UNRWA employee outside the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza, Nov 17, 2020. (Majdi Fathi/TPS)
This is because UNRWA doesn’t revoke refugee status for Palestinian terrorists.
By: Mike Wagenheim
Critics of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, have long noted its unique approach among United Nations agencies in granting perpetual refugee status to Palestinians, while other U.N. agencies seek to resettle those displaced by war or violence.
A JNS investigation reveals another manner in which UNRWA is an apparent aberration at the global body: It does not revoke refugee status of Palestinian terrorists.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees oversees the global body’s services to all refugees worldwide, except for Palestinians, who fall under the purview of UNRWA.
The latter is being investigated following Israeli charges that some of the U.N. agency’s staff participated directly in Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel and that a larger number of UNRWA employees are tied to Palestinian terror organizations.
Those involved in acts of terrorism under globally-defined criteria are subject to exclusion from refugee status at UNHCR, which also may exclude refugees who belong to organizations that carry out or incite violence.
JNS sought comment several times from UNRWA and from the office of António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, about whether the agency also excludes terrorists as refugees.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of the nonprofit U.N. Watch, told JNS that for many years, Suhail al-Hindi, a school principal elected to chair UNRWA’s Palestinians’ workers union, was on Hamas’s Gaza politburo with the terror group’s Gaza head Yahya Sinwar.
Al-Hindi was eventually forced out of UNRWA not due to a violation of agency policy, but because UNRWA suffered too much embarrassment, Neuer said.
“They asked him to resign, meaning he’s probably still collecting pension,” Neuer said. “He’s now in Turkey, and he’s regularly quoted endorsing the atrocities of Oct. 7. It’s not only that they don’t deny them aid, but they allow them to serve in leadership capacity.”
“To the extent that UNHCR does have this exclusion clause, with UNRWA it would be the opposite,” Neuer said of the U.N. agencies’ approach to refugee status of terrorists.
JNS sought clarity from the United Nations and UNRWA several times about whether the agency would strip the refugee status of staff members that the U.N. investigation corroborates were involved in or connected to terrorism.
When Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, terminated the contracts of UNRWA staff members whom Israel accused of participating in the Oct. 7 massacre, he said publicly that the reason was “to protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance.”
Loose interpretation
People can be excluded from refugee status if they violate the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, per UNHCR’s Resettlement Handbook.
More specifically, those about whom there are “serious reasons” to believe they committed a “crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity” or a “serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge” prior to being admitted to that country as a refugee or who have “been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations,” can be excluded.
Elsewhere in the handbook, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees notes that most acts of violence commonly called “terrorism” qualify, “particularly if they indiscriminately endanger or harm civilians.”
The 1951 convention, which the handbook cites, states that “This convention shall not apply to persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection or assistance.”
Israel is preparing to escalate its military campaign against the Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Credit: AP
Israel is preparing to escalate its military campaign against the Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, just weeks after the IDF withdrew most of its ground forces from southern Gaza.
The prime minister issued a video message in Hebrew Sunday, highlighting the upcoming Passover festival, which begins Monday at sundown, and announcing plans for increased military and diplomatic “pressure” on Hamas to return the 133 Israeli captives remaining in Gaza.
“On this night, 133 of our dear brothers and sisters are not around the Seder table, and they are still held hostage by Hamas in hellish conditions,” Netanyahu said.
“We have already freed 124 of our hostages and we are committed to returning them all home – the living and the deceased alike. And why is this night not different?”
“That in every generation they rise up to destroy us, and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from them.”
Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the stalled hostage talks in Cairo, highlighting comments by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accusing the Gaza terror group of not negotiating in good faith.
“Unfortunately, until now, all proposals for releasing the hostages have been rejected outright by Hamas. Therefore, the American Secretary of State rightly said that Hamas has refused every proposal that it has been presented with. In his words, the only thing preventing a hostage release deal is Hamas.”
The Israeli premier compared Hamas to the biblical Pharaoh, and pledged that the IDF would strike “painful blows” to the terror group in the near future.
“Instead of withdrawing from its extreme positions, Hamas is counting on a rift among us. It draws encouragement from the pressure being directed at the Government of Israel.”
“As a result of this, it has only hardened its conditions for the release of our hostages. It is hardening its heart and refusing to let our people go. Therefore, we will strike it with additional painful blows – and this will happen soon.”
“In the coming days, we will increase the military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages and achieve our victory.”
Responding to reports over the weekend that the Biden administration plans to blacklist the IDF’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion, Netanyahu said his government would do everything possible to defy the sanctions.
“I will strongly defend the IDF, our army and our fighters. If somebody thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit in the IDF – I will fight this with all my powers.”
“As our soldiers are united in defending us on the battlefield, we are united in defending them in the diplomatic arena.”
The Shin Bet denied a report on Sunday by the British Daily Mail that intelligence gathered by Israel’s internal security service is leading to fears that only 40 hostages out of the 133 being held by Hamas in Gaza are alive.
According to the report from the London-based tabloid, a dwindling number of captives have survived after 253 were kidnapped during the Hamas-led rampage across the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7.
The report cites the Shin Bet and anonymous sources to make the claim.
“The publication in question is not true and does not represent the opinion of the Shin Bet,” the agency said.
“The numbers mentioned in the article are based on the writer’s opinion only and are not based on information from the Shin Bet.”
The IDF has confirmed that 34 of those taken to Gaza on Oct. 7 are dead, and others are feared to be no longer alive.
A total of 1,200 mostly civilians were murdered and thousands of others were wounded during the attack, which included widespread atrocities.
A truce reached last November saw 105 captives released, with three other hostages freed in military rescue operations and four freed separately.
The bodies of 12 hostages have been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military.
Negotiations to release the rest of the hostages have been going on for months.
They have been mediated by the Americans, Egyptians and Qataris with the involvement of the Israelis and the Hamas terrorist group and have taken place in Cairo, Doha and Paris.
“Negotiating is a lost cause. We cannot possibly negotiate dead bodies for the release of hundreds or thousands more terrorists,” a security source told the Daily Mail.
Meanwhile, Israel’s War Cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the deadlock in hostage release negotiations following the response by Hamas to a U.S. proposal.
The meeting was supposed to take place last week but was postponed due to the Iranian attack on Israel.
The meeting is being held at the behest of Ministers-without-Portfolio Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot.
JNS also reported on Sunday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should be “ashamed” after he met at his office in Istanbul with Hamas terror leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday, Israel’s foreign minister said.
“Muslim Brotherhood: Rape, massacre, desecration of corpses, burning babies. @RTErdogan, you should be ashamed!” Israel Katz tweeted in Turkish alongside a picture of Erdoğan and Haniyeh shaking hands during their hours-long meeting. He tweeted the same message in Hebrew.
Ankara has given full-throated support to Hamas after its Oct. 7 massacre and during the ensuing war in Gaza.
The NATO member has also started a trade war with Jerusalem over the ongoing war to defeat Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and other governments.
According to Erdoğan’s office, the president, whose party recently suffered a historic defeat in nationwide local elections, urged Palestinians during the meeting to unite for “victory” against the Jewish state.
Also discussed were efforts to achieve a ceasefire and increase the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Hamas still holds more than 100 Israeli hostages in Gaza taken during the Oct. 7 rampage in the northwestern Negev, with many feared to be dead.
Perhaps the most famous component of Israel’s air defense system, the Iron Dome protects against short-range missiles and other airborne attacks, and has been extremely active in the past six months, bringing down airstrikes launched by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Photo Credit: YouTube.com
By: NoCamels Team
The world watched on its screens and Israelis watched live in the skies above them. Almost every single one of the hundreds of drones and missiles that Iran’s fundamentalist regime fired at Israel on Saturday night were intercepted, thanks to Israel’s allies and the innovation for which the country has been renowned for decades.
Israel’s air defenses today are multi-tiered – providing layers of protection that are an overwhelmingly successful answer to the threat from terror groups, enemy states and their proxies in the region.
So how does it work?
Iron Dome (Hebrew: Kipat Barzel)
Perhaps the most famous component of Israel’s air defense system, the Iron Dome protects against short-range missiles and other airborne attacks, and has been extremely active in the past six months, bringing down airstrikes launched by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iron Dome batteries are mobile and placed within civilian areas (the “whoosh” of the system deploying can be heard during attacks by those in the vicinity) and activated when an attack begins.
The system, which was first brought into operation in 2011, uses radar to detect a missile attack on Israel, sending to a command center all information about the trajectory and speed of the projectiles that were fired.
The computers in the command center then calculate where the incoming missile is expected to strike, and personnel decide whether to intercept based on the threat to areas that are populated or of strategic importance.
