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More Than 120 Members of Congress Issue Letters of Support to Leading Anti-Israel Group

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More than 120 members of Congress privately issued letters of support to a controversial Islamic-American advocacy group known for its involvement in one of America's most prominent terrorism financing cases, according to a copy of these official communications obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Congressional support for CAIR likely to generate concern in pro-Israel community

By: Adam Kredo

More than 120 members of Congress privately issued letters of support to a controversial Islamic-American advocacy group known for its involvement in one of America’s most prominent terrorism financing cases, according to a copy of these official communications obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group with deep ties to the anti-Israel movement in America, touted its support among congressional leaders during its 2019 gala conference in November in Washington, D.C. Prominent opponents of the pro-Israel community, including anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), headlined the conference.

A copy of CAIR’s conference agenda, obtained by the Free Beacon and published here for the first time, includes well over 100 letters from Democratic and Republican members of Congress, all of whom expressed their support for the controversial organization. Democrats issued the majority of the letters, with only two coming from Republican members of Congress.

The breadth of congressional support for CAIR is likely to generate concern in the pro-Israel community, which has long been at odds with the advocacy group due to its promotion of anti-Israel activists and causes.

Democratic 2020 presidential contenders Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), and Tom Steyer all penned letters of support. Prominent Democrats such as Omar, Reps. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich), and Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) also lent their support to CAIR’s agenda, according to materials reviewed by the Free Beacon.

CAIR has long been central to the anti-Israel movement in America.

“CAIR’s anti-Israel agenda dates back to its founding by leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a Hamas affiliated anti-Semitic propaganda organization,” according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which combats anti-Israel bias. “While CAIR has denounced specific acts of terrorism in the U.S. and abroad, for many years it refused to unequivocally condemn Palestinian terror organizations and Hezbollah by name, which the U.S. and international community have condemned and isolated.”

CAIR is also known for its involvement in a fundraising scheme tied to the Muslim Brotherhood that sought to support the Hamas terror organization. That case, known as the Holy Land Foundation trial, unearthed evidence that CAIR and its founders sought to lend backchannel support to Hamas.

In fact, “the Federal Bureau of Investigation has distanced itself from CAIR over the years,” according to the ADL. “In an April 2009 letter to the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, the FBI explained that it suspended contact with CAIR because of evidence introduced during the Holy Land Foundation trial, demonstrating that CAIR and its founders were part of a group set up by the Muslim Brotherhood to support Hamas.”

Additionally, in 2014, CAIR was placed on the United Arab Emirates’s terrorism list for alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood organization. (Washington Free Beacon)

Sources: Netanyahu Wants Isolated Right-Wing Party to Drop Out of Knesset Election

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Flash90/Yonatan Sindel)

“Let him not preach to Ben Gvir to do what he himself won’t do,” said the Otzma Yehudit statement in response to the prime minister.

By: WIN Staff 

Even after Wednesday’s deadline for the submission of party lists running in the March 2 parliamentary election, the drama continues over how many right-wing parties will actually vie for seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party to drop out, according to “sources close to the prime minister” who briefed reporters on Thursday.

Most right-wing parties have joined an amalgamated list called Yemina. However, at the insistence of the leader of the list, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett of the New Right party, Otzma Yehudit was left out on the grounds that the party had an extremist agenda regarding Arabs.

Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir said that he felt betrayed because he had previously reached a deal with one of the parties on the joint list to run together.

However, with the deadline passed for submitting lists, the prime minister feels that there is no choice for Ben Gvir but “to step down” from the race to avoid splitting the right-wing vote and losing parliamentary seats, say his associates.

“I urge Otzma Yehudit to assume responsible leadership and withdraw from the race so we don’t repeat past mistakes,” said Culture Minister Miri Regev, a strong Netanyahu ally.

After two Knesset elections in 2019 which did not produce a new government coalition, Netanyahu has been urging unity in the Right to help the chances of attaining a better result in the upcoming March election.

The prime minister’s associates were calling on Ben Gvir to show the same “responsible” behavior as that of MK Stav Shaffir.

Left-wing parties Labor and Meretz have decided to run as a merged list and Shaffir, who was kept out, announced on Wednesday that she would not be running separately, and would take a break from parliamentary life, in order to avoid creating a split among the Left’s electorate.

Those parties are trying to replace Netanyahu with Blue and White leader MK Benny Gantz as prime minister.

Otzma Yehudit lashed back at the prime minister on Thursday, charging that if Netanyahu had “stepped down from his position, a government would have been established,” a reference to the complications in forming a governing coalition in the Knesset due to indictments facing the prime minister in three cases of alleged corruption.

“Let him not preach to Ben Gvir to do what he himself won’t do,” said the Otzma Yehudit statement. (World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com

‘Impose UN Snapback Sanctions on Iran Now,’ Netanyahu Demands of Europe

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on European countries to reimpose sanctions on Iran “now” after France, Britain and Germany announced they have triggered the Iran nuclear deal dispute mechanism, which could lead to a renewal of further sanctions on Iran following the latter’s recent breaches of the 2015 accord. (Yehonatan Valtser/TPS)

“We know exactly what is happening with the Iranian nuclear program. I reiterate: Israel will not allow Iran to achieve nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu stated.

