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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Welcomes Joe Biden: Talk of City’s Rampant Gun Crime Avoided

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AP

SIMON KENT President Joe Biden was greeted by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) on Wednesday when he arrived for a speaking appointment at an Illinois community college. The city’s rampant gun violence however was not on the public agenda, with Biden instead choosing to talk about “human infrastructure” and his American Families Plan.

AP reports the president set out for the Chicago suburbs to bolster support for both his bipartisan infrastructure deal and a broader package he expects will be passed with only Democratic votes.

In his first visit to Illinois since winning the White House, Biden’s theme of family happiness and light was designed to resonate with suburban parents, college graduates and the working poor.

“There’s a lot of work ahead of us to finish the job, but we’re going to get it done,” Biden said in a 31-minute address he self-deprecatingly suggested was less than entertaining but important. “We’re going to reimagine what our economy and our future could be.”

Absent from his public remarks was any mention of the Chicago police officer and two federal agents shot on the Southwest Side hours before he landed at O’Hare Airport, the Chicago Sun-Times lamented.

That chance was missed even as the deaths mount and community frustration at the lack of action by Lightfoot builds, leading one Democrat alderman last month to call Chicago “a city under siege.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki assured reporters Biden brought up the shootings with Lightfoot after she greeted him at O’Hare, however that exchange will remain private.

“President Biden expressed his personal support for the two ATF officials and the Chicago police officer who were shot earlier today,” Psaki said.

“He reiterated his commitment to working with the mayor and leaders in Chicago in the fight against gun violence and conveyed that the Department of Justice would soon be in touch about the strike force announced just a few weeks ago that will be working with cities like Chicago.”

Biden freezes Trump’s Abraham Fund, established to strengthen Israeli-Arab ties

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The Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House in Washington, September 15, 2020. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The new American administration has decided to put on hold its mega-investment fund that was supposed to help strengthen regional ties after last year’s signing of the Abraham Accords, Globes reported Wednesday, based on American and Israeli sources.

The Abraham Fund was established immediately after Israel signed the historic normalization agreement with the UAE and Bahrain in September 2020.

It was to be underwritten by some $3 billion from both the U.S. government and private financial institutions to “promote economic cooperation and to encourage prosperity in the Middle East and beyond.”

After getting off to a running start, approving more than 10 projects in such fields as energy and fin-tech and reviewing hundreds more, it came to a sudden stop when Joe Biden won the presidential elections. The Fund’s head, appointed by former president Trump, left, and a successor has yet to be chosen.

According to Globes, the administration has told Israel that the Fund’s activities were being “reassessed.”

It also cited “a senior U.S. source” who said that while the White House wants the Abraham Accords to succeed, it will only promote the diplomatic side and has “indefinitely frozen” the Fund.

At least one of the reported reasons for the kibosh is that the Biden administration wants to focus its spending internally, in order to pull the country out of the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Congress is now discussing a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan as part of these efforts.

It is also no secret that the Democrats want to overturn almost everything their hated Republican predecessor did. As soon as he was sworn in, Biden froze a multi-billion-dollar weapons deal with the UAE, which included 50 of the most advanced F-35 aircraft that had been a specific Trump incentive to get Abu Dhabi to the table with Israel. It was only given the green light in April, with a target delivery date of 2025 or later.

UAE Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed announced in March that his country would set up a different fund in Israel with the same stated aims as the Abraham Fund. This one, he said, would have $10 billion to invest primarily in the private sector, in many fields including health, space, energy and industry.

As of yet, the fund is on paper only, and Globes reported that other economic opportunities have not been realized by Israel’s new government, either.

When Foreign Minister Yair Lapid went last week to inaugurate the new Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi, he signed an umbrella trade and economic agreement with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He also took the time to meet with online influencers – but he cancelled a meeting with leaders of the business community, even though he had told the paper that strengthened trade ties was at the top of his priority list during his visit.

“We’re in a tough period economically, with a need for solutions for deficits and budgets, and the answer is economic development – that’s what’s happening here. The ties with the Emirates and the diplomatic and trade agreements are a real win-win,” he told the business daily.

One of the snubbed Emiratis told Globes, “The foreign minister preferred a meeting with Internet influencers who have tens of thousands of followers, instead of with businesspeople who have the capacity to invest billions in Israel.”

On the Frontline in Surfside with Miami-Dade Police Chaplain Rabbi Yossi Harlig

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Florida CFO and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis, Miami-Dade Police chaplain Rabbi Yossi Harlig and J.D. Patterson, former Miami-Dade Police director and currently the county's chief public-safety officer. (Credit: Jimmy Patronis/Twitter)

By: Dovid Margolin

Suit jacket slung over his arm and badge around his neck, Miami-Dade police chaplain Rabbi Yossi Harlig walks briskly down Collins Avenue. He’s heading back towards the pile, the Surfside site where hundreds of emergency workers have been desperately digging since Champlain Towers South collapsed early on the morning of June 24. As one of Miami-Dade County Police’s 10 chaplains, Harlig has split most of his waking hours since the tragedy between the site where the workers toil night and day in the heat and humidity, and the area where families sit and wait for news of their loved ones.

“It’s a very, very difficult situation,” a visibly exhausted Harlig tells Chabad.org, enumerating the factors that have made it so. There is the magnitude of the building’s physical devastation; the strenuous work conditions, which have included fire, rain, humidity, sliding debris and a 12-story remnant towering ominously over the site; and the emotional and psychological difficulties unique to this mass tragedy.

 

Search efforts paused on Shabbat afternoon to prepare for the demolition of the remainders of Champlain Towers over concerns for its stability and ahead of an oncoming tropical storm. The controlled demolition took place on Sunday evening. Authorities have confirmed 24 people have died while 121 remain unaccounted for.

“This is a situation where some family members were talking to their loved ones while they were sitting on their porch, overlooking the water, and next thing they know not only did something happened to the building, but it’s crumbled in a pile of debris, rocks and cement,” says Harlig, who also directs Chabad-Lubavitch of Kendall and Pinecrest. “There was no time to process anything.”

In the first 24 and then 48 hours of the rescue operation, many, if not most, family members couldn’t understand why the search wasn’t moving faster. Frustrated, they waited for updates by the hour. What was taking so long?

At that point, Harlig explains, the only thing he and his fellow chaplains and other rabbis and caregivers could do was be there for them, support them. “Thursday was just the initial shock; it’s not a time to offer philosophical or theological explanations. Your job is just to allow people to express what they’re feeling and be that shoulder for them.”

Generally, people in such situations are not taken to the site of trauma. But on Sunday morning, June 27, authorities and mental-health professionals made the difficult decision to bring family members to the site. They weren’t quite sure what would happen.

 

Moment of Closeness

“The bus rides there were very tense,” recalls Harlig. The chaplains were on hand, as was Hatzalah emergency services and a team of mental-health professionals. “When we got to the site, there were a lot of emotions: crying, hugging, screaming out to their loved ones. But as the hour progressed, you saw a certain calmness come over people. After about 30 minutes, you saw that many wanted to speak to someone. Some people started praying. Whoever wanted to, put on tefillin.”