The David’s Sling missiles (called stunners) are launched almost vertically and have a steering system at the front and the rear, as well as an onboard radar system and multiple sensors to track the attacking missile. The stunners also use radar on the ground to help guide them. Each David’s Sling battery consists of 12 stunners. The batteries are stationary, but are believed to be able to defend the entirety of the State of Israel, with a range of 250 km. Photo Credit: YouTube.com
If the missile is predicted to land in an open area, no interception is required. However, if the missile is expected to strike a populated area, the warhead-laden interceptors are launched to neutralize the threat in the air.
The system has a successful interception rate of around 90 percent.
The defense system was developed jointly by the state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, with assistance from the United States.
The system reportedly costs around $50,000 per interception from a launcher’s battery of 20, although the complete system (radar, computer and three or four launchers) is believed to run to $100 million apiece.
David’s Sling (Hebrew: Kela David)
This medium-to-long range missile defense system first became operational in 2017, jointly developed by Rafael and the privately owned US defense contractor Raytheon (RTX).
Formerly known as Magic Wand (Sharvit Ksamim), the system is designed to intercept projectiles such as cruise and ballistic missiles as well as drones.
Unlike Iron Dome, the system has no warhead, instead striking its target directly to intercept it. The defense system works in two stages, first identifying and tracking the incoming strike and then targeting it.
The David’s Sling missiles (called stunners) are launched almost vertically and have a steering system at the front and the rear, as well as an onboard radar system and multiple sensors to track the attacking missile. The stunners also use radar on the ground to help guide them.
Each David’s Sling battery consists of 12 stunners. The batteries are stationary, but are believed to be able to defend the entirety of the State of Israel, with a range of 250 km.
Each stunner costs a reported $1 million to produce. Like Iron Dome, its success rate is said to be over 90 percent.
Arrow (Hebrew: Hetz)
The Arrow (versions 2 and 3) anti-ballistic missiles are Israel’s long-range defense mechanism, and considered among the most effective missile defense systems in the world.
Both versions of the Arrow use hypersonic speed (more than five times the speed of sound) – although the Arrow 3 is lighter, allowing it to travel faster and higher and for a longer range.
The Arrow 2 destroys its targets in the upper atmosphere while the Arrow 3 can intercept missiles beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, but both are designed to strike an incoming projectile before it begins to descend.
The Arrow works by identifying, tracking and intercepting long-range missiles by directly colliding with them. The Arrow 2 also uses fragmentation warheads, which splinter as they explode, sending fragments in multiple directions.
The system, which unlike the David’s Sling is mobile and can be launched from the back of a truck, became operational in 2000, and was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries alongside the US Missile Defense Agency.
Each Arrow missile is said to cost $3.5 million.
Iron Beam (Hebrew: Keren Barzel)
An experimental technology that is still officially in development although it is expected to be operational in the near future.
The mobile system consists of two pivoting laser guns, a surveillance system to track the incoming projectile and a control center staffed by personnel who issue commands to the system.
The laser gun creates a high-energy beam that can bring down missiles, mortars and drones at a reported maximum range of 10 km. The laser heats its target to incredibly high temperatures very quickly, rendering it obsolete.
While the system is still not operational, Israel says it will be massively less expensive than the existing costly tiers in Israel’s missile defense system, with unlimited interceptions and requiring less operators and maintenance.
The Arrow works by identifying, tracking and intercepting long-range missiles by directly colliding with them. The Arrow 2 also uses fragmentation warheads, which splinter as they explode, sending fragments in multiple directions. Photo Credit: Wikipedia.org
However, its critics say that the system would struggle to function in cloudy weather, and because the beam requires several seconds to heat the target, it would struggle to stay locked on a fast-moving object. Furthermore, a heat-resistant coating could also thwart its effectiveness.
The system was also created by Rafael, and, according to Israel, an interception by Iron Beam would cost just $2, compared to the tens of thousands of dollars spent on each Iron Dome launch.
The Arab-Israeli conflict may be the precursor to WWIII.
Based on international law, Israelis have the right to live anywhere in the British Mandate for Palestine, their ancestral homeland.
Muslims see the conflict as a religious war. Non-Muslims are Dhimmi. They are to be dominated and humiliated. The Arab term for blacks is Abeed, meaning slave.
The first Arab-Jewish conflict occurred in Medina. In 622, the Prophet Mohammed found shelter among the Quraysh Jews after being rejected in Mecca. The Jews operated camel caravans and were prosperous. They signed the Constitution of Medina, ensuring co-operation and laying the foundation for a Muslim community.
However, in 629, the Prophet abrogated his agreement, beheaded the Jewish men and boys and took the women captive.
The principal of lying to the Infidel to gain an advantage is called Taqiyya and is enshrined in the Koran.
The Arabs spread out of Arabia, conquering and colonizing much of the known world, from Asia through southern Euro and North Africa. They believe any land, once Muslim, is Muslim forever.
In World War One the allies defeated Germany and the Ottoman Empire. The San Remo Accords established mandates for Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
The 1920s saw the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the rise of Nazism in Europe. The Brotherhood’s aim is to spread the Caliphate world-wide.
The leader of the mandates’ Arabs was Nazi war criminal Haj Amin al-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. He instigated pogroms against Middle East Jews from the 1920s. In Germany during WWII, he formed the Bosnian Muslim 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar.
Following the defeat of Germany and its Arab partners in World War Two, the United Nations suggested splitting the British mandate, promised the Jews by the League of Nations and Article 80 of the UN Charter, into Arab and Jewish states. The Jews agreed. The Arabs did not and launched the Nakba to ‘drive the Jews into the sea’.
Before 1964, only Jews were called Palestinians. In 1964, the Soviet KGB created the Palestine Liberation Army to thwart America influence. They called Israel, ‘Palestine’ and non-Jews, ‘Palestinians’. Terrorism was their tool to focus attention on the ‘Palestine’ narrative.
Seventy-five years after the establishment of the state, Islamo-fascists still have not accepted Israel as a permanent part of the Middle East.
Israel is the 10th most powerful country in the world and the 5th happiest. It is a liberal democracy with robust political parties. Its per-capita GDP exceeds that of Canada, New Zealand, Australia or the UK. Its hospitals have Jewish and Arab staffs and patients.
It’s time for Islamists and the useful idiots who support them, to face reality and to solve the horrible refugee problem created by corrupt Arabs and the United Nations.
Sincerely Len Bennett, Author of ‘Unfinished Work’
Ideas on Presidential Debates
Dear Editor:
Why host a series of debates on Sunday night alternating between both Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates after Labor Day up to the last Sunday prior to Election Day? Each debate should deal with a specific topic, questions and answers from the candidates. They should be allowed to comment on each other’s responses. Issues to be covered under each debate could be general domestic, general foreign affairs, economy and inflation, border security, urban crime and dealing with solving our long term national debt. Any candidate who refuses to show up, should have an empty chair representing them on the dais.
Sincerely, Larry Penner Great Neck
Unfair Sanctions on Israeli Army Unit
Dear Editor:
I was outraged to read, in your April 20 issue, that the Biden administration has imposed sanctions on an Israeli army unit consisting of Orthodox Jews. Meanwhile, numerous members of the Palestinian police and security forces are actually involved in acts of terrorism, yet Biden has never sanctioned them. In fact, he won’t even criticize them. And he calls himself a friend of Israel?
Sincerely, Fred Bergman Flatbush
John Fetterman Speaks Up for the Hostages
Dear Editor:
Thank you, Senator John Fetterman, for promising to keep speaking out publicly about the hostages in Gaza (article in your April 20 edition). I notice Sen. Chuck “Shomer” never speaks about them. And, of course, neither do groups like J Street or even our own State Department. Could you imagine if Israelis were holding a bunch of Gazans hostage? All these so-called humanitarians would be screaming day and night. But when Jews are held hostage, well, I guess that gets in the way of their particular political agenda. What a tragedy!
Sincerely, Del Goren Brooklyn
Netanyahu Rising in Popularity
Dear Editor:
Senator Charles Schumer must be horrified by the news (as reported in your April 20 edition) that the latest polls show Prime Minister Netanyahu continuing to rise in popularity among the Israeli public. Schumer’s recent demand that Netanyahu resign was a gross violation of Israel’s internal affairs and disregard for the views of Israeli voters. The new polls are another reminder of how un-democratic this so-called Democratic senator really is.
