(JNS) The only proper response to the latest mass shooting in the United States is horror and outrage. The suspect, an 18-year-old name Payton Gendron, murdered 10 African-Americans in the parking lot of a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. His motive for committing this atrocity was apparently indicated in social-media postings in which he vented his neo-Nazi, racist and anti-Semitic beliefs. This particular strain of white supremacist thinking may be limited to a tiny fraction of the population. But as we’ve seen in previous such horrors—like the synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh in 2018 and Poway, Calif., in 2019—its adherents are violent and capable of putting their twisted ideas into action.
There are many opinions about what to do about this problem, but few are practical. In a country where there are more firearms than people and the right to own one is guaranteed by the Constitution, almost all gun-control proposals merely nibble around the edges of the issue and would do nothing to stop mass killings. Combine that with society’s ongoing failure to address mental illness in a serious manner, and a steady stream of such terrible events is almost a given.
But that doesn’t stop the posturing of the political class whenever gun violence produces a sufficiently gruesome toll of lives to allow them to use the latest atrocity to ride their favorite political hobby horses. And as has happened in the past, neo-Nazi and/or radical right-wing violence is seized upon by the political left to justify their critique of those who disagree with them on a host of social issues. That meant a news cycle of cable-news commentary, social-media postings and political statements that attempted to link Republicans and conservatives to the slayings in Buffalo.
Not only is America plagued by a gun-violence dilemma; it is trapped in a hyper-partisan political culture that is essentially breaking society.
It is one thing to say that those who disagree with administration actions that amount to opening the borders are wrong or that their worries about the changes such policies will have on the nation are without substance. It is quite another to say that those who think this way—a category that easily includes at least half of the country—can be linked to lunatics who post bizarre neo-Nazi rants on social media and then fire into crowds of human beings.
If that sort of effort to link mainstream opinion on a variety of issues is described as enabling white supremacy or goes mainstream and becomes normative political discourse, that’s a disaster. It means we are approaching a moment of no return with respect to efforts to bridge the partisan gap and rebuild not just bipartisanship but a sense of shared community. And when those involved in this dangerous effort to delegitimize political discourse also claim to do so in the name of defending Jews from neo-Nazis, then we are in dangerous territory indeed. Not the least because some of those on the left who make such accusations are themselves guilty of support for anti-Semitic ideas and efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state and all who support it.
Some of the most egregious examples of this kind of thinking included an article in Rolling Stone in which the author linked the killer with a laundry list of mainstream conservative thinkers and causes on a variety of political and social issues. Equally contemptible was a predictable collection of stories churned out by The Atlantic. In one, readers were informed by a former Obama administration figure that even if the shooter appears to have acted on his own, he wasn’t really a “lone wolf” because conservative political and media figures shared his beliefs, even if they do so in a manner that gives them “plausible deniability.”
A lot of this revolves around the discussion about “replacement theory.”
That’s the idea that those who enable mass illegal immigration are essentially trying to create a new electorate that they believe, rightly or wrongly, will ensure that Democrats will stay in power for the indefinite future. It was cited by the Buffalo shooter. That gave leftist ideologues and even politicians like Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who is at war with her own Republican Party and eager to brand the overwhelming majority of GOP voters and officeholders who support former President Donald Trump as supporters of “white supremacy,” an excuse to connect dots between her political opponents and this crime.
This accusation has been taken up again by the Anti-Defamation League in an effort to discredit Republicans, as part of their switch from their former nonpartisan stance to becoming a mouthpiece for Democratic Party talking points. The problem with this effort is that it ignores the fact that Democrats, liberals, and, yes, even The Atlantic, often say the same thing about the changing demography of the American electorate—the only difference being that, unlike those on the right who decry the possibility, they are looking forward to a more Hispanic electorate ensuring perpetual defeat for the GOP.
How can it be perfectly legitimate to cheer the idea that states like Texas will flip from red to blue because of immigration (an assumption that is not panning out due to the fact that Hispanic voters are just as alarmed by open border policies as non-Hispanics) if those who worry about the impact of the same trend are racist and even give a green light for mass murder?
What’s also wrong with this effort to associate the right with extremist shooters is that those who speak this way are predictably silent when it comes to murders that can’t somehow be linked to the political right. It is not a case of “whataboutism” to note that the anti-white racism of the person who deliberately drove a car into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wis., murdering six people, did not set off a round of soul-searching on the left about the way the Black Lives Matter movement and the influence of critical race theory is fueling that sort of violence or the riots that burned American cities in the summer of 2020. Nor is it out of bounds to point out that the epidemic of gang shootings that have resulted in hundreds of murders of African-American victims in the city of Chicago alone last year is ignored by the same voices that seek to exploit the far smaller, though terribly, tragic toll of white extremist shootings to delegitimize conservative opinion.
The ADL is belatedly recognizing the danger of anti-Semitism emanating from the left. Still, it refuses to connect any dots between the Black Lives Matter movement and the way that critical race theory and intersectionality give a permission slip to anti-Semitism. In this way, they have helped create a narrative on the political left in which those who wish to demonize the right can invoke a fear of anti-Semitism while not being held accountable for their own ideas that are actually anti-Semitic or about major figures, like the new White House Press Secretary, who are credibly linked to anti-Semitism.
This does nothing to help us deal with mass shootings, racism or anti-Semitism. The victims in Buffalo deserve to be mourned and honored. The same is true with others who have been targeted by hate-filled murderers, no matter what ideology is used to justify their crimes.
Democracy can’t work if you treat political opponents as not just wrong but evil. That’s something that the willingness of liberal echo chamber media outlets and their political allies to use such events to make political hay don’t seem to care about. The sprint to place events like the Buffalo shooting in a political context isn’t just counter-productive; it is demonstrably making political discourse more toxic and divisive, and creating an environment where anti-Semitism is more likely to thrive than fail. If our civic culture seems broken, point to attitudes like these as the cause, far more than the rants or even the actions of extremists.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors liked to splash the charity’s funds around, according to tax documents filed with the IRS, with her brother and child’s father both benefiting from handsome cash payments in return for various services.
The tax documents as seen by numerous media outlets reveal BLM paid a company owned by Damon Turner, the father of Cullors’ child, nearly $970,000 to help “produce live events” and provide other “creative services.”
According to the Daily Mail, the co-founder’s brother, Paul Cullors, saw more than $840,000 of donated funds pass into his hands for providing security services to the foundation.
Although the May 11 filing, first reported by the Washington Examiner, does not reveal the exact amount Paul Cullors takes home yearly, it does state he is one of the two highest-compensated employees.