By: Aryeh Savir

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on European countries to reimpose sanctions on Iran “now” after France, Britain and Germany announced they have triggered the Iran nuclear deal dispute mechanism, which could lead to a renewal of further sanctions on Iran following the latter’s recent breaches of the 2015 accord.

The three countries, also known as the E3, stated Tuesday in a joint statement that “following Iran’s announcement in May 2019 that it would cease meeting some of its commitments under the JCPoA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), we have sought to persuade Iran to change course. The E3 have worked hard to address Iran’s concerns and bring it back into compliance with its commitments under the nuclear agreement.”

“However, in the meantime Iran has continued to break key restrictions set out in the JCPoA. Iran’s actions are inconsistent with the provisions of the nuclear agreement and have increasingly severe and non-reversible proliferation implications,” the three powers charged.

“Instead of reversing course, Iran has chosen to further reduce compliance with the JCPoA and announced on Jan. 5 that ‘the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the fifth step in reducing its commitments, discards the last key component of its limitations in the JCPOA, which is the limit on the number of centrifuges’”, and that “the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program no longer faces any operational restrictions”, including on enrichment and enrichment-related matters,” they noted.

‘No choice’

The three countries have “therefore been left with no choice, given Iran’s actions, but to register today our concerns that Iran is not meeting its commitments under the JCPoA and to refer this matter to the Joint Commission under the Dispute Resolution Mechanism.”

The Dispute Resolution Mechanism could reimpose sanctions on Iran at the United Nations (UN) within weeks.

“We know exactly what is happening with the Iranian nuclear program. Iran thinks it can achieve nuclear weapons. I reiterate: Israel will not allow Iran to achieve nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu stated.

He called on “all Western countries to impose snapback sanctions at the UN now.”

The UN Security Council is expected to discuss the three countries’ grievances, and if no resolution is adopted on the issue, the sanctions in all previous UN resolutions would be re-imposed, an action called “snapback sanctions.”

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the House of Commons that ” Iran’s destabilizing activity should serve as a reminder to us all of the danger to the region, and to the world, if Iran were ever to acquire a nuclear weapon. We cannot let that happen.”

He underscored that Iran’s breakout time, the time it would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, is now falling, a matter of international cause of concern.”

According to an IDF estimate published on Tuesday, Iran could have enough material for one nuclear bomb by the spring.

“Iran has a choice. The regime can take the steps to de-escalate tensions and adhere to the basic rules of international law. Or sink deeper and deeper into political and economic isolation,” he stated. (TPS)

 

House of Representatives Delivers Articles of Impeachment to Senate 

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The impeachment managers — lawmakers who will act as prosecutors — joined the House clerk and sergeant at arms, who hand-carried the articles to the Senate chamber. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the formal acceptance will not to take place until Thursday. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has signed the articles of impeachment against President Trump and delivered them to the Senate so a trial can begin next week.

Pelosi used a number of pens to put her name on the documents and handed them out to various Democratic committee chairmen whose efforts have led to the president’s impeachment.

The impeachment managers — lawmakers who will act as prosecutors — joined the House clerk and sergeant at arms, who hand-carried the articles to the Senate chamber. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the formal acceptance will not to take place until Thursday.

At that time, Chief Justice John Roberts, who will oversee the trial, will be sworn in and then he will swear in the impeachment managers.

Earlier Wednesday, the Democratic-led House voted its approval of the impeachment managers largely along party lines. They include Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler.

As Pelosi announced the impeachment managers at a morning news conference, Trump tweeted the impeachment was “another Con job by the Do Nothing Democrats.”

The House impeached Trump last month on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. But Pelosi put off submitting the articles of impeachment as House Democrats tried to get Senate leaders to agree to allow testimony from new witnesses during the trial.

McConnell has resisted calling witnesses, saying that decision would come later in the trial.

White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham accused Pelosi of holding the articles of impeachment “in an egregious effort to garner political support.”

“She failed and the naming of these managers does not change a single thing,” Grisham said in a statement. “President Trump has done nothing wrong. He looks forward to having the due process rights in the Senate that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats denied to him, and expects to be fully exonerated.”

Pelosi said if the Senate launches the trial without witnesses, the American people will see it “as a pure political cover-up.”

“McConnell and the president are afraid of more facts coming to light,” she said.

The trial will begin Tuesday and will likely last several weeks.

Trump is accused of abusing his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a gas company in Ukraine, as Trump withheld $391 million in military aid that he later released. The president is also accused of subsequently obstructing a congressional probe into his actions.

Trump insists he did nothing wrong and has dismissed the impeachment effort as a “witch hunt.”

“While we’re creating jobs and killing terrorists, Democrats in Congress are wasting America’s time with demented hoaxes and crazy witch hunts,” he told supporters at a Tuesday night campaign rally.

No matter what rules are in place for the Senate trial, Trump seems to be safe from the prospect of being convicted and removed from office.

His Republican Party holds a 53-47 majority in the chamber, and conviction requires a two-thirds majority, meaning if all Democrats voted to convict, then 20 Republicans would have to also vote that way for Trump to be convicted and removed from office.