Sincerely, Ethel Brogen Boro Park
The Silence of Jewish Faculty Members
Dear Editor:
So the dean of students at Northwestern University, Mona Dugo attended an anti-Israel protest outside the campus Hillel building last week. She claimed she was doing it “to protect the right to free speech” (according to your April 20 article). Well, I for one don’t believe her. Why? Because if white supremacists were demonstrating outside a campus building where African-American students were meeting, do you think Dugo would be out there, marching with them? Not a chance.
So why are the Jewish faculty members at Northwestern silent? Why aren’t they raising their voices to protest what their dean is doing? Dugo ought to be fired, and the Jewish professors at Northwestern should have the courage to say so.
Columbia president Minouche Shafik and two other officials were questioned by the same committee that has been investigating the surge in anti-Semitism at American universities and that had grilled the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in December. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The strength of America’s commitment not to tolerate hate is being tested by liberals who are supporting pro-Hamas protesters spewing Jew-hatred.
By: Jonathan S. Tobin
Any doubt about whether Columbia University understood the anger that its toleration of routine Jew-hatred on its campus had generated was removed this week on the day after school officials testified before the U.S. House of Representatives. And what followed represented a rare effort to enforce some consequences against the anti-Semitic mobs that have become a regular feature of American urban and college life in the last six months. But while the sight of police arresting illegal demonstrators howling bigotry against Jews was a relief to those who worried about the free pass such people seem to have gotten from authorities, the willingness of so many liberal pundits in the corporate press to defend the mobs is a sign of just how dangerous this moment in history has become.
Columbia president Minouche Shafik and two other officials were questioned by the same committee that has been investigating the surge in anti-Semitism at American universities and that had grilled the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in December.
As historian Niall Ferguson has written in his seminal Free Press essay, “The Treason of the Intellectuals,” what is happening on American campuses today is a frightening replay of what was going on in European universities in the 1920s and ’30s. Just like a century ago, the intellectual fashion of the day has made the Jews the scapegoats for everything the educated and credentialed classes don’t like. Photo Credit: Wikipedia.org
That trio shocked the country when they told the committee that it depended on “the context” as to whether advocacy for the genocide of Jews was against the rules of their respective institutions. Shafik didn’t commit the same mistake. Still, she had no good answer when asked why she has not only been tolerating a hostile atmosphere for Jews on campus in the aftermath of Hamas’s massacres in southern Israel on Oct. 7 but also refusing to enforce the school’s rules against unauthorized demonstrations. At the time she testified, one such “pro-Palestinian” encampment on the university’s South Lawn in front of the iconic Butler Library remained, despite the fact that those involved were told to remove it. There, the students were—as they have done for months—not only spouting the same lies about Israel committing “genocide” in Gaza but calling for the destruction of the one Jewish state on the planet (“from the river to the sea”) and in favor of terrorism against Jews (“globalize the intifada”).
Calling in the cops
Shafik’s decision to ask the New York City Police Department to enter the campus on Manhattan’s Upper West Side was surprising to many who know the university. Normally, the NYPD does not enter the Morningside Heights campus since it has its own Public Safety Department. Shafik rightly understood that removing the demonstrators was beyond the school’s capacity. So she called in the police to evict the tent dwellers though, as the Times reported the next day, they were soon back in place with no sign of law enforcement following up.
Those who watch the videos of the police action will be struck by both their restraint and professionalism, as well as by the vicious nature of the students, who were angered by the decision of the university to rein them in. The spectacle of entitled Ivy League students—many of whom come from privileged backgrounds—venting their contempt and calling police officers, who generally come from the working class, “pigs,” as well as expressing hatred for America itself, is as shocking as it is illustrative of the divisions in contemporary society.
Other videos from that day’s actions shared on X by witnesses were equally appalling as they recorded for posterity the way Columbia students—many of them wearing masks to conceal their identity for the same reason that members of the Ku Klux Klan wore white hoods—chanted their support for Hamas and their intolerance for the presence of “Zionists” on campus and said that they looked forward to more Oct. 7 massacres of Jews. Photo: Joshua Briz/AP
Other videos from that day’s actions shared on X by witnesses were equally appalling as they recorded for posterity the way Columbia students—many of them wearing masks to conceal their identity for the same reason that members of the Ku Klux Klan wore white hoods—chanted their support for Hamas and their intolerance for the presence of “Zionists” on campus and said that they looked forward to more Oct. 7 massacres of Jews. Indeed, nothing could better illustrate how critical race theory and intersectionality, which falsely label Jews and Israel as “white” oppressors, grant a permission slip for the kind of open hatred that was long thought to be confined to the margins of American life where only right-wing extremists dwell.
As historian Niall Ferguson has written in his seminal Free Press essay, “The Treason of the Intellectuals,” what is happening on American campuses today is a frightening replay of what was going on in European universities in the 1920s and ’30s. Just like a century ago, the intellectual fashion of the day has made the Jews the scapegoats for everything the educated and credentialed classes don’t like.
Scenes like these have been playing out all over the country this week as pre-planned pro-Hamas demonstrations were held on April 15, featuring masked thugs spouting propaganda about Jews committing genocide and shouting their support for Hamas as they blocked key highways, bridges, tunnels and transportation hubs.
Uncivil disobedience
We have come to expect such stunts and other acts of intimidation by left-wing activists in what can only be termed an epidemic of uncivil disobedience. But as the president of Columbia learned, many Americans are sick and tired of seeing public spaces commandeered by extremists engaging in hate speech and want to see authorities take action to see to it that these people are not allowed to engage in this sort of behavior without consequences. Students who transgress their school’s rules about hate speech and who seek to turn their campuses into no-go zones for Jews and supporters of Israel need to be punished, suspended or expelled. Citizens also expect to see city governments similarly protect the public by having such persons not only arrested but charged and prosecuted for violating the law.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) spoke for many when he posted on X that he believed that citizens who are being obstructed by pro-Hamas demonstrators should “take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way.” He then added another post with a video of someone roughly hauling leftists out of a street where they had laid down to halt traffic to show their sympathy for “Palestine.”
Cotton was attacked by the left for a 2020 New York Times op–ed demanding that the National Guard be called out to halt the “mostly peaceful” Black Lives Matter riots that were tearing America’s cities in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police. That essay prompted a revolt in the Times newsroom by woke staffers who didn’t believe that the paper should publish anything that contradicted their ideological orthodoxies, which led the newspaper to purge the editors that had approved its publication.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) spoke for many when he posted on X that he believed that citizens who are being obstructed by pro-Hamas demonstrators should “take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way.” He then added another post with a video of someone roughly hauling leftists out of a street where they had laid down to halt traffic to show their sympathy for “Palestine.” Credit: AP
This time, Sen. Cotton was again widely lambasted for what his critics said was advocating violence, though that seems pretty rich when you consider that the demonstrators are there to show their support for the survival of a genocidal terrorist movement. A better suggestion would be for the police to do the job rather than for ordinary citizens to take matters into their own hands. But even the police aren’t always able to cope with this problem. Departments are short of personnel after years of “defund the police” activism from BLM advocates and their liberal fellow travelers. Many urban prosecutors—elected as part of billionaire George Soros’s campaign to make America’s criminal justice system more criminal-friendly—are also refusing to charge those who break the law in this manner even when violence is involved.
As a result, the public is often held hostage by leftist antisemitic thugs.
Defending hate
Just as troubling is the willingness of many in the chattering classes to defend the protesters and pretend that expressions of anti-Semitism are a matter of free speech rather than hate. The Guardian’s Moira Donegan attacked Shafik in a column for what she described as “colluding with the far right” by calling in the police to enforce the university’s rules. She treated the entire idea that anti-Semitism was present as a right-wing talking point rather than an awful reality for Jewish students, whose plight interested her not at all.
The Times’ Michelle Goldberg sounded a similar theme in her denunciation of both the House committee investigating anti-Semitism and Shafik.
Both quoted comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a committee member whose questions were aimed at denying the anti-Semitic nature of the mobs that had transformed Columbia into a hotbed of Jew-hatred. That someone who has been censured by the House for her own repeated anti-Semitic rhetoric should sit on such a committee (or in Congress itself) is an irony completely lost on leftists. Both Donegan and Goldberg thought it was an outrage that Omar’s daughter—a junior at Barnard College—was among those participating in the pro-Hamas demonstration and rightly suspended from the school, though that piece of information was not generally known when Omar was trying to sabotage the hearing.
As with the rest of the debate about whether the antisemitism being vented on college campuses in the six months since Oct. 7 should be protected free speech, most of the arguments in defense of these mobs are disingenuous. The notion that the pro-Hamas activists are defending free speech is risible considering that most of their efforts are focused on silencing defenders of Israel and the Jews. These are not idealists acting out their sympathy for Palestinian victims but, rather, ideologues who have embraced the cause of a terrorist war to destroy the Jewish state.