All told the foundation is still worth tens of millions of dollars, after spending more than $37 million on grants, real estate, consultants, and other expenses, according to the tax documents.
BLM ended its last fiscal year – from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 – at nearly $42 million to the good in net assets. The foundation had an operating budget of about $4 million, according to a board member.
Cullors resigned from BLM last year amid a wave of scrutiny surrounding the charity’s finances, as Breitbart News reported.
Real estate website Dirt.com reported the “37-year-old social justice visionary” Cullors (also known by her married, hyphenated surname, Khan-Cullors) had bought a $1.4 million compound in the Los Angeles enclave of Topanga.
The New York Postreported the Topanga home was one of four Cullors owned, which included a Georgia ranch with an airplane hangar. (Cullors, like many other prominent Black Lives Matter leaders, is a “trained Marxist.”)
The revelations prompted more protest from activists, and spurred calls for an independent investigation of the movement’s finances. Cullors said she bought the homes to support family.
She has repeatedly denied claims she took donations from BLM for personal matters and has reiterated all the purchases and transactions – including a lavish $6million home in Los Angeles, dubbed Studio City – were legitimate.
The new filing show Cullors reimbursed BLM $73,523 for a charter flight for foundation-related travel, which the organization says she took in 2021 out of concern for COVID-19 and security threats.
Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tore into the White House Monday after a weekend of sparring on Twitter over President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy.
“Look, a squirrel! This is the White House’s statement about my recent tweets,” Bezos said in response to a White House statement addressing his earlier comments. “They understandably want to muddy the topic. They know inflation hurts the neediest the most. But unions aren’t causing inflation and neither are wealthy people. Remember the Administration tried…”
Look, a squirrel! This is the White House’s statement about my recent tweets. They understandably want to muddy the topic. They know inflation hurts the neediest the most. But unions aren’t causing inflation and neither are wealthy people. Remember the Administration tried… pic.twitter.com/GaMb3Kiu72
The White House had suggested Bezos was going after the Biden administration because of his own business interests Sunday.
“It doesn’t require a huge leap to figure out why one of the wealthiest individuals on Earth opposes an economic agenda for the middle class that cuts some of the biggest costs families face, fights inflation for the long haul, and adds to the historic deficit reduction the President is achieving by asking the richest taxpayers and corporations to pay their fair share,” the White House said in a statement to The Washington Post.
“It’s also unsurprising that this tweet comes after the President met with labor organizers, including Amazon employees,” the statement said.
Bezos had replied to Biden’s tweets over the weekend with criticism of his inflation plans and his handling of the economy.
You want to bring down inflation?
Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share.
“You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share,” Biden tweeted Friday.
Bezos suggested the statement was misinformation while taking a dig at Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board.
“The newly created Disinformation Board should review this tweet, or maybe they need to form a new Non Sequitur Board instead. Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss. Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection,” Bezos tweeted.
Biden also caught Bezos’ attention with a Saturday tweet about the national deficit.
“Under my predecessor, the deficit increased every single year,” Biden wrote. “This year, we’re on track to cut the deficit by $1.5 trillion – the biggest one-year decline ever. It matters to families, because reducing the deficit is one of the main ways we can ease inflationary pressures.”
Bezos challenged those claims in a Sunday tweet.
“In fact, the administration tried hard to inject even more stimulus into an already over-heated, inflationary economy and only Manchin saved them from themselves. Inflation is a regressive tax that most hurts the least affluent,” he said. “Misdirection doesn’t help the country.”
The White House and Bezos did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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(TJV NEWS) A Democrat holding public office in Buchanan County, Virginia, has been indicted on 82 felony counts, including 34 counts of making false statements related to election fraud.
Knox District Supervisor Trey Adkins was featured in the censored documentary by popular conservative researcher Dinesh D’Souz, 2000 Mules.
In a press release, the Russel County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office announced(LINK TO INDICTMENT) that a grand jury indicted Knox District Supervisor Trey Adkins on a slew of felony counts. Adkins, a Democrat who has held the position since 2011 faces 34 counts of making false statements related to election fraud, 15 counts of altering public records, 11 counts of absentee voting procedure violation, 11 counts of forgery of public record, 8 counts of public embezzlement, and 3 counts of conspiracy to make false statements – election fraud.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks after a cabinet meeting, in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, June 9, 2020. (Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool)
(AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has thrown a spanner in the works of Sweden and Finland’s historic decisions to seek NATO membership, declaring that he cannot allow them to join due to their alleged support of Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara says threaten its national security.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has voiced confidence that the alliance will move to admit Sweden and Finland swiftly. But Erdogan’s declaration suggests that the two Nordic countries’ path to membership could be anything but smooth.
Turkey’s approval is crucial because the military alliance makes its decisions by consensus. Any of its 30 member countries can veto a new member.
Erdogan’s government is expected to use the two countries’ membership bids as leverage for concessions and guarantees from its allies.
Here’s a look at Turkey’s position, what it could gain and likely repercussions:
WHAT’S TURKEY’S PROBLEM WITH THE MEMBERSHIP BIDS?
Turkey, which has NATO’s second largest army, has traditionally been supportive of NATO enlargement, believing that the alliance’s “open door” policy enhances European security. It has for example, spoken in favor of the prospect of Ukraine and Georgia joining.
Erdogan’s objection to Sweden and Finland stems from Turkish grievances with Stockholm’s — and to a lesser degree Helsinki’s — perceived support of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, the leftist extremist group DHKP-C and followers of the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara claims was behind a failed military coup attempt in 2016.
Many Kurdish and other exiles have found refuge in Sweden over the past decades, as have members of Gulen’s movement more recently. According to Turkey’s state-run media, Sweden and Finland have refused to extradite 33 people wanted by Turkey.
Ankara, which frequently accuses allies of turning a blind eye to its security concerns, has also been angered by restrictions on sales of military equipment to Turkey. These were imposed by EU countries, including Sweden and Finland, following Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria in 2019.
Further justifying his objection, Erdogan says his country doesn’t want to repeat a “mistake” by Ankara, which agreed to readmit Greece into NATO’s military structure in 1980. He claimed the action had allowed Greece “to take an attitude against Turkey” with NATO’s backing.
WHAT COULD TURKEY GAIN?
Turkey is expected to seek to negotiate a compromise deal under which the two countries will crack down on the PKK and other groups in return for Turkish support of their joining NATO. A key demand is expected to be that they halt any support to a Syrian Kurdish group, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG. The group is a Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group in northern Syria but Turkey views it as an extension of the PKK.