Democrats also released documents that include new details from Florida businessman Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, about Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials.

The evidence includes a handwritten note from Parnas on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna that says “get Zalensky (sic) to Announce that the Biden case will be investigated.”

Also disclosed was screenshot of a previously undisclosed letter Giuliani sent in May to the then-president-elect, introducing himself as Trump’s “personal counsel” and requesting a meeting with Trump’s “knowledge and consent.”

Communications between Parnas, Giuliani and others about the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich, who balked at Trump’s demand for an investigation of the Bidens, were also released.

This is the third time in the country’s 244-year history a U.S. president has been impeached and targeted for removal from office.

Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were both impeached by the House but acquitted in Senate trials. A fourth president, Richard Nixon, resigned in 1974 in the face of certain impeachment in a political corruption scandal. (VOA News)

 

 

NYC Cop Curses Out Jews in Vicious Anti-Semitic Tirade 

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Photo Credit: NY1.com

A New York City officer was accused of yelling the anti-Semitic epithet at the pair as they returned home from synagogue on the Sabbath.

By: WIN Staff

In the latest anti-Semitic incident in New York, an New York Police Department (NYPD) officer is accused of yelling “you f–kin Jews” at a hasidic father and his teenage son as they were returning home from a Sabbath celebration on Friday night.

The father claimed the officer laughed and then drove off, leaving him and the boy shocked and stunned.

Dov Hikind, a former Democratic New York State assemblyman and founder of Americans Against Anti-Semitism, was contacted by the family on Sunday to address the incident.

“I have so much respect for ‘NYC’s Finest,’ but sometimes, things like this happen. This incident must be thoroughly investigated by senior officials in the NYPD. With anti-Semitism reaching unprecedented levels, we can’t allow any form of hate to be tolerated,” tweeted Hikind on Tuesday.

In an update, Hikind tweeted on Wednesday, “The father and son met with several NYPD officers now investigating this incident. The officers couldn’t have been more gracious and sensitive and we’re thankful they’re taking this very seriously.”

In comments made to the New York Post, Hikind called the recent wave of anti-Semitism in the city “an epidemic.”

“Things have gotten out of control,” he told the Post. “I urge anyone — even if they called you ‘a dirty Jew’ — to report it. We need to know what’s going on…it’s not too late to come out.”

In December, a 34-year-old Jewish woman and her child were walking in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn when a 42-year-old woman yelled an anti-Semitic slur at them and beat the mother over the head with her shoulder bag.

The police were able to track down the assailant and arrest her with the help of a witness to the attack.

That incident occurred against the backdrop of a deadly anti-Semitic shooting in Jersey City and a vicious machete attack at a Chanukah party in Monsey, just north of New York City.

According to a September NYPD report, the majority of anti-Semitic incidents during 2019 took place in Brooklyn neighborhoods that are home to large Orthodox Jewish communities.

In a related development, Yeshiva World News reported that Jewish congregations opting to deploy armed security personnel in the wake of deadly attacks on synagogues should — if possible — use uniformed law enforcement officers rather than private guards or volunteers from the community, a group of security experts recommended Wednesday.

The advice came in a detailed, first-of-its-kind report compiled by the Secure Community Network in response to questions from Jewish communities nationwide as to whether and how they should make use of armed security. The network, founded in 2004 by a coalition of Jewish organizations, describes itself as “”the official safety and security organization” of the Jewish community in North America.(World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com 

 

 

 

Israeli Supermodel Bar Refaeli Gives Birth to Son, Tax Case Looms

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Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli and her husband Adi Ezra welcomed a son to the world on Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital. The yet-to-be named baby is the couple’s third child after daughters Liv, born in Aug. 2016, and Elle, born in Oct. 2017.  (Flash90)

Refaeli welcomed her third child, but faces a tax bill of over NIS 16 million.

By: WIN Staff

Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli and her husband Adi Ezra welcomed a son to the world on Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital. The yet-to-be named baby is the couple’s third child after daughters Liv, born in Aug. 2016, and Elle, born in Oct. 2017.

Refaeli was recently ordered to pay back taxes of over NIS 16 million (approx $4.5 million) for the years of 2009 and 2010.

Despite Refaeli’s claim that she did not live in Israel, records showed that she was in Israel for 185 days in 2009 and 131 days the following year. Those time frames made her an Israeli resident in those years according to Israeli law.

According to Israel’s tax law, an Israeli resident is liable to pay tax on all income earned abroad whereas a foreign resident would only pay taxes on income generated within Israel.

One of the arguments made by Bar Refaeli’s lawyers is that she was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio during that period and that the relationship took place in the U.S., making the center of her life there with him.

Prosecutors also claimed that the model hid another six million shekels during a compromise agreement signed in 2009, when Refaeli argued that she had paid all the taxes she owed in Israeli and overseas income during 2005-2007.

Channel 13 reported on Monday that prosecutors are considering a plea deal that would include community service for the supermodel and 18 months in jail for her mother, Tzipi.

Refaeli’s mother is suspected of lying to authorities about where her daughter lived during this period. She also is allegedly hiding information amounting to an income of NIS 23 million for the years 2011-2012.

