that, in 1969, “the Israeli authorities expelled her grandmother, Issam Abdulhadi, a leading women’s rights activist.”

Kingsley mentions Sami Abdulhadi’s grandmother’s expulsion by Israel, more than fifty year ago, to make the case that the Israelis have a long history of oppressing Palestinians, as the Abdulhadi family’s treatment testifies. But he failed to check the reason she was expelled, preferring to accept uncritically Sama Abdulhadi’s claim that it had to do with her being “a leading women’s rights activist.”

That statement puzzled me [Stephen Flatow]. Could it be true? Since when is “women’s rights activism” a crime? Would Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir—herself the living embodiment of advocacy of women’s rights—have authorized the deportation of a Palestinian woman for being a women’s rights activist?

I don’t have the vast journalistic resources or investigative reporters that Patrick Kingsley and The New York Times have at their disposal. But I do have access to Google.

So, I Googled Sama’s grandmother, Issam Abdulhadi. I looked up several variant spellings of her last name, such as Abd el-Hadi, Abd al-Hadi, Abdul Hadi and the Times’ version, Abdulhadi. Even with all those variations, it took me about five minutes to discover the real reason that Sama’s grandmother was deported….

On a Facebook page called “The Uprising of Women in the Arab World,” I learned that “the Israeli authorities accused Issam of supporting and hiding the Palestinian guerrillas and their ammunition … .” Hmm. That sounds like considerably more than “women’s rights activism.”

Those “guerrillas” – i.e. terrorists – in 1969 would have been members of the PLO, the first of the Palestinian terror groups to be formed. Hiding terrorist murderers is quite different from being a ‘women’s rights activist.”

The website “Palestinian Journeys” offered a little more detail: Issam and her daughter “were charged with supplying the resistance with material aid and hiding freedom fighters wanted by the occupation authorities.

An interview with Issam, conducted by the Palestinian Women’s Research and Documentation Centre in 2006 (translated into English by the publication The Palestinian Revolution), is especially revealing. It shatters the Times’s claim that she was merely a “women’s rights activist.”

In the interview, Issam describes how in 1965, one year after the founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization, she and some of her friends decided that “we would form the women’s wing.” They called it the General Union of Palestinian Women; Issam was chosen as president.

Note the year: 1965. At the time, there were no “occupied territories.” There were no “Israeli settlements.” The “Palestine” that the Palestine Liberation Organization was trying to “liberate” was all of pre-1967 Israel—in other words, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheva. The PLO didn’t even pretend that it was willing to live in peace with Israel. It was openly a terrorist organization and was unabashedly seeking the destruction of Israel. And Issam was in charge of its “women’s wing.”

Issam boasts in the interview that she was “one of the first female participants in writing the Palestinian National Charter.” Yes, the infamous charter that called for “armed struggle” to wipe Israel off the map. She also mentions that she was visited in her home by Yasser Arafat: “It’s true I received him in our house, we spoke, and we did what he and his group wanted … .”

Here’s what Issam says in the interview about her arrest in 1969:

“They accused me of many things, some of which were real while other charges were out of my league. The most important charge was providing financial assistance to the armed resistance and harboring fida’een [terrorists]. Harboring fida’een was the most dangerous thing; they don’t allow it.”

She continues: “A person should never admit; the most important thing is not to admit. I managed to deny many of the charges. Unfortunately, however, one of the [PLO] leaders who was related to me in one of the charges against me was the one to confess. … Now they had confirmation on this topic, supporting and harboring fighters.”…

This is a clear admission by Issam that, despite her proudly lying (“the important thing is not to admit…to deny many of the charges”), a PLO leader who “was related to me in one of the charges” confessed that Issam Abdulhadi had indeed taken part in “supporting and harboring fighters.”

Will the New York Times now take the trouble – five minutes of searching the Internet, no more – to discover that Issam Abdulhadi was expelled not because she was a “woman’s rights activist,” but because she was a member of the PLO (women’s division), who helped to support and hide its terrorists? Will Patrick Kingsley himself retract his false charge and apologize? Or will the Times continue to allow its readers to be misled, to be left thinking that those wicked Israelis expelled someone whose only “crime” was to work for women’s rights?