Erdogan could also seek to use Sweden and Finland’s membership to wrest concessions from the United States and other allies. Turkey wants to return to the U.S.-led F-35 fighter jet program — a project it was kicked out of following its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems. Alternatively, Turkey is looking to purchase a new batch of F-16 fighter jets and upgrade its existing fleet.
Other possible demands could include an end to an unofficial embargo on military sales to Turkey by allies; concessions from EU member countries concerning Turkey’s faltered bid to join the bloc; and increased funds to help the country support 3.7 million Syrian refugees.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT TURKEY’S IMAGE IN THE WEST?
Turkey’s threat of a veto is likely to undermine its own status in Washington and across NATO, reinforcing an image of a country that is blocking the alliance’s expansion for its own profit. With the move, Turkey also risks damaging the credit it had earned by supplying Ukraine with the Bayraktar TB2 armed drones that became an effective weapon against Russian forces.
“There is no scenario under which Turkey does not end up being seen as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s mole inside NATO,” said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute. “Everybody will forget the objections linked to the PKK. Everybody will focus on the fact that Turkey is blocking NATO’s expansion. It will distort the view of Turkey across (NATO).”
Cagaptay said Turkey’s obstruction could also undo “the positive momentum” that had started to build in Washington regarding the sale of the F-16s. “I cannot see that sale going through at this stage,” he said.
IS TURKEY TRYING TO APPEASE RUSSIA?
Turkey has built close relations with both Russia and Ukraine and has been trying to balance its ties with both. It has refused to join sanctions against Russia — while supporting Ukraine with the drones that helped deny Russia air superiority.
“The fact that Erdogan is derailing (the NATO) process intentionally suggests that maybe he is trying to balance the strong military support Turkey has given to Kyiv with political support to Russia,” Cagaptay said.
A top Turkish politician has also expressed concerns that Finland and Sweden’s membership could provoke Russia and inflame the war in Ukraine. Devlet Bahceli, the leader of a nationalist party allied with Erdogan, said the best option would be to keep the two Nordic countries in the “waiting room.”
CAN THE MOVE HELP ERDOGAN’S RATINGS AT HOME?
The Turkish leader is seeing a decline in his domestic support due to a faltering economy, skyrocketing inflation and a cost of living crisis.
A standoff with Western nations over the emotional issue of perceived support to the PKK could help Erdogan boost his support and rally the nationalist vote before elections that are currently scheduled for June 2023.
“With dwindling domestic support at a time when Turkey is entering a critical electoral cycle, Erdogan is looking for a higher international profile to demonstrate his global importance to Turkish voters,” analyst Asli Aydintasbas wrote in an article published in the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Decrying “disastrous” COVID-19 public health policies, more than 17,000 physicians and medical scientists from around the world are calling on nations to lift health emergency declarations, restore scientific integrity and address “crimes against humanity.”
The fourth declaration of the Global COVID Summit states that the COVID policies imposed over the past two years “are the culmination of a corrupt medical alliance of pharmaceutical, insurance, and healthcare institutions, along with the financial trusts which control them.”
“They have infiltrated our medical system at every level, and are protected and supported by a parallel alliance of big tech, media, academics and government agencies who profited from this orchestrated catastrophe,” the signatories declare.
The “corrupt alliance” continues “to advance unscientific claims by censoring data, and intimidating and firing doctors and scientists for simply publishing actual clinical results or treating their patients with proven, life-saving medicine.”
“These catastrophic decisions came at the expense of the innocent, who are forced to suffer health damage and death caused by intentionally withholding critical and time-sensitive treatments, or as a result of coerced genetic therapy injections, which are neither safe nor effective,” they say.
The 17,000 Global COVID Summit physicians and medical scientists “represent a much larger, enlightened global medical community who refuse to be compromised, and are united and willing to risk the wrath of the corrupt medical alliance to defend the health of their patients.”
They argue that restoring the people’s trust in medicine, “begins with free and open dialogue between physicians and medical scientists.”
“After two years of scientific research, millions of patients treated, hundreds of clinical trials performed and scientific data shared, we have demonstrated and documented our success in understanding and combating COVID-19,” they write.
Among the “foundational principles” they list are ending the COVID shots, which they describe as “the experimental genetic therapy,” and allowing doctors to provide “life-saving medical treatment” such as ivermectin.
“We declare the state of national emergency, which facilitates corruption and extends the pandemic, should be immediately terminated.”
They also argue masks “have never been effective protection against an airborne respiratory virus in the community setting” and call for funding and research to address “vaccination damage, death and suffering.”
They charge that vaccine makers – Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech, Janssen, Astra Zeneca – and “their enablers, withheld and willfully omitted safety and effectiveness information from patients and physicians, and should be immediately indicted for fraud.”
See the May 11 press conference of the Global COVID Summit:
See Drs. Robert Malone, Ryan Cole and Richard Urso discuss the latest Global COVID Summit declaration:
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James O’Keefe’s investigative journalism group Project Veritas recently published undercover footage of Twitter employees proudly admitting that the platform discriminates against conservatives and that many employees are unhappy about a possible takeover by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
In a recently published video by Project Veritas, undercover footage reveals one of Twitter’s senior engineers, Siru Murugesan, discussing how employees at Twitter “hate” Elon Musk and are extremely opposed to free speech. Murugesan further admitted that the website actively moderates conservatives while leftist viewpoints are accepted across the platform.
Discussing Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attempted takeover of Twitter, Murugesan noted that many of his colleagues have stated that “this would be my last day if it happens.” He noted that many Twitter employees are “stress-eating” and “worried for our jobs.”
Murugesan openly stated: “Our jobs are at stake; he’s a capitalist and we weren’t really operating as capitalists, more like very socialist. We’re all like commie as fuck.”
Murugesan noted that a major issue is Musk’s alleged dedication to free speech, a concept that Murugesan says is at odds with most Twitter employees’ values. “Twitter does not believe in free speech,” said Murugesan.
Murugesan claimed that employees at the firm actively attempted to shut down Musk’s takeover, stating: “We did all we could to like revolt against it. A lot of employees were revolting against it, but at the end of the day, the board of directors have the say.”
Murugesan added that he thought the Twitter board “… acted on their best interests ‘cause they didn’t want to get sued…. they’re always looking out for themselves at the end of the day.”
Operational footage of IAF airstrikes on military targets in Syria in 2020. (Twitter/IDF/Screenshot)
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Russia used advanced anti-aircraft missiles to target Israeli jets carrying out airstrikes in Syria, marking a major departure from a previous policy of essentially allowing the Israeli Air Force free reign to operate in the area, according to a report from Channel 13 News.