Neither Refaeli nor her mother has been formally charged. (World Israel News) 

 

 

Ancient Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Egypt Rededicated

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An ancient synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt has been reopened by the government.

By: Howard M. Riell

An ancient synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt has been reopened by the government.

The process actually began years ago. Sadly, there are no longer very many Jews there to enjoy it. Most of Egypt’s Jews took it on the lamb over six decades ago during times of friction between Egypt and Israel.

Renovation work on the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue, built in 1881, started in 2017, a year after the two-story building suffered a partial collapse. The location was the home to a previous synagogue that historians say was erected in 1354 CE.

The synagogue is distinctive architecturally, as well, known for its ruby columns and marble floors. The recent rededication of the building took time, and is the result of three years of construction work and several million dollars.

The Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue is said to be the last active Jewish house of worship in the coastal city of Alexandria, a sprawling metropolis that at one time was home to as many as 40,000 Jews. Today “there are a handful of Jews living in Alexandria and estimates put the number of Jews living in all of Egypt at fewer than 20,” reported JTA.

The damage to the synagogue has been going on for some time. “Rainwater began leaking through the roof into the women’s section of the synagogue about eight years ago,” the French news agency AFP reported. “The synagogue was forced to close about three years ago after a staircase and part of the roof collapsed.”

Last month, the Antiquities Ministry said in a statement that the renovations included the structural reinforcement of the synagogue, the restoration of its main facade, decorative walls, and brass and wooden objects, and the development of its security and lighting systems.

Magda Haroun, the leader of Cairo’s shrinking Jewish community – only three Jews showed up for the festivities — noted during the ceremony that she was “very proud of what my country has done, and it symbolizes living together, today there is no difference between Egyptian Muslim, Christian and Egyptian Jew. It is recognition that we have always been here and that we have contributed to a lot of things just like any other Egyptian.”

“With tears in her eyes, she said that she had been struggling for years to preserve Jewish heritage in Egypt and she never thought that the Egyptian government would spend the money to rebuild the landmark Sephardi house of prayer,” The Jerusalem Post reported. The Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue, “with green and violet stained-glass windows and towering marble columns, is one of two remaining Jewish houses of worship in Alexandria.”

Iranians Refuse to Trample US/Israeli Flag; Blame Regime for Lying About Plane

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On Monday, hundreds of protesters in Iran refused to trample US and Israeli flags and denounced others who did as rallies continued against the regime for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet; killing all 176 people on board. "It was the U.S. that caused such an incident to take place," Iran's state-controlled news agency Tasnim quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying. Photo Credit: Morteza Nikoubazi/ Getty Images

By: Fern Sidman

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that the shooting down of the Ukrainian jetliner last week has its “root causes” in US actions. Iran has vowed to fully and openly investigate the firing of the surface-to-air missile that downed the plane, killing all 176 people on board, according to a CBS News report. The plane was bound for Kiev in Ukraine.

“It was the U.S. that caused such an incident to take place,” Iran’s state-controlled news agency Tasnim quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying. The Iranian regime has blamed the Trump administration for ratcheting up tensions with the controversial decision to kill senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a January 2 drone strike in Baghdad. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

“It was the U.S. that caused such an incident to take place,” Iran’s state-controlled news agency Tasnim quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying. The Iranian regime has blamed the Trump administration for ratcheting up tensions with the controversial decision to kill senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a January 2 drone strike in Baghdad.

According to the CBS News report, Iranian forces shot the plane down hours after launching a barrage of ballistic missiles at military bases in Iraq housing hundreds of U.S. forces, in retaliation for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani. Officials in Tehran have said their forces were on high-alert for any U.S. response to the missile attack, and the operator who fired on the plane believed it was an incoming American missile.

CBS also reported that Virginia Senator Tim Kaine (D) said he has at least 51 votes to support a bipartisan resolution asserting that President Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential race, said the Senate could vote as soon as next week on the measure.

Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky have co-sponsored the resolution, according to DBS News and GOP Senators Todd Young of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine said Tuesday they will support it. The bipartisan measure “clearly states that America can always defend itself,” against attack from Iran or any other country, Kaine said, “but we don’t think that this president — or any president — should send our troops into war without a vote of Congress.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans oppose the resolution, saying it would send the wrong message to allies. The House passed a separate war powers resolution last week.

On Monday, hundreds of protesters in Iran refused to trample US and Israeli flags and denounced others who did as rallies continued against the regime for the downing of the Ukrainian passenger jet, according to a NY Post report.

Videos and reports emerged Sunday showing the crowds deliberately walking around the edges of the massive flags painted on the pavement of a university in Tehran.

Those who did walk across the Stars and Stripes and the Star of David were immediately pointed at and booed, with the crowd chanting “shame on you,” according to the Post report.

Many of the protesters shouted, “Our enemy is Iran, not America.”

