Alana Goodman(Free Beacon)
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Jamaal Bowman Campaigns With Defund Police Groups as Primary Vote Nears
Meghan Blonder(Free Beacon)
In the final push of his primary campaign, embattled New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D.) is leaning on the help of groups that support defunding the police.
Bowman on Monday touted a coalition of progressive groups, including the New York Working Families Party and The Jewish Vote, that is working to push him across the finish line in his June primary race. These groups repeatedly called to defund the police, including in New York City—a portion of which is represented by Bowman.
Bowman posed for a picture with members of the left-wing groups, whom he described as a “multiracial, working-class movement” for “people power.”
“I’m inspired by the multiracial, working-class movement we’re building! From Co-op to Larchmont we’re building a movement for jobs and education, not bombs and incarceration!” Bowman tweeted. “Shoutout to everyone who showed out [sic] yesterday. This is what people power looks like.”
Bowman’s allies support the fringe position of defunding the police.
“We must defund **and** demilitarize the police,” the New York Working Families Party wrote in June 2020.
“The NYPD isn’t just employing a few bad apples—it’s deliberately cultivating bad apples at the expense of Black and brown New Yorkers,” the group wrote in a post one month later. “Defund police, invest in our communities.”
“Defund the police,” The Jewish Vote wrote in May 2020.
Eight months later, the groups called on presidential candidates to endorse defunding the police to get their vote.
“If @AndrewYang wants to win our votes, he should focus on #TaxTheRich, Defund the Police, a #GreenNewDeal—NOT equating a nonviolent human rights tactic to literal Nazis,” the group wrote.
Democrats in New York’s 16th Congressional District will choose their congressional nominee on June 25. Westchester County executive George Latimer has shown to be a formidable law-and-order, pro-Israel Democratic challenger to Bowman. The race’s results could shed light on how other elections will play out in swing districts where the Israel-Hamas war is a salient issue.
Bowman in a Sunday Instagram story highlighted Felicia Singh, who was a leading organizer and works as the director of policy and government relations at the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. Singh posted a photo of the group of campaigners, writing “Working Families Party. I’m right next to [Bowman].”
Bowman responded to Singh, who has personally advocated for defunding the police, with a “hand heart” emoji.
Singh called to defund the police as recently as April.
“I hope that what people seeing happen to students by the NYPD becomes a MASSIVE learning for people who were afraid of the word ‘defund’ but understand it now,” Singh wrote in an April 30 post.
“How can @NYCCouncil vote to ban chokeholds when they’re still happening in our black communities? Reforms don’t work alone,” Singh wrote in a June 2020 post. “Defund the police now.”
Two months later, she highlighted the Austin, Texas, city council’s decision to cut $100 million from the police budget as an example of defunding the police in action.
“We can’t say that we have zero examples of how to defund the nypd [sic] and reinvest in communities. We can’t say it’s impossible. We can’t say it won’t work. We can only say the NYC is behind in centering the #blacklivesmatter movement and that’s a damn shame,” Singh wrote.
The city of Austin reversed those budget cuts one year later amid a crime spike.
Bowman has collaborated with The Jewish Vote before, attempting to rehabilitate his image among Jewish voters in light of his anti-Israel rhetoric following the Oct. 7 attack.
The group is the electoral arm of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ), a left-wing nonprofit that has routinely disparaged the Jewish state and argued against sending anti-Semitic hate criminals to jail.
In its Oct. 7 statement on “escalating violence in Israel-Palestine,” JFREJ said Hamas’s slaughter of innocent Israelis was not “unprovoked,” citing “decades of occupation” and “the stifling blockage of Gaza.” Days later, the group’s executive director, Audrey Sasson, accused Israel of “genocide.”
Bowman, much like The Jewish Vote, blamed Hamas’s attack on Israel’s “blockade of Gaza” and went on to accuse the Jewish state of “mass murder,” “genocide,” and “ethnic cleansing.” Those comments have incensed local Jewish leaders. Twenty-six rabbis in Bowman’s district, for example, wrote a letter in October urging Latimer to launch a primary campaign against Bowman, citing the congressman’s “effort to erode support for Israel on Capitol Hill and within the Democratic Party.”
“Many of us tried to engage the Congressman early in his term, seeking constructive dialogue about the damaging positions he took—especially on matters related to America’s relationship with Israel,” the rabbis wrote. “Regrettably, Congressman Bowman disregarded our outreach and doubled down on his anti-Israel policy positions and messaging.”
Bowman has also been intertwined with the Working Families Party since he began his political career in 2020. The party’s New York chapter endorsed his primary campaign at the time, citing him as an “excellent” alternative challenger to then-incumbent Eliot Engel, who had held the seat for over 30 years.
“Jamaal Bowman is going to be an excellent congressman—pass it on,” the Working Families Party wrote in a post before the 2020 primary.
Bowman did not return a request for comment.
Bowing to Hamas, Biden and Mob Demands Would be Suicidal Israelis Say
Bowing to Hamas, Biden and Mob Demands Would be Suicidal Israelis Say
Never Again means Never Again! How dare they resist us? say Israel haters.
By: Paul Driessen
Sir Nicholas Winton epitomized the Power of One. As World War II loomed, he organized a rescue operation, found sponsors and foster homes, and ultimately brought nearly 700 Jewish Czech children to Britain. The ninth train was intercepted by Nazi troops the day war broke out; only two of the 250 children onboard survived Holocaust death camps.
It’s painfully ironic that the new film One Life, retelling this uplifting saga, opened March 15 – five months after Hamas’s October 7 butchery, during Israel’s 75th anniversary year and its war to end Hamas’s reign as a terrorist force, and amid the worst anti-Israel, anti-Semitic “protests” in US history.