Being at the site allowed family members a moment to be close with their loved ones, but also to see for themselves how difficult conditions are and how hard frontline workers were working.

“Some of the police, fire, when they saw this sort of reunion, they started crying,” says Harlig. “People don’t realize how emotional this is for them. For rescuers, there’s no greater happiness than saving someone. Some even have family members in the building, but this is very personal for all of them.”

The ride back, says Harlig, was quieter. A certain calm descended on the families in the bus, with some coming away more hopeful that their loved ones would be found alive and others emerging with the opposite conviction.

The episode highlights the many terrains a chaplain like Harlig must traverse in fulfilling their job. There are the frontline workers on the one hand—the individuals to whom a chaplain’s main responsibilities lie—and families on the other. The chaplains are there to comfort all, regardless of faith, but they are also there to help ensure the needs of the religion they represent are understood and met.

For example, as Shabbat approached, Harlig and his fellow Jewish chaplains briefed police and fire personnel on the unique circumstances the oncoming day of rest would present. There have been other situations, such as coordinating the release of the deceased for burial. The various agencies have been more than willing to cooperate to accommodate religious needs, and chaplains are on hand to help make sure everyone is on the same page. It’s a balancing act, but the common strand that runs through it all is empathy and heart.

“Families want to go in there and lift the building with their bare hands because that’s what a parent does for their child,” says Harlig. “The responders understand that, but they need to follow their protocols because the first rule of saving lives is not risking more of them. We try to help bridge that gap. But one thing I can say, having sat in meetings with families, the governor, the mayor, officials and seeing the responders in action, is that everyone’s main concern the entire time has been: How do we save even one life?”

Even as that possibility dims, says Harlig, it’s clear that all differences in politics were put aside from day one in the unified effort to bring about the best resolution possible.

On the first responders’ end, there is a clear appreciation for the crucial role played by the chaplaincy.

“Our faith-based leaders are important to helping families through this crisis. We also need their help in supporting our first responders,” tweeted Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal. “A special thanks to Rabbi Yosef Harlig for being there for everyone.”

A Chaplain’s Work Goes On

Harlig and his wife, Nechama, moved to Miami to establish Chabad of Kendall and Pinecrest in 1995, later founding the Friendship Circle of Miami. In 2005, Rabbi Harlig joined the Miami-Dade County Police Department as a chaplain.

“The Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory,] taught us that it is our job to seek out every opportunity to help others, both our fellow Jews and the broader community,” he explains.

“As a chaplain, you’re there for when there is a particular Jewish need, but you’re also there for every member of the force when that need for comfort and support arises.”

 

The closest episode to the Champlain Towers collapse that Harlig can remember was the Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse in 2018, when six people lost their lives. But thankfully, there had been nothing on this scale.

Harlig was awoken on Thursday at 5 a.m. by the Miami-Dade chaplain supervisor, who asked that he head directly to Surfside. While the 10 chaplains, four of whom are Jewish (including Rabbi Mark Rosenberg, director of Chesed Shel Emes of South Florida), are usually called into action by precinct, the circumstances here demanded all of them head to the site immediately. Harlig was at the site in Surfside an hour later.

“It was shocking to see how it looked,” he recounts. “The building was gone.”

 

In those early hours, family members who lived nearby had already begun converging on the site. Authorities had yet to cordon off the area as they soon would, so distraught parents and children stood and stared at the smoking ruins in disbelief.

 

“There was a father next to me, his son had been staying in the building that night so he could attend a funeral in the morning,” recounts Harlig. “He was devastated: ‘If only my son hadn’t slept here tonight.’

” The rabbi remained on the scene until close to midnight, returning early the next morning.

During that first day, families waited for immediate news, hoping their loved ones could just be pulled out alive. By Friday, 24 hours after the collapse, it became even more desperate. A full day had passed and there was still no news.

“You just need to allow them to express their frustration,” Harlig says of the chaplain’s role. When representatives of fire and police briefed the families, the chaplains were on hand to help reassure families that everyone was working their hardest.

 

“Police and fire understood what the families were feeling; at no point were they offended,” Harlig says. Still, the decision to begin bringing families to the site on Sunday relieved some of the mental stress on first responders. “When families could see for themselves the elements and the work, they could begin to appreciate, despite their pain, what police and fire were doing on the scene.”

Aside for the emotional and religious needs of the responders and those dealing with them, in this case the many families, Harlig and his fellow chaplains are called to the scene when a nonliving person is pulled from the rubble and say a prayer before the deceased individual is transported to the onsite DNA testing lab.

At any time, there are about 200 workers pulling a 12-hour shift at the site. Due to the physical and emotional toll the work takes, though, the workers’ shifts digging on the actual pile are considerably shorter. Meanwhile, families have come to understand that closure of any kind may not come for some time. And so the chaplain’s work goes on.

 

“If you saw the Rebbe’s interaction with police and fire, those who put their lives on the line for others, it was always one of utmost respect and honor,” says Harlig. “The Rebbe also taught us that when we see anyone in pain, it’s our job to be there for them. The position of chaplain opens a door to being there for both police and fire and those who interact with them when they really need it most.”

Harlig is heading back to the scene—there is time for one last question, perhaps an obvious one. How has this experience impacted him personally?

 

“People have reached out to ask me that,” he considers. “You know, when you’re dealing with such a tragedy, you try to focus on the task at hand. Right now, in the middle of this, if you stop and process what you’ve seen, it can be overwhelming, and we can’t afford that. It needs to be ‘What’s next?’ You need to remain focused on the mission. Of course, it’s emotional, but I have a job, and I can’t stop.” (Chabad.org)

 

In first, UN condemns anti-Semitic terrorism

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Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan (Aviv Hertz/TPS)

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

Israel’s mission to the United Nations (UN) marked an achievement for the Jewish state this week when the UN adopted a Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy that unequivocally condemns the terrorist organizations’ use of civilians as human shields.

After many efforts by the UN delegation led by Ambassador Gilad Erdan vis-à-vis the ambassadors of the relevant countries, a decision determining the UN’s strategy to combat terrorism included a number of important items that constitute a significant achievement for Israel.

The Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution titled “The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy:  seventh review,” calling upon member states to take appropriate measures to address “the new and emerging threats posed by the rise in terrorist attacks on the basis of xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief.”

Only a month after the IDF’s Operation Guardian of the Walls against Hamas, and at Israel’s request, the UN condemned the terrorist organizations’ use of civilians as human shields, a method employed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In addition, in its decision, the UN condemned for the first time anti-Semitic terrorism and recognized its existence.

“This is a very important and significant decision against the background of the wave of anti-Semitism in the world that is taking place these days,” Israel’s mission to the UN stated.

The UN resolution also condemned the use of the Internet as a tool to encourage and recruit terrorist operatives and called on Internet companies to take responsibility, a struggle that Erdan has led since his time as Israel’s Minister of Internal Security and continues to lead in the international arena and UN.

In his address to the General Assembly, Erdan welcomed the decision, saying the terrorists “must not be allowed to use schools, homes, and hospitals and it must be clear that they are responsible for the consequences.”