Hillel Neuer, the executive director of the human rights group UN Watch, tweeted out a video of the crowds taking pains from treading on the flags on Sunday. “These courageous Iranian students who refuse to trample the U.S. & Israeli flags represent the hope for a better Middle East. Engage with and promote them instead of their oppressors, and maybe Iran-backed wars & terror across the region will end,” he posted. Photo Credit: UN Watch

Hillel Neuer, the executive director of the human rights group UN Watch, tweeted out a video of the crowds taking pains from treading on the flags on Sunday.

“These courageous Iranian students who refuse to trample the U.S. & Israeli flags represent the hope for a better Middle East. Engage with and promote them instead of their oppressors, and maybe Iran-backed wars & terror across the region will end,” he posted.

In his latest tweet in support of the protests, President Trump on Monday praised Iranians who were seen in other online footage walking around a giant U.S. flag painted on the ground, as was reported by VOA. Iranian authorities have placed such images around the country to encourage people to walk over the U.S. flag as a sign of disrespect.

Trump had tweeted several other supportive messages in Farsi on Saturday and Sunday, marking the first time he had tweeted in the Persian language, as was reported by VOA.

President Trump also praised the students Friday on Twitter for not trampling the flags. “Wow! The wonderful Iranian protesters refused to step on, or in any way denigrate, our Great American Flag,” Trump stated. “It was put on the street in order for them to trample it, and they walked around it instead. Big progress!”

President Trump warned Tehran against attacking the demonstrators.

“To the leaders of Iran–DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS,” Trump said on Twitter. “Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!”

In an interview with VOA Persian on Monday, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said there had been an “explosion” of re-tweets and likes of the president’s Farsi posts.

“By the president tweeting in Farsi over this weekend, not just in English, and by Secretary Pompeo tweeting as well, we want to make sure that we are using our platform here in the U.S. government to shine a light on these protests,” Ortagus said.

“If (Iran’s rulers) decide to try to kill innocent protesters again, to imprison thousands of people peacefully protesting, to cut off the Internet — we want them to know that they’re not going to get a free pass, that we are watching, the world is watching, and we will bring it to light when that happens,” she said.

VOA reported that hundreds of students at a prestigious Iranian university have openly denounced their Islamist rulers in a third day of protests on Monday since the government admitted to accidentally downing a Ukrainian passenger jet in which 176 people were killed.

In several video clips vetted by VOA, the students at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology, a top engineering school, appeared to be gathered in an outdoor location on campus on Monday, chanting slogans and listening to several speakers criticize the government. VOA could not independently verify the authenticity of the clips.

In one video, the students chanted, “They killed our elites and replaced them with mullahs.”

The downing of the UIA jetliner, a Boeing 737, happened just hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. soldiers in response to last week’s U.S. drone attack that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani, as was reported by VOA.

Iranian officials told the truth about the circumstances of the crash only after it became apparent that the evidence on the ground from the doomed flight would not allow the Iranians to continue to lie, according to a New York Times report.

The plane crashed Wednesday, but Iran did not reveal that it had shot down the aircraft until Saturday.

A Ukrainian official told The New York Times that its experts had gathered information at the crash site “despite apparent Iranian efforts to complicate the investigation, including by sweeping debris into piles rather than carefully documenting it.”

Ukraine says the Kyiv-bound doomed flight took off as usual with no word to the crew about the ballistic missile attack.

VOA reported that Oleksiy Danilov, the Ukrainian official heading the crash investigation, told The New York Times that the Iranians could no longer lie about the circumstances of the crash when “Ukrainian investigators found fragments of the top part of the airplane cabin that had been pierced by what appeared to be the shrapnel of a missile warhead.”

Also Saturday, Iran briefly detained British Ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire, who was arrested during an anti-government protest in Tehran.

VOA reported that British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, “The arrest of our ambassador in Tehran without grounds or explanation is a flagrant violation of international law. “

“The Iranian government is at a cross-roads moment. It can continue its march towards pariah status with all the political and economic isolation that entails, or take steps to deescalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards,” Raab said.

Iranian leaders’ belated acknowledgment of Western intelligence that they were responsible for the crash angered many Iranians, including students at a Tehran university whose Saturday night vigil for the crash victims turned into an anti-government rally, as was reported by VOA. Protests spread from Tehran to at least 18 other cities on Sunday, according to photos and video clips sent to VOA Persian and reports by other Persian-language media.

A video widely shared on social media showed demonstrators in Tehran fleeing tear gas fired by police late Sunday. Other online footage showed a woman on the ground with blood nearby as bystanders said she had been shot and tried to pick her up, according to the VOA report.

Iranian state media quoted Tehran’s police chief Gen. Hossein Rahimi as saying his officers had not opened fire on protesters and had acted with restraint.

Police maintained a strong presence in Tehran on Monday, according to a video clip vetted by VOA. It appeared to show officers in riot gear, some on horseback, along the city’s Azadi Street.

“You can see the Iranian people are in the streets — in astounding numbers in spite of enormous personal risk to themselves,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Monday speech at the Hoover Institution.

“They’re burning posters and billboards with Soleimani’s face on them, and chanting ‘Soleimani is a murderer.’ They know he was one of the key architects of their oppression,” Pompeo added, referring to other widely shared video clips of Sunday’s protests.