The raging placards and chants defy belief. We are Hamas. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. (Or the Arabic version: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be Arab – free of Jews, Christians, Bahais and other infidels.) Globalize the Intifada (violent uprisings and terrorism).
Death to America! Hamas, we love you! Resistance by any means necessary. Al-Qassam, you make us proud. Kill all Zionists! (Al-Qassam is Hamas’s October 7 terrorists. The vast majority of US Jews and Christians are Zionists, supporters of Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.)
This is “intersectionality” in its most disgusting and dangerous form: Marxism, Fascism, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and Atifa. Hatred of America, Israel, capitalism and Western civilization.
These mobs intimidate and assault Jewish students. They rabidly support: Hamas terrorists, the numerous Gazan men, women and even children who joined the 10/7 slaughter, the 72% of Gazans who say those massacres were justified, and the 93% who say Hamas committed no war crimes on 10/7.
No war crimes or atrocities? Look at these photos and videos (here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here). Watch Sheryl Sandburg’s documentary (especially at 28:00, 30:45, 32:25 and 39:20).
Hamas leaders say “Israel has no place on our land.” Until Israel is eradicated, “everything we do is justified.” “Nobody should blame us for the things we do on October 7, October 10, October 1,000,000.”
“Our land” means all of Israel. It reflects the Islamist belief that once an area is Muslim, it must always be Muslim (even Spain and Portugal). It refers to Koran verse 2:91. “Kill them wherever you come upon them and drive them out of the places from which they have driven you out.”
Spontaneous protests? The campus mobsters and their gear are covertly funded by billionaire foundations. Professional agitators trained the mob bosses before 10/7, so they’d be ready when opportunities arose.
The mobs are loud, shrill and often violent. But they are tiny minority; 80% of registered American voters support Israel in this war against Hamas. But college administrators still kowtow to the mobs, and President Biden needs their votes too much to condemn them, reverse his ongoing pressure against Israel or stop appeasing Iran, the ultimate sponsor of Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi terrorism.
Israel is guilty of genocide? Hamas wants to kill or drive out every Jew in Israel. Its terrorists targeted, raped, mutilated and murdered thousands of Israeli civilians – and promise to repeat their massacres until Israel is gone. Campus mobs want to “Kill all Zionists.” That is genocide.
In sharp contrast, Israel goes out of its way to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, where Hamas built hundreds of miles of terror tunnels under its cities. Where Hamas hides its “militants” and weapons in virtually every home, apartment, school, hospital, mosque and office.
Where it actively “persuades” civilians to remain as human shields, to ensure high casualties. Where some families refuse to leave, even when warned of impending military actions. “We want to die. We love death the way you love life,” one family patriarch said.
That has meant destructive, deadly urban warfare. And yet civilian death tolls in Gaza are one-sixth those in other recent urban warzones.
A 2022 UN report concluded that 90% of wartime casualties were civilians in Afghanistan, Africa, Ukraine and the Middle East. That’s nine civilians for every combatant. Gaza tolls have been 1.5 civilians per combatant. Military experts like Col. Richard Kemp (U.K., Ret.) confirm this.
Using Hamas Health Ministry claims (up to 34,000 deaths through April) – and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims that it has killed over 12,000 Hamas fighters – the ratio is 1.8 civilians per fighter. But Hamas doesn’t separate terrorists from civilians killed by Israel, by Hamas rockets that exploded in Gaza or even deaths by natural causes. It classifies military-age men as children.
Moreover, Hamas has now admitted that one-third of its previously published Gaza death statistics are “incomplete” and unsupported by actual records. The actual ratio could thus be 1:1 or less – still tragic, but even further below any other urban war.
However, President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin say any further civilian deaths are unacceptable. They demand that Israel restrict operations in Rafa to limited “surgical” strikes, which will never eliminate the 8,000 “warriors” in Hamas’s last stronghold. The administration then blocked shipments of precision munitions needed for surgical strikes – in defiance of Congress.
These actions will make it far more likely that Hamas will survive and able to launch more terror attacks – likely in conjunction with Hezbollah, Houthis and soon-to-be-nuclear Iran. Israel would be vastly more imperiled than it is today. Many suspect this is what the Biden Administration wants.
Team Biden’s increasingly sorry record is compounded by a State Department report accusing Israel of causing a “severe humanitarian crisis” by displacing Palestinians, and of committing other human rights violations – such as subjecting Hamas prisoners to “inhumane treatment,” like forcing them to undress to their underwear to prevent suicide bombings. It and the UN are silent about the humanitarian crisis and war crimes in Ukraine inflicted by Russia’s increasing attacks on homes, hospitals and energy systems.
On Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, the White House trumpeted a supposed treaty between Hamas and Israel, but deliberately failed to mention that Hamas had changed the Israeli-Egyptian draft agreement. The worst was requiring that Israel permanently end the war, withdraw from Gaza and release imprisoned terrorists before Hamas released any hostages – or just corpses of hostages.
The prevailing Biden, campus mob and global attitude seems to be: How dare Jews fight back, after 2000 years of letting enemies slaughter them, the way they did during the Crusades, pogroms and Holocaust? How dare Israel demonstrate that its promise of Never Again! really means Never Again!
Israelis and Jews everywhere know bowing to Hamas, Biden and mob demands would be suicidal.
Vote for Trump for President- Your Life as an American Jew Depends on it!
US Suspends Gaza Aid Shipments After Biden Admin’s Problem-Ridden Floating Pier Damaged By Bad Weather
(DCNF) The U.S. military has halted aid shipments into Gaza after the Biden administration’s floating pier was damaged by bad weather, according to multiple reports.