While never officially confirming nor denying the air strikes, Israel has bombed numerous Iranian assets and targets in Syria in recent years.
Russia, which has partnered with embattled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, has de facto control over Syrian airspace and until now has not interfered in IAF bombing missions.
According to the report, the IAF targeted a number of sites in northwestern Syria last Friday evening.
In a statement after the air raid, Syrian military forces said they launched dozens of anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli aircraft. Those missiles are not advanced enough to pose a risk to the IAF.
But, Channel 13 noted, S-300 batteries also fired on Israeli jets. The advanced anti-aircraft S-300 were donated to Syria by Moscow and are operated strictly by Russian military personnel.
Although the system was unable to lock onto the IAF jets and the aircraft were not in serious danger of being hit, the move may signal a serious shift in Russian policy regarding Israeli activity in Syria.
In February 2022, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova spoke out against IAF airstrikes in Syria in an unprecedented public statement denouncing Israel.
“Israel’s continuing strikes against targets inside Syria cause deep concern. They are a crude violation of Syria’s sovereignty and may trigger a sharp escalation of tensions,” she said.
In January 2022, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebansese newspaper Al-Akhbar newspaper said that Syria and its allies, including Iran, expressed deep dissatisfaction with the Russians, demanding that Russia stop allowing IAF air strikes in Syrian territory.
Syria and its allies would “be forced to react to the airstrikes if it doesn’t restrain Israel,” they reportedly warned Russia.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other Israeli officials have repeatedly referenced the strategic importance of maintaining strong ties with Russia.
Israeli commentators and analysts have said that Moscow’s policy of permitting IAF raids in Syria is one reason why the Jewish state has been reticent to formally support Ukraine or transfer military aid to the country.
Palestinians carry the coffin of Walid al-Sharif, on May 16, 2022.(Flash90/.Jamal Awad)
By World Israel News Staff
Jerusalem saw its most intense rioting since last year’s Israel-Gaza clash on Monday evening, with at least 18 people arrested, an attempted car ramming, and six Israeli police officers injured in the clashes.
On the Temple Mount, Arab rioters threw firebombs and rocks and launched fireworks at Israeli security forces, as well as physically clashing with police.
Police responded with crowd-dispersal tools, including rubber bullets and smoke and stun grenades.
In eastern Jerusalem, rioters vandalized property and threw heavy objects, such as cinder blocks and water heaters, from rooftops onto police officers on the streets below them.
The unrest began with a funeral procession for Walid a-Sharif, a rioter who was seriously wounded on the Temple Mount nearly a month ago during the Ramadan holiday. He succumbed to his injuries on Monday morning.
Israeli police said the man slipped and fell while throwing rocks at security forces, but his family says he was shot in the head by a sponge-tipped bullet.
Maor Tzemach, chair of the Your Jerusalem NGO, noted that “for the first time since Operation Protective Edge [in 2014], Israel allowed the body of a terrorist to be returned to east Jerusalem, while those [accompanying the body] are inciting against the State of Israel.
“Former Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan did not permit funeral processions for terrorists in east Jerusalem. Another red line for security has been breached in Jerusalem.”
At one point early in the rioting, a vehicle sped at a group of Border Police officers in an attempted ramming attack in the A-Tur neighborhood.
The officers shot out the car’s tires, forcing it to stop, and arrested the five occupants inside. No casualties were reported from the incident.
Video from social media showed Border Police officers, in full riot gear, running down a street in in eastern Jerusalem. An unknown assailant throws what appears to be a concrete object from the fourth-floor rooftop of an apartment building, which strikes a police officer. The officer is knocked unconscious by the blow and seen being dragged away by his colleagues.
Two Israeli police officers were hospitalized as a result of injuries sustained during the clashes, according to an official statement. Four others were lightly wounded and did not require additional medical treatment.
Israeli officials said 18 rioters have been arrested, but Palestinian media claimed that at least 50 people were detained.
Payton Gendron, who is charged with murdering 10 people in a mass shooting in Buffalo, left behind a 180-page antisemitic and white supremacist manifesto.
Wearing body armor and combat gear, the 18-year-old entered the Tops Friendly Market on Saturday night armed with an assault rifle. A video camera affixed to his helmet livestreamed the attack on Twitch as Gendron opened fire, killing 10 and injuring three.
A spokesman for the video-streaming service said Twitch was able to remove the video within two minutes.
Gendron was subdued by officers and faces murder charges. Federal authorities are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
Although he targeted the market because it was in a predominately black neighborhood, Gendron left behind a 180-page manifesto describing his hatred for Jews, blacks and immigrants.
“I wish all Jews to Hell,” the 18-year-old wrote.
Gendron went on to write that he believed Jews were the primary issue facing the United States. Although he expressed a wish to attack Jews and other groups he regarded as “subhuman,” he could only choose one.
The Jews, he concluded, “can be dealt with in time.”
The White Replacement Theory
Gendron also accused Jews of what white supremacists call “White Replacement.”
According to the White Replacement theory, Jews seek to undermine Western “white” nations by systematically working to dilute white demographic numbers. This is done by encouraging the immigration of non-whites, intermarriage between blacks and whites and supporting gender inclusivity and critical race theory.
Gendron’s manifesto described this all as “white genocide.” He then wrote 29 pages explaining why he thought blacks weren’t intelligent enough to carry out white replacement as compared to the Jews.
The manifesto was rife with phony quotes from the Talmud in support of white supremacy theories that Jews hate Christians and “documented” his belief that Jews control the media, industry and academia.
The White Replacement theory has been cited by other white supremacists who carried out massacres at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, a Charleston church in 2015, and an El Paso Walmart in 2019. In 2021, Jewish groups denounced Fox News personality Tucker Carlson for using the rhetoric of white replacement.
American Jewish organizations denounced the shooting, labeled it as terror, and expressed solidarity with the victims.
“The shooter, a self-proclaimed white supremacist and antisemite, killed 10 and injured three more – almost all of whom were black – in a deadly massacre,” Agudath Israel of North America said in a statement. “In a 180-page hate-filled racist and antisemitic manifesto, the shooter labeled his forthcoming attack as ‘terrorism.’”
“We agree, and we call upon the full force of the judicial system to punish the shooter to the extent the law allows,” the statement added. “We stand in solidarity with the black community which suffered the deeply painful blow of yesterday’s shooting. In our grief for their loss, we must all renew our efforts to combat racism and hate.”