What must also be acknowledged is that the crusade on the part of much of the liberal commentariat to defend or rationalize this epidemic of anti-Semitism is profoundly illiberal. This applies to those who, like the Times’ foreign-policy columnist Nicholas Kristof, have sought to mainstream blood libels against Israel. Their goal is to change the conversation about the war against Hamas from a necessary campaign to eradicate terrorists to an effort to legitimize a genocidal movement and its Western apologists.
The saddest aspect of this debate is the way it has been politicized by the left to make it appear that the fight against anti-Semitism is a Republican issue. It is deeply unfortunate that much of the liberal activist base of the Democratic Party that has been captured by advocates for critical race theory and intersectionality has taken sides against Israel in the war against Hamas. It’s also true that—as the daily drumbeat of incitement against Israel and its Jewish supporters in the Times, The Washington Post and MSNBC show—left-wing journalists are doing their utmost to legitimize anti-Jewish hate.
Both quoted comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a committee member whose questions were aimed at denying the anti-Semitic nature of the mobs that had transformed Columbia into a hotbed of Jew-hatred. That someone who has been censured by the House for her own repeated anti-Semitic rhetoric should sit on such a committee (or in Congress itself) is an irony completely lost on leftists. Credit: AP
The effort to curb the surge of anti-Semitism in this country should not be conducted along party lines. Democrats and Republicans, liberals as well as conservatives, should be lining up against those who agree with Omar and her cheering section that anti-Semitic mobs are principled idealists rather than self-entitled hate-mongers. All decent Americans should—if not agreeing with Cotton about roughly preventing illegal protesters from taking over our public squares—be actively seeking to treat these antisemitic agitators with the disdain and punishment they deserve. If the defenders of the mobs prevail, the alternative is a nation where anti-Semitism is mainstreamed and Jewish safety a thing of the past.
Purées are a blank canvas upon which you can showcase a short rib or chicken breast.
By: Naomi Ross
Purées are wonderful as a side dish or background accompaniment; they are a blank canvas upon which you can showcase a short rib or chicken breast. Potatoes may be the most common ingredient because there are so many varieties, and it is the ubiquitous food when it comes to Passover. No need to use the plain-old white potato; vary your mash.
Try this with kohlrabi instead of celeriac for a slightly sweeter variation (the combination actually tastes like cauliflower).
What did people use before food processors? The food mill! It’s a great tool for blending foods into specific textures with precision and total control. The fine disc is perfect for completely smooth purees like baby food, and the medium disc makes perfectly textured applesauce while holding back unwanted skins.
Cook’s Note: I like using a food mill for the best texture and total control; if using a food processor, pulse just until you reach desired consistency.
Celeriac and Potato Purée (Dairy or Pareve)
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 large celeriac (aka celery root), peeled and chunked
4 large or 6 srmall potatoes, peeled and chunked
kosher salt to taste, plus 1 teaspoon
1-2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
fresh minced hebs such as dill, parsley, etc. (optional)
Directions:
Fill a large pot with salted water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a rolling boil.
Add celeriac and potatoes. Return to a boil and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until celeriac is tender and easily pierced with a fork.
Remove from heat. Set a food mill fitted with a medium blade over a large bowl.
Using a slotted spoon, remove celeriac and potatoes (reserve some of the cooking water) and transfer to the food mill. Rotate food mill until all of the celeriac and potatoes are puréed; you may need to do this in batches.
Add butter or olive oil to the hot milled mixture; stir to dissolve and blend.
(Alternatively, you can use a food processor fitted with an “S” blade. Process the celeriac and potatoes with butter or oil by pulsing until puréed.)
Add a little of the reserved cooking water to the mixture onlyas needed to thin the consistency if too thick.
Season to taste with plenty of salt and pepper, as well as herbs, if desired.
Celeriac Purée. Photo by Baila Gluck.
Roasted Garlic Variation:
For a stronger flavor, add 2 roasted garlic cloves (peels removed) to the food mill prior to puréeing.
Spiced French Roast With Dried Fruits (Meat)
Serves 6-8
This braised meat is perfect for seder night or any special time of year. A super aromatic spice rub infuses the meat with flavor overnight, so plan to marinate it a day ahead. This recipe can be used interchangeably with brisket or top-of-the-rib. Amounts double easily for a larger cut of meat.
Cook’s Note: For a thicker sauce, transfer cooking liquid into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes, reducing until thickened to desired consistency.
Make Ahead: This can be made two to three days ahead of time. For the best slicing success, slice when cold; rewarm covered in a 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes.
Spiced French Roast With Dried Fruits. Photo by Baila Gluck.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 (3-pound) French roast
2-3 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 medium onions, sliced (about 3 cups)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup dry kosher red wine
2 small or 1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 small or 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup whole pitted prunes
½ cup dried apricots
2 Tablespoons water
1½ Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
chopped parsley for garnishing (optional)
Directions:
Combine the salt, coriander, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice together in a small bowl. Arrange the roast in a large roasting pan; rub the spice mixture evenly over both sides. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a very large skillet over high heat. Carefully place the roast in the skillet. Brown for 1 to 2 minutes per side, turning once. Remove the roast from the pan and transfer to a plate.
Lower heat to medium and add another tablespoon of oil to the pan if it looks dry. Add onions and garlic, and sauté, stirring often, about 5 to 6 minutes or until translucent. Pour wine into the pan and deglaze, scraping up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer mixture to a roasting pan, arranging the roast on top, fat side up. Surround the roast with parsnips, carrots, prunes and apricots.
In a separate small bowl, mix the water, honey and tomato paste. Stir to blend and then pour over the top of the roast, spreading to cover. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake until tender, about 2½ hours (or longer for larger cuts). Meat is done when a fork pierces and releases easily. Allow the meat to rest and cool for about 30 minutes.
Transfer the roast to a cutting board or work surface. Using a very sharp carving knife, thinly slice the roast against the grain on a slight diagonal.
Transfer slices to a serving platter, and surround the meat with the roasted vegetables and fruits. Garnish with chopped parsley.
From where can we learn to transcend ourselves? Mostly from our mothers.
Let’s all leave ourselves behind this Passover
By: Tzvi Freeman
Every morning and every night, a Jew has to remember two things:
G‑d is one.
He took us out of Egypt.
They’re the bookends of the Shema Yisrael declaration. It begins with our affirmation that “G‑d is One” and ends with His affirmation that “I am G‑d, your G‑d, who took you out of the land of Egypt to be your G‑d.”
It may seem bizarre that the two come wrapped in a single package. What does G‑d’s oneness have to do with leaving Egypt?
But the answer is simple: They are both about self-transcendence.
We leave Egypt every day by transcending ourselves, embracing the state of consciousness that G‑d is one and we are part of that oneness.
With that we are free, and all freedom stems from there.
Art by Sefira Lightstone
Leave Yourself at the Door
From where can we learn to transcend ourselves? Mostly from our mothers.
My mother had gone through much pain in life, a delicate woman who had to learn to bounce back again and again. At sixteen, she had immigrated from a palatial mansion in India to a life of struggle in Canada. Her first marriage had been an abusive one, we were not easy kids to raise, and her health was always just on the verge of collapse.
There were times when she spoke to me as though she were a sister, sharing her most inner feelings.
Like one afternoon in my adolescence, when she sat on the sofa in the living room, hugging her coffee mug and staring listlessly into space. The sight shook even a self-absorbed teenage boy such as myself.
“Mom, are you okay?” I asked.
“I’ll be just fine,” she answered, “as soon as I stop thinking about myself and start caring for others.”
Years later, that memory resonated when I heard a story of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.1
The rabbi had a wealthy disciple who had fallen into heavy debt and could no longer fulfill his commitments. The man came to him and poured out his heart. After listening attentively to the man’s sorrows, the rabbi answered.
“You’ve told me all that you need. You haven’t said a word about why you are needed.”
“The world needs you to enlighten it with your Torah and the labor of your heart,” he continued. ”G‑d needs to provide you with a living and all your needs. You do what you need to do and let Him do what He needs to do.”
It might sound a little harsh. The guy’s in pain. He’s an honest man and he wants to keep his financial commitments. He needs a loan, not a swift kick. In fact, the story goes, the man passed out and had to be carried out of the rabbi’s study and revived.
But the rabbi gave him a gift greater than any loan. He gave him the key to happiness. Dwell on your own self and circumstances and you’re guaranteed to become depressed.2 Get out of yourself. See the big picture and find your place within it. You’ll be much happier and the entire world will benefit as well.