The $320 million pier, formally labeled the Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore (JLOTS) pier, aimed to serve as a vessel to deliver aid to Gaza via a maritime corridor in the Mediterranean Sea. Less than two weeks after becoming operational, U.S. aid shipments have been halted fully after bad weather damaged and compromised the JLOTS pier, U.S. officials told multiple outlets on Tuesday.
The bad weather damage is the latest in a slew of issues the pier has faced since it became operational less than two weeks ago. Initial aid shipments through the pier last week were stolen almost immediately onshore by crowds of hungry civilians, raising concerns with aid distribution groups responsible for dolling out the aid properly.
Three U.S. troops were injured in a non-combat incident on the floating pier last week during aid transfer operations, though the exact cause of the injuries has not been disclosed. One of the three troops suffered critical injuries and was evacuated to an Israeli hospital, where he is currently receiving emergency care.
Four U.S. army vessels helping stabilize the pier became unmoored in choppy waters and bad weather over the weekend, which broke off part of the pier’s support system. Two of the vessels floated north and landed on a beach in Ashdod, Israel. The two other vessels were anchored to the beach near the pier.
President Joe Biden announced the pier as a signature project of his administration during the 2024 State of the Union (SOTU) in March.
“A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day,” Biden said during his remarks at the SOTU.
More broadly, the pier itself can only play a small role in delivering the aid needed in Gaza, even when fully operational. The Biden administration hopes to deliver 90 trucks worth of aid to Gaza per day via the JLOTS pier in the interim, eventually up to 150 trucks once initial problems are smoothed over. But 300 to 500 trucks of aid per day is required to satisfy the humanitarian needs of the millions of Palestinians who have been displaced by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war; the majority of the aid is being delivered by truck convoys through border crossings in Israel and Egypt.
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Saudi Arabia Removes Anti-israel Material From Schoolbooks
(JNS) – Saudi Arabia has removed practically all antisemitism and anti-Israel material from its schoolbooks, in a major shift from the past and a harbinger of a better future, a study released Tuesday found.
The study, conducted by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE)—an international research organization—found a “marked reduction” in anti-Israel content in the Saudi curriculum, which no longer teaches that Zionism is a “racist” European movement, nor denies the historical Jewish presence in the region dating back 3,000 years.
In addition, according to the study, hostile references to Israel in the textbooks have been modified, while the word “Palestine” has been removed from maps of Israeli sites.
The study also noted that all remaining violent interpretations of jihad, which had been in place for years, were removed or altered in this year’s textbooks.
References to homosexuality as a “monstrous atrocity,” or claims that emulating the opposite sex is a “deviation from normality,” were removed, as well. While retaining a traditional approach to gender roles, there has been a notable improvement in the depiction of women, the study revealed.
“Saudi textbooks published for the 2023/24 school year constitute another step towards the transformation of a curriculum into an educational framework which encourages tolerance, peace and greater equality,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff. “Having already removed antisemitism from the textbooks, it is particularly encouraging that Saudi curriculum designers have made further revisions which portray Israel in a more positive light. These changes bode well for the future of the region as a whole.”
The significant positive changes in the Gulf Kingdom’s educational curriculum come amid renewed reports of a United States-brokered Saudi-Israeli normalization deal. This is despite Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state—which some Mideast analysts assess was launched, in part, to scuttle such a deal—and the ongoing war in Gaza.
Biden Campaign Unleashes Trump Derangement Syndrome Patient Robert De Niro Outside New York Courthouse
By Kristina Wong(Breitbart)
=The Biden campaign on Tuesday morning staged a press conference outside of the Manhattan courtroom where closing arguments were set to begin in the business records trial of former President Donald Trump.
Speaking at the press conference were actor Robert DeNiro, and two former Capitol police officers on January 6, Harry Dunn — who is running for Congress, and Michael Fanone.
De Niro unleashed full Trump Derangement Syndrome, claiming that if Trump were elected, he would “never” leave office.
#NOW “You are gangsters, F**k you!”
Robert DeNiro shouting at Trump Supporters who confronted him as he tried to leave the courthouse area.
They chased him to his car where DeNiro’s security had to push them away. pic.twitter.com/Upl0XlpnpS— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) May 28, 2024
“If he gets in, I can tell you right now, he will never leave! He will never leave! You know that. He will never leave,” DeNiro said, claiming that Trump would make himself “dictator for life.”
“What does that mean? Is that the country we want to live in? Do we want him running this country and saying, ‘I’m not leaving, I’m dictator for life’?” he added.
“I hope this new ad campaign reaches outside the bubble to remind supporters of what a danger he is to our lives. This is not a threat, this is a reality,” he continued.
De Niro also referred to Trump supporters as “clowns” and “gangsters.”
The move smacked of desperation. Trump and dozens of his supporters have essentially hosted daily press conferences outside of the courtroom over the past several weeks, giving them a high-profile platform.
“You all are here. You’ve been incessantly covering this day in and day out,” said Dunn, when asked by reporters why they staged the press conference outside of the courtroom. “And we want to remind the American people ahead of the first debate on June 27 of the unique, persistent threat and growing threat that Donald Trump poses to the American people and toward our democracy.”
Just last week, Trump hosted a campaign rally in the Bronx, reportedly drawing an estimated 25,000 supporters.
The move also smacked of politics. President Joe Biden has reportedly stayed quiet on the trial so as to not give credence to Trump’s accusations of political persecution. Politico reported just Friday that Biden would make a statement when there was a verdict, but from a White House “setting” and not a campaign one, so it would not look “political.”
