Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 170,000 migrants in March who illegally crossed the border into the United States. This represents an increase of nearly 72 percent in one month.
During the month of March, Border Patrol agents took 168,195 migrants after they illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico according to the Southwest Land Border Encounters report released on Thursday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“CBP has experienced an increase in encounters and arrests. This is not new. Encounters have continued to increase since April 2020, and our past experiences have helped us be better prepared for the challenges we face this year,” said CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy Miller in a written statement. “We are committed to balancing the need to maintain border security, care for those in our custody, and keep the American people and our workforce safe.”
While Miller says this is “not new,” it is exponential unprecedented growth as indicated by the blue line in the following CBP chart.
CBP Southwest Land Border Encounters Chart
During the first two full months of the Biden Administration (Feb-Mar), agents apprehended nearly 210,000 migrants. This compares to just over 280,000 during the last four months of the Trump administration combined.
CBP reports apprehending 30,389 migrants in March 2020. The March 2021 apprehension of 168,195 represents an increase of more than 450 percent over last year. Compared to the 2019 migrant border crisis, the apprehensions sat at 92,833.
CBP Apprehensions by Sector, FY2020 and FY2021 year-to-date.
Last month, agents apprehended 18,663 Unaccompanied Alien Children (up from 9,271 in February), 52,904 Family Unit Aliens (up from 19,286), and 96,628 Single Adults (up from 68,992).
The Rio Grande Valley Sector continues to lead the nine southwest border sectors with 159,470 apprehensions so far this fiscal year (which began on October 1, 2020). This represents an increase of 243 percent compared to FY2020 year-to-date statistics.
A March public health roundtable event hosted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that featured reputable doctors including former White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Scott Atlas and the authors of The Great Barrington Declaration has been removed from YouTube for allegedly “violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines.”
The video garnered over 500,000 views while it was published and covered a group of panelists advising against lockdowns, contact tracing and mask mandates. The doctors – including Drs. Sunetra Gupta, Jay Bhattacharya, and Martin Kulldorff – also called the measures harmful and said that schools should reopen for in-person learning
The Declaration was written from global public health and humanitarian perspective, with special concerns about how the current COVID-19 strategies are forcing our children, the working class and the poor to carry the heaviest burden. The response to the pandemic in many countries around the world focused on lockdowns, contact tracing, and isolation, imposes enormous unnecessary health costs on people. In the long run, it will lead to higher COVID and non-COVID mortality than the focused protection plan we call for in the Declaration.
It is truly astonishing that YouTube has censored fully accredited medical experts discussing a serious topic that has financially, and mentally affected the entire world. YouTube does not believe you should be allowed to hear experts who have fully examined the lockdown measures and studied the results of the drastic measure which has changed the entire world. This is a form of serious medical censorship and YouTube is performing a disservice to the public by censoring important information.
We encourage you to spread this story to as many people as possible, TJV is in favor of science, and actual science includes information from all sides of a position. This Medical censorship is unparallel and is totally unacceptable in a free country that was founded on free speech and a free press. Here is the uncensored medical round table
In this Dec. 10, Jordan's King Abdullah II in 2020. (Yousef Allan/The Royal Hashemite Court via AP, File)
By Associated Press
Jordan imposed a sweeping gag order on coverage of its palace feud Tuesday after a recording indicated that authorities tried to silence a former crown prince over his meetings with critics, a sign officials are increasingly nervous about how the rare public rift in the royal family is being perceived.
The recording appears to capture Saturday’s explosive meeting between King Abdullah II’s half-brother, Prince Hamzah, and the military chief of staff that set off the current political crisis. In the wake of that meeting, officials accused Hamzah of being part of a foreign plot to destabilize the kingdom — but no such conspiracy is referenced on the recording.
Before the audio surfaced, the palace and a mediator close to Hamzah said that the royal family was in the process of resolving the crisis. It’s unclear where those efforts stand.
On the recording, Gen. Yousef Huneiti, the military chief of staff, says the prince is being placed under a form of house arrest because of meetings he had with individuals who “started talking more than they should.”
The prince raises his voice in anger, accusing the general of threatening him and saying he has no right to issue orders to a member of the royal family.
“You come to me and tell me in my house what to do and who to meet with in my country and from my people? Are you threatening me? … You come to my house and tell me you and security leaders are threatening me? Not to leave your house, only go to your family and don’t tweet?”
“The bad performance of the state is because of me? The failure is because of me? Forgive me but the mistakes are my fault?” he says.
Huneiti, speaking in a calm voice, denies threatening him and says he is simply delivering a message from the heads of intelligence and general security. But by then, Hamzah is shouting over him. “Get in your car, sir!” he says. Neither man mentions the king or a foreign plot.
The recording is consistent with the prince’s earlier description of the encounter.
Jordan, which borders Israel, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, has long been seen as a bastion of stability in a turbulent region. But the coronavirus pandemic has battered Jordan’s economy, and Hamzah’s unprecedented criticism of the ruling class — without naming the king — could lend support to growing complaints about poor governance and human rights abuses.
Reflecting concerns about any sign of instability there, several allies, including the United States, have expressed their strong backing for the king. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Jordan on Tuesday in support of Abdullah, according to Saudi state television.
Jordanian analyst Amer Sabaileh, speaking before the publication ban was imposed, said the dispute “puts more pressure on the king” to reform the system. He noted that the feud had also divided Jordanians, with many on social media expressing support for Hamzah.