The Anti-Defamation League stressed that Gendron’s manifesto “closely echoes the themes of previous rants posted by white supremacist shooters.”
“[It] refers repeatedly to the virulently racist and antisemitic Great Replacement conspiracy theory, which argues that Jews are responsible for non-white immigration into the United States, and that non-white immigrants will eventually replace (and lead to the extinction of) the white race,” the ADL said in a statement.
MSNBC anchor Joy Reid on Monday, during her show “The ReidOut,” accused Fox News host Tucker Carlson of injecting “racist conspiracy theory” into the veins of Republican voters.
Discussing replacement theory, Reid said, “No singular voice in right-wing media has done more to elevate this racist conspiracy theory than Tucker, who, even with a new head writer, spends night after primetime night injecting the rot from the dregs of the internet directly into the veins of Republican voters.”
She continued, “Are Tucker’s writers sourcing his show from 4Chan? These are just questions. As The New York Times analysis, last month found, in, more than 400 episodes, Tuckums has amplified the idea that a cabal of elites want to force demographic change through immigration. That is replacement theory.”
Reid added, “The reality is, Tucker is not some deep thinker. He’s clearly just channeling the gross stuff his viewers could easily find online, then feeding it to Republican voters and Republican politicians as infotainment, and that feedback loop has terrifying reach. That murderous low-life in Buffalo wouldn’t even have to listen to Tucker. He wouldn’t have to watch him at all to get it if they are essentially pulling from the same source material.”
A Year After Meron Tragedy on Lag BaOmer, Tears Will Mingle With Joyful Song
Hundreds of thousands to flock to Israel’s north; Profiles of the 45 who lost their lives
By: Yaakov Ort
One year after 45 participants lost their lives in the midst of the traditional all-night Lag BaOmer religious celebration near the hallowed resting place of revered second-century sage Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, hundreds of thousands of celebrants are expected to once again flock on Wednesday, May 18 to Meron in northern Israel, for the joyous holiday.
New security and crowd-control measures are in place this year, and the celebration has been reshaped and reorganized to ensure safety.
While memories of last year will be present in every element of the pilgrimage, special emphasis will be placed on celebration and rejoicing in G d’s everlasting kindness.
This is couched in the history of the holiday itself, which marks the passing of Rabbi Shimon, author of the Zohar, the foundational text of the Kabbalah.
Hours before his passing in approximately 160 C.E., he informed his students that his soul was soon going to leave its body and celebrate together with its Maker. As such, he requested that instead of being saddened that his students mark the day with great joy and holy rejoicing.
And it is with this example in mind that the celebrations will be held this year, a joyful tribute to those lost on this day.
On Lag BaOmer eve last year, as thousands moved through narrow walkways and alleyways at around 1 a.m., momentum and pressure built-up through a stone passageway and turned into an unstoppable current propelling people down a staircase at the base of the passage where, according to some reports, the surge was met by blockades set up by authorities. With no way to stop the momentum, dozens were tragically trampled.
The word hit just as Lag BaOmer events were starting in North America, throwing a pallor over the joyous atmosphere. Celebrations that then continued in a fashion described in the Zohar itself, with “joy lodged in one side of the heart and trembling in the other.”
An Annual Transformation in Meron
With a year-round population of approximately 1,000, the tiny mountain town is annually transformed during a 36-hour period into a magnet for hundreds of thousands who flock from across the country and around the world to pray at the hallowed resting place of the Talmudic sage and mystic.
Rabbi Shimon was the first to publicly teach the mystical dimension of the Torah known as the Kabbalah, and is the author of the foundational text of Kabbalah, the Zohar.
Every year on the anniversary of his passing—18 Iyar on the Jewish calendar, also known as Lag BaOmer—thousands trek to Rabbi Shimon’s mountaintop grave to pray around the clock, study his mystical teachings and light bonfires—representing the light of Torah that Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai brought into the world. Lag BaOmer is the 33rd day of the Omer counting period that begins on the second day of Passover and culminates with the holiday of Shavuot, following day 49.
The events in Meron are marked with festive music and dancing with dozens of simultaneous events running past dawn and through the day. Leading rabbis light bonfires surrounded by thousands of singing and dancing members of their community on bleachers and scaffoldings.
Last year was not the first time that tragedy marred the celebrations in Meron; in 1911, a roof collapsed on revelers and nine people died, ranging from an 8-year-old to a 65-year-old, but this was one of the worst civil disasters in recent history.
As in times past, the Jewish nation will once again honor those lost and turn inward to find the fortitude and faith to celebrate.
The following are brief obituary profiles and remembrances first published a year ago of the 45 lives that were lost on Lag BaOmer at the resting place of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai in Meron, Israel. Readers are invited to include additional recollections in the response box following this article. May their memories be for a blessing.
Ariel Achdut, 21, of Jerusalem: Sephardic Torah Scholar
By: Yaakov Ort
Ariel Achdut
Among the 45 boys and men who lost their lives in the Meron disaster on Lag BaOmer was Ariel Achdut, from the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem, who was among a group of select young Torah scholars at Yesodot HaTorah in Tel Aviv, one of the most respected yeshivas in the Sephardic Jewish world.
According to Behadrei Haredim web site, almost a week after the tragedy his friends still find it difficult to digest the news and speak of him in the past tense, while they tell of events from the last few weeks of his life that are difficult to comprehend.
In order to encourage his fellow students, Ariel would write a phrase every day on a white board that he hung in the middle of their study hall. The last sentence he wrote on it was: “Do not follow the herd. It’s crowded there.”
A week before his death, one of the young men in the yeshiva saw someone studying in the beit midrash (study hall) at 2:30 a.m. and when he approached, he saw that it was Ariel. When he asked Ariel why he was there, he replied: “I could not fall asleep so I went up to study.”
On Wednesday, April 29, the day before his passing, his mother, Tehi, came to visit him at the yeshiva. She took several buses to meet her son, and it was the first time she had made the trip in the three and a half years that he was studying at the yeshiva, she said at the shiva.
The mother and son went shopping for clothes and ate together and talked for six hours about his progress in his studies and the goals he set for himself for the coming summer months. This was their last conversation. When asked why she came, she told his Rosh Yeshiva that she simply felt an urgent need to meet with her son.
On the train on the way to Meron, he told his friends “I urgently need a Gemara, try to get one for me” and indeed someone brought him a Tractate Kiddushin and he studied it while traveling. He told his friends that he had a great desire to learn from the Gemara itself and “to see the sacred letters with my own eyes.”
He finished the entire book of Psalms in Meron on the night of the disaster and called to inform his parents about it shortly before his passing.