From the dawn of human consciousness, we have been clutching for the magic doorknob that takes us out of ourselves.
Getting Back to the Garden
From the dawn of human consciousness, we have been clutching for the magic doorknob that takes us out of ourselves.
How did we get locked in this prison? Nachmanides wrote that we entered the cell of self-knowledge and lost contact with the transcendent when we surrendered to our sensual impulses in the Garden of Eden.
Noah, the Zohar explains, attempted to escape that prison of self by means of a psychotropic produced through the fermentation of grapes, a.k.a. strong wine.
He failed. Humanity only became yet more entangled within its own web. But that hasn’t prevented others from attempting similar ventures, up to this very day.
Not all such attempts involve chemicals. In the 1950s, neurophysiologist William Grey Walter discovered he could induce hallucinogenic states by flashing lights on closed eyelids at the same frequency as alpha brainwaves. That inspired artist Brion Gysin to create the “Dreamachine”—billed as a drug-free avenue to spiritual enlightenment for the masses. The machine was recently reincarnated and is booked to travel this summer across Europe. It even has its own roadies: a team of neuroscientists to cull data from the experiences of participants.
Today, researchers at several prestigious institutions are experimenting with inducing self-transcendent states through forms of meditation, exposure to awe-inducing stimuli such as towering Tasmanian eucalyptus trees, or even transcranial focused ultrasound.
Indeed, few shifts in our society are as tectonic as the rising prominence of the search for self-transcendence in mainstream psychology. A simple n-gram in Google Books shows a 600% climb in the usage of the term since 1960, mostly beginning around 1985, and increasing almost every year since.
The truth is, the benefits achieved through these methods in the treatment of pain and depression are impressive. But I don’t think anyone believes this is Moses coming to liberate us and take us to the Promised Land. Or back to the garden. We’re still repeating Noah’s folly.
For one thing, other than the mindfulness practice path—which by all accounts takes the greatest investment of time and effort—all these interventions are extrinsic. How, then, could they effect any real and lasting inner change? No pain, no investment, no gain.
In Vancouver in the 70s, we had a wise old man from India nicknamed the Gastown Guru. He used to tell psychedelic trippers, “If you didn’t take yourself there, you never arrived.”
But, more importantly, entangled within a valuable truth, a serious misconception guides all these journeys.
The truth they contain is that people do not become free just because no one is telling them what to do. If every dictator on the planet would die tomorrow, humanity would remain enslaved. Freedom demands a higher state of perception and consciousness. True.
The fallacy is that freedom could be a private affair, a personal enlightenment, unshared, held deep inside. Seductive. But a lie.
No one can claim to be free while living in an oppressive world. No pill, no psychedelic hallucination, not even your own state of blissful enlightenment can render you free while the guy next to you continues to suffer.
Freedom cannot be achieved until we break down the walls of our own egos and feel the other person’s joy and pain just as we do our own. It is by definition a communal state, in which we discover the other guy’s world as we reach beyond our own.
Neither surrender to the suffering of this world or escape from it are acts of freedom. Feeling empowered to do something about it is. We transcend by connecting and each becoming part of a transcendent whole that is capable of real growth, resilience, and transformation.
The only path to freedom, then, is by creating a society of transcendence.
From the dawn of human consciousness, we have been clutching for the magic doorknob that takes us out of ourselves.
Tools for a Society of Self-Transcendence
Two women who have given us real evidence-based tools for a self-transcendent society are Lisa Miller and Pamela Reed.
In the world of nursing, Pamela Reed’s theory of self-transcendence has become textbook material for nursing. That’s mostly because it has proven itself as a highly effective means to help the elderly cope with the anxiety and depression that plagues the final years. But it has also proven a beneficial intervention in many of the most difficult events of life, such as post-partum depression and chronic illness.
In Reed’s model, nurses help their patients to reach outside of themselves, both by connecting with others, and by seeing the big picture of life and the universe. In other words, this is a psychology that doesn’t see the patient as a lone wolf, but as an integral thread within both a social network and a great big world. It’s a social medicine.
With addictions counseling, the situation is similar. It’s well established by now that if you want a former addict to stay clean after leaving rehab, you must teach him to reach outside of himself, to help others, and to hang on to faith in a higher power. That’s a crucial message for a society in the midst of the largest addictions epidemic in history.
If you have any doubt that we are wired for self-transcendence, look into Professor Lisa Miller’s twenty years of research into spirituality (defined as “a personal relationship with the transcendent”), especially spirituality in children. It’s not just that children are naturally inclined towards a spiritual view of the world around them. Spirituality, as she has demonstrated in multiple studies, provides kids with “significantly more positive markers for thriving including an increased sense of meaning and purpose, and high levels of academic success.”
Vitamin A is found in foods such as beef liver, sweet potato, carrots, and spinach. (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock)
This fat-soluble vitamin helps keep your eyes healthy, supports immunity, fights free radicals, and is critical for fetal development.
By: Mercura Wang
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin with multiple vital functions in the body. It supports normal cellular reproduction and is essential for optimal vision. In addition, vitamin A plays a critical role in the proper development of an embryo and fetus.
Vitamin A deficiency is prevalent in developing nations but rare in developed countries. Less than 1 percent of the American population was deficient in 2013. Some experts believe vitamin A toxicity from synthetic supplements is more common in the United States than deficiency.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Vitamin A Deficiency?
A prolonged vitamin deficiency within the diet causes primary vitamin A deficiency. Secondary vitamin A deficiency can result from reduced bioavailability of provitamin A carotenoids (a particular food’s normally absorbable fractions of vitamin A) or from interference with the normal absorption, storage, or transport of vitamin A. Medical conditions such as celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, pancreatic insufficiency, duodenal bypass, chronic diarrhea, bile duct obstruction, and cirrhosis may lead to interference with the absorption or storage of the vitamin. Prolonged protein-energy undernutrition can also contribute to deficiency due to both dietary insufficiency and impaired vitamin A storage and transport. Zinc deficiency in alcoholics may also result in secondary vitamin A deficiency.
Limited research indicates genetic variability in the conversion rates of beta carotene into vitamin A. Specific variations (polymorphisms) in the BCMO1 gene have been identified, which can reduce the activity of the BCMO1 enzyme in humans.
Mild deficiency symptoms include fatigue, vulnerability to infections, and reproductive challenges. More notable vitamin A deficiency signs and symptoms include:
Night blindness: Night blindness is often the initial indication of vitamin A deficiency. Since vitamin A plays a critical role in regenerating visual pigment, insufficient levels can result in night blindness due to impaired regeneration of visual pigment in retinal rods.
Conjunctival xerosis: This is the dryness of conjunctiva, the clear, thin membrane that protects our eyes.
Corneal xerosis (corneal dryness).
Bitot’s spots: Bitot’s spots are irregular and foamy patches formed by the buildup of keratin on the white of the eyes. They typically manifest in children between the ages of 3 and 6.
Keratomalacia: Keratomalacia occurs when the cornea becomes ulcerated and begins to liquefy. It is one of the most severe signs of deficiency and has the potential to penetrate and destroy the cornea within days. It also portends to the death of children in developing countries, with 50 percent dying within a year of losing their vision.
Retinopathy: Retinopathy refers to a group of disorders affecting the retina. It’s the leading cause of preventable blindness.
Dry skin or hair.
Complications
The complications of vitamin A deficiency include:
Xerophthalmia, the collection of signs and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency related to the eyes (listed above).
Poor immunity: The lack of vitamin A generally leads to impaired immunity.
Stunted growth.
Thickened organ linings: The linings of the lungs, intestines, and urinary tract become thicker and less flexible.
Anemia.
Higher risk of respiratory illness.
Permanent vision loss or blindness: Many symptoms of vitamin A deficiency can lead to blindness.
Infertility.
Death: Over 50 percent of children experiencing severe vitamin A deficiency may not survive.
What Are the Health Benefits of Vitamin A?
When we consume foods with vitamin A (in the form of retinyl esters, a combination of fatty acid and retinol), our body absorbs it mainly in the small intestine, where these retinyl esters are broken down into retinol. A small part of the vitamin A we consume is also converted into retinoic acid in the cells of the small intestine.
We also consume foods with carotenoids, such as orange and yellow vegetables and fruits. After being absorbed, some carotenoids are converted into vitamin A (retinaldehyde) in different organs and tissues.
Around 90 percent of the vitamin A we obtain from our diet is stored in the liver. When our body needs vitamin A, the vitamin is taken from this storage in the form of retinol. Once released from the liver, retinol travels in the bloodstream, and about 95 percent of it attaches to a protein called retinol-binding protein (RBP), which helps transport vitamin A to different parts of the body.