However, that changed Tuesday morning when the Biden-Harris campaign announced they would hold a press conference outside of the courtroom.
Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, posted on X:
In case you needed more evidence that all of these BS cases were quarterbacked by Team Biden to interfere in the 2024 election, the Biden campaign is now showing up in NYC to explicitly cheerlead the political prosecution of my father
Meet the Soros-Linked Biden Donors Trying To Buy TikTok
Alana Goodman(Free Beacon)
A Biden megadonor, a board member of George Soros’s foundation, and a former aide to Bill Clinton are seeking to buy TikTok as part of a “visionary initiative to transform how the Internet works.”
Project Liberty, a “global alliance for responsible technology” founded by billionaire former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, announced last week that it is working to assemble a group of investors to buy the social media platform from its Chinese parent company ByteDance.
“Project Liberty is organizing a bid to acquire the popular social media platform TikTok in the U.S., with the goal of placing people and data empowerment at the center of the platform’s design and purpose,” the group announced on its website.
But conservative free speech advocates are raising concerns about Project Liberty’s board, which is stacked with left-wing activists, and with McCourt’s history of bankrolling Democratic politicians.
“Every prominent Democrat not named Ro Khanna has now bought into the belief that government and big tech should censor their political opponents,” said Daniel Schneider, the vice president of the Media Research Center’s Free Speech America project.
“[When] you see this horde of Democrats trying to buy TikTok, it’s clear they have the same motivation as George Soros does in buying hundreds of radio stations. They are trying to control information flow to manipulate people and how they vote.”
Project Liberty’s bid could reignite debate over political bias and social media companies. In 2020, Twitter and other platforms were accused of misusing anti-disinformation and anti-hate speech policies to ban conservatives and censor journalism that was unfavorable to Joe Biden’s presidential bid.
Democrats view TikTok as a powerful tool to reach younger voters in their base. The platform—which is used by 60 percent of U.S. adults under the age of 30—is so valuable for political messaging that the Biden campaign and other Democratic politicians have continued to use it despite the controversy over TikTok’s links to the Chinese government.
While Project Liberty has said it wants to “decentralize” social media, its leaders’ political leanings are likely to raise questions.
The group’s founder, McCourt, has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats, including $100,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and $100,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2023, according to Federal Election Commission records. He contributed $35,500 to the Democratic National Committee in 2020, $50,000 to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016, and donated to over a dozen state Democratic parties in the last presidential cycle, including Michigan, Florida, and Arizona.
A spokeswoman for McCourt declined to comment about how the group plans to handle issues of political speech and misinformation. “Project Liberty is a non-partisan organization dedicated to building digital infrastructure that protects data and gives people a voice, choice, and stake in a better internet,” his spokeswoman Katie O’Shea told the Free Beacon.
Project Liberty’s board includes Daniel Sachs, the vice chair of Soros’s Open Society Foundations; former Bill Clinton aide Eric Liu; and Jeremy Heimans, a former MoveOn.org employee who went on to found a left-wing activist group called Avaaz.
In 2021, Avaaz lobbied Congress to “investigate Facebook’s role in the insurrection,” arguing that the social media site should have done more to ban pro-Trump “misinformation” ahead of the 2020 election.
Project Liberty’s president, Tomicah Tillemann, is a former speechwriter for Hillary Clinton and worked under Biden when he was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
McCourt founded Project Liberty in 2021 with the stated goal of decentralizing social media and giving users more control over their own data. The group’s website says it is “committed to building a better internet—where the data is ours to manage, the platforms are ours to govern, and the power is ours to reclaim.”
Congress passed a law last month requiring TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform by next January or face commercial restrictions in the United States.
McCourt, who made his money in real estate development, isn’t the only politically connected investor eyeing TikTok. Donald Trump’s former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin also said he was working to organize a bid in March.
McCourt’s ex-wife is Jamie McCourt, a Republican who served as Trump’s former ambassador to France. Their marriage ended in a highly combative divorce in 2011.
Spain recognizes Palestinian state with capital in eastern Jerusalem
By Troy Osher Fritzhand, JNS
Spain on Tuesday officially recognized a “State of Palestine” within the 1967 lines, with eastern Jerusalem as its capital and including the Gaza Strip.
“With this decision, Spain joins the more than 140 countries that already recognize Palestine,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at an event marking the announcement.
“This is a historic decision, that has a single goal: To contribute to achieving peace between Israelis and [Palestinians],” he said.
Spain’s recognition was a matter not only of “historical justice,” but also “an imperative need to achieve peace,” he continued.
“It is the only way to realize the solution that we all recognize as the only possible one to achieve a future of peace. That of a [Palestinian] state that coexists alongside the State of Israel, in peace and security,” he said.
For the Palestinian state to be viable, he continued, Judea, Samaria and Gaza Strip must be connected via a corridor, eastern Jerusalem must be its capital and it must be unified under the “legitimate government” of the Palestinian Authority.
The move, he added, was not against Israel but against Hamas.
“This decision reflects our absolute rejection of Hamas, a terrorist organization who is against the two-state solution,” he said.
ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR SAYS ORGANIZATION’S ‘DAYS ARE NUMBERED’
Immediately following the speech, Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted a photo on X showing the Israeli and Spanish flags intertwined, writing in Spanish, “The Israeli people and the Spanish people are friendly people. We will not allow you…[or] the members of your government to separate us.”
Katz accused Sánchez in a separate post of being complicit in murder and war crimes against Jews.