Pompeo said the Trump administration has called on U.S. allies in the region and around the world to repeat President Trump’s tweeted demands for Iran not to harm the protesters. The U.S. has said Iranian security forces killed at least 1,500 people, mostly with gunfire, in a crackdown on nationwide protests last November.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told journalists that reports of people being shot during the Iran protests were “clearly worrying.”

“It’s important, as with any demonstration, that reports of the lethal use of force be fully investigated,” Dujarric said.

VOA reported that a second clip from Monday’s protest at Sharif University appeared to show a student shouting an angry message to the gathered crowd: “Our elites have left the country for good, and they (Iran’s leaders) blew them up. If it was not an international flight, we would never have been informed of the truth.”

In a third clip, another protester can be heard telling the students through a megaphone: “We want clarity. This country has been suffering from a lack of transparency for years. They lied to us through all these years. Excuse my language; they treat us like donkeys.” There were no reports of arrests or clashes at Sharif University.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Twitter, expressed “profound regrets” and apologized for the shoot-down of the Ukraine International Airlines jet. But he contended that ‘Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster.”

VOA reported that U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien rejected Zarif’s claim in an interview on the Fox News Sunday talk show, saying, “First they cover it up,” then claimed the civilian aircraft veered toward a military base. He said Iran needs to investigate the accident, apologize for it, pay compensation to the victims’ families and “make sure it never happens again.”

             (CBS, NYP & VOA)

MIT Offers Details on Jeffrey Epstein Visits; School Took $850K from Pedophile

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By: Mike Mustiglione

If you thought the story surrounding the death of Jeffrey Epstein couldn’t get any weirder, you weren’t counting on the introduction of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology into it.

According to the university, MIT too lots of gifts – being valued in excess of $850,000 – for the convicted pedophile.

In an email sent to the MIT community that was posted on the school’s web site, President L. Rafael Reif wrote that the Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation had released the fact-finding report it commissioned to help the Institute understand the origins, nature and extent of Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to MIT and learn from them.

“Today’s findings present disturbing new information about Jeffrey Epstein’s connections with individuals at MIT: how extensive those ties were and how long they continued. This includes the decision by a lab director to bring this Level 3 sex offender to campus repeatedly,” Reif wrote. “That it was possible for Epstein to have so many opportunities to interact with members of our community is distressing and unacceptable; I cannot imagine how painful it must be for survivors of sexual assault and abuse. Clearly, we must establish policy guardrails to prevent this from happening again.”

The actions of a senior faculty member, Refi stressed, “have raised new concerns. In keeping with MIT practice on faculty discipline, I have asked his department head to consider any appropriate action. In the meantime, in consultation with the provost, dean and department head, I have placed him on leave. Department leadership will reach out to his advisees, students and staff.”

The report recounts the conduct not only of senior academics but of administrative leaders they worked with, the email said. “A central role of the MIT administration is to support the work of our faculty, in part by helping to secure research funding. The findings identify senior administrators who faced repeated requests that Epstein funding be allowed and made judgments about how to accept and manage it. These administrative leaders were weighing their concerns about Epstein as a donor against pressure from a lab director that the funding be approved.”

Noted Reif, “I regret that MIT did not have sufficient policies and processes in place to guide these senior administrators in facing these conflicting pressures. I also wish they had taken to heart the concerns others brought to them and simply put a stop to the Epstein funding, rather than improvising guidelines to allow the gifts under certain constraints.”

Bill Bratton Slams New NY Bail Reform Measures as a “Disgrace”

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The latest voice to be raised about the ridiculous new bail law reform is one-time New York City Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, who termed it “a disgrace. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

By Tom Roberts

The latest voice to be raised about the ridiculous new bail law reform is one-time New York City Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, who termed it “a disgrace.

“What the hell were they thinking about in Albany when they crafted this mind-boggling set of limitations on the criminal justice system?” Bratton said Sunday morning on “The Cats Roundtable” radio host John Catsimatidis Sunday on AM 970. “They did not ask a single judge, a single district attorney, a single police chief in the state to comment on this most significant criminal justice reform in the history of New York. And now we are left to pick up the debris that it’s going to create.”

Bratton continued to let loose on the radio, saying that “There’s no denying [bail] needs to be reformed but they way they did it here in New York unlike 47 of the 50 states that allow a judge to take into consideration… public safety. This isn’t reform. This is total capitulation to the criminal defense lawyers, the legal aid society, and some of our progressive legislators.”

In fact, Bratton is part of a widespread chorus of voices raised against the brainless reform. Tom Wrobleski, writing at silive.com, pointed out correctly that “It didn’t take long for New Yorkers to see how dangerous this new bail law was, with violent criminals simply released back onto the streets, where they’re free to offend again. But lefty criminal-justice reformers haven’t gotten the message yet.”

What Wrobleski termed “the biggest flaw” in the bail reform law “was obvious from the start: Judges were stripped of any discretion when it came to keeping offenders locked up. If a particular offense wasn’t bail-eligible under the new rules, judges had no choice by to let offenders walk.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo also weighed in. “We’re going too work on it because there are consequences we have to adjust for,” he said. “There’s no doubt this is still a work in progress, and there are other changes that have to be made.”