“For Israel, the fight against terrorism is not a theoretical issue. Israeli citizens in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Ashkelon sat in shelters under Hamas terrorist attacks,” he said.

“These terrorist organizations pose a great challenge to countries that comply with international law and try to protect their citizens.

“The unequivocal stance taken today by the international community underscores the challenges of asymmetric warfare in which democracies face terrorist organizations,” he stated.

On the UN’s recognition of terrorist acts against religious and ethnic communities, including explicit condemnation of anti-Semitism, Erdan said this is “of paramount importance. We have all witnessed anti-Semitic attacks against Jewish communities around the world, including here in New York, and we must take a hard line against any such action and first show the authorities what the UN expects them to do. ”

“Terrorism is terrorism is terrorism, and it should never be explained or justified. The UN must adopt a policy of zero tolerance for terrorism and zero excuses and explanations for terrorism. Only in this way can we fight it together,” he declared.

What to Do, Where to Go and Where to Stay in the Hamptons in the Summer of 2021!

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Hamptons Beach House. Photo Credit: Pinterest

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Ahhh!! Summer is well under way and vacation destinations are being selected by those who wish to take a well deserved break from the daily grind. For well heeled New Yorkers the usual venue is the good ol’ bucolic Hamptons out on the southern tip of Long Island. Beaches, parties and social events are the order of the day, but let it be known that even if you don’t lead an affluent lifestyle and even if you don’t have a seven figure back account, you can still enjoy some time with family and friends in the Hamptons and plunge into all that it has to offer.

According to a recent report in Conde Nast’s Traveler, the Hamptons is defined as the peninsula of land east of the Shinnecock Canal and is roughly 90 miles from New York City. So, that alleviates getting on a plane and wearing a mask for hours on end just to arrive at a vacation destination.

The wide open spaces and the non-stop activities are a lure for those vacationers seeking a respite and for those who just wish to imbibe the atmosphere and have some good old fashioned fun.

Getting to and around the Hamptons should be a cinch for New Yorkers. While the crowds can be on the dense side especially during the summer months, there are several viable options for transporting one’s self there.

According to the Conde Nast Traveler report, New Yorkers can hightail it over to Penn Station and grab a Long Island Railroad commuter train. The ride is just over two hours and in the summer the LIRR offers an express train service known as a “Cannonball” that makes the commute a heck of a lot faster. Call or e-mail the LIRR for the train schedule as the report indicates that trains only run a few times a day.

For those who prefer a luxury coach bus, one can hop aboard the Hampton Jitney that will take you directly to the hamlets from the city. Once you get to the Hamptons, however, be aware that unlike the city there are no public buses or trains to get you from one place to the next, but there are taxi services and bike rentals. For those who prefer to use Uber or Lyft, that too might work well for you if you don’t have a ar to get to the Hamptons,

Now that you have made your transportation arrangements and are heading to the Hamptons, you will definitely want to hit the white, sandy beaches. According to the Traveler report not all of the beaches are open to those who don’t reside there. The good news is that many beaches have paid parking lots for visitors and the best time to go is during the week, rather than on weekends. The report indicated that such beaches as Cooper’s Beach in Southampton Village, Foster Memorial Beach in Sag Harbor, Main Beach in East Hampton, Hither Hills State Park and Kirk Park in Montauk, Flying Point Beach in Watermill, Sagg Main Beach in Sagaponack, Mecox Beach in Bridgehampton, and Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett do have paid parking lots or you can always cab it over there or even walk.

Once you’ve enjoyed some quality time working on your tan or taking a dip at any one of the beaches in the Hamptons, you may want to consider plunging into some cultural events.

Because the Hamptons have always been a hot spot for artists of all stripes, the art scene beckons with a visit to the Parrish Art Museum. The Conde Nast Traveler report said that the current exhibit at the museum is called “Affinities for Abstraction: Women Artists on Eastern Long Island, 1950-2020.” The museum is open Thursday through Monday for the weekend crowd.

Art lovers might also want to visit the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, in the Springs neighborhood of East Hampton. According to the Traveler report, it is a National Historic Landmark, built in 1879. The space once belonged to the painters Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, and visitors can tour their living quarters and painting studio. Admissions are by reservation only, Thursday through Sunday.

For those Andy Warhol fans out there, the Hamptons has a special surprise for you, as a wooded path on Amsterdam Beach in Montauk brings you to a view of the Warhol Estate, also known as Eothen. According to the Traveler report it features oceanfront buildings from the 1930s.  Back in the turbulent 1960s, the estate was known as hub of entertainment for Warhol and his coterie of eclectic friends. Now, how cool is that???

By this time, you must be getting hungry, but have no fear. The Hamptons is known for their chic and elegant eateries. Not all restaurants will make your wallet suffer and you can get some delicious eats in just about anywhere in the Hamptons. If you have a hankering for some terrific seafood, the Hamptons is the place to be. You can head over to Amagansett and try some local seafood and produce recently opened il Buco al Mare. The ambience is just wonderful and you can taste some really spectacular wines from Long Island.

Well, now that your stomach is full and the evening has arrived, you might want to head back to your hotel to stretch out and relax. So, where will you stay? The Traveler report indicated that a good choice would be luxury beachfront accommodations at Gurney’s Montauk. The report that this place was a Reader’s Choice award winner in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. Pretty impressive, The report said that it is loaded with such amenities as a beach bar, multiple dining venues, and 158 rooms. If you want to stay in a smaller, more Bohemian setting, one can try a 23-room hotel and restaurant nestled into the sunset-facing waters of Lake Montauk at the Crow’s Nest.

 

 

 

Nothing Unites Democrats & Republicans Like a Legal Battle to Send the Big Tech Giants Into a Tailspin

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. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Edited by: TJVNews.com

As the subject of challenging Big Tech for their heavy handed censorship of voices they deem “dangerous” has once again dominated the news cycle, it is noteworthy to examine the nuances of the cognitive war of thoughts and ideas that is plaguing our society.

Former President Trump has announced that he will be launching a class action  suit against Facebook, Google and Twitter for deleting his accounts and thusly silencing him. This, of course, begs the question of who precisely is protected by the First Amendment as it pertains to free speech and the verbal and written expression of ideas.

Is any sort of censorship ever permitted and if so, when, where and how?

According to a recent report in the New Yorker magazine by Sheelah Kolhatkar, the government’s initiative to break up Facebook over alleged antitrust violations hit a major snag on June 28th, when federal judge James E. Boasberg accused the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general representing 48 states of a number of errors and generally sloppy work when they filed the antitrust cases against Facebook.   A spotlight, of sorts, was focused on the FTC for not providing a clear description of the “market that Facebook operates in” and as for the attorneys general collaborative efforts, they were chided by the judge for having “waited too long to act.”

Since practically everything that swirls around us there days has become heavily politicized, the case against Facebook has bipartisan support with both sides of the proverbial aisle crying “foul” over the ever increasing domination of the big tech titans in multiple facets of our lives. Seeking to severely curtail what thwey perceive to be the ominous influence of the social media “monsters” which would also include Google, Amazon & Apple, the government has rallied the troops from both the left and the right in this war on these major technology companies.