After being used by various organs and tissues, vitamin A is removed from the body through feces and urine. Retinol can be further converted into retinoic acid, which exits the body through bile and feces. The time it takes for half of the retinol (i.e., half-life) to be removed can vary, ranging from two to nine hours. However, the overall half-life of vitamin A (including all its forms) is about 12 days.
Vitamin A is essential for the following functions:
Vision health: The retina has two types of light-sensitive cells called rods and cones. When light particles enter the lens, rods and cones turn them into electric signals for the brain to understand. In low-light conditions, retinaldehyde (vitamin A compound) permeates rod cells, where it combines with a protein to make a visual pigment. Light hitting it triggers a reaction, leading to an electric signal that travels to the brain through the optic nerve, creating the sensation of sight. After doing its job, the retinaldehyde converts back into retinol to start the process again. Similar cycles occur with cone cells, which help us see different colors. Vitamin A is crucial for this entire process, as well as for eye development.
Cellular differentiation: Vitamin A is essential for normal cell differentiation—which occurs during cell renewal—especially in tissues such as the skin and mucous membranes. Vitamin A also has widespread effects on metabolism, interacting with hormones such as thyroid, insulin, and corticosteroids. This interaction is especially important for wound healing, as it boosts the growth and reproduction of skin cells, blood vessels, and collagen.
Gene regulation: In our cells, vitamin A takes different forms, such as retinoic acid. This acid acts like a hormone, affecting gene expression and various body processes. The active forms of vitamin A bind to specific proteins, which act as on-off switches for genes. These switches can pair up or mix and match, regulating gene activity. Vitamin A can also interact with other hormones, including vitamin D and steroids, thus influencing a broad range of genes. Vitamin A’s involvement in cellular processes affects over 500 genes. It’s also linked to insulin resistance and has implications for lipid metabolism and heat production in fat tissue.
Reproduction function: Retinoic acid is critical for the proper development of embryos and plays a key role in shaping their limbs, hearts, eyes, and ears. Imbalances in vitamin A levels, both excessive and deficient, are recognized for their potential to induce birth defects.
A New York City leftist anti-Israel activist group — which calls itself “Jewish” despite not having anything to do with Judaism — hosted an event called “Tot Shabbat for Ceasefire” in March and plans to host similar “Kids Seder in the Streets” in April, after previously hosting an event honoring a registered sex offender, which also included childcare.
“Jews for Racial and Economic Justice” (JFREJ) — which claims to somehow represent Jews, despite boasting that “some of our most active members aren’t Jewish” — has been vocal in opposing Israeli military operations in Gaza, following the slaughter of around 1,200 in Israel and the kidnapping of hundreds of Jewish hostages on October 7, and keeps holding activist events geared toward children:
Instagram/Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
JFREJ is a leftist activist group in New York City that has gained prominence in recent years, hosting notable people at its events, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) in December 2018 — where she said she was of Jewish heritage, claiming people from Puerto Rico are “an amalgamation” — and Mara Gay, of the New York Times editorial board, in December 2019. The group has accused Israel of “genocide,” and is calling for a “permanent ceasefire,” where Israel would have to lay down arms after the October 7 pogrom by terrorists residing on its border.
On March 30, the organization held a “Tot Shabbat for Ceasefire” in Brooklyn, which had “activists” ranging in age “from infancy to 6” participating in a “mini Shabbat service and ceasefire march geared toward families with young children,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.
The report said this was the fourth such event, all taking place at various locations around Brooklyn, New York, and described them as “ritual spaces imbued with activism.”
At the event, children reportedly sang “Shalom Aleichem,” followed by a march chanting “Ceasefire … Now!”
The invitation to the tot Shabbat event, aside from demanding “ceasefire,” also called for “an end to Israeli apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and the occupation of the Palestinian people.”
JFREJ is planning another event for April 27, called “Kids Seder in the Streets.” Children participating are supposed to protest Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and demand, “Our tax dollars should be going towards education, housing, shelters, healthcare, libraries, public transit, parks, and all of the essential services New Yorkers desperately need, NOT more bombs on the children of Gaza or the West Bank,” according to a post on the group’s Instagram:
Instagram/Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
These child-centered political protests come after JFREJ previously hosted an event honoring a convicted child rapist, Douglas Powell, for his work with homelessness advocacy group Vocal-NY Action Fund.
On September 12, 2023, JFREJ hosted their annual “Mazals” event, where it honored Vocal-NY, and had Powell on stage accepting a framed certificate. Powell served time in prison after being convicted of manslaughter and of raping a 12-year-old girl. Powell was also written up in the New York Post in 2022, for launching into a racist tirade at a city council meeting, saying his Queens neighbors of Asian ethnicity were “from China, they’re from Hong Kong.”
Instagram/Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
JFREJ advertised “childcare” being provided at the event, despite contact with minors being prohibited under Powell’s conditions for release. It described the event as “one big, delicious, queer, Jewish rent party.”
Following the “big, delicious, queer, Jewish rent party,” JFREJ faced backlash from sex abuse victim advocacy group “Za’akah,” and claimed it was “in a process of contacting parents who signed up for childcare,” pledging to work with Za’akah to “find a way forward that fully incorporates our shared values of community safety, support for survivors, and restorative justice.” The group also said that it remains “proud to have honored Vocal-NY’s homelessness union:
Instagram/Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
JFREJ did not respond when reached for comment by Breitbart News.
JFREJ has an infant onesie that says “Jews for Racial & Economic Justice” on it for sale on its website.
Emma-Jo Morris is the Politics Editor at Breitbart News. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter.
Despite scenes of antisemtism at Columbia University, Rabbi Yuda Drizin hands out shmurah matzah to Jewish students before the start of the Passover holiday.
Photo: Chabad-Lubavtich at Columbia
For Jewish students at Columbia University, there is fear in the air. A cloud of blatant anti-Jewish hate has cast its ugly pall over the campus.
In the face of fears, Rabbi Yuda Drizin, who co-directs Chabad-Lubavitch at Columbia with his wife Naomi, this means holding a larger PassoverSeder than he’d originally planned.
Columbia University has seen its fair share of scrutiny in the wake of Oct. 7, with the school administration accused of doing little to protect Jewish students who faced a barrage of antisemitic incidents, both on campus and online in the months following the attacks. While this specter of antisemitism has loomed over the lives of Jewish students on campus for the past six months, it came to a head on Saturday, April 20.
Following a week of hate-filled protests that saw more than 100 students arrested by the New York City Police Department after setting up tents on the campus’s South Lawn, hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators amassed outside Columbia University’s campus gate.
The group that gathered for the Saturday evening protest included both Columbia students, as well as a large number of people from outside the university. “The protests included chants of ‘Bomb, Bomb Tel Aviv’ and ‘Long Live the Intifada’ said David F., a sophomore from Woodmere, N.Y., who witnessed the protests.
As the tensions escalated on Saturday evening, David and his brother decided they wanted to have their voices heard, and they quickly organized a pro-Israel rally at the Sundial in the center of campus.
“We set up a speaker and were dancing and playing songs of peace, like ‘Heveinu Shalom Aleichem,’ ‘Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu’ and ‘One Day,’ by Matisyahu,” David said.
It did not take long for anti-Jewish protesters to take aim at them. Videos showing the Jewish students’ harrowing experience quickly went viral, clearly showing pro-Palestinian demonstrators harassing, berating and insulting Jewish students as well as stealing their Israeli flags and attempting to burn them.
Anti-Israel protesters harrassed and taunted Jewish students holding a rally for Israel on Saturday evening, April 20.
Photo: Chabad-Lubavitch at Columbia
When Rabbi Drizin heard about the situation, he immediately left home and walked over to the campus, standing with the students to ensure their safety. He stayed with the students until they all returned safely to their dorms.
In the viral videos, one can hear shouts and taunts telling the Jewish students to “go back to Europe” and “you have no culture.” The shouting got more violent, and fueled and emboldened by the antisemitism, chants could be heard saying “all you do is colonize.”
The Jewish students rushed away from the campus. On their way home, they could not escape the vitriol, where rioters continued to scream at them, more explicitly this time: “Yahoodim [Jews], f**k you” and “stop killing children.”
Not deterred by the previous evening’s protest, the rabbi went out on campus on Sunday morning to hand out shmurahmatzah to students and faculty and to put tefillinon passersby, as he does weekly.
“Jewish students walking through campus shouldn’t feel like they need to scurry. They see a rabbi handing out matzah proudly with a smile, and they feel like they are not alone; that someone is standing up for them,” Drizin said.