The king “needs to go for fast action that saves the image of the family and the monarchy and the unity of society,” Sabaileh said.
Instead, Jordanian authorities have leveled accusations against Hamzah. On the day after the prince’s meeting with the military chief of staff, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced that authorities had arrested more than a dozen people and foiled a foreign plot, without saying which country was involved.
Hamzah, in a video statement, denied being part of any such conspiracy and lashed out at authorities for what he said was years of corruption and incompetence. He said they were trying to silence him because of his criticism. There has been no word since on his status or that of those who were arrested.
Some analysts have raised doubts about the suggestion of a foreign plot.
“Among the countries whose names have been bandied about — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel — none have an interest in stoking instability in Jordan or could have believed that an amateurish plot built around a disaffected prince and a handful of acolytes might possibly have overthrown the well-entrenched Abdullah,” Ghaith al-Omari and Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute, a U.S. think tank, wrote in a policy briefing.
Abdullah and Hamzah are both sons of King Hussein, who remains a beloved figure two decades after his death. Upon ascending to the throne in 1999, Abdullah named Hamzah as crown prince, only to revoke the title five years later and give it to his oldest son.
While Abdullah and Hamzah are said to have good relations generally, Hamzah has at times spoken out against government policies, and more recently had forged ties with powerful tribal leaders in a move seen as a threat to the king.
The gag order — which Jordan’s attorney general said was needed to preserve the confidentiality of an ongoing investigation — highlights how restrictions on speech have been tightened in recent years, something the prince alluded to in his statements.
On April 7, 2021, the White House released a fact sheet announcing that President Joe Biden will use the Department of Justice (DOJ) to publish model red flag “legislation,” address AR-pistols with stabilizer braces, and issue a rule to “stop the proliferation of ‘ghost guns.’”
Breitbart News reported that Biden planned to put forward executive action on gun controls Thursday, and the fact sheet provides an outline detailing what those actions may entail.
The Justice Department, within 60 days, will publish model “red flag” legislation for states.
The Justice Department, within 60 days, will issue a proposed rule to make clear when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act.
The Justice Department, within 30 days, will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of “ghost guns.”
The White House notes that Biden will also have “five federal agencies [make] changes to 26 different programs to direct vital support to community violence intervention programs as quickly as possible.” The White House made clear the agencies are acting where Congress has not: “These changes mean we can start increasing investments in community violence interventions as we wait on Congress to appropriate additional funds.”
The White House explained that the DOJ will also begin “[issuing] an annual report on firearms trafficking.” One of the goals of the report will be to guide “policymakers” in crafting new regulations (and laws) to institute over time.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) pushed to recategorize AR-pistols with stabilizer braces in late 2020 then abandoned the effort amid public outcry.
On December 23, 2020, Breitbart News reported that the ATF withdrew their recategorization guidelines, but Biden’s push to have the DOJ refocus on AR-pistols appears to mean the recategorization push is receiving new life.
The purchase of AR-pistols categorized as “short-barreled rifles” could require being fingerprinted and photographed, as well as undergoing a background check, registering the firearm with the ATF, paying the federal government a $200 tax (on top of the price of the firearm), and waiting nine to ten months for the whole purchasing process to be completed. That is the standard process for other firearms and accessories under the purview of the National Firearms Act.
Producer Scott Rudin and the cast of Hello, Dolly! accept the award for Best Revival of a Musical onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2017 in New York City. ( for Tony Awards Productions)
As Hollywood continues its reckoning with bad managerial behavior, former assistants to Oscar-winning movie producer Scott Rudin are once again coming forward to spill the beans on his pattern of abusive workplace practices, including an incident in which he allegedly smashed a computer monitor on an assistant’s hand and another in which he allegedly threw a stapler at an assistant and called him a “retard.”
In a lurid new report, The Hollywood Reporter details several previously unreported instances of workplace abuse and bullying allegedly committed by Rudin, the celebrated and feared producer behind such critically acclaimed movies as No Country for Old Men, The Social Network, Lady Bird, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
For years, Rudin, 62, has faced accusations of mistreating his assistants, with media reports dating back more than a decade detailing his volcanic temper that could boil over, allegedly, to physical violence. But Hollywood continues to look the other way as Rudin’s movies and Broadway productions — including The Book of Mormon musical — generate big profits and awards galore.
Producer Scott Rudin and the cast of Hello, Dolly! accept the award for Best Revival of a Musical onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2017 in New York City. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
The new report comes as the entertainment industry attempts to deal with its pervasive culture of workplace bullying in which assistants have borne the brunt of bad managerial behavior. The Ellen DeGeneres Show was the most recent target, with employees claiming a toxic work environment and abusive practices by senior management.
The Reporter‘s story includes an incident in 2012 when Rudin became so enraged that one of his assistants failed to book him a seat on a sold-out flight that he allegedly smashed an Apple computer monitor on the assistant’s hand. The screen reportedly shattered, leaving the young man bleeding. The assistant went to the emergency room while Rudin dialed his lawyer.
The victim ultimately received three associate producing credits and a monetary settlement, anonymous sources told the Reporter. Most bullying claims against Rudin are settled quietly, a legal source told the trade journal.
Rudin’s company is small by Hollywood standards, with an estimated two dozen or fewer full-time staffers. Rudin, who is gay, tends to hire young male assistants who are eager to get their start in the movie or theater industries.
The producer is infamous for frequently firing, and then re-hiring, his assistants based on perceived incompetencies.