As the New Yorker report keenly points out, the social media tech giants   “control large portions of the media, advertising, retail, social-networking, and communication markets.”

In addition to the government’s case against Facebook, the report indicates that the Department of Justice and many states went after Google last fall with antitrust cases and as the report suggests, Amazon could very well be the next target, according to experts in the antitrust field.

As previously stated, there is nothing like filing antitrust suits against “Big Tech” for the purposes of uniting a sharply divided congress. When it comes to going after the “tech” enemy, one can easily forget political policy disputes and all come together in relative harmony.

The New Yorker report suggests, however, that all is not lost in the government’s pursuit of Facebook.

As the report says: “A congressional subcommittee spent sixteen months investigating the business practices of Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook, amassing a huge cache of documents and evidence. A four-hundred-fifty page report that the committee released on October 6th concluded that “there is a clear and compelling need for Congress and the antitrust enforcement agencies to take action that restores competition, improves innovation, and safeguards our democracy.”

The aforementioned may have played a role in Judge Boasberg’s decision not to throw the government’s case out of court entirely, but then again, this is pure speculation. The New Yorker report said that the judge suggested that the “FTC rework it to address its weaknesses and then file it again within thirty days.”

The report said that Judge Boasberg wrote in his opinion: “The agency is on firmer ground in scrutinizing the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp,” The Court rejects Facebook’s argument that the FTC lacks authority to seek injunctive relief against those purchases.”

Sounds like a real ray of hope for the government. The judge admonished the attorneys general for lagging behind on this issue and for not taking action much earlier. The New Yorker report tells us that as far back as 2012 problems arose when Facebook bought its chief competitor, Instagram. “That takeover, and the purchase of Whatsapp in 2014, were approved by regulators, and the attorneys general did nothing to object until years later, when the political appetite for criticizing the tech companies had changed dramatically,” the report said.

To her credit, in December, New York State Attorney General Letitia James led a large group of attorneys general in filing “a lawsuit alleging that Facebook was a monopoly and that it stifled competition in order to protect its position of dominance, “ according to the New Yorker report.

If the FTC can fix its errors and revise its case to meet the judge’s specifications, this antitrust suit might very well set a highly significant precedent in the ravenous world of social media control on our lives.

Only time will tell!

 

Liberal Author, Censored by Twitter and Youtube After Questioning Fauci, Considers Suing

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(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

BY PETR SVAB(Epoch Times) 

Women’s health and civil liberties author and journalist Naomi Wolf has had her Twitter account suspended and Youtube channel frozen after she raised questions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine side effects, the constitutionality of lockdowns, and the candor of Anthony Fauci, head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

She now considers legal action, she told The Epoch Times.

“It’s premature to give details but I am in discussion with a legal team about a lawsuit against Twitter,” she said via email. “I’ve also been approached by another legal team about joining a class action lawsuit against several social media platforms.”

She hasn’t been given any explanation as to what piece of content that she posted on the social media platforms triggered the suspension, despite her multiple attempts to reach out to both Twitter and Youtube, she said. In fact, she received no explanation whatsoever from either platform. Instead, Twitter told the media that she was spreading vaccine misinformation. She considers that both false and defamatory.

Google, which owns Youtube, and Twitter didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Wolf’s case highlights the escalation of social media censorship over the past several years. While the giant tech companies started with purges of voices that the establishment considered right-wing fringe, such as radio host Alex Jones and activist Laura Loomer, the list of taboo topics has now expanded so far that censors are coming after people like Wolf, a liberal feminist and life-long Democrat who used to be published by establishment press, including publications like The New York Times and The Guardian.

Her Twitter account was suspended around June 4, shortly after she posted a video of her husband, a private investigator, reading a publicly available CV of Prof. Ralph Baric, a coronavirus researcher. The bio indicated that Baric’s projects received tens of millions in funding from NIAID.

Fauci testified to Congress that NIAID didn’t fund any “gain of function” research, referring to experiments that enhance viruses, such as by modifying them to infect a different species. But Baric’s CV listed several NIAID grants that have been disclosed as a source of funding for gain of function research in a 2015 paper co-authored by Baric that describes an experiment in which a bat virus spike protein that didn’t work on humans was grafted onto the SARS virus, resulting in a new virus that was not only capable of infecting humans, but also resistant to treatment. The research was also funded by the EcoHealth Alliance group, which in turn received millions in funding from NIAID.

Some of Baric’s research has been conducted in partnership with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which also received some EcoHealth Alliance funding. A leak from WIV’s facilities has been identified by a number of experts as a possible origin of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus that causes the COVID-19 disease and has claimed over 3 million lives over the past 15 months, according to official statistics.

Fauci at first dismissed the lab leak theory, but recently, as the story gained more traction, said he is no longer ruling it out.

Shortly after Wolf’s Twitter account was suspended, Youtube blocked her from accessing her channel, called “Daily Clout.” It’s not clear why Youtube took the action and why at this time. Much of the channel’s content over the past year has been dedicated to criticism of COVID-19 lockdowns and the prospect of vaccine passports. The last video was posted in late May, more than a week before Youtube’s action.

Wolf said she’s read carefully the terms of service of both Twitter and Youtube and isn’t aware of breaking them.

Inconvenient Voice

As a former political consultant for campaigns of former Vice President Al Gore and former President Bill Clinton, Wolf sees her line of inquiry crossing vital interests of her own party.

“Dr. Fauci is clearly … an important part of the Democrats’ brand and their reelection strategy, right? They’re going to run on having beaten coronavirus and he’s being made the face of that,” she said.

While she’s not alone in asking pointed questions, her reputation as a liberal makes her criticism particularly inconvenient, she acknowledged.

“The talking point of the administration is, this is a Republican attack, political attack on Dr. Fauci. Well, it’s not a political attack coming from me. I’m being a reporter and asking questions all serious reporters should be asking. So I think that makes me not a convenient voice to have in the mix,” she said.

Media Blitz

Within a few days of Wolf getting censored, several media ran stories labeling her as being “anti-vaccine” and said she was de-platformed for posting misinformation about vaccines. She denies doing that and being any such thing, noting both she and her children are vaccinated.

She called the reports “extremely inaccurate” and “defamatory,” noting that her social media posts were quoted “way out of context.”

It seemed to her the articles all used the same source information, “as if from a press release,” though she didn’t want to elaborate further in order to avoid speculation.

“It was a very Stalinistic experience,” she said.

Except for the Times of London, no outlet reached out to her for comment, she said. Even publications like The Guardian and The New Republic, which have previously published Wolf’s writings, ran their pieces without asking for her side of the story. Both publications didn’t respond to requests for comment.

One claim against Wolf was that she called a COVID-19 vaccine a software platform. She says she didn’t mean literal software. Her tweet referred to the Moderna website that calls the mRNA, a core functioning element of the pharmaceutical company’s COVID-19 vaccine, the “software of life.” She says that’s what she was referring to.