Despite the climate and with many students now choosing to spend the Passover holiday at home, Chabad at Columbia has planned seders, holiday prayer services, and festive kosher-for-Passover barbecue lunches throughout the next week.
To ensure that Jewish students attending the events feel safe and secure, Chabad has hired additional security guards to chaperone students from the Chabad house to their dorm rooms.
“We refuse to yield to the forces of hate. Instead, we’ll raise our voices in song and dance throughout the nights of Passover 2024,” the rabbi said of the resolve to continue celebrating as Jews and not letting evil win. “They want us to back down, to cower and hide. Instead, we will continue as proud Jews.”
David F. told Chabad.org that “the words of ‘Vehi Sheamda’ [the prayer recited on Passover saying that in each generation a nation rises up against the Jewish people, but each time the Jews are victorious] are so potent right now. Amidst all the uncertainty and hate, there’s one thing that I know, that ‘G‑d will save us.’”
While David. is choosing to go to his parents home in Woodmere for the Seders, many students are remaining on campus despite the turmoil.
“We expect over 100 students to come to the campus Seders,” said Naomi Drizin.
“Matzah, as described in the Zohar, is the ‘bread of faith and healing,’” the Drizins wrote in a statement issued today by Chabad at Columbia. “Let us hold fast to our faith, knowing that with G‑d Almighty at our side, we will emerge stronger from these challenges, and bring healing to this world.”
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with member of the national security team regarding the unfolding missile attacks on Israel from Iran on April 13, 2024, in the White House Situation Room. Credit: Adam Schultz/White House.
(JNS) BY Caroline B. Glick
Three reports published since Iran’s April 13 combined missile and UAV assault on Israel stand out for what the tell us about the nature of U.S. policy in relation to the war.
First, on Sunday Reuters reported that Turkey mediated between Iran and the United States to agree on the size and scope of Iran’s assault on Israel before Iran carried it out. A Turkish diplomatic source told the news agency that, “Iran informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel…[and] Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be ‘within certain limits.’”
The Turkish diplomat told Reuters that the mediation was conducted by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken.
“Iran informed us in advance of what would happen. Possible developments also came up during the meeting with Blinken, and they [the U.S.] conveyed to Iran through us that this reaction must be within certain limits,” the official said.
The second story, reported widely by the U.S. and Israeli media, revealed that the United States is pressuring Israel to suffice with a “symbolic” counterattack against Iran. In other words, U.S. President Joe Biden and his team are telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government that Israel can conduct a bit of a sound and light show over Iran, but it may not do any meaningful damage to Iran’s military, missile, nuclear, energy, or regime targets. Blinken reportedly went so far as to tell Minister Benny Gantz and Jewish leaders in the United States that it isn’t in Israel’s interests to attack Iran.
Finally, on Thursday morning, Qatari media reported that the United States has agreed that Israel may attack Hamas’s final redoubt in Rafah, along the Egyptian border, but only if Israel’s strike against Iran is little and mild.
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The most startling feature common to all three stories is the sense that for the administration, everything that is happening here is a game. It isn’t a war. At best, it’s a playground fight, or a video game. The reports indicate that as the Americans see things, Iran and its terror armies in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq are children. And they’re ganging up on Israel—another child. It’s Uncle Sam’s job to be the grownup and set rules for their fight that give everyone a chance to get his licks in—but only so hard, and only so many.
The rules Biden and his team have set are fairly straightforward. Iran and its proxies are permitted to attack Israel as hard as they can. Israel is allowed to defend against their attacks. Israel is permitted to carry out limited—preferably covert—raids to counterattack.
Israel is not allowed to defeat its foes.
Consider the administration’s narrative about Iran’s April 13 strike on Israel. The U.S. version of events asserts that Iran attacked Israel in response to the April 1 airstrike in Damascus, attributed to Israel, which took out Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Iran’s terror master in Syria and Lebanon. Zahedi was killed along with six other top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers and Hezbollah terrorists, including his deputy in an IRGC military compound adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Zahedi was reputedly the mastermind of Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion and slaughter in Israel that left 1,200 Israelis dead and 246 taken hostage in Gaza.
The problem with the U.S. narrative is that Israel and Iran are in an active state of war across multiple battlefields, including Damascus. Zahedi was not merely a legitimate military target—his role as commander of all Iranian operations in Lebanon and Syria made killing him an operational imperative. To see the Iranian strike against Israel as a simple response to a lone attack is to ignore the fact that a war is raging.
The U.S. narrative also ignores the substance of Iran’s assault on Israel.
Iran combined missile and drone assault against Israel—which included 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones—was the largest such assault in the history of war. As retired General Kenneth McKenzie, who commanded U.S. forces in the Middle East until 2022, explained to The Washington Post, Iran expended “maximum effort” in amassing the force of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles with which it attacked Israel. There was “nothing moderate” about Tehran’s aggression, which he assessed included most of the missile arsenal that the regime had based in western Iran.
Not only was it unprecedented in scope. It was unprecedented in nature.
Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has been waging a proxy war against Israel. The goal of the war is to annihilate Israel. To this end, Iran encircled Israel with proxy armies and is nearing completion of its nuclear weapons program, that together with its missile arsenal will give Iran the capacity to wipe Israel off the map, as its leaders have consistently promised to do. Given the goals and actions of Iran and its proxies, it is obvious that Israel’s counterstrikes are in fact a war for national survival.
The assault last Saturday was a watershed event because in the midst of the highest intensity proxy war Iran has ever fought, and as Iran is widely reputed to be a threshold nuclear power, the mullahs stepped out from behind the curtain for the first time and attacked Israel directly, and did so with an assault unprecedented in scope.
The fact that a hundred ballistic missiles were either duds or fell far short of Israel, and that Israel intercepted 99 percent of the missiles that got through does not diminish the scope and breath of the attack.
The question is, why did Iran choose to attack now? Given the scope, the notion that it was a tit for tat in response to the Zahedi hit is absurd. You don’t shoot all your available missiles and drones at your sworn enemy in one night out of pique. You use the Zahedi strike as a justification to do something you had planned for a long time.
Iran decided to step out from behind the curtain for the first time in 45 years and directly enter the high intensity war it has been waging against Israel for six months through its proxies because it is confident that it is winning. Israeli weakness isn’t the source of its confidence. Israel’s brilliance on the battlefields of this war has made the likes of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah stutter. Before the IDF launched its ground operation in Gaza in November, Nasrallah was certain that his Radwan forces, comprising veterans of the Iranian wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, were far better than Israel’s largely untested soldiers. He stopped bragging months ago.
Iran attacked Israel on Saturday night for the first time in history because it feels confident that the United States has its back, not Israel’s back. Iran believes that the United States is not going to permit Israel to win, and therefore, will enable Tehran and its proxies to expand their war to annihilate Israel—as Iran did last Saturday.
Last week, Nasrallah stated this outright. On April 1, IDF forces in Gaza mistakenly attacked an aid convoy in Gaza, killing seven foreign aid workers. On April 4, Biden gave Netanyahu an ultimatum in a phone conversation. The president demanded that Israel massively expand the resupply of Gaza or lose U.S. support. Faced with the ultimatum, Netanyahu complied. Massive quantities of good have been flowing into Gaza ever since, much to Hamas’s delight. Shortly after this conversation, Hamas rejected the hostage deal offer.
Reacting to the turn of events, Nasrallah said on April 8, “The recent call from Biden [to Netanyahu] proves…that if the Americans want to stop something, they can make it stop. The claim that the Americans cannot force Israel to do something is nonsense.”
Nasrallah concluded gleefully, “According to some theories, Israel controls America. No sir. It is America that controls Israel.”
Since Saturday night, U.S. officials and supportive commentators have played up the “international coalition” that came together to prevent Iran’s missiles from causing harm to Israel. This ad hoc group, which included Jordan and Saudi Arabia, it is said, are proof that Israel can depend on America and that if Israel follows Washington’s directives, it will enjoy peace and security even as Iran grows in power, and its proxies prevail, thanks to America’s protection.
But the truth is far different. The Saudis and the Jordanians are directly threatened by Iran. Unlike the children running U.S. policies, the Jordanians and Saudis were aghast at Iran’s assault, which they rightly understood was not a tit for tat, but an unprecedented escalation of Iran’s war. They realized that the attack was a sign that Iran believes that thanks to the Biden administration, it is now immune from counterattack, to the point where it dares to attack Israel directly. Their intervention wasn’t on Israel’s behalf, per se. It was self-defense, as officials from both countries have stated.