“A massive march against hate, the terrifying rise of anti-Semitic attacks, and the specter of the perpetrators of the attacks released without bail to strike again are all factors apparently forcing Cuomo to open the door to reforming the state’s new criminal justice reform laws,” CBS News reported.

“There is a chance now for the legislature to get it right,” de Blasio explained. “They did some very good reforms, but there’s also things that need to be done, particularly empowering judges to determine if someone poses a threat to the surrounding community and giving judges the power to act on that.”

The most prominent of the critics, of course, has been President Donald J. Trump, who took to Twitter a couple of months ago to voice his displeasure. “So sad to see what is happening in New York where Governor Cuomo & Mayor DeBlasio are letting out 900 Criminals, some hardened & bad, onto the sidewalks of our rapidly declining, because of them, city. The Radical Left Dems are killing our cities. NYPD Commissioner is resigning!”

DeBlasio Admin Moves Forward with Controversial BQX Project

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Mayor de Blasio’s administration is pushing forward with the Brooklyn Queens Connector project, the controversial proposal for a state-of-the-art, zero-emission streetcar system along an 11-mile corridor from Red Hook, Brooklyn to Astoria, Queens. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

By: Hellen Zaboulani

Mayor de Blasio’s administration is pushing forward with the Brooklyn Queens Connector project, the controversial proposal for a state-of-the-art, zero-emission streetcar system along an 11-mile corridor from Red Hook, Brooklyn to Astoria, Queens. The city launched an official website www.brooklynqueensconnector.nyc/ which has information about the proposal, including FAQs, route details, important dates and events, the conceptual report from 2018, and feedback opportunities throughout the public engagement process.

“With the BQX heading towards its public review process, 2020 promises to be a big year for the project,” a Friends of the BQX spokesperson said. “Engaging with those who live and work along the route is critical to the BQX’s success, and we applaud the city for putting together a robust outreach plan for the coming months.”

When first announced in 2016, the BQX project was seen as a lavish expenditure being pushed by waterfront developers along the East River. NYC Economic Development Corporation, however, is lauding the streetcar service as a necessary north-south transit route that would connect 400,000 New Yorkers who live along the route, and 300,000 people who work along the fastest-growing business corridors in city. It would provide valuable mobility for New Yorkers with limited transit options, linking to 13 subway lines, over 30 bus routes, nine NYC Ferry landings and over a hundred Citi Bike stations.

“From transit advocates and public housing leaders to business owners and civic groups, the BQX has a broad and growing range of supporters,” the Friends of the BQX spokesperson said. “As more New Yorkers learn about the project over the next few months, we expect that support network to keep growing.”

As reported by QNS, over the next few months, the city will participate in the community engagement process, in which it will explain the proposed project, pour over details of its proposed route, and debate potential alternative types of transportation to be evaluated in the environmental review hearing process. It is the time for feedback, as concerns and suggestions will be weighed to find the best resolutions to address community priorities. The process will entail briefings with elected officials, community board presentations in both Queens and Brooklyn, webinars, on-the-ground outreach along the 12 neighborhoods of the proposed route, and five public workshops.

The proposal’s opponents argue that the plan will spike gentrification as well as the loss of roughly 2,000 parking spots along the route’s corridor. The hefty price tag of $2.7 billion is the most contested issue. At first, Mayor de Blasio had said the BQX would pay for itself through value capture such as increased tax revenue and rising property tax values along the route. Now even he concedes that federal funding will be necessary.

Residents of the public housing developments in western Queens are among the plan’s biggest supporters. “This is a big breakthrough for jobs because there are new opportunities up and down the waterfront but so many of our residents are stuck in transit deserts, we have problems with the 7 and the F while Astoria Houses are 30 blocks away from the subway stations,” said Queensbridge Houses Tenants Association President April Simpson.

Powerful Bomb Found in Jersey City Killers Van; Plot Included Bigger Targets

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By: Corey Landros

There was a bomb, too.

The animals behind the anti-Semitic shooting in Jersey City reportedly stashed a bomb in their van – one that the experts say could have massacred victims nearly half a mile away.

It was back on December 10 that David Anderson and Francine Graham started shooting at those inside the JC Koshopper Supermarket. Three were murdered, and a several-hours-long exchange of gunfire with police followed. Police also said that before the attack, the duo murdered New Jersey Detective Joseph Seals in a Jersey City cemetery.

“We believe [Seals] threw off a broader plan,” said U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito at a press conference. He also said that the detective’s actions “probably saved dozens if not more lives.”

“Authorities could not reveal if they had any additional information on a plan by the perpetrators to target other locations, except that they had researched a Jewish community center in Bayonne, not far from Jersey City,” reported National Review magazine. “The investigators said Anderson and Graham had enough material stashed in their van to make a second bomb as well.”

Police have said that they don’t believe a Yeshiva next door to the kosher supermarket was targeted, “but said they had cased the grocery store multiple times, including the morning of the attack,” NBC news said. Carpenito also confirmed a News 4 report that “several days before the shooting, a Jewish man driving near Newark Airport had been shot at; ballistics show two of the shots that hit the man’s car came from one of Anderson and Graham’s guns. The livery driver who died the weekend before the attack was shot with the same weapon that fired on the vehicle near the airport, authorities said.”