In another tweet, she suggested that perhaps the excrements of vaccinated people need to be separated from general sewage as they may contain the spike protein produced by their bodies due to the vaccination, which may then enter the drinking water supply. The comment was based on a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) document regarding the monitoring of potential “shedding” of “gene therapy products” by individuals receiving such treatment (pdf).

Wolf called the document “terrifying.”

It defines gene therapy as “products that mediate their effects by transcription and/or translation of transferred genetic material and/or by integrating into the host genome and that are administered as nucleic acids, viruses, or genetically engineered microorganisms.”

The mRNA vaccines use nucleic acids carrying genetic material to prompt translation of a spike protein by human cells. The protein then triggers the human immune system to develop antibodies that help the body fight off COVID-19.

Viral RNA (ribonucleic acid) can be detected in wastewater.

The FDA document says, however, that “transmission to untreated individuals [via shedding] is an extremely low probability event.”

Responding via email, Wolf said her “describing being personally alarmed” isn’t vaccine misinformation.

“I think it’s clear that when I said the white paper was ‘terrifying’, that I personally found it terrifying,” she said. “I think these are fair questions to explore and honest emotions for me to share. I’m not a medical doctor—I am a citizen who has long written about the human body and the need to take care of it and to respect it.”

Concerns about spike protein shedding have so far been dismissed by experts.

In another tweet, Wolf recalled overhearing an Apple employee as saying that the company was working on a technology that could deliver a vaccine with “nanoparticles that let you travel back in time.”

Wolf said she almost immediately deleted the tweet. She thought that she probably misheard what the person was talking about. There is in fact a product on the Apple Watch called “Time Travel” that allows the user, among other things, to go back in time to review one’s biometric readings. There is also an emerging field of developing “bio-digital interfaces,” imagining a future where “we will wear or ingest bio-digital technology to monitor and enhance our health and lifestyle,” according to MIT.

Uncontrolled Conversation

Wolf has received a number of warnings from Twitter over the past several months regarding COVID-related content.

It resembled “behavior modification” in her view, as the language used conveyed a “very demeaning way to treat any customer.”

“It was like the platform was training a four-year-old. … ‘This is your second warning’ and ‘you have a time out,’ like you’re sent to your room,” she said.

One piece of content that was flagged by the social media was her reporting that a number of women have complained about menstrual irregularity after receiving the vaccine. The topic has since been broadly picked up by the media, quoting experts as saying the vaccines are still safe, but also acknowledging that there’s a lack of research on this issue.

Wolf suggested social media need to be more transparent about the extent to which they stifle discussion.

“If people are not supposed to engage in thoughtful discussion or even joking discussion or rhetorical questions and they’re not supposed to raise public health concerns, then people should know because I’m quite sure that would lead to an exodus to platforms where people can say, ‘Hey, I heard that post-menopausal women are bleeding or I experienced this myself.’ I mean, we have to be able to educate each other as human beings or else we don’t live in a free society,” she said.

In the past, her reporting helped to identify subpar or even dangerous health products that government authorities initially considered safe. Each time, the investigation started with informal, anecdotal reports from patients and consumers.

“A lot of really important information that made breast implants better or made contraceptives pills better or took vaginal mesh off the market arose in uncontrolled discussions,” she said.

She acknowledged she can no longer pursue certain leads with the same intensity now.

“Every day I get women emailing me testimony of menstrual disorders, like really dramatic ones. I’m scared to even report them because then I lose the last few platforms I have,” she said.

Wolf stressed she doesn’t believe this was the reason for her de-platforming.

“I mean, I talked about vaccines and women’s health and myocarditis [as a side effect of the COVID vaccines in some people] for the duration of the pandemic,” she said.

“It’s no secret that I was very critical of lockdowns, of what they were doing to the economy, to children’s mental health, transfer of wealth. I mean, I’ve been very vocal about all these things. That’s not when I was de-platformed. I was de-platformed when I posted Dr. Baric’s CV.”

Sarsour plays victim after backlash over slamming Israeli rescue efforts in Miami

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Ap

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

After promoting a tweet slamming the IDF for helping rescue efforts at the site of the condo collapse in Florida, prominent Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour announced that she would be taking a break from Twitter.

Her dramatic exit from the social media platform comes after she reposted a tweet from far-left activist Rafael Shimunov, which drew ire from Twitter users.

“I really don’t understand the IDF’s involvement in rescue attempts of people tragically crushed under buildings in Miami. Their expertise is crushing buildings with people in them, not rescuing them,” read the tweet.

Sarsour posted the tweet on her page with two emojis pointing down at the message, conveying her approval.

The message quickly sparked backlash as rescue efforts remain underway to recover the bodies of upwards of 100 people who are still unaccounted for.

She deleted the tweet, but rather than apologize, she claimed that she had been victimized on the site.

“I’ll be back in a few days. This site is a place where those with no morals or values can take someone’s tweet & claim higher ground with no reflection or retrospection on the atrocities and injustice they support on a daily basis,” wrote Sarsour.

B’nai B’rith International said it was “outraged” by Sarsour’s tweet in a statement, saying that it fueled anti-Semitic hatred.

“We are outraged by a tweet from political activist Rafael Shimunov questioning the IDF’s rescue efforts in Surfside, Florida…We are equally disgusted by anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour’s amplification of this message,” said President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin.

“This horrific statement comes as families are mourning the loss of loved ones and hoping for miracles in the tragic building collapse that still has 113 missing in the rubble.

“The tweet is not only deeply insensitive but anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic. A people that, sadly, has had to deal with bombs from Palestinian terrorists is now told it has the temerity to help people in Florida based on their own tragic experience.”

Sarsour, who has publicly praised anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, has a long history of making incendiary and inaccurate remarks on the platform.

Liberman slashes childcare subsidies for yeshiva students, slammed for ‘hatred’ of ultra-Orthodox

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Haredi boys at the Poalei Menahem Talmud Torah, in Beitar Illit,(Flash90/Nati Shochat)

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman announced Wednesday that parents who do not work, including yeshiva students, will no longer receive state-funded childcare subsidies.

“New priorities. Today, I decided to put an end to the ongoing crookedness in the State of Israel, in which the working public has been discriminated against,” Liberman wrote on Twitter.

Starting with the next school year, he continued, only couples in which both parents work will be eligible for a daycare subsidy.

He called the move an effort to “end paralysis in the labor market and take care of the public who work and pay taxes.”

In the past, Liberman has promised to cut child tax benefits and other subsidies to haredi families in order to force the community to integrate into the labor market.

The decision to restrict daycare subsidies to working couples will affect a large number of ultra-Orthodox families, as in many households, the father studies in yeshiva and does not work.

Liberman emphasized that the decision would not affect single mothers or fathers – it applies strictly to married couples where one parent or both parents are unemployed.

Couples in which each spouse works 24 hours each week will be entitled to the subsidy, as well as those who are enrolled in vocational training or educational frameworks that will result in “future integration into the labor market.”

Once parents become employed, they will be eligible for the subsidy from the first day of work.