Who knows the answer to that? You know the answer to that.

    (www.FrontPageMag.com)

Trump to Launch His Own Social Media Platform in Next Few Months

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Photo Credit: AP

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Former President Donald Trump’s senior advisor Jason Miller said Sunday on Fox News Channels “MediaBuzz” that Trump will be launching a social media platform in the next few months.

Host Howard Kurtz asked, “Donald Trump obviously has been booted off Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, which were a great megaphone for him. Does he plan to get back on social media perhaps with some new outfit?”

Miller said, “I do think we’re going to see President Trump returning to social media and probably about two or three months here with his own platform. This is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media. It’s going to completely redefine the game. Everyone will be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does. But it will be his own platform.”

Kurtz asked, “Just to follow up, will this be a platform that the former president will create himself, working with another company? Obviously, he’ll be starting from scratch. He won’t start out with 88 million Twitter followers.”

Miller said, “I can’t go much further than what I was able to just share. I can say it will be big once he starts. There have been a lot of high-powered meetings he has been having at Mar-a-Lago with teams of folks that have been coming in. I got to tell you it’s not just one company that’s approached the president. There have been numerous companies. I think the president knows what direction he wants to head here. This new platform is going to be big, and everyone wants him. He’s going to bring millions and millions, tens of millions of people to this new platform.”

No further details were provided by Miller, and the Trump Organization has not issued a comment on the matter.

After the Capitol riot on January 6, Trump was suspended from Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. Many of these big tech companies are reviewing their policies in regards to government officials and politicians in the wake of Trump being banned.

Twitter is debating if leaders should have to follow the same rules as the average citizen. Facebook is deciding whether its indefinite suspension of Trump should stand.

In late January, AP reported that Facebook had passed the buck for its indefinite suspension of Trump to a quasi-independent oversight board, setting up a major test of the recently established panel.

            (www.Breitbart.com, AP)

Fitness by Kobi: “Working Out is Not a Luxury, It’s a Necessity”

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From very lightweight to heavyweight like Josh Augenbaum–you’ll find them at Kobi Fitness

By: Fern Sidman

Now that we are turning the corner on the dreaded coronavirus pandemic that has gripped our nation and the world for the last year, many of us are emerging from our ‘corona cocoons’ with a surprise we hadn’t originally expected. Having been in isolation and quarantine for the last year, we are now dealing with the unfortunate realization that we have all put on a significant amount of weight as we “waited out” the virus; no pun intended. Because health related matters remain a major concern for most people, getting back to our regular gym routine has been a priority and we count the days when gyms will be open once again.

Kobi is pictured here with some very happy members of his gym

For Brooklynites, however, many who are fortunate enough to belong to a local gym called Fitness by Kobi – Your One Stop Body Shop–on Avenue V and McDonald Avenue did not miss out on regular workouts during the pandemic. After speaking to owner Kobi Noiman, one begins to understand why no one was deprived of their personal trainers and their workouts during the pandemic. As a man who is firmly and passionately committed to each person striving to reach their maximum potential in the area of complete fitness, Kobi did not want his clientele to suffer because of the controversial lockdown restrictions that were imposed by the city.

Kobi speaks as an exercise “powerhouse”–a fitness guru who cares deeply about the success and good health of each of his clients. “I demand the absolute best from each person that works out at my gym,” said Kobi with a clear sense of resoluteness in his voice.

“Each person that comes here has a trainer and we ask that each person take their workouts seriously. That means coming on a regular basis, showing consistency, tenacity and the will and desire to improve one’s self through incorporating a healthy lifestyle,” says Kobi.

Kobi speaks from experience as his gym has been serving locale clientele for 14 years. As a personal trainer for the last two decades, Kobi has hands-on experience in getting the best out of those he works with. “Each person that comes here has a trainer and we ask that each person take their workouts seriously. That means coming on a regular basis, showing consistency, tenacity and the will and desire to improve one’s self through incorporating a healthy lifestyle,” says Kobi.