“Khamenei @khamenei_ir, Sinwar and Deputy Prime Minister of Spain @Yolanda_Diaz_ call for the elimination of the State of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian Islamic terrorist state from the river to the sea. Prime Minister Sanchez @sanchezcastejon, when you do not fire your deputy and announce the recognition of a Palestinian state—you are complicit in inciting murder of the Jewish people and war crimes,” he tweeted.
The back and forth between the two countries has been constant since Madrid last week announced its intention to recognize a Palestinian state, along with Norway and Ireland.
On Sunday, Katz tagged President Sánchez on X in a video with traditional Spanish music in the background alongside videos of Hamas’s brutality on Oct. 7. He wrote, “@sanchezcastejon, Hamas thanks you for your service.”
Katz also said that the decision was “a gold medal to Hamas terrorists who kidnapped our daughters and burned infants.”
In response, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called the video “scandalous and disgusting,” adding, “we will not fall for these provocations.”
Katz then followed up on Monday by sending a letter to Spanish authorities forbidding their country’s consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to residents of the Palestinian Authority.
“As of 1 June 2024, the Consulate General of Spain in Jerusalem may provide consular services strictly to residents of the consular district of Jerusalem,” the letter states.
“The Consulate General, or anyone on its behalf, may not provide services to residents of the Palestinian Authority, nor may it perform any consular or other functions outside the district of Jerusalem, without prior written consent from the Ministry.”
The policy does not apply to consular services for Spanish citizens in Judea and Samaria.
“If this policy is not respected, the Ministry will not hesitate to take further actions,” the letter added.
Norway and Ireland are set to also officially recognize a Palestinian state on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Norway’s foreign minister met with the Palestinian Authority prime minister in Brussels, where he handed over diplomatic papers affirming this.
“Recognition means a lot to us. It is the most important thing that anybody can do for the Palestinian people. It is a great deal for us,” P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa told Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said on Sunday that, “There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition. The terror has been committed by Hamas and militant groups who are not supporters of a two-state solution and the State of Israel.”
WATCH: HAMAS TERRORISTS FIRE AT GAZANS FROM ON TOP OF STOLEN AID TRUCKS
Ireland, a constant critic of Israel, said on Monday that the European Union could also seek sanctions against Israel.
“For the first time at an E.U. meeting, in a real way, I’ve seen significant discussion on sanctions and ‘what if,’” said Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheál Martin.
However, he continued, there is “some distance between people articulating the need for a sanctions-based approach if Israel does not comply with the ICJ’s ruling…to agreement in the Council meeting, given all of the different perspectives there.”
International humanitarian law and human rights “is the raison d’etre of the European Union, and events now are really putting that issue into sharp focus, particularly given the attack last night when so many innocent people were killed,” said Martin.
On Sunday night, an Israeli strike on two senior Hamas terrorists near Rafah resulted in the deaths of tens of Palestinian civilians. According to ABC News, Israel told U.S. officials the incident was apparently caused by missile shrapnel igniting a fuel tank some 330 feet from the targeted area.
The targets of the strike were named as Yassin Rabia, head of Hamas’s Judea and Samaria headquarters, and Khaled Nagar, a senior official in the terrorist group’s Judea and Samaria wing.
The IDF spokesperson said earlier that the strike, based on intelligence and executed using precision weaponry, was carried out in accordance with international law.
Protesters at Hebrew U call to ‘expel the occupier’
Around 100 students participated in an anti-Israel protest at the Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus in Jerusalem on Tuesday, waving PLO flags and chanting inflammatory slogans, according to Hebrew media reports.
Kan News shared video of the demonstration to its X account, quoting some of the slogans being chanted, such as “there is no solution but to expel the occupier” and “Al Aqsa has been redeemed in spirit and blood.”
The students were protesting against “the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” calling it “the first of additional protest steps planned against the ongoing massacre,” according to Ynet.
The protest was organized by students from the Hadash faction, a far left-wing Arab-Israeli political party.
The pro-Israel Im Tirtzu movement held a counter-protest, with students waving Israeli flags and singing the national anthem, “Hatikvah.”
The Hadash protest drew strong condemnation from Yisrael Beiteinu party head MK Avigdor Liberman and other political leaders.
“It is inconceivable that the Hebrew University allows a disgraceful demonstration of terror supporters, waving Palestinian flags in the heart of the university campus while our heroic soldiers are fighting on the battlefield,” said Liberman.
He called on the university’s leadership to “immediately suspend” the protesters, threatening to “take all the steps available to us in the Knesset to delay all their budgets” if they refuse to do so.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also condemned the protest.
“There will be zero tolerance for lawlessness on my watch,” he wrote, praising police for dispersing the protest.
Ben-Gvir criticized the university for not allowing police in sooner, and called on Education Minister Yoav Kish and the university’s administration to crack down on illegal activities on campus.
National Union of Students chairman Elchanan Pellaheimer said that the incident was evidence of “unimaginable neglect” at the university. He called for new legislation and sanctions against “inciters of terror,” adding, “We call on all relevant parties, first and foremost the members of the Knesset, to join our struggle against terror in academia.”
Trump says he will deport anti-Israel protesters if elected
(JNS) U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Jewish donors earlier this month that if elected in November, he would deport anti-Israel protesters on university campuses and defeat the “radical revolution” he said these demonstrations affiliated with.
According to Monday’s Washington Post account of the private fundraiser held in New York on May 14, quoting anonymous participants, the former president also affirmed Israel’s right to continue “its war on terror” while listing his achievements for Israel during his term in office.
Concerning the anti-Israel demonstrations and encampments roiling U.S. college campuses in the months since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, Trump said he would expel foreign students who participate in the protests.
“One thing I do is, any student that protests, I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students. As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave,” he reportedly said.