In another incident from 2018, Rudin allegedly threw a baked potato at an assistant for not knowing why people from indie distributor A24 were waiting in the lobby. “He threw it at me, and I dodged a big potato. He was like, ‘Well, find out, and get me a new potato,’” the former assistant told the Reporter.
In the end, Rudin reportedly fired the assistant, who had dropped out of college to join Rudin’s company.
A man who was Rudin’s executive assistant from 2018 to 2019 claims to have experienced and witnessed so much mistreatment — including Rudin allegedly throwing a stapler at a theater assistant and calling him a “retard” — that he quit the industry altogether.
“Every day was exhausting and horrific,” Ryan Nelson told the Reporter.
Despite his reputation, Rudin continues to work regularly with some of the best Hollywood filmmakers, including Wes Anderson, Aaron Sorkin, and the Coen brothers.
Rudin is also a prolific Broadway producer, recently backing Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, which was a box-office hit. His other stage productions include The Book of Mormon as well as acclaimed revivals of Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Iceman Cometh, all of which starred Denzel Washington.
Religious Zionism party leader Betzalel Smotrich (Flash90/Yonatan Sindel)
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Knesset Member Betzalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party warned Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi that Muslims and Arabs who do not accept Jewish rule over Israel will soon be expelled from the country, during a Twitter argument on Wednesday.
The social media spat, which began a few hours before Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, comes on the heels of the swearing-in of Knesset members following the election.
During the swearing-in ceremony, several members of the Arab Joint List party, including Ayman Odeh, Samy Abu Shahadeh, Ofer Cassif, and Aida Tuma-Slima, ignored the wording of the pledge and instead vowed to “end Israel’s apartheid and occupation.”
With feelings still raw, Tibi slammed Chief Rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, during a radio interview, calling Eliyahu “racist garbage.”
Eliyahu, who is also a prominent figure in the religious Zionism movement, said in 2019 that “the land [of Israel] vomits out the Arabs.”
“I despise him,” Tibi continued. “A rabbi is not supposed to talk like that. And if a sheikh talks like that about Jews then he should also be condemned.”
Smotrich, who took offense to Tibi’s remarks about Eliyahu, spoke out on Twitter.
“I heard that after Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu said that a true Muslim should know that the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel, Ahmad Tibi opened his mouth about him,” Smotrich tweeted.
“So Ahmad, a true Muslim must know that the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel, and Arabs like you who do not recognize that won’t be here for long. Rabbi Shmuel and the tens of thousands of his followers, including us, will take care of this.”
Referring to Mansour Abbas, head of the Ra’am party and the potential kingmaker for a right-wing coalition, Tibi replied, “It makes me happy that you won’t be a minister without relying on Arabs.”
Tibi added in German, “Du bist ein Rassist [you are a racist.]”
“Oh Ahmad, I will be a minister and it will not be in any way in relying on terrorist supporters and terrorist huggers like you and like your friends in Ra’am,” Smotrich fired back.
“You will continue to make childish provocations at the [Knesset] plenum and we will continue to build the Land of Israel as the home of the Jewish people, for it and for those who accept Israel as a Jewish State.”
In the past, Smotrich appeared to call for the expulsion of Arab Israelis.
In March 2020, he tweeted at two Arab Israeli MKs, “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.”
A wreath is laid at the monument to the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, as part of world observances of the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz. Some 1.1 million people, mostly Jewish, were killed during World War II. Most observances were held online, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and only few people attended the ceremony at the monument.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Hebrew University Researchers Find Significantly Higher Rates of Mortality due to Heart Disease and Cancer Among Holocaust Survivors
Decades-Long Study Provides Basis for Close Monitoring of People Who Have Experienced Trauma Early in Life and the Impact it Can Have on Long-Term Health
Edited by: TJVNews.com
The damaging effects of life under Nazi rule have long been known with many victims having experienced periods of protracted emotional and physical torture, malnutrition and mass exposure to disease. But recent research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem show that even for those who survived, their health and mortality continued to be directly impacted long after the end of the Holocaust.
The study, led by Dr. Iaroslav Youssimand Dr. Hagit Hochner from the School of Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, investigated mortality rates from specific diseases over the course of many years among Israel-based Holocaust survivors.
The researchers analyzed death records of approximately 22,000 people who were followed-up from 1964 to 2016 and compared the rates of mortality from cancer and heart disease among survivors to the rates in individuals who did not live under Nazi occupation. Among women survivors, the study found a 15% higher rate of overall mortality and a 17% higher chance of dying from cancer. Among men, while overall death rates of the survivors were not different from those of the unexposed, mortality from cancer during the studied period was 14% higher among the survivor population and remarkably the rate of mortality from heart disease was 39% higher.
“Our research showed that people who experienced life under Nazi rule early in life, even if they were able to successfully migrate to Israel and build families, continued to face higher mortality rates throughout their lives,” Dr. Youssim explains. “This study supports prior theories that survivors are characterized by general health resilience combined with vulnerabilities to specific diseases.” Dr. Hochner added, “These findings reflect the importance of long-term monitoring of people who have experienced severe traumas and elucidates mortality patterns that might emerge from those experiences.”
This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health
Iaroslav Youssim, Malka Gorfine, Ronit Calderon-Margalit, Orly Manor, Ora Paltiel, David S Siscovick, Yechiel Friedlander, Hagit Hochner, Holocaust Experience and Mortality Patterns: 4-Decade Follow-up in a Population-based Cohort, American Journal of Epidemiology, 2021;, kwab021,
The NBA is holding “ongoing business discussions” with China Central Television, the Chinese Communist Party’s chief propaganda network known for airing forced confessions of domestic dissidents.