Fitness by Kobi is a 2000 square foot fully functional equipped gym that has evolved to suit his clients’ needs, says Kobi. What distinguishes Fitness by Kobi from other gyms in the area is that he maintains private boutique studios for his 40 plus members with custom workouts designed for each person’s requirements. According to Kobi, people seek a workout schedule for various reasons. Some come for cardio-vascular training, others come to just tone up, while many others come with the idea of working out to shed pounds and inches and perhaps get a well sculpted body along the way.

“We have certified trainers and we also do occupational therapy work, “ says Kobi.

When asked how he managed to stay open during the lockdown of 2020 when all non-essential businesses were compelled to close according to the restrictions placed on them, Kobi said, “For my clientele, working out and sticking to their daily exercise program is not ‘non-essential’. We take our fitness schedules very seriously and it is a major part of maintaining our health and well being and I could not let my customers down.”

For Brooklynites, however, many who are fortunate enough to belong to a local gym called Fitness by Kobi – Your One Stop Body Shop–on Avenue V and McDonald Avenue did not miss out on regular workouts during the pandemic

Kobi did add that at the outset of the lockdown, he was forced to shutter the gym for a number of weeks but thereafter he made the decision to open again to the sheer delight of his clientele. “Not everyone was thrilled with the fact that we were open for business, “ says Kobi. He explained that he received over 40 citations from the city as well as notifications, calling on him to adhere to the restrictions imposed and close his gym. Kobi is of the opinion that those who complained to the city that his gym stayed open during the pandemic were either competitors or neighbors who were annoyed.

“Remaining in our homes for such an extended period of time really affected many people’s mental and physical health in a profoundly negative way, “ says Kobi. He added that he remained open because he is dedicated and totally committed to his clientele. “As I have said, when someone comes into this gym, I demand that they put their all in to their workouts and to take their health very seriously. This precisely why I defied the authorities and allowed people to come to the gym. I want them to know that just as much as I demand their very best, I want to show them that I am willing to sacrifice for them as well.”

Kobi has most definitely hit the nail on the proverbial head. According to a government web site, experts on the matter are in agreement. The site says, “during the COVID-19 pandemic, when so many of us are very restricted in our movements, it is even more important for people of all ages and abilities to be as active as possible. Even a short break from sitting, by doing 3-5 minutes of physical movement, such as walking or stretching, will help ease muscle strain, relieve mental tension and improve blood circulation and muscle activity. Regular physical activity can also help to give the day a routine and be a way of staying in contact with family and friends.”

According to the University of Michigan’s Department of Psychiatry, “The benefits of physical activity and exercise have been demonstrated across the lifespan. We are meant to move and many of our body’s systems work better when we are consistently physically active.” They also add that “physical activity and exercise can be effective treatment strategies for symptoms of both depression and anxiety. Each day is a new opportunity to engage in physical activity and exercise that can bring short and long-term benefits for mood, sleep, and physical health. Consistency and sustained motivation may be enhanced by peer support, family support, or electronic platforms offering exercise programs.”

Whether it comes to weight training, cardio-vascular exercise routines, strengthening muscle tone through abdominal routines or for those who haven’t exercised in years, Kobi has something for just about everybody under his roof.

“For anybody who is willing to put in the work required for total fitness, we will not turn anyone away because of the financial challenges they may be facing, “ says Kobi. While not charging his a clientele a monthly or annual rate, he does charge $50 per session and according to those who attend Fitness by Kobi on a regular basis, it is worth every penny.

Kobi speaks from experience as his gym has been serving locale clientele for 14 years. As a personal trainer for the last two decades, Kobi has hands-on experience in getting the best out of those he works with

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a 54-year old woman who has been a regular at Fitness by Kobi for the last several years says, “Working out at Kobi’s gym is unlike any other exercise or workout experience you will ever have. Each trainer places personal attention on the exercise objectives of each person, and frankly that is priceless.”

To contact Fitness by Kobi please call: 347-200-3698 or visit their web site at: www.fitnessbykobi.com

New Chabad.org Haggadah an Inspiring Guide for Contemporary Seders

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The recently released Chabad.org Haggadah, which is faithful to tradition, effortlessly accessible and refreshingly inspirational, has arrived as a new standard for this era.