Trump also praised the New York City Police Department for clearing out the encampment at Columbia University, saying that other cities need to do the same: “It has to be stopped now,” he emphasized.
“Well, if you get me elected, and you should really be doing this, if you get me reelected, we’re going to set that movement back 25 or 30 years,” he said, according to donors at the event.
During the meeting, Trump said that he supported Israel’s right to continue its war to defeat Hamas in Gaza.
“But I’m one of the only people that says that now. And a lot of people don’t even know what Oct. 7 is,” he added.
The former president ticked off his accomplishments in the White House, including moving the U.S. embassy to the capital of Jerusalem and recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel.
He also warned that “Israel is losing its power” in Washington and specifically on Capitol Hill, calling it “incredible” and arguing that Israel needs his help.
Trump also repeated his frustration at the fact that the majority of Jewish Americans vote for Democrats, including the current president, Joe Biden, who beat Trump in the last election.
“But how can a Jewish person vote for a Democrat, and Biden in particular—but forget Biden. They always let you down,” he said.
Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s national press secretary, wrote to the Post in an email: “When President Trump is back in the Oval Office, Israel will once again be protected, Iran will go back to being broke, terrorists will be hunted down, and the bloodshed will end.”
IDF source: Rafah fire may have been caused by Hamas munitions
(JNS) The Israeli military is investigating the possibility that the deadly fire that broke out in Rafah on Sunday night following an Israeli airstrike may have been caused by the secondary detonation of Hamas munitions, a military official said on Tuesday.
Lastly, the IDF released an audio conversation between two Gaza describing the Rafah attack. pic.twitter.com/ip1AuARTdJ
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) May 28, 2024
Two of the smallest type of munition that can be loaded onto fighter jets, each carrying 17 kilograms (37.5 pounds) of explosives, were used in the strike, the official said. This type of munition has been used hundreds of times by the IAF over the course of the war, he added.
“We are looking into the possibility that weapons stored in the compound next to our target may have ignited the fire,” the official said.
“It should be noted Hamas has been operating from this area since October 7,” he added, noting that a Hamas rocket launcher was located 47 meters away from the compound targeted on Sunday night.
The attack, which targeted a structure in Tal as-Sultan in northwest Rafah, was based on intelligence indicating the presence there of Yassin Rabia, the commander of leadership in Judea and Samaria, and Khaled Nagar, a senior official in Hamas’s Judea and Samaria headquarters.
The military official emphasized on Tuesday that the strike occurred 1.5 kilometers away from the humanitarian evacuation zone established by the IDF.
Rabia managed the whole of Hamas’s terror activity in Judea and Samaria, transferring funds and planning attacks, as well as conducting attacks himself in 2001 and 2002 that killed IDF soldiers.
Nagar directed shootings and other attacks which led to the deaths of several Israeli civilians and soldiers, according to the military. Both were released in the 2011 Shalit prisoner exchange deal and were planning further attacks, the official added.
The IDF was also assessing footage of Sunday’s strike ostensibly captured by Gaza residents and posted to social media that “appears to show secondary explosions,” the official said.
The military also has intelligence reinforcing the suspicion that Hamas weapons were stored nearby and caught fire after the strike, he added.
The source stressed that the possibility that secondary explosions caused the fire remains a working assumption at this point and the investigation into the matter is ongoing.
The investigation is being conducted by the IDF General Staff fact-finding mechanism, which according to the military is an independent professional body.
However, he said that the weapon used in the strike was not capable of causing a fire of this kind, adding that the IDF has much experience in deploying this type of munition.
“Our war is against Hamas. It’s not against the people of Gaza,” said the official.
“This is a very tragic incident that occurred. We have to understand why it occurred. And we have to understand how we prevent this kind of incident from [occurring again],” he said.
On Tuesday afternoon, IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters that “our munition alone could not have ignited a fire this size … We used the smallest munition that our jets can use.”
“The fire that broke out was unexpected and unintended. This was a devastating incident that we did not expect. We’re investigating what caused this fire,” Hagari said, stressing that the strike targeted a “closed” terrorist structure almost a mile from the Al-Mawasi Humanitarian zone.
The military spokesman continued, “There may have been weapons in the area. Our signals intelligence intercepted phone calls reinforcing this possibility that weapons stored in a nearby compound caught fire.”
He assured that the “investigation will be swift, comprehensive and transparent. Our war is against Hamas, not the people of Gaza. This is why we convey deep sorrow over this loss of life.”
64% of Israelis oppose Palestinian state in return for Saudi peace deal
According to a survey conducted by the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs (JCFA), 64% of Israelis said they were opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian State as part of an agreement to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.
The full report will be unveiled at the 13th Annual Jerusalem Post Conference in New York next week.
Negotiations to establish diplomatic and economic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia were progressing before Hamas’s invasion of Israel on October 7th.
However, the Saudis indicated that the establishment of a Palestinian State was a condition for normalization.
During the war, there has been some indication that talks could resume.
However, recently, Riyadh expressed concerns over Jerusalem’s unwillingness to consider a two-state solution, and there is evidence that the Israeli public has cooled on the notion since the beginning of the war.
Although there is still a significant disparity in how a Palestinian State is viewed by Israelis of different political persuasions, the survey indicated that more Israelis since October 7th are opposed to the notion.
A third of Israelis who thought, before October 7th, that a Palestinian State could be viable under certain conditions now oppose it entirely.
Among Israelis aged 60 and above, support for a demilitarized Palestinian state fell from 44% to 32%. Among those with academic degrees, the number fell from 29% to 20%, and among Israelis with higher incomes, support for a Palestinian State dropped from 33% to 20%.