The league told Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) in a March 30 letter that it is exploring a renewed partnership with the regime’s television organ. While the NBA has yet to finalize a deal for the 2021 season, deputy commissioner Mark Tatum wrote, the two sides are in “ongoing business discussions.” Tatum also revealed that NBA China CEO Michael Ma—whose father served as a top executive for CCTV Sports—is taking an “active role” in the negotiations.
The state-run network has attracted widespread criticism for its crucial role in advancing CCP propaganda. CCTV regularly airs forced confessions from journalists, human rights activists, and other dissidents. It has also likened pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters to ISIS militants. In 2018, the network dismissed China’s Xinjiang-based internment camps—where more than one million Uyghur Muslims are subject to forced labor—as “vocational centers” aimed at boosting employment.
Blackburn condemned the NBA for entering negotiations with the state-run network “at the same time when American companies like H&M and Nike are turning away from China and refusing to employ Xinjiang slave labor.”
“The NBA is attempting to cut a deal to air games on the same station that regularly broadcasts Communist propaganda and forced prisoner confessions,” she told the Washington Free Beacon.
Such a deal would prove lucrative for the league, which, according to Tatum, lost hundreds of millions of dollars during the 2019-2020 season due to a CCTV ban. The network’s moratorium on NBA games came after then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey spoke out against Chinese human rights abuses in October 2019. CCTV refused to air NBA contests for a year following Morey’s comments and has yet to broadcast a 2021 regular season game.
The NBA’s relationship with China goes far beyond CCTV. The league for years ran a basketball training camp in Xinjiang, where Chinese partners reportedly subjected coaches and young players to routine physical abuse. One former employee compared the Xinjiang academy to “World War II Germany,” and American coaches were surveilled and detained by CCP officials without cause.
NBA leaders were seeking coaches to move to Xinjiang “well into the summer” of 2019, years after human rights groups revealed the existence of internment camps in the region.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who maxed out donations to President Joe Biden in 2020, has praised the league’s “long history of supporting important issues around social justice” while ignoring Chinese atrocities.
“Our business has continued there,” Silver said of the communist nation in March. “We have hundreds of millions of fans in China and we see it as our business to serve those fans.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, as Israel marks annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 7, 2021. (Flash90/Olivier Fitoussi)
By David Isaac, World Israel News
Speaking from Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed a warning at the Biden administration and others seeking to reenter the Iran deal during his speech on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began at sundown on Wednesday.
His remarks come one day after reports that Iran and the U.S. will set up two working groups to get both countries back into compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. One will deal with lifting Trump administration sanctions. The other will focus on how to roll back Iran’s nuclear enrichment.
“The nuclear deal with Iran, which gives it international approval to advance the development of an arsenal of atomic bombs, is once again on the table. But history has taught us that such agreements, with such extremist regimes, aren’t worth the paper they’re written on,” Netanyahu said.
“Even to our best friends, I say: We are not bound in any way to an agreement with Iran that paves the way for nuclear weapons. We are obligated to only one thing: To prevent anyone who seeks to destroy us from carrying out their plot,” Netanyahu said.
It’s not the first time the prime minister has used his platform on Holocaust Remembrance Day to draw a comparison between Iran and the Nazi regime that attempted to destroy the Jews.
“During the Holocaust we did not have the power and sovereign right to defend ourselves. We were disenfranchised, defenseless. Today we have a state, we have a defensive force and we have the natural and complete right in the sovereign state of the Jewish people to defend ourselves by our own right,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister’s direct and public repudiation of the Iran deal and the possibility of restarting it appears to contradict reports in the Hebrew press that Israel was planning on a different strategy when confronting the U.S. administration over Iran this time around as opposed to how it countered the threat during the Obama years.
According to one report, the Israelis were developing a different, quieter strategy.
However, the U.S. also said it would consult Israel before reentering the deal. The swiftness with which events are moving raises questions whether the Israelis were brought into the deliberative process in any serious way.
The original Iran deal was orchestrated by former President Barack Obama and then abandoned by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
The Biden Administration is resuming financial aid to the Palestinian Authority despite the failure of government agencies to vet funding to ensure it complies with U.S. anti-terrorism laws, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Since coming into office in January, the Biden Administration has allocated a total of $130 million in aid for the Palestinians – the first American aid since the Palestinians announced in December 2018 that they were turning down any American funding because they did not want to comply with the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act that was signed into law in 2018.
The newly allocated $40 million for Palestinian security services is in addition to $75 million revealed last week for infrastructure and other projects along with $15 million for “humanitarian” purposes.
The new Biden Administration funding to the Palestinians is also problematic in light of a General Accounting Office (GAO) report released last week. It found that U.S. government agencies which distributed hundreds of millions of American tax dollars to the Palestinians had not properly vetted all the recipients to ensure they were in compliance with the U.S. anti-terrorism laws.
The non-partisan GAO concluded that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) “did not ensure that awards these entities made to others, known as subawards, were compliant with anti-terrorism requirements.”
“If funding resumes, we recommend measures to improve compliance,” the GAO stated. However, the State Department has so far released no details of how the renewed funding to the Palestinians is being monitored.
The new aid is also questionable under other U.S. anti-terrorism laws that were approved when Biden was a senator, Middle East analysts noted in an op-ed published by The Hill.