The announcement immediately sparked a backlash from haredi politicians.

“The first decision of the Minister of Finance was to harm the ultra-Orthodox,” Shas MK Aryeh Deri told Arutz 7.

“Liberman, in a predatory and vindictive move, decided to harm families with children only because they are ultra-Orthodox. Bennett and Saar, who promised to ‘take care of the ultra-Orthodox,’ formed a hate government that promotes harm to the world of Torah.”

‘Bennett is bad, a liar’

United Torah Judaism MK Ya’akov Litzman told Ynet that he held Prime Minister Naftali Bennett partially responsible for Liberman’s decision.

“Bennett is bad, a liar…I’m not afraid to say that. Look at what’s going on here.

“Evet is simply crazy,” Litzman said, referring to Liberman by his Russian birth name. “His hatred is driving him insane.”

Liberman’s right-wing nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party promotes a staunchly secular platform, which includes civil marriage, public transportation on Shabbat, and mandatory conscription to the IDF for haredi men.

He has spoken publicly about his disdain for haredi politicians, declaring in the run-up to the 2021 elections that the ultra-Orthodox parties should be “taken to the landfill in a wheelbarrow.”

The Tawdry Double Life of Jamal Khashoggi Revealed in New Podcast

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AP

Edited by: TJVNews.com

It appears that the controversy swirling around the gruesome murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in 2018 is now receiving heightened exposure. The veil of mystery around the life of this man has now been lifted, according to information revealed in a news podcast. Referencing the podcast, the New York Post reported that Khashoggi was living a double life with two different women when he was executed — including one he had secretly married.

In October 2, 2018, Khashoggi was tortured and dismembered at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul as he visited there to obtain the requisite documents in order to marry his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz.

The Post reported that when speaking with Yahoo News’ “Conspiracyland” Cengiz claimed that she was clueless to the fact that Khashoggi had been in a relationship with a flight attendant named Hanan El-Atr from Egypt. He had also wed her on the sly just four months earlier in Virginia

The investigative podcast reported that Cengiz told them of Khashoggi:  “He told me when he proposed to me, there is no one in his life.

The Post reported that Khashoggi had met El-Atr when she was intensely interrogated and detained by Emirati security agents for 10 days. El-Atr claims that the focus of the grilling she endured was about her relationship with Khashoggi. She also claimed that her new husband never mentioned that Cengiz was in his life.

El-Atr asserts that she and the Wasington Post columnist began to form a relationship during her twice a month visits to his home in early 2018 for work related reasons.

At the time of his proposal of marriage, El-Atr said Khashoggi became quite effusive in texts that he sent to her. She said that he texted that she “will be the happiest bride.” It was also revealed in the podcast episode called “A Tale of Two Women” the Washington journalist was open about his emotions when he said, “I throw myself at you, kiss you and delight you. I take out a r watch or a necklace or perfume I bought for you to delight you.”

The Post reported that exactly four months prior to his murder, court records that were reviewed by Yahoo News indicated that Khashoggi and El-Atr tied the knot in an Islamic ceremony performed by an imam in a mosque in northern Virginia on June 2nd.

The nuptials, however, were not legally binding as a civil marriage license was never obtained, according to the Post report. The podcast revealed that Khashoggi purchased two rings for his bride at a local jewelry store and the tab came out to be $2000. They cited receipts from the store in their allegation.

In order to spend time with Cengiz, the philandering Khashoggi began making excuses to his new wife; telling her that he had a sister in Istanbul and needed to make frequent trips there, according to El-Atr’s interview on the podcast.

Khashoggi soon proposed to Cengiz as well. Always the romantic, it was reported that he got down on one knee to Cengiz and bought her jewelry including a necklace and earrings, according to what Cengiz told the podcast.

She added that he not only lied to her but also spewed forth falsehoods to her father when he began to question Khashoggi about his background and his intentions with his daughter.

“My father knows very well the Arabs get married more than once at the same time,” said Cengiz. “And then he asked him, ‘Are you sure you’re not married?’ It’s a little bit of a sensitive point for my father.”

Cengiz told the podcast that her fiancée told her father that he was not married and had been divorced.

Khashoggi’s friends were also out of the loop as it pertained to his personal life as he was not forthcoming about it, according to the Post report.

Mohammed Soltan, an Egyptian American human rights activist who collaborated with Khashoggi said, “If somebody sits across from you and tells you that Jamal told them everything, they are 100 percent lying to you. Jamal compartmentalized, he told different people certain things about his life. He gave nobody a full view of his life.”

Soltan admitted that, “He kept all of it with himself, and he gave different people the things that they needed to know. So, I had no idea about Hanan.”

Khashoggi’s murder was blamed on Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and US intelligence sources have corroborated that, according to the Post report. Salman and his coterie had done some spying on Khashoggi as he had consistently critiqued the monarch and his rule.

When discovering that his communications has been listened to by the Saudi government, Khashoggi showed great concern. The Post reported that when one of his sources told him that the Saudis had succeeded in their reconnaissance of him, Khashoggi reportedly replied, “Oh gosh … May God help us.”

 

Activist in AOC’s District Slams ‘Defund the Police’ Movement, Cites Violent Crime Surge

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screenshot

Unlike Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), an activist in her district spoke out against the ‘Defund the Police’ movement during an interview with News 12 The Bronx, citing a nationwide violent crime surge.

“There’s a lot of crime happening in the Bronx. There are shootings every day. There are over two or three shootings a week in the Bronx,” said Melody Jimenez, founder of the organization No Voice Unheard. “And we can’t police ourselves. We need authorities to come into our communities and help us.”

Shootings have surged 68 percent in 2021 when compared to 2020 in Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio’s New York City, Breitbart News reported. De Blasio slashed $1 billion from the budget of the New York City Police Department in June 2020. The mayor backpedaled slightly this year and is reinstating $92 million to build a new precinct.

Jimenez’s organization seeks to “create unity between law enforcement and the communities they serve while also having little patience for both police brutality and anti-police activists,”  Fox News reported.

“Why would we defund officers who come out here and risk their lives?” she said. “There’s a lot of money in these streets for cure violence orgs and nothing is changing.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York’s 14th congressional district (including the eastern part of the Bronx), recently asserted the crime surge is just “hysteria” and making “responsible decisions about what [funds] to allocate” away from police departments is “important.” Once, when asked what an America with “defunded police” looks like, stated that it “looks like a suburb.”

Jimenez, who often interacts with elected officials, said she recently spoke with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) but did not “really speak in-depth about why many of them are standoffish, as many people are to even say we need some form of unity with NYPD with what the agenda being pushed at this moment,” Fox News reported.

“So it seems like something that’s negative,” Jimenez said, “But I have tried to reach out to them, and no one is willing to come forth and say this is the type of unity needed in our community.”

Jimenez often works with Bronx youth and said she sees her community suffering because of division over law enforcement. “There’s not one person that will probably go to an officer when they feel unsafe because of what’s going on in this world,” Jimenez said. “And we need officers to step up, as well.”