An ambitious project for Seder leaders and participants alike

By: Menachem Posner & Mordechai Lightstone

Why is this Haggadah different from all other Haggadahs?

The Passover Haggadah has seen more editions than any other Jewish book in history. Yet the recently released Chabad.org Haggadah, which is faithful to tradition, effortlessly accessible and refreshingly inspirational, has arrived as a new standard for this era.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic has sent shockwaves through the world for more than a year, Jewish individuals and communities have discovered innovative ways to access and celebrate their heritage, traditions and holidays. As some institutions reopen and freshly vaccinated people gather, the world as we know it has changed. This ambitious Haggadah is the first to address the Seder needs of a post-pandemic era grappling with the central Passover theme of Exile and Redemption in entirely new and unexpected ways.

Born in the depths of the lockdowns that have forced many to conduct their own Seders for the first time, without cues from a senior family member at home or a rabbi conducting a public seder, Chabad.org has created an aesthetically pleasing Haggadah—whose English text is designed to be both faithful to the Hebrew original and eminently readable—provides clear reading cues and instructive notes to help a novice Seder leader perform their new role like a pro.

Chabad.org has culled more than two decades of insight and resources for the Seder, combing through the frequently asked questions and requests of millions of readers, to create a Haggadah ideally suited to speak to the largest number of people.

The final product, created by the world’s most popular and content-rich Jewish website, Chabad.org, speaks ancient wisdom in a modern voice, blending seamlessly with the kind of discussion you would expect to find at a Seder of engaged contemporary Jews. It is available in PDF format for downloading and printing in advance of Passover, which is celebrated this year from Saturday night, March 27 through Sunday, April 4.

“After a difficult year, this Passover will be the first time in a long time that many families—my entire family among them—can finally sit around the table together for the Seder,” says Daniel Rakhamimov, a product designer at Snapchat. “As a designer, I know how much detail matters: The Haggadah shows the care and love that went into the experience and it’s clear how much went into this Haggadah from the beautiful illustrations to the little gems of commentary that would otherwise get lost in translation. I’m really looking forward to using it at the Seder.”

 

A Modern Conundrum

Rethinking how the Seder experience can be more relevant for a new era is a daunting undertaking by any account.

“Creating a Haggadah that speaks to all Jews and every Seder has truly been a team effort,” says Rabbi Meir Simcha Kogan, Chabad.org’s director, who served as the project’s executive editor. “The editors, designers, and technical teams all played an important part in creating a seamless experience that brings an exciting new Haggadah to you for the Seder.”

The Chabad.org Haggadah was compiled by senior writer Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, award-winning author of Wisdom to Heal the Earth, who has long blazed a path of presenting Jewish mystical concepts in clear and contemporary English prose.

The text of the Haggadah is perhaps the most familiar work of Jewish liturgy in the world. Yet making the text, written in classic Hebrew and Aramaic, accessible has long been a new challenge for every era.

Chabad.org has culled more than two decades of insight and resources for the Seder, combing through the frequently asked questions and requests of millions of readers, to create a Haggadah ideally suited to speak to the largest number of people.

“The act of translating the Haggadah in a way that speaks to the modern Jew is a unique conundrum.” says Freeman. Many Haggadahs, looking to make the vast corpus of Jewish wisdom accessible to a modern audience, must choose between two seemingly disparate worlds. “Plenty of wonderful commentaries have appeared in English, drawing from early Talmudic masters to current-day Jewish thinkers, and people enjoy sharing nuggets from those,” says Freeman. “Plenty of rewrites have also appeared,” adapting the text to suit one need or another, “but those lose the sense of continuity-over-epochs that we come to the Seder to experience.”

The Haggadah—rich in Biblical prose, Talmudic-style exegesis and multi-layered rabbinic dialogue—proves difficult to translate. For centuries, when a Jew well versed in the Talmud would open the Haggadah, the text would reveal oceans of meaning. The structure, flow, purpose and place of each section was clear. The characters, sages whose words had been studied all year were instantly recognizable. The reader perceived nuances in their words, allusions in every detail.