“While the Biden administration has not acknowledged it yet, congressionally imposed restrictions that President Biden himself helped author as a senator may complicate his administration’s efforts to restore diplomatic contacts,” noted Jonathan Shanzer and Matthew Zweig of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, adding that “the provision of financial aid may be even more complicated.”
The two wrote that the upcoming Palestinian elections place the issue of U.S. taxpayer aid to the Palestinians in doubt because Biden sponsored and pushed through the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (PATA). That law, passed after Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian elections, stipulates no U.S. funding if Hamas has anything to do with the Palestinian Authority.
Current indications are that the Palestinian elections could very well result in “a power-sharing agreement that brings Hamas or other terrorist entities into a government with Fatah,” Shanzer and Zweig noted. “The State Department and the White House continue to remain silent — risking an outcome similar to that of the ill-fated elections of 2006.”
The latest American funding appears to be in violation of other U.S. laws, including the Taylor Force Act that withholds tax money unless the Palestinian Authority ceases its policy of paying cash rewards to convicted terrorists, and the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) that allows Americans to use the U.S. justice system to sue anybody who received American foreign aid and was involved in “acts of war” including terrorism.
In December, 2018, the Palestinians announced they would stop accepting American aid because they feared they would be sued under the provisions of ATCA.
During the Trump Administration, both former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley worked to cut funding to the Palestinians, who lost $165 million in U.S. assistance because of their failure to stop their pay-for-slay policy.
Participants in the Israeli-American Council’s global #SixMillionSteps campaign walk on the Dry Creek Trailhead, Boulder, CO, recently, with the Rocky Mountains in the background. Credit: Tali Brauman.
In the first effort of its kind, people from San Francisco to Washington, DC including Holocaust survivors are walking or running to remember the victims of the Holocaust and to spotlight surging antisemitism worldwide. Participants are also sharing their tallies on social media with the hashtag “#6MillionSteps” as part of the innovative Israeli-American Council campaign ahead of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins tonight and ends sundown Thursday.
The goal by April 11 is to reach 18 million total steps, a multiple of six million, as 18 symbolizes good luck in Judaism and the Hebrew letter equivalent “chai,” life. People of all ages have been gathering for a few weeks in socially distanced events across the country, from the National Mall in Washington to San Jose, amassing more than 13.6 million steps to date.
A group of Friends of Israel Scouts of the Silicon Valley, Shevet Hamifratz (The Bay Tribe) participated in the Israeli-American Council’s global #SixMillionSteps campaign recently, walking in De Anza Park, near San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area. Credit: Iris Lahav.
Events have taken place, or are scheduled to take place, in New Jersey; New York City; at the “Rocky” steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Cleveland; Chicago; Washington University, St. Louis; the University of Georgia, Athens; Atlanta; Tulane University, New Orleans; Orlando; Boulder, Colorado; Las Vegas; the San Francisco Bay Area; and Los Angeles.
In New York, 60 nurses, 10 doctors, and 10 support staff in the cardiac intensive care unit at Mount Sinai Hospital even collected the steps they took during the day to support #6MillionSteps.
Participants are posting to a special #6MilllionSteps website and connecting their Fitbit or Garmin fitness trackers, or manually entering their total steps while walking, running or exercising. People are also placing a special #6MilllionSteps frame to their social media profile. The #6MillionSteps site features interviews with Holocaust survivors and offers resources on rising antisemitism and hate crimes.
Eighty doctors, nurses and support staff at Mount Sinai Hospital used the steps they take during their workday recently to support the Israeli-American Council’s global #SixMillionSteps campaign. Credit: Israeli-American Council.
Among those taking part are Israeli-American Grammy Award-winning violinist Miri Ben-Ari, who played the Israeli national anthem while walking in New Jersey. Click here to download and watch the video.
“At a time of growing polarization and extremism, #6MillionSteps is gathering people everywhere in memory of the six million victims, including the 1.5 million children, murdered by the Nazis,” said IAC Co-founder and CEO Shoham Nicolet. “By taking six million steps together every week at this perilous time, we are leading the way to fight antisemitism, indifference and ignorance and ensuring we never forget the lessons of the Holocaust.”
Today (Wednesday, April 7) the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Humanities in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress publishes the Antisemitism Report for 2020 – the year of COVID-19 – indicating contradictory trends: On the one hand, a decrease was seen in physical violence due to the lockdowns, which reduced encounters between Jews and violent antisemites;On the other, accusations against the Jews (allegedly responsible for the global disaster), were manifested in a rise in blatant antisemitic expressions on the internet in general and social networks specifically. The Report is based on thousands of testimonies from different places around the globe, received throughout 2020 from the international network established by the Kantor Center several years ago – which includes about 60 participants who regularly send in information about antisemitism worldwide.
Prof. Dina Porat, Research Leader (Head of the Kantor Center): “The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting reality dictated both the nature and extent of antisemitism in 2020, which was an unusually tense and turbulent year all over the world. Prejudice, superstition, primordial emotions, and bizarre theories surfaced on the scene, and manifestations of antisemitism, both verbal and visual, were vicious and outrageous. Blaming the Jews and Israelis for developing and spreading the coronavirus(or ‘Judeovirus’), was the main motif in this year’s antisemitic manifestations. This notion is rooted in a deep fear of the Jew/Israeli as a spreader of disease in both the past and present.”
Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress: “In a year of physical restrictions, it is obvious that physical attacks should decrease. However, with the increase of antisemitism online, the next wave of attacks against Jews and Jewish targets could be only around the corner. During times of social crises, Jews are always scapegoated and targeted and we have seen this throughout the Covid cycle. Jews have been blamed for the virus and the cure, and the restrictions and vaccines have been inappropriately compared with the Holocaust, which minimizes and diminishes the murder of Six-Million Jews. We hope that what we are witnessing is not the calm before the ‘perfect storm’ of Jew hatred in the years ahead.”
Blaming the Jews and Israelis for developing and spreading the coronavirus (or ‘Judeovirus’) is a graver accusation than any previously made against Jews throughout history: As the pandemic began to spread across the globe, it was immediately followed by accusations that the virus had been developed and was being spread by Jews and Israelis: they are the ones who would find a cure and vaccine for the disease, selling it to the ailing world and making a huge profit. Over the following months this libel spread rapidly. We received reports to this effect from dozens of countries, in the form of aggressive messages and numerous malicious caricatures. Moreover, the accusation was heard not only from extremist circles, such as white supremacists, ultra-conservative Christians, or the usual accusers like Turkey and the Palestinian Authority and especially Iran, that invested efforts in disseminating the accusation. It also spread to populations with no well-defined political or ideological identities.
Figures and trends: As noted above, lockdowns in the various countries reduced encounters between Jews and their ill-wishers, and consequently the number of violent events declined in 2020 from 456 to 371 – a number that was typical of 2016-18. No one was murdered this year for being Jewish (even though physical attacks could have led to loss of life), and the number of bodily injuries decreased from 170 in 2019 to 107 in 2020. Damage to private property was also reduced from 130 to 84 incidents, simply because people mostly stayed at home. In most countries a decrease was registered in the number of violent incidents, attacks on both people and their property, threats and arson. However, vandalism towards Jewish communal property and institutions remained as it was before, and in some cases even increased (see table). The number of desecrations of graveyards, Holocaust memorials and other Jewish monuments rose from 77 (2019) to 96 (2020) incidents worldwide, because these sites are open and unprotected. The number of vandalized synagogues also increased from 53 (2019) to 63 (2020), since being closed, they became easy prey.
Violent incidents
Physical injury
Damage to property
Desecration of synagogues, graveyards and Holocaust memorials
2020
371
107
84
159
2019
456
170
130
130
In the US a gradual rise in violent incidents has been observed for several years, reaching 119 this year (compared to 99 in 2017 for example), and Germany also saw a significant escalation in the total number of cases, from a total of 2,032 in 2019 to 2,275 in 2020, including 59 violent incidents. In both countries, vandalism accounted for most of the incidents.
A significant decline was noted in Australia, the UK and especially France, where the Ministry of the Interior and the Jewish Community both reported a drop of 50% in all types of antisemitic incidents, due to the tight lockdown, as well as Canada, where the number of violent cases dropped by more than half. Most incidents occurred in countries with large Jewish communities: the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, France and Germany. In all other countries, with the exception of Ukraine, less than 10 incidents (per country) were reported in 2020.
Antisemitism on the web: Since the public space was shut down during the pandemic, and people stayed at home, activities in the social media, including antisemitic activities, increased significantly, characterized by aggressiveness and verbal abuse. Such phenomena, however, are inherently difficult to quantify.
Ø Zoom bombing: When zoom became a major means of communication, a phenomenon called zoom-bombing emerged – breaking into zoom conferences of synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish students, disrupting the meetings and using the platform to display swastikas, antisemitic presentations or speeches, etc. In the US alone 200 cases of zoom bombing were registered.
Ø Development of the darknet: Extremist groups, especially from the far right, like white supremacists and neo-Nazis, left the open social networks, and descended into the darknet, which grew significantly over the past year – where they can be free of any supervision or restrictions. Here, undisturbed, they run their own websites, that are very hard to monitor. In other words, while the number of antisemitic manifestations in the open networks declined, activities on the darknet intensified.
Vaccine opponents and the Holocaust, in Israel and abroad: Vaccine opponents equated the restrictions and lockdowns for containing the pandemic with policies of the Nazi regime accusing the establishment and governments in various countries of applying means of coercion: lockdowns were compared to incarceration in ghettos and concentration camps; vaccines were described as medical experiments; certificates granting privileges after vaccination were seen as the infamous ‘selection’ procedure in Nazi death camps; anti-vaxxers felt that they were as undesirable and persecuted as the Jews had been; the epitaph on the gate to Auschwitz served as a source for the new slogan ‘Vaccination liberates’; and so on.
In Germany, where opposition to the vaccines is particularly strong, demonstrators wore a yellow star on their clothes, with the word ‘unvaccinated’ replacing the word ‘Jew’, and called Chancellor Merkel a Nazi.
The advent of the vaccines, coupled with Israel’s vast vaccination campaign, assisted by Israelis and Jews who hold prominent positions in the companies that produce these vaccines, like Tal Zaks, Chief Medical Officer at Moderna, and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, reinforced the accusations: Israelis and Jews join hands so that Israel may be first to recover from the pandemic, while the rest of the world stands in line and begs the Jews for help.
(TJVNEWS.COM) In 2017, a team of experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security published a scenario as part of a training exercise that they believed could happen in the not-so-distant future.