Jimenez added that the community needs to behave respectfully toward law enforcement in return. “They are getting disrespected. They are told we want to defund you, they are getting cursed out all day. These are human people that put on a badge to do a job. Let’s not forget that.”

Weingarten On MSNBC: Defends Critical Race Theory, Attacks Conservatives

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Randi Weingarten

IAN HANCHETT

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten criticized anti-critical race theory laws “that contradict the standards that our professional obligations tell us we have to teach” and cited Texas’ law as an example because it “basically says that teachers are supposed to say that slavery is a betrayal of the founding principles of our country. Now, you know that that’s not true.” Weingarten also argued that people on the right “have to find something else to create chaos and fear with” like they did with school reopenings.

Weingarten said states have passed laws “that contradict the standards that our professional obligations tell us we have to teach and we should be teaching. So, I’ll give you an example. Texas’ new law basically says, and I’m not quoting it, but it basically says that teachers are supposed to say that slavery is a betrayal of the founding principles of our country. Now, you know that that’s not true. I mean, there’s lots of great founding principles of our country, but slavery was embedded in the Constitution. It’s — and so, the question then becomes, so what does that mean, we can’t teach the Civil War? We can’t teach the 13th, 14th, 15th Amendment? We can’t teach Juneteenth? We can’t teach the Dred Scott decision? We can’t teach the Emancipation Proclamation? So, what we’ve said to our members is that let’s make sure that you can do what your professional obligations require, which is to teach an honest and accurate version of the history of the United States. And, yes, some of it is uncomfortable. Enslavement and discrimination are uncomfortable. But it works to help kids become critical thinkers when they understand the facts, when they can look at diverse perspectives, and draw their own conclusions. I think we become stronger if we can do that, and that’s what I went through with my members yesterday and said that we will defend that, just like in the Scopes trial of old, when we defended against…when people tried to stop the teaching of evolution, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

She later added, “What Trump did and what the right wing has learned from Trump is it’s constantly chaos and fear and creating that kind of uncertainty. And so, now that it’s clear that we’re going to be able to reopen schools safely in the fall and help kids recover, they have to find something else to create chaos and fear with. And we do not teach — probably the most important thing I can say to your viewers is that in high schools, elementary schools, and middle schools, we do not teach CRT. CRT is a theory in law school or in college that analyzes law and says, is there systemic racism that was attached to these laws or the effects of systemic racism? What we teach in high school or elementary school or middle school is we teach history, common history. And we want kids to be able to understand it and to analyze history.”

Breitbart

Meeks Announces Congressional Delegation to the Middle East, NY Rep Malliotakis Included

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Nicole Malliotakis (AP)
Today, Representative Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement as he and other Members of Congress departed for a bipartisan Congressional delegation (CODEL) to the Middle East.

 

The Members of Congress joining Chairman Meeks on the delegation are Representatives Ted Deutch (D-FL), David Cicilline (D-RI), Andy Barr (R-KY), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Brad Schneider (D-IL), and French Hill (R-AR).

 

“Today, a Congressional delegation will be traveling to the Middle East to bolster diplomatic relationships with the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as conduct oversight of U.S. programming in the region. The trip will allow members to explore the challenges posed by the recent outbreak of violence in Gaza; assess Israel’s current security needs; and evaluate the Biden Administration’s attempts to restart assistance to the Palestinian people. The CODEL hopes to familiarize itself with the new Israeli government and engage with local partners on the ground who are working to improve the lives of both Palestinians and Israelis.

 

“The delegation will then travel to the State of Qatar to address issues of mutual concern between the United States and Qatar, including regional security threats, economic interests, and the important normalization agreements between Arab governments and Israel. The delegation will visit with CENTCOM forces to assess the Iranian threat, our regional security posture, and spend time with our deployed military personnel.

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic remains a concern of the delegation and precautions will be taken to protect participants and our hosts. The status of COVID response in Israel, Qatar, and the region will be addressed.”

Governor Cuomo Announces Applications Now Open for $800 Million COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program

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AP

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that applications are now open for the $800 million COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program. The program reimburses New York small businesses with grants of up to $50,000 for COVID-related expenses incurred between March 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021. Grants will be awarded to small and micro businesses and small for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations, with priority being given to socially and economically disadvantaged business owners, including minority- and women-owned business enterprises, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses and veteran-owned businesses, and businesses located in economically distressed communities.

“Small businesses are one of the most critical components of New York’s economy and were disproportionately impacted by the economic devastation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Governor Cuomo said. “As we build New York back better than it was before, this program will help these small businesses -particularly those with socially or economically disadvantaged owners -regain an economic foothold so they can forge ahead toward a brighter, more prosperous future.”

More than 330,000 small and micro businesses are potentially eligible for this program, including 57 percent of the state’s certified MWBEs. The application site for the program will be powered by Lendistry, a minority-led Community Development Financial Institution. The state will also be launching an ad campaign to promote this program to small businesses, as well as an array of other pandemic recovery programs.

Grants will be for a minimum award of $5,000 and a maximum award of $50,000 and will be calculated based on a New York State business’ annual gross receipts for 2019. Reimbursable COVID-19 related expenses must have been incurred between March 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021 and can include:

  • Payroll costs
  • Commercial rent or mortgage payments for NYS-based property
  • Payment of local property or school taxes
  • Insurance costs
  • Utility costs
  • Costs of personal protection equipment necessary to protect worker and consumer health and safety
  • Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning cost
  • Other machinery or equipment costs
  • Supplies and materials necessary for compliance with COVID-19 health and safety protocols

On June 8, Governor Cuomo proposed legislation to waive taxes on grants from the COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program. ESD has created a website —NYSBusinessRecovery.ny.gov —to highlight the various resources available to support small businesses seeking pandemic relief. The website will be continuously updated as more details and funding information become available.

The Empire State Development Board of Directors approved $10 million in technical assistance grants for New York’s statewide entrepreneurship assistance centers,small business development centers, and 26 additional community organizations and chambers of commerce to help small businesses and for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations secure COVID-related financial assistance and grants available through existing state and federal programs.

This network of service providers will work directly with small businesses, guiding them through available funding sources and helping them navigate the application process. Recognizing that pandemic-induced economic hardship has disproportionately affected micro and small businesses, and that application processes can be difficult to navigate -especially due to a language barrier -the partners will use these funds to hire or contract more staff for one-on-one, direct counseling services.

Education materials and applications will be offered in 12 languages in addition to English. This support, along with increased technical assistance staffing, will position these providers to better assist businesses and organizations in applying for funding through the New York State’s COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program, the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or any other available federal economic recovery program, catalyzing our state and local economies as more businesses and communities reopen.

Ahmed Jibril, head of Palestinian terror group killing dozens of Israelis, dies at 83

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Head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command Ahmed Jibril attends a conference titled "international conference in support of Palestinian Intifada" in Tehran, July 7, 2021. (AP/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

(AP) Ahmed Jibril, leader of a breakaway Palestinian terror group that carried out hijackings, bombings and other attacks against Israeli targets in the 1970s and 1980s, has died in Damascus, his group and Syrian state TV reported on Wednesday. He was 83.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command said Jibril had been sick for months and died at a Damascus hospital. It offered no details. Khaled Abdul-Mejid, who runs another Damascus-based Palestinian faction, said Jibril suffered from a heart condition.