Ariel’s friends see him as a young man of extraordinary depth and inwardness, who loved his yeshiva, his friends and his family, and was kind and gracious to all. According to Behadrei Haredim, “His wisdom enlightened his face, and his rejoicing radiated comfort, encouragement and love to all his acquaintances.”
Rabbi Yisrael Alnakvah, 24, of Ofakim: Torah Scholar and Father of Two
By: Rochel Horowitz
– Rabbi Yisrael Alnakvah
Rabbi Yisrael Alnakvah, a 24-year-old father of two from Ofakim, Israel, was among those tragically killed in the Meron disaster. His brother-in-law, Asher Miara says: “He was always the first to help everyone.”
A native of Beit Shemesh, Alnakah married Rutie Miara, the daughter of Michael and Rachel Miara of Ofakim. After their wedding, the couple settled in Ofakim, and he commuted to the Yesodot HaTorah yeshivah in Tel Aviv.
Miara told Ynet news that Alknakvah was “a good soul, a generous heart. He was always the first to help everyone and did it with kindness and joy. He saw the good in everyone.”
With his gentle and good hearted persona, “Yisrael appreciated nature and especially enjoyed caring for animals and flowers,” his brother in law continued. “I wish we could learn from his ways and only see the good in one another.”
Esther Natan, Rutie’s cousin said: “When I think of Rutie, who was left alone without her dear husband, my heart feels torn with pain. A difficult struggle awaits her.”
The funeral of Yisrael Alnakvah took place on Saturday night in the Beit Shemesh cemetery. In addition to his wife, he leaves two children: Nathaniel, two-and-a-half years old, and Yosef-Gad, four months old.
Avrohom Daniel Ambon, 21, of Argentina: Torah Student in Jerusalem
– Avrohom Daniel Ambon
By: Rochel Horowitz
Avrohom Daniel Ambon, a 21-year-old Argentinian student at Heichal Yitzchak Yeshiva, was killed in the Meron tragedy. His strong desire to learn in the Holy Land brought him to Yeshivat Heichal Yitzchak in Kiryat Yuval, Jerusalem.
“When G d has to take a precious soul, it is difficult for us, it is difficult for the whole world,” Yisrael Landau, a rabbi at the yeshivah said. “Avraham had a sense of gentleness, modesty and humility.”
Ambon’s friends spoke of a studious and unassuming young man who was dedicated to his learning and pleasant towards everyone. “He arrived three years ago. Because he was an immigrant, he was on the quieter side,” one of his yeshivah friends told Israel Davar news station.
Ambon’s friend, Shaya Toledano, said: “He never spoke a bad word to anyone and didn’t look for honor or respect. He did everything happily and with a smile.”
One of the yeshivah rabbis, Rabbi Daniel Cohen, said: “We will no longer see his smiling face. We will no longer hear his sweet ‘hello,’ and ‘good morning.’ This was his home for four years and it’s hard to conceive that he is no longer with us.”
Ambon’s father, Rabbi David Ambon of Buenos Aires, Argentina, spoke at the funeral: “When a son loses his father or mother, it is painful, but that is the ‘way of the world.’ When a father loses his son, the pain is unbearable. He loved the yeshivah; he was so comfortable and happy here.”
Uri Kistenmacher, another young student from Argentina, survived the disaster and told Live Radio: “We were eight friends. At one point, I got pushed and squeezed. I was unable to breathe but I managed to get out. When we left, I found only one of my friends and realized that the rest were missing. Later, they were found; one friend with a broken leg, and the rest with bruises.”
Last Friday, when the disaster became known at the yeshivah, they began trying to reach Ambon by phone for hours. “The whole yeshivah was busy searching,” says his friend. “His phone rang, but there was no answer. On Friday, a teacher gathered the boys and told us the bitter news. Shock and utter disbelief washed over us.”
The Foreign Ministry and the Argentinian Embassy in Israel contacted his parents to inform them of the tragedy. Relatives living in Israel came to the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine and identified his body.
Rabbi Eliyahu Hamra, president of the Jewish Federation in Argentina and secretary of the Chief Rabbinate, accompanied the family to the airport in Buenos Aires. He said: “We share in the family’s grief at this sad moment. This young man was taken away too soon.”
Ambon’s funeral was the last of the 45 ceremonies and took place at the Heichal Yitzchak Yeshiva in Jerusalem on Monday morning. His parents arrived in Israel early Monday morning to attend the funeral, which was delayed to allow for the arrival of relatives from overseas.
Moshe Ben Shalom, 20, of Bnei Brak: Student at Ponovezh Yeshivah
Moshe Ben Shalom
By: Rochel Horowitz
Moshe Ben Shalom, a 21-year-old yeshivah student at the Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak was among those who died in the tragic Meron disaster. Jews from across Israel mourned his passing at a cemetery in Petach Tikvah, Israel, on April 30.
Chananel Levy, Ben Shalom’s uncle, spoke about the special character of his nephew: “During his short life, he accomplished what a man of 80 years old couldn’t attain—in prayer, in the quality of his interpersonal relationships and in his Torah learning. He loved to learn and he left behind many notebooks filled with his own insights and explanations.”
An Israeli resident who attended the shivah told Chabad.org: “I heard that he was an incredible young man who had tremendous respect for others. He was refined, and generous—a really special soul. The entire time that I was there, stories flowed freely about his generosity and kindness.”
Rabbi Moshe Bergman, 24, of Great Britain: Studied at Mir Yeshivah in Jerusalem
By: Rochel Horowitz
Rabbi Moshe Bergman
Rabbi Moshe Bergman, a 24-year-old young man and a student at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, was killed during the tragedy that took place at Mount Meron.
Moshe Bergman, originally from England, had lived in Jerusalem for the past two-and-a-half years with his wife of 18 months, Shira Bergman.
Rabbi Arnold Saunders, a friend of the family, described Bergman as a “wonderful” young man. “He was the kind of person about whom no one would have a bad word to say.” He described the agony of his family as they waited to find out what happened to their son, who was one of the last to be identified.
“His family accepted that this was a tragic accident. They do not want to engage in guilt nor are they looking for culprits. They want the facts checked to ensure that nothing like this happens again but there is no anger. I was very inspired by their reactions,” he said.
Bergman was buried in Jerusalem early Sunday morning. His family members watched the funeral online from their home in Salford, and some of them flew to Israel to sit shivah with the deceased’s widow.