TJV News reported last year on The Rockefeller Foundation’s Lock Step simulation from 2010 and Gates foundation’s “Event 201″Together with John Hopkins University- Center for Public health and the World Economic Forum- both simulations which eerily resembled the current COVID pandemic.
This latest unearthed simulation which was first briefly reported on in October last year has only recently started making its rounds online and has gained the attention of General Flynn who actually calling for investigations into the simulation exercise.
This is the general breakdown of this simulation. It is quite amazing similar this simulation is to the actual current news of the last 15 months. The entire document is linked HERE
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the victims were infected with a novel coronavirus, SPARS-CoV.
Nothing is known about this novel coronavirus. There is no rapid diagnostic test. There are no known treatments. And there is no vaccine.
It’s not long before the SPARS outbreak erupts into a global pandemic.
The CDC finds SPARS is transmitted through respiratory droplets and recommends that everyone practice hand hygiene and frequently disinfect surfaces. Experts learn that SPARS has a long incubation period– 7 to 10 days– and that it can be spread by asymptomatic carriers. Pregnant women and those with underlying conditions like asthma and emphysema are at a higher risk for complications and death. The WHO begins to recommend social distancing and isolation of suspected cases.
There is hope that an existing antiviral drug could help treat SPARS, but there have been no randomized controlled trials. The US Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization for this drug to treat SPARS patients. Soon, there is high public demand for the drug and millions of doses are dispensed from the Strategic National Stockpile. However, it soon becomes apparent that the drug cancause serious side effects.
Things become political. Republicans voice their support of the drug while Democrats express doubt. America is more connected yet more divided than ever. Rumors and misinformation regarding the virus and potential treatments circulate on social media. The economy takes a hit as the pandemic drags on. Within a year, a potential vaccine begins expedited review and there are promises that tens of millions of doses will be available within a few months. But of the hundreds of millions of people living in the US, who will get the vaccine first?
Some other interesting highlights:
“As the pandemic tapered off, several influential politicians and agency representatives came under fire for sensationalizing the severity of the event for perceived political gain. As with many public health interventions, successful efforts to reduce the impact of the pandemic created the illusion that the event was not nearly as serious as experts suggested it would be. President Archer’s(fictional) detractors in the Republican Party seized the opportunity to publicly disparage the President and his administration’s response to the pandemic, urging voters to elect “a strong leader with the best interests of the American people at heart.” “
“The Corovax vaccination program met resistance from several groups: alternative medicine proponents, Muslims, African Americans, and anti-vaccination activists. Initially operating independently, these groups banded together via social media to increase their influence.”
How might federal health authorities avoid people possibly seeing an expedited SPARS vaccine development and testing process as somehow “rushed” and inherently flawed, even though that process still meets the same safety and efficacy standards as any other vaccine?
“As time passed and more people across the United States were vaccinated, claims of adverse side effects began to emerge.”
The similarities are uncanny, including strategies for the MSM, presidents, and celebrities being used to encourage people to take the vaccines – to the actual fatality rates being ‘predicted’ along with the numbers, to tweets and marketing campaigns, to “isolation procedures”.
Take a look at the document and see the parallels you can draw from this exercise to the actual COVID pandemic, it is quite interesting
60 Minutes, a long-disgraced news magazine that airs on far-left CBS, launched a political assassination attempt against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) Sunday night. By Monday afternoon, this shamelessly dishonest hoax and conspiracy theory had collapsed into a steaming pile of fake news.
According to the long-disgraced 60 Minutes, DeSantis accepted a $100,000 political donation from Publix supermarkets and then awarded Publix with a vaccine contract. In other words: pay-for-play.
Here’s how the hoax fell apart….
It began with the discovery that the long-disgraced 60 Minutes had deliberately and maliciously edited a clip of DeSantis while he answered a round of questions and heckling from disgraced-60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.
Through this deliberate act of malicious editing, the long-disgraced 60 Minutes tried to make DeSantis look like a fool as he dodged her question. The truth, however, as we saw in the full video, is that he answered her question at detailed length and did so to the satisfaction of any reasonable person.
The full video hit social media almost immediately after the long-disgraced 60 Minutes hit piece aired and quickly went viral.
Then, Jared Moskowitz, Florida’s former head of emergency management and a Democrat, lashed out at the long-disgraced 60 Minutes as liars spreading “absolute malarkey” about DeSantis.
“60Minutes I said this before and I’ll say it again, he tweeted. “@Publix was recommended by @FLSERT and @HealthyFla as the other pharmacies were not ready to start. Period! Full Stop!”
He added, “No one from the Governors [sic] office suggested Publix. It’s just absolute malarkey.”
Then, Dave Kerner, the Democrat mayor of Palm Beach, was so disgusted by the long-disgraced 60 Minutes segment, he released a lengthy statement blasting the long-disgraced 60 Minutes for spreading “intentionally false” information. It read in part:
I watched the 60 Minutes segment on Palm Beach County last night and feel compelled to issue this statement. The reporting was not just based on bad information — it was intentionally false. I know this because I offered to provide my insight into Palm Beach County’s vaccination efforts and 60 Minutes declined. They know that the Governor came to Palm Beach County and met with me and the County Administrator and we asked to expand the state’s partnership with Publix to Palm Beach County. We also discussed our own local plans to expand mass vaccinations centers throughout the county, which the Governor has been incredibly supportive. We asked and he delivered. They had that information, and they left it out because it kneecaps their narrative.
That was written by a Democrat.
A Democrat.
Then, Publix itself issued a statement blasting the long-disgraced 60 Minutes.