Younger Israelis–70% of those between 18 and 29 — oppose a Palestinian state. Traditional, religious, and ultra-orthodox are against Palestinian statehood at a rate of 74%, 88%, and 91%, respectively, and 54% of secular Israelis are against it.
The Biden Administration has urged Israel to accept a scenario in which the Palestinian Authority would govern Gaza after the war.
However, Dr. Dan Diker, president of the JCPA, said, “The Israeli government and Knesset have rejected the idea of a Palestinian state as a solution, especially as a reward for Palestinian terror or as a post-Hamas solution.”
He added, “Public opinion polls now reflect the Israeli public’s understanding of the issue’s significance after October 7.”
Given the Biden administration’s policy, it is crucial to convey this message to both Israel’s elected officials and decision-makers in the White House,” Diker concluded.
Nikki Haley in Israel: Oct 7th Could “Absolutely Happen in America Too”
Nikki Haley in Israel: Oct 7th Could “Absolutely Happen in America Too”
Edited by: Fern Sidman
On a visit on Monday to the ravaged communities in Israel following the October 7 massacre, former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley unequivocally pointed fingers at Iran, Russia, and China for their alleged roles in the catastrophic attack executed by Hamas, according to a report that appeared on Monday in the Times of Israel. Speaking at the remains of the Sderot police station alongside Likud MK and former UN envoy Danny Danon, Haley’s statements sparked a flurry of debate and concern regarding the broader geopolitical entanglements and their implications.
Haley’s claims were direct and alarming: she contended that the attack was orchestrated by Iran, supported by Russian intelligence, and financed by Chinese money. Her assertion, “if we are arrogant enough,” such an attack “could absolutely happen in America too,” was a stark warning meant to shine a spotlight on the very real threat posed by these nations, as was reported by the TOI. Haley argued that China’s ongoing financial support to Iran facilitated the latter’s role in training Hamas operatives, while Russian intelligence allegedly provided crucial information to aid the assault.
While Haley’s accusations are severe, it’s essential to recognize the current geopolitical stances and actions of the implicated countries. To date, there is no publicly available evidence linking Russia or China directly to the planning or execution of the October 7 attack. The information contained in the TOI report indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration has indeed been vocally critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza and has hosted Hamas officials, calling for a ceasefire through a UN Security Council resolution that notably did not mention Hamas.
China, on the other hand, has shown a strategic inclination to foster stronger ties with Arab nations. Beijing’s announcement to host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and other Arab leaders to articulate a unified stance on the Palestinian issue further exemplifies China’s diplomatic maneuvers to assert its influence in the region, as was observed in the TOI report.
Iran’s support for terrorist groups, including Hamas, is well-documented. The Iranian regime has been a longstanding patron of various proxy groups throughout the Middle East, providing financial support, training, and weaponry, the TOI report said. Iran’s strategic objective has often been to destabilize rivals and extend its influence through asymmetric warfare. The link between Iran and Hamas fits within this broader pattern of Iranian foreign policy.
Danon confirmed Iranian involvement but was cautious about definitively linking Russia and China to the attack. “We have to look very carefully [at] who trained the Hamas terrorists. We have evidence about Iranian involvement,” he told the TOI. When pressed for credible information linking Moscow and Beijing to the attack, Danon noted, “No, we have to look at the rockets and missiles that they were using. Definitely, they came from Russia and China. You have to look deeply who brought it and who gave it to them.”
This trip to Israel which was organized by Danon, came at a time when Haley’s name is being floated as a possible vice-presidential candidate for Donald Trump, despite Trump’s public dismissal of the notion. Noted in the TOI report was that Haley’s visit to the war-torn regions of southern Israel served both to solidify her foreign policy credentials and to demonstrate her unwavering support for Israel—a key factor for many Republican voters.
Haley’s participation in the Republican primary, where she was a contender against Trump, has kept her in the political limelight. The report in the TOI added that visiting Israel, a country that holds substantial symbolic and strategic importance for many American politicians, is a common move for those looking to bolster their foreign policy experience and credentials.
Despite the conjecture, Haley has stated that Trump has explicitly communicated she will not be his running mate. Yet, the TOI also reported that Trump himself has indicated that he envisions a role for Haley within his team, reflecting the ambiguous but strategic nature of her political positioning.
MK Danny Danon, who served concurrently with Haley at the United Nations, organized her visit. He has been active in bringing international attention to the southern regions of Israel that have suffered significantly since the October 7 massacre. The TOI report pointed out that Haley’s tour included stops at Kibbutz Nir Oz and the Nova festival site in Re’im, key locations impacted by the violence. These visits allowed her to engage directly with survivors and local residents, offering a platform to express solidarity and empathy while reinforcing her image as a staunch supporter of Israel.
Throughout her visit, Haley made several pointed remarks that reflect her political ethos and the broader ideological stance she aims to project. Emphasizing her support for Trump, Haley articulated a vision of American leadership characterized by unwavering support for allies and a firm stance against adversaries.
“I want to know that we’re going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account. I want to know that we’re going to protect freedom at all costs. We’re going to protect capitalism at all costs,” she stated in Sderot, according to the report in the TOI. Haley’s remarks displayed a commitment to a strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Israel, framed within a broader agenda of promoting freedom and capitalism.
Haley’s narrative positions her support for Trump as aligned with the ideals of a “strong America” and a “strong Israel,” the report added. This messaging is designed to resonate with Republican voters who prioritize national strength, security, and the protection of economic principles.
While in Israel, Haley also articulated strong criticisms of President Biden’s Middle East policies, despite her initial statement of restraint. The TOI report affirmed that Haley’s remarks were particularly focused on the current conflict in Gaza and its implications for US domestic security, calling attention to her broader political and strategic objectives.