Yedidya Moshe Chayut, 13, of Bnei Brak: A Righteous and Holy Young Man
Yedidya Moshe Chayut
By: Rochel Horowitz
Outside the Sfaradi synagogue on Rechov Abramski in Bnei Brak, participants are gathering for the funeral of 13 year old Yedidya Chiyut. Some of those gathered knew him well but many do not.
“I cut his hair at his upshernish, I knew him when he was born,” says one participant.
“This tragedy hits very close to home for us,” says another. “Even though we didn’t know Yedidya personally, we feel that we need to be here. This hurts for everyone.”
Two weeks after his bar mitzvah, Yedidya eagerly joined his father, Rabbi Avigdor Chiyut, in visiting Meron for the first time. His father, who was injured in the Meron disaster, left his hospital bed on Saturday night to attend the funeral.
“Yedidya, we will be strong and we will move forward, you will never part from us,” his father said. “Tonight, both your mother and I bought burial plots next to you.”
“In the meantime we have sent you as an ambassador to heaven to meet your little sister who died immediately upon birth. You will get to know all the rabbis and tzadikim you’ve learned about. I only wish that we could achieve a small fraction of what you’ve achieved in your studies and in your devotion to holiness,” Avigdor added.
“Yedidya, you always did whatever your father requested of you, so I’m asking you for one more thing: “Go to G d and tell him ‘enough, enough.’ Yedidya we love you, I love you. We’ll meet again soon.”
Avigdor Chiyut told Kan public radio that he and Yedidya had become separated in the narrow passageway which became a bottleneck and the site of the Meron catastrophe. His younger son, Shmuel, was at his father’s side as people fell on top of them.
“Abba, I am about to die. Let’s ‘Shema Yisrael,’” he heard 10-year-old son Shmuel say – a prayer traditionally said by Jews facing imminent death. Shmuel survived with a minor injury.
Yedidya’s brother, Zvi Yehuda Dror, spoke of his special character: “You were a special brother, a son beloved to our father and mother. You would follow your rabbis and follow the righteous. Give us more of Yedidya. Give the people of Israel more of his friendship. Give us Yedidya in our hearts.”
At the funeral, Rabbi Avigdor Chiyut called for unity. “Yedidya was righteous and holy,” he said. “If he wanted me to say anything, it would be this: ‘We all have something in common, we are all Jews. This is the time and the place to unite.'”
Yehonatan Chevroni, 27, of Givat Shmuel: Father of Three
By: Rochel Horowitz
Yehonatan Chevroni
Yehonatan Chevroni, a 27-year-old man passed away during the Meron tragedy on Lag BaOmer.
He studied at the Beit Midrash in Givat Shmuel and was married with three daughters, ages six, four and two years old. He heroically and faithfully stood by the side of his wife, Tanya, who had fallen ill in recent years.
He was a student of Rabbi Reuven Sasson who described him as a noble person. “I have not seen people mourning like this except among the righteous,” said Rabbi Sasson.
“Yehonatan, I have always known that you are righteous and pure, a man of truth,” wrote Chevroni’s sister. “Everyone is talking about the light you had in your eyes. People keep telling us how significant you were to them, and they are sure they are the only ones. Yonatan, I admire how cultivated your hobbies, bought a camera, painted and walked every path in Israel.
I can’t believe I am writing about you in the past tense. I’m waiting for you to come back and tell us that they’re only testing our unity, our faith and the strength of our family. Watch over us from Above.”
“We will have to be strong,” wrote another sister. “Since you’ve left, the world has lost a lot of light.”
He was buried on Saturday evening in the Segula Cemetery in Petach Tikva, accompanied by family and friends. His friend Berla Crombie eulogized him: “My dear and beloved brother, Yonatan Chevroni just wanted to pray with Rabbi Shimon. I knew him personally as a wonderful and remarkable student. G d takes the best.”
Eliyahu Cohen, 16, of Beitar Illit: Student at Heichal Avraham Yeshivah
Eliyahu Cohen
Eliyahu Cohen, 16, was a Breslover Chassid from Betar Illit and a student of the Heichal Avraham Yeshiva.
Rabbi Simcha Bunim Diskind, 23 of Beit Shemesh: Student at Gur Kollel
By: Rochel Horowitz
Simcha Bunim Diskind, 23, a well-known Gur Hassid and father of two living in Beit Shemesh, was amongst those who lost their lives in the Meiron tragedy.
“I know it’s good up there for Simcha Bunim,” said his brother. “I’m sure he’s sitting up there right now, studying Zohar with the Rashbi, waving goodbye to me, with his infinite smile. We remain here with shattered hearts, broken and in pain. I promise you that we will do everything for little Mindy and Moishe,” he said about Simcha Bunim’s two young children.
“We can’t understand Hashem’s ways, but we can show Him how we respond as a nation during times of tragedy.”
“He radiated joy and made everyone happy. Everyone felt close to him, no matter who they were,” says his father, Yaakov Diskind. “Our son was a gift, and we thank G d for the years that we had the privilege of raising him. Just as we do not ask why G d gives us a gift, we do not ask why he takes it from us.”
Simcha Bunim was a student at the Gur Hasidic Kollel in Beit Shemesh. He was 23 at the time of his death, leaving behind his wife (22), a 3-and-a-half-year-old girl, and a 9-month-old baby.
Simcha Bunem’s three older brothers enlisted in the army. When he went to study at the kollel, it was clear to all of us that he was supposed to be there. “That is his destiny. To grow and be a rabbi,” says his sister.
His brother Ephraim Israel recounts: “He was a man who, if there was a dispute, he asked not to be involved.”
It was the first and last time that Simcha would attend the celebration in Meron. His father had tried to dissuade him from attending up until he was on the bus to Meiron. On the night of the disaster as the news spread, his mother couldn’t sleep and stayed up to recite Psalms. Frantic messages and phone calls were exchanged by family members in an attempt to locate their son and brother.
“We were sure everything would be fine,” says Simcha’s sister. “He would surely send a message. He would do anything to inform us and reassure us. We said, maybe he didn’t contact us because maybe he was slightly injured. We felt sad for all the other families for whom the disaster had affected. I did not think it would happen to us.”
His mother, Chava, said: “I said to myself, Bunim would not be pushed. Whenever a bus came and a lot of people wanted to get on it, he would not push. He would always say ‘I’ll arrive when I arrive, the next bus will come soon.’”
Simcha’s brother Ephraim Israel, who served in the IDF, says that knowing that his brother was learning Torah all day in Kollel gave him a lot of strength and made him feel protected. “I felt like I had an angel guarding me.”