“The irresponsible suggestion that there was a connection between campaign contributions made to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state’s vaccine distribution efforts is absolutely false and offensive,” the grocery chain said in part on Monday. Here’s the full statement:
For its part, the long-disgraced 60 Minutes has now “gone dark” with the story, Fox News reported:
CBS appears to be distancing itself from a “60 Minutes” report that has been widely criticized as a “hit piece” against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, by members of both parties.
…
The next day, however, there was no mention of the “60 Minutes” report on “CBS This Morning” or the “CBS Evening News,” according to Grabien transcripts.
What’s more, the long-disgraced 60 Minutes has not covered a single one of the coronavirus or sexual abuse scandals swirling around Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), but that’s because Cuomo is a Democrat and the long-disgraced 60 Minutes is a left-wing propaganda outlet determined to mislead the public with fake news, maliciously edited video, and disinformation.
Everything the corporate media report is a lie.
It is long past time that those interested in the truth start to IGNORE the media, and that includes hate-watching.
CNNLOL, NBC, MSNBC, Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, PBS, etc., are all lying liars who lie. Everything they report is a lie. Stop watching this crap. Ignore this crap.
That’s what DeSantis did. The long-disgraced 60 Minutes tried to sucker him into sitting down for an interview. He refused, which was the exact right decision.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is calling on Republicans to boycott Coca-Cola after the company stated its disapproval for a new voting law in Georgia.
“If they want to boycott us why don’t we boycott them,” Paul said during an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday. “This is the only thing that will teach them a lesson. If Coca-Cola wants to only operate in Democrat states and have only Democrats drink them, God love ’em. We’ll see how well they do when half the country quits drinking Coca-Cola.”
Michigan data shows 246 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 more than two weeks after being fully vaccinated against the virus that causes it.
The potential breakthrough cases were recorded between Jan. 1 and March 31.
Eleven of the residents were hospitalized and three died, a spokesperson with the state Department of Health and Human Services (MDDHS) told The Epoch Times via email. The people who died were all 65 years of age or older.
Data about hospitalization status for 129 cases was incomplete and for the other set, hospitalization status was reported as unknown.
The fully vaccinated cases were identified through weekly reviews of data on all confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. State officials compare the data to records of every person who has been fully vaccinated.
Fully vaccinated means two weeks has elapsed since a person has received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“These are individuals who have had a positive test 14 or more days after the last dose in the vaccine series. Some of these individuals may ultimately be excluded from this list due to continuing to test positive from a recent infection prior to being fully vaccinated. These cases are undergoing further review to determine if they meet other CDC criteria for determination of potential breakthrough, including the absence of a positive antigen or PCR test less than 45 days prior to the post-vaccination positive test,” the spokeswoman said.
“In general, these persons have been more likely to be asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic compared with vaccinated persons. Please note, to date, more than 1.7 million Michiganders have completed their COVID-19 vaccine. Some of these cases may be ruled out via additional investigation,” she added.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, Pfizer’s vaccine is considered 95 percent effective in preventing severe symptoms of COVID-19. Moderna’s is 94 percent.
Johnson & Johnson’s is approximately 67 percent.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer receives a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Ford Field during an event to promote and encourage Michigan residents to get the vaccine, in Detroit, Mich., on April 6, 2021. (Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)
“While the majority of the population develops full immunity within 14 days of completion of their vaccine series, a small proportion appear to take longer to mount a full antibody response,” the MDHHS spokeswoman said. “We expect to see breakthrough cases with any vaccination, including all the COVID-19 vaccines. The number of potential cases identified to date is not in excess of what might be expected with vaccines with 95 percent efficacy. Studies indicate that even if vaccinated people do become ill, they are far less likely to experience severe illness requiring hospitalization or resulting in death.”
The potential for breakthrough cases is why officials still encourage Michiganders to take precautions while out in public, such as wearing masks, washing hands, and social distancing even after they are fully vaccinated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is creating a new website to provide additional information about investigating breakthrough cases. The site is expected to launch within the next several weeks. It will include summary data from all states, Michigan officials said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told reporters last week that “zero percent of the people in our hospitals right now have been vaccinated, which tells you the vaccines work.”
Whitmer said during a press conference on Tuesday that the efficacy rates mean some people who get the vaccines will not gain complete protection.
“We’re delving into the numbers” on breakthrough cases, she said. “What we do know, though, is that this vaccine can save your life. This is a virus that none of us knows how our body is going to react to it. For so many it has been fatal or devastating, or for many we’re still learning how long are the impacts of this virus going to impact them, afflict them. So this vaccine still is the best way to protect yourself.”
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical executive, said that the shots “are some of the best vaccines that we have.”
“We’ve now got vaccines that are over 95 percent effective. And even if you do get COVID-19, and once you’ve had a vaccine, it is highly unlikely that you will be hospitalized or die,” she said.
Other states have also seen breakthrough cases. In Washington state, authorities reported last week that they found evidence of 102 such cases, with eight of the patients requiring hospitalization and two dying.
In a letter published on March 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of California physicians reported that out of 36,659 health care workers tested after receiving one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, 379 tested positive for COVID-19 at least one day after vaccination. Thirty-seven of them tested positive after getting two shots, mostly within two weeks after the second injection.
“The rarity of positive test results 14 days after administration of the second dose of vaccine is encouraging and suggests that the efficacy of these vaccines is maintained outside the trial setting,” the doctors wrote