The son of a Palestinian-Arab father and a Syrian mother, Jibril was born in Jaffa in 1938, in what was then British-ruled Palestine. His family later moved to Syria, where he became an officer in the Syrian army and acquired Syrian nationality.

Jibril founded the PFLP in the late 1950s but broke away over ideological disputes.

In 1968, he founded the pro-Syrian breakaway PFLP-GC, which briefly joined the Palestine Liberation Organization, but left the umbrella group in 1974, amid sharp disagreements with PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

Jibril was a vehement opponent of peace talks with Israel. His group became known for some of the more headline-grabbing attacks against Israel, including the hijacking an El Al jetliner in 1968 and machine gunning another at Zurich airport in 1969.

In 1970, it planted a time-bomb on a Swissair jet that blew up on a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv, killing all 47 on aboard.

The Damascus-based group also carried out attacks against Israel from its bases in Lebanon. During Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the PFLP-GC captured three Israeli soldiers and negotiated their release in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian prisoners in 1985.

One dramatic attack in 1987 was carried out by two of his fighters who crossed from Lebanon into Israel on hang-gliders and killed six Israeli soldiers. The attack was considered as one of the triggers for the first intifada.

The group is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and other Western countries.

Jibril’s son Jihad was killed in an attack in 2002 in Beirut, for which the group blamed Israel. He was head of the PFLP-GC military wing at the time.

During Syria’s civil war that erupted following peaceful protests in 2011, Jibril’s group supported Syrian President Bashar Assad’s troops. His fighters battled alongside Syrian troops against opposition groups in Damascus’ Yarmouk Camp.

Jibril is survived by four daughters and three sons.

Chief Rabbi Amar Visits Magen David Yeshivah

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MDY Rosh Hayeshivah Rabbi Harold Sutton and Chief Rabbi Shelomo Amar at the entrance to Magen David Yeshivah Elementary School

By: TJVNews.com

Tuesday, June 15th, 2021, was originally planned as a typical day of school at Magen David Yeshivah. As Hashem would have it, the building would be blessed and privileged with a unique and glorious event. An honorable visit by the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and current Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Hacham Shelomo Amar Shlit’a. Students from Kindergarten through 8th grade, arrived dressed in their crisp blue and white uniforms, awaiting a most sacred and special experience. The red carpet was rolled out, literally. The risers for the choir were erected. Spaces were roped off to provide a safe and spacious walkway for the Rabbi and his escorts. The stage was set and the audience began to arrive.

Chief Rabbi Shelomo Amar blessing the assembly with MDY Elementary School Principal Rabbi Ezra Cohen-Saban, Jack S. Avital, Rosh Hayeshivah Rabbi Harold Sutton, and Chief Rabbi Saul J. Kassin

The middle schoolers, lined up along the driveway, stood in respectful silence while the Rosh Yeshivah Rabbi Harold Sutton, Chief Rabbi Saul J. Kassin, Mashgiach Ruhani Rabbi Joey Haber, Principal Rabbi Ezra Cohen-Saban, Religious Advisor Rabbi Joey Mizrahi, Rabbi David Sultan, Rabbi Max Sutton, Mr. Jack Avital, and Mr. Harry Adjmi accompanied the Hacham to add honor to his escort. He approached the entrance to the building and the lobby fell silent. The Rabbi was greeted by hundreds of students. The Kindergarten and First grade students stood on either side and the Fourth grade students watched from the mezzanine level. As he stood in the doorway, the choir began to sing Yaheed El Dagul. The Rabbi was visibly moved by the impressive welcome. He gave the famous blessing of Yaakov Abinu – Hamalach Hagoel to all those present and imparted his words of Torah.

Next, the Rabbi was ushered into a packed auditorium with students and teachers standing with reverence for the great Talmid Hacham. As he made his way down the center aisle, Rabbis and students kissed his hands and were blessed. The audience was silent and respectful, eager to hear the sage’s words and powerful message.

– Chief Rabbi Shelomo Amar enters the auditorium with MDY Elementary School Principal Rabbi Ezra Cohen-Saban, Mr. Harry Adjmi, and Rosh Hayeshivah Rabbi Harold Sutton

Introductory remarks were offered by the principal, Rabbi Ezra Cohen-Saban, who then welcomed Chief Rabbi Saul Kassin to speak to the assembly. He spoke directly to the students, helping them frame the context of this inspiring visit. He related his memories of himself as a young MDY student witnessing the visit of the great Hacham Ovadia Yosef Zt”l, and how it was an unforgettable moment forever etched in his soul. He explained how it is the kedusha of the Torah that Rabbi Amar represents which we revere. The kavod we bestow upon the man is for the wisdom and life of Torah he holds and imparts onto those in his presence. Before introducing Mr. Harry Adjmi, Rabbi Kassin instructed the children to do 3 things when the Rabbi speaks – stand to give kabod la’Torah as the Rabbi is like a walking Sefer Torah, listen to the holy words of Torah that the Rabbi will speak, and answer amen to the Rabbi’s blessings which will Be’ezrat Hashem come true for everyone.

Mr. Harry Adjmi spoke next. In his passionate manner, he told the students that one day, they will become the leaders of our community and bring the Gedolim from Israel and beyond to come to our yeshivot and continue to promote this important legacy of kabod for the Torah and our Hachamim.

Chief Rabbi Shelomo Amar addresses over 500 students and staff in the MDY auditorium with Mr. Harry Adjmi, Rabbi Max Sutton, and Rabbi David Sultan on stage.

Rabbi Amar stood regally with such a strong, yet warm demeanor, with his royal robe and bright radiant expression. The Hacham, visibly moved by the experience, spoke in a well-paced and articulate Hebrew, allowing the students to absorb his message. His words of Torah and the blessings he bestowed on the audience were powerful. In an extraordinary measure, the Rabbi asked everyone to rise and repeat after him the words of Shema Yisrael and other verses in which we accept Hashem’s sovereignty in the world. Echoing his words of Tefillah in unison was a life-altering experience that will forever remain with everyone present! It was a truly magnificent moment and our prayers were surely accepted by Hashem.

The Chief Rabbi then exited the auditorium and was greeted by the Second and Third grade students, as well as the recent Eighth grade graduates. He graciously offered his blessings and imparted his final message before leaving.

The massive gathering rises and joins Rabbi Amar in prayer. In the foreground – Mr.
Joseph A. Franco, Mr. Abraham J. Kassin, Mr. Judah Schemo, Mr. Nathan Gindi, Rabbi Avraham Zarif, and Rabbi Charles Tobias

It is a rare and precious opportunity to be in the presence of someone who lives such a pure life of Torah. Magen David was zoche to be honored by the great presence of the holy Rabbi and Be’ezrat Hashem, may it continue to merit the adage, “יהי ביתך בית ועד לחכמים”, until the coming of Mashiah, amen!