Haley did not mince words when addressing President Biden’s approach to the Middle East. She argued that the administration’s reluctance to provide unequivocal military support to Israel could undermine the country’s security. “The sure way to not help Israel is to withhold weapons,” Haley asserted, according to the TOI report. Her remarks emphasized that robust military aid is crucial for Israel’s defense against hostile entities.
Haley extended her critique by linking the conflict in Gaza to domestic US issues, particularly immigration and border security. She warned that the threats faced by Israel could easily extend to the United States if similar vulnerabilities are not addressed. “If you think this will only be in Israel, if we are arrogant enough, this could absolutely happen in America too and this is the moral of this story,” she stated, the TOI report said.
“First of all, an American president should do everything in his power to make sure that that border is secure,” she said, as was noted in the TOI report. Haley used the example of Hamas using bombs to breach the Gaza border fence to underscore her point, contrasting it with the US’s perceived leniency in border enforcement. “We’re not even requiring them to [use] bombs. We’re just saying: ‘Come on in. Go wherever you want,’” she argued.
Knesset to vote on bill designating UNRWA a terror group, another stripping its immunitie
( JNS) Israel’s Knesset is set to hold a preliminary vote on Wednesday on two bills targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) over its ties to terrorism.
One of the bills, proposed by Knesset member Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beiteinu), seeks to define the agency as terrorist organization and cut all official ties with it, while the other, tabled by MK Dan Illouz (Likud) seeks to strip UNRWA of various immunities it currently enjoys.
Back in February, legislation that would prohibit UNRWA from operating on Israeli state-owned land passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset, 33-10.
Malinovsky’s bill “will allow for a complete dissociation from the agency—no cooperation, no trade, nothing,” she told JNS.
“For years this organization has been cooperating with Hamas, and on October 7 even actively participated in the murder, kidnapping and rape of Israeli citizens,” she said.
“I expect every Knesset member who has integrity to vote in favor of this bill and do justice to the murdered, the injured, the kidnapped and all the citizens of Israel,” she added.
In February, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told journalists that 30 UNRWA employees participated in Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, and that 1,468 of the agency’s 13,000 staff members in Gaza were members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He also shared the names and photos of 12 UNRWA employees Israel had accused in January of taking part in the massacre.
Also in January, a comprehensive report published by U.N. Watch documented a Telegram group for UNRWA teachers in Gaza in which many glorified the massacre and advocated the execution of Israeli hostages.
“This is the motherlode of UNRWA teachers’ incitement to jihadi terrorism,” said U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer at the time.
Illouz, whose bill seeks to strip UNRWA of immunities it enjoys with regard to taxation, lawsuits and more, told JNS that the agency “is not and cannot be part of the solution” in the Gaza Strip.
“UNRWA workers took an active role in the October 7 massacre. They assisted in the heinous attack,” he said. “To make matters worse the organization has for years been a catalyst in perpetuating the conflict and depriving the Palestinian people of a nonviolent future. They are no longer a welcome entity and we will replace them with bodies that will actually carry out the humanitarian mission,” he added.
In December, it was reported that Israel’s Foreign Ministry had put together a classified report calling for the removal of UNRWA from the Gaza Strip.
The report’s recommendations set out a three-stage process for shrinking and eventually eliminating the agency: 1) Prepare a case detailing UNRWA’s cooperation with Hamas; 2) Reduce UNRWA’s field of activity and find replacement service providers; and 3) Transfer UNRWA’s responsibilities to another entity.
The refugee agency has pushed back against claims it engages in or encourages terrorism.
“Part of this campaign involves inundating donors with misinformation designed to foster distrust and tarnish the reputation of the agency,” said UNRWA head Phillipe Lazzarini in March. The agency is facing a “deliberate and concerted campaign” to undermine its operations, he added.
MSNBC Legal Analyst Says Bragg Team Should ‘Worry’ That Having Lawyers On Trump Jury Could Lead To Acquittal
(DCNF) Former Department of Justice spokesman Anthony Coley said prosecutors should be concerned that the presence of two lawyers on former President Donald Trump’s jury could contribute to an acquittal.
The panel of 12 jurors includes a young corporate law attorney and a civil litigation attorney in the trial pertaining to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s allegations Trump falsified business documents to conceal a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Coley on “Jonathan Lemire Reports” said the lawyers on the jury may overthink the case and have an outsized influence on other jurors, which could hurt the prosecution.
“I think what I would worry about if I’m on the prosecution case, and I say this tongue in cheek, because I ran communications at arguably the largest law firm in the world, the U.S. Justice Department, I do worry that there are lawyers on this jury, not one but two lawyers,” Coley said. “And by my own experience, lawyers can sometimes be overly analytical. They can be hyper technical. I worry that the nonlawyers on this jury may rely on the lawyers who, quite frankly, don’t have expertise in this area of the law.”
Bragg’s star witness was Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, who legal analysts said faced serious credibility issues while testifying, including admitting he stole from his previous boss. Coley said the defense’s strategy will be to target Cohen.
“I think their strategy can really be summed up in four words,” Coley said. “Don’t believe Michael Cohen. And what we saw in four days of meandering testimony and cross-examination towards the end of this trial, we saw them take a couple hits at Michael Cohen’s credibility. We now know, for example, that in addition to being a convicted felon and a liar, we know that Michael Cohen by his own admission is a thief. So I expect to see defense attorneys return to those schematics.”
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‘Regrettable’ ICJ made Israel work on Shabbos, court’s VP writes in dissent