When asked if she is angry with those responsible for the incident in Meron, his mother Chava said: “It has nothing to do with us. We are simple people. I have educated my children that when one sees injustice, it is between the one who did the injustice and the Creator of the world. There are people who are responsible and I’m sure they are not sleeping at night. I’m also sure that those who have to judge them are not sleeping either.” (Chabad.org)
A peer-reviewed paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that immunity against the omicron coronavirus variant fades rapidly after a second and third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The research by Danish scientists published in JAMA Network Open on Friday found antibody responses fell within weeks after second and third Pfizer doses, Forbes reported.
The proportion of antibodies dropped from 76% four weeks after the second shot to 19% at weeks 12 to 14. The antibodies dropped even faster after the third dose, the booster shot.
Between the third and eighth week, antibodies fell 5.4-fold for omicron.
Last week, in a segment on “Good Morning America,” ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton warned it’s possible that repeated boosting actually can weaken the immune system.
She said that getting a booster shot is a good idea for older people who have chronic underlying conditions.
“But everyone else, don’t think that more boosting is the answer,” Ashton said. “We don’t know that that’s the case yet.”
An analysis of CDC data by Dr. Meryl Nass found vaccinated Californians and New Yorkers were three times more likely to develop COVID than those who had prior immunity and were unvaccinated.
Further, vaccinated Californians had a higher rate of hospitalizations than those who were unvaccinated but had prior immunity. New York did not provide hospitalization data.
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott is spotlighting the Biden administration’s proposed amendments to World Health Organization regulations that would give the U.N. agency’s director-general unilateral authority to declare a health emergency in the United States.
The WHO, the senator wrote on Twitter, “has served as a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party & helped Communist China cover up info on COVID-19.”
“The Biden admin must NOT give this sham of a health agency national sovereignty over the U.S. & control over Americans’ lives & health.”
As WND reported, the International Health Regulations amendments will be subject to votes at the upcoming annual meeting of the WHO’s governing legislative body, the World Health Assembly, May 22-28 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Significantly, the Biden amendments override the current check on WHO power which states that the agency “shall consult with and attempt to obtain verification from the State Party in whose territory the event is allegedly occurring.”
“By eliminating that, and other clauses,” Breggin writes, “all the shackles will be removed from the Director-General of WHO, enabling him to declare health emergencies at will.”
Breggin warns that the “arbitrary authority to declare national emergencies will be used against the United States if our government ever again dares to take anti-globalist stands as it did under the Trump administration.”
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has frozen roughly $519 million in assets owned by city and state pension funds. Photo Credit: AP
NY Pension Fund Investments in Russian Companies Frozen by Putin
By: Ilana Siyance
Russian President Vladimir Putin has frozen roughly $519 million in assets owned by city and state pension funds. As reported by the NY Post, though the New York employees and taxpayer funded pensions pledged to sell off holdings in Russian companies, to protest the country’s aggression against Ukraine, Moscow is prohibited foreign investors from dumping the stocks. “Putin is a thug and he’s holding our money hostage,” said Gregory Floyd, a Teamsters union leader and trustee of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYCERS).
New York City’s five pension systems – covering teachers, police, firefighters and other city employees – have invested a total $284.5 million in 33 publicly traded Russian stocks, as per records released to The Post by city Comptroller Brad Lander’s office. The market value of those Russian assets was $185.9 million on Feb. 25th, down almost $100 million from the purchase price, the latest available records show. Lander’s office says it’s unclear what the value of the Russian stocks is now. “The market remains closed to all non-Russian investors,” spokeswoman Shaquana Chaneyfield said. “Strong sanctions are in place that prohibit us from transacting any Russian securities. Given that context and constantly shifting rules in the Russian market, an accurate assessment of their current value is not available at this time.”
NYC pension systems have invested the biggest portion of their Moscow investment, or $133.3 million, in Sberbank—the country’s largest financial institution, which has since been sanctioned. Another $22.7 million is invested in Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil company. There is $14.2 million invested from the pensions into Polyus Gold- the country’s largest gold producer. Another $6.4 million of the pension system is invested in Gazprom—the Russian owned energy corporation and the world’s largest natural-gas company.
NYSTERS, which represents public-school teachers outside of NYC, passed a resolution on March 4 to divest of Russian-related assets worth $125 million. It has not, however, been able to do so. “They’re just trapped,” said John Murphy, former executive director of NYCERS. “There is a risk that they will lose all their money on these companies.”
As per the Post, even if the pensions were permitted to sell, prices now would be such that it wouldn’t make sense to do so. Overall, the city and state’s $519 million invested in Russian companies makes up only 0.1 percent of the total $263.2 billion that the city pension systems manage as of March.
IDF Strike Utterly Destroyed Iranian Site in Syria
According to foreign reports, this was the third aerial attack in the last three weeks to stop Iranian entrenchment in the country.
By: Batya Jerenberg
Satellite images published Sunday show the complete destruction of an alleged Iranian military site in Syria that foreign media have attributed to an Israeli air strike Friday night.
Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International (ISI) released “before” and “after” pictures in which several buildings in a row in the northwestern region of Masyaf are utterly demolished.
“The structures were used as an entrance to underground tunnels. ISI has detected that the structures have been completely destroyed,” the company said.
According to ISI, “this underground facility is related to” the nearby Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), which Western intelligence sources believe is linked to the Syrian military. The SSRC is responsible for the research and development of biological and chemical weapons, and nuclear and ballistic missile-related technology.
In 2005, the SSRC was put on the U.S. Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals list and American citizens and residents were prohibited from doing business with it.
The alleged Israeli strike is the second one in the Masyaf region in two months. The area has been attacked several times over recent years, as it contains several Iranian bases that are used, among other purposes, to develop and produce more accurate missiles that could endanger the Jewish state.
Israel has described its ongoing but usually uncredited military activity as a “war between the wars” to discourage Iranian entrenchment so close to its northern border.
Just five days ago, Syrian state television reported that the IDF had launched several shells at an observation post overlooking the Golan Heights. Although officially belonging to the Syrian army, the post was reportedly suspected of being used by Hezbollah terrorists and members of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Less than three weeks ago, the Syrian army admitted that four of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli air strike on Damascus while claiming that its forces had managed to shoot down most of the “Tiberius-based” missiles. The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights SOHR reported, in contrast ,that those killed included five Syrian soldiers and four people of unknown citizenship who were affiliated with Iran-backed militias.
According to Saudi Arabian news channel Al-Hadath, that attack targeted a weapons shipment for Hezbollah at the airport south of the capital. SOHR said Syrian army and Iranian weapons storage facilities were hit. (WorldIsraelNews.com)