But to many today, especially those leading a Seder for the first time in small groups or on their own, these worlds of meaning are imperceptible.

From a Seder participant standpoint, a translation with commentary doesn’t provide the intended experience in any shape or form for today’s Jew, notes Freeman. The traditional layout of commentary forces the reader’s eyes to the margins, disengaging them from the text.

How then can the timeless wisdom speak to a new audience in a way that brings the past into conversation with the present?

The solution to this challenge lies in the most ancient of Talmudic arts.

 

Ancient Methodology

The solution, marrying commentary and text, timeless tradition and cutting-edge modernity, is found in a classic solution: Targum.

The classic targumim, the ancient Aramaic renditions of Biblical texts, don’t simply translate the words. They provide context, fill in details, explicate hidden meanings—in other words, they attempt to improve on the original by bringing to the surface all its hidden riches.

Looking to the methodology of Onkelos, Yonatan ben Uziel and others, the new text includes elucidations built into the translation, inserting just the right amount of commentary to provide context and flow to the original.

Some 800 years ago, Maimonides shared this concept of translation with Rabbi Shmuel ibn Tibbon, who translated some of Maimonides greatest works from Arabic to Hebrew: “One who wishes to translate from one language to another by rendering each word literally and adhering to the original order of words and sentences … will end up with a translation that is difficult and confusing. Instead, the translator should first try to grasp the sense of the subject and then explain the theme, according to his understanding, in the other language … .”

To accomplish this monumental task for the Haggadah meant taking a deep dive into the Biblical, Talmudic and Haggadah commentaries that analyze the text, as well as the wisdom of the Chassidic masters, that breath deeper meaning in its practices and words.

A key resource were the annotations to the Haggadah that the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—published in 1946.

“The Rebbe did an astonishing job of demonstrating the cohesiveness of the text,” Freeman points out. “Poring through those notes, you come to realize there’s really nothing there superfluous or out of place in the Haggadah. Everything that’s there has to be there, and it has to be just where it is.”

At the same time, all the depth and detail presented in this Targum is written entirely in the modern vernacular—the way people actually speak.

 

Cutting-Edge Design

The layout of the Haggadah was designed from the ground up, focusing on ease of use and accessibility, enabling anyone to lead a Seder—even for someone who has never attended one. Visual cues guide even the novice reader, not only conveying the “what” and “how” of each step, but also clearly pointing to the “why.”

The Haggadah even addresses the “who” of the Seder, providing helpful suggestions for which texts should be read aloud by one person and which should be read (or sung) as a group, designed to engage all participants.

Carefully crafted visual cues and stunning graphics—culled from Chabad.org’s signature trove of art and illustrations by Sefira Ross. Additional art by Rivka Korf is also featured. All of this help set the tone and keep the user focused on their journey from slavery to freedom, gleaning inspiration, insight and instructions along the way to keep them going until next Passover.

“There is a Chabad-Lubavitch influence in just about every Seder around the world,“ says Rabbi Motti Seligson, associate director of Chabad.org, who oversaw the design of the Haggadah project.

The Chabad.org Haggadah was compiled by senior writer Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, award-winning author of Wisdom to Heal the Earth, who has long blazed a path of presenting Jewish mystical concepts in clear and contemporary English prose.

Seligson points to the ways Chabad informs the annual gathering, both overtly such as at public Seders hosted by Chabad in over 100 countries, or sometimes more subtly through the teachings and insights from the Rebbe and six preceding generations of Chabad leaders found in almost every Haggadah today, inspiring how many understand the experience.

Meanwhile, handmade shmurah matzo has become a staple at the seder for millions of participants and can be found on the table from the White House to Ukranian Labor Camps, part of aglobal Passover campaign that began in 1954, created by the Rebbe to raise awareness about the mitzvah and promote observance of the holiday.

“Now the new Chabad.org Haggadah—available in digital form for anyone to print at home and order on demand—will sit proudly at the heart of so many seders and inspire its participants this Passover. It will truly become a treasured resource for world Jewry.”

             (www.Chabad.org)