The U.S. posture in this war has rattled Israel and the U.S.’s Sunni allies to their core. Like Nasrallah, all of them now understand that while the United States is the most powerful actor in the region, it is also delusional. It fails to understand the reality of what is happening. Washington’s policies for contending with the war that Biden and his top officials refuse to acknowledge are just making things worse.
If Israel fails to defeat Hamas in Gaza, then there will no longer be any restraints on Iranian and Iranian-proxy aggression against Israel. And there will also be no restraints on Iran’s efforts to overthrow the regimes of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. If the United States successfully forces Israel to stand down in the face of Iran’s shocking attack, then that attack will be the baseline for future assaults—conventional and unconventional—against Israel and the Sunni Arab states.
Iran itself is so certain that this is the case that its top officials are now speaking openly about using nuclear weapons. As the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported, on April 7, Iranian nuclear scientist Mahmoud Reza Aghamiri said in an interview with Iranian television that Iranian dictator Ali Khamenei can change his religious ruling forbidding the production of an atomic bomb whenever he wishes. Aghamiri said that Iran’s nuclear capabilities “are high,” and that once a country has nuclear capabilities, making a nuclear bomb “is not complicated.”
The administration’s refusal to recognize the existential nature of the war Iran and its proxies are now waging against Israel places Israel in an existential dilemma.
Israel today is compelled to decide between two options. It can fight the war to win it, in Iran and Gaza, first and foremost, and risk a rupture of relations with the United States.
Or, it can lose the war and accept the position of a U.S. protectorate, with the full knowledge that the United States will not permit its protectorates to challenge Iranian hegemony.
In other words, if Israel fails to risk a rupture in relations with the United States, it will accept a position that will lead to its destruction.
(DCNF) MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos predicted on Monday that there is a possibility for a mistrial in the case Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought against former President Donald Trump.
Trump is currently on trial for 34 felony counts pertaining to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence regarding an alleged affair, and all 12 jurors were selected on Thursday. Two jurors were initially excused before the full jury was seated, which Cevallos on “Morning Joe” said indicates the possibility of forthcoming issues that could cause a mistrial.
“So here’s the thing. I think juror attrition could be a real problem in this case,” Cevallos said. “I mean, just do the math. Last week, we lost two jurors before the trial even began. When you think about it, you do lose jurors during a trial. I’ve lost them. They fell asleep. They don’t follow the judge’s orders. But you don’t normally lose a juror after the moment they’re selected and between that and the time that the trial actually begins because, ordinarily, nothing happens during that time.”
“But in this case, you have an example where a juror goes home, they start really thinking about their duty and what this is going to entail, and they come back and say, ‘you know what, I don’t want to do this anymore.’ By the way, that’s also something that happens from time to time,” Cevallos added. “I’ve had it in organized crime cases. You have jurors who come up to the judge and say, ‘I’ll do anything. Please, I do not want to be on this jury. I’m afraid.’ That’s not obviously the same situation here, but you do have jurors who are going to have second thoughts.”
One of the jurors was dismissed after expressing concern about her ability to be impartial following friends and colleagues asking if she was on the jury based on press reports. Another was excused after prosecutors expressed concern that he may not have honestly answered jury selection questions about whether he or a relative had been convicted of a criminal offense.
“And the question becomes, will six alternates be enough to cover this trial?” he asked. “I hope so. But if what we’ve seen so far, if that’s the rate of loss of jurors, two before we even start the trial, that could be a real problem and that could lead to a mistrial, which in, I think, the defense’s view, is a win.”
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Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence Directorate head Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva on Monday announced his resignation over his failure to prevent Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
Haliva decided to retire months ago following the intelligence failures that contributed to the massacre of some 1,200 people and the kidnapping of more than 253 hostages to Gaza, but asked IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi to postpone the announcement.
Haliva’s announcement comes after the IDF withdrew almost all ground troops from the Strip, leaving only one brigade remaining in the enclave.
“On Saturday, October 7, 2023, Hamas carried out a murderous surprise attack against the State of Israel, the consequences of which are difficult and painful. The Intelligence Directorate under my command did not live up to the task it was entrusted with,” Haliva wrote to Halevi.
Haliva, who served in the army for almost four decades, asked Halevi to relieve him of his duties following the conclusion of an internal investigation and after an “orderly learning and transition process.”
Earlier this year, Halevi announced an internal probe into the military’s failures leading up to Oct. 7, calling the investigation a “duty and not a privilege.”
In January, Israel’s Walla news site cited military sources as claiming that while the IDF was aware of Hamas’s repeated attempts to blow up the security fence on the Gaza border in preparation for the Oct. 7 attacks, it opted to dismiss the rehearsals as a “provocation.”
Hours before Hamas’s attack, IDF intelligence learned that hundreds of terrorists in Gaza activated Israeli SIM cards in their phones, the Military Censor cleared for publication in February.
The activations were detected around midnight on the night of Oct. 6, some six and a half hours before thousands of Palestinian terrorists breached the fence.
In October, The New York Times reported that Unit 8200, the IDF’s signals intelligence unit, stopped listening to Hamas’s handheld radios a year before the attacks, deciding it was a “waste of effort.”
Police special forces looking for the terrorists who carried out a ramming terror attack in Jerusalem, a few hours before the Jewish holiday of Passover, April 22, 2024. (Flash90/ Chaim Goldberg)
Police in Jerusalem are searching for two terrorists who plowed their car into pedestrians, then attempted to carry out a shooting attack, before fleeing the scene.
The terror attack occurred in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood on Monday morning, just before the start of the Passover holiday.
According to eyewitness accounts, the pair intentionally drove their car, a white Kia, into a crowd of people near a synagogue. The terrorists then exited the vehicle and attempted to shoot more victims with a submachine gun.
The gun, an improvised assault rifle often manufactured in PA-controlled areas known locally as a “Carlo,” jammed. The terrorists were unable to shoot using the weapon, and abandoned it at the scene. An axe was also found nearby.
The only wounds victims sustained in the attack came from the car-ramming.
According to a statement from Sha’arei Tzedek hospital, three people were transported for treatment.
A 21-year-old man and 15-year-old boy were listed as being in good condition, while a third pedestrian was treated and released.
A man identified only as Yehuda, who is the brother of the one of the victims, told Ynet that the terrorists’ gun jamming was a “miracle.”
Magen David Adom paramedic Nadav Arzi said “we were called to Yermiyahu Street, near the place where the car hit the pedestrians. We saw a young man who was fully conscious, walking around. He told us that a vehicle had sped up” and intentionally hit him and other pedestrians.
“The attack was near the ‘Nachlat Akiva’ [synagogue], where thousands of people pray every day,” Simcha, a local resident, told Ynet.
“On the morning of the holiday, people get up early to pray, it’s a huge miracle” that more people were not wounded in the attack, he said.
A manhunt is ongoing for the perpetrators of the attack, with police forces using helicopters and other resources to locate them.
FILE - New York City police in riot gear stand guard outside the Columbia University campus after clearing the campus of protesters, April 18, 2024, in New York. Columbia University canceled in-person classes Monday, April 22, 2024 and police arrested several dozen protesters at Yale University as tensions on U.S. college campuses continue to grow over the war in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)
By Simon Kent (Breitbart)
At least 45 people were arrested Monday at Yale University after police in riot gear moved onto the campus to break up a pro-Palestinian protest. In-person classes were also canceled for the day.
The arrests came after nearly 200 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered to urge Yale to divest from military weapons manufacturers, the Yale Daily Newsreports.
The protesters have been camped out on Beinecke Plaza on the university’s campus for three days, as Breitbart News reported.
The anti-Israel mob tore down an American flag on Friday night as they occupied the campus in what Jewish students have called an act of intimidation against them and against the university.
The video circulated on social media on Saturday and Sunday, with kaffiyeh-clad activists whooping and cheering as they tore down the Stars and Stripes.
Responding police officers began by warning protesters they risked arrest if they didn’t clear out before handcuffing and arresting people including students, the student paper reported.
Those arrested were removed on Yale University shuttle buses.
Journalists from the Yale Daily News were also threatened with arrest if they did not move from the plaza, according to its reports.
File/A woman walks by a Yale sign reflected in the rainwater on the Yale University campus, Aug. 22, 2021, in New Haven, Conn. Columbia University canceled in-person classes Monday, April 22, 2024 and police arrested several dozen protesters at Yale University as tensions on U.S. college campuses continue to grow over the war in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
The protesters are being charged with trespassing in the first degree, Yale Daily News laid out.
Yale president Peter Salovey sent students an email on Sunday warning the school “will pursue disciplinary actions according to its policies” amid ongoing demonstrations.