Authorities previously said that the assailants were “fueled by Black Hebrew Israelite ideology and that they likely would have taken more lives if they hadn’t encountered by chance Jersey City Det. Joseph Seals, who was killed in the Bayview Cemetery,” reported thedailybeast.com. “New Jersey U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said on Monday that video footage from the kosher supermarket captured Anderson saying, “They stole our heritage, they stole our birthright, and they hired these guys to stop us.”

The trend is disturbing. Over the last few months, “harassment and violent attacks against visibly Jewish New Yorkers have become disturbingly commonplace,” noted dukechronicle.com. “In 2018, NYPD received over 200 reports of anti-Semitic incidents. Among the areas hardest hit by this rise in anti-Semitism are those with large Hasidic Jewish populations such as the Crown Heights and Borough Park neighborhoods in Brooklyn. “A substantial proportion of these hate crimes involve brutal physical attacks on Orthodox Jews who are easily identifiable,” says Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.”

JDL Chief Coming to NY to Face Black Community as Jew Hatred Rises

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Following in the footsteps of the slain founder of his organization, Rabbi Meir Kahane, the head of the Jewish Defense League has told followers that he is on his way to New York City to face leaders of the African-American community. Photo Credit: Twitter.com

By: David Sadorsky

Following in the footsteps of the slain founder of his organization, Rabbi Meir Kahane, the head of the Jewish Defense League has told followers that he is on his way to New York City to face leaders of the African-American community.

“A top priority for the Jewish Defence [sic] League in New York City will be to expose and confront Black organizations and leaders who spread antisemitism within the Black community,” JDL leader Meir Weinstein said in a statement that was posted on Facebook.

“Jewish blood is being spilled almost on a daily basis,” he said during an interview with the New York Post. “The [New York anti-Semitism] march on Sunday didn’t even address the issue as far as we’re concerned.”

JDL, of which not much has been heard for decades, sees recent events as the natural time for a return to prominence. “There’s gotta be action and there has to be things that are addressed,” Weinstein said. “We’re very concerned about the level of antisemitism coming from the black community.”

“Hate doesn’t have a home in our city,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently noted on Twitter. “Anyone who terrorizes our Jewish community WILL face justice,” he said, adding: “Anti-Semitism is an attack on the values of our city — and we will confront it head-on.”

Actions taken by the mayor have included beefing up patrols in religious Brooklyn neighborhoods like Borough Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg. Cops are also making a point to stop in and check on houses of worship.

Rabbi Kahane founded the JDL in 1968 in order to protect Jews from local manifestations of antisemitism. Its criticism of the Soviet Union increased support for the group, transforming it from a “vigilante club” into an organization with a stated membership numbering over 15,000 at one point.

The JDL encourages, per its principle of the “Love of Jewry,” that “… in the end … the Jew can look to no one but another Jew for help and that the true solution to the Jewish problem is the liquidation of the Exile and the return of all Jews to Eretz Yisroel – the land of Israel.”

The group has long insisted on an “immediate need to place Judaism over any other ‘ism’ and ideology and … use of the yardstick: ‘Is it good for Jews?'” It argues that, outside of Jews, there are historically no people corresponding to the Palestinian ethnicity.”

Indeed, the Jewish Press recently asked in a headline, “Is It Time To Bring Back The JDL?” It’s answer: “…underlying the question “Should we bring back the JDL?” is the presumption that we possess the ability, the power, the wherewithal, and the will to revive the JDL and that anyone can lead it. This presumption is wrong. For there was a vital ingredient in the JDL’s success that simply doesn’t exist anymore: Rabbi Meir Kahane.”

Harvey Weinstein Trial Underway in NYC; Defense Attys Dismiss Juror Pool

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As the Weinstein trial gets underway in New York, the difficult process of jury selection is in full swing. Photo Credit: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

By: Rusty Brooks

As the Weinstein trial gets underway in New York, the difficult process of jury selection is in full swing.

Page Six reported in an exclusive that: Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers asked a judge Friday to dismiss all prospective jurors present when a panelist said she couldn’t be impartial since her good friend had a run-in with the disgraced movie mogul.

This incident happened on the 4th day of jury selection for the huge trial of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Page Six reported : On Jan. 8, the female juror, whose name is being withheld by the Post, said in open court, “I have a close friend who had an encounter with [the] defendant in his hotel room, and I do not think I can be a fair juror in this case.”

The potential juror did not reveal any further details about her friend and the Weinstein incident.

32 panelists who are still in the jury pool heard the damning comment, and defense lawyer Arthur Aidala filed a motion Friday asking that they be booted from the case.

Justice James Burke denied the motion in court, Page Six reported

Buzzfeed, recently published a piece about a potential juror Xorje Olivares who has a radio show on SiriusXM.

“The judge says, ‘hi, welcome to jury duty, thank you so much for doing this,'” Olivares said. “I do want to let you know that the particular case that you might be considering today is The People v. Harvey Weinstein.” Olivares said the mood in the room changed immediately, after it was revealed what case the perspective jurors were being screened for, Buzzfeed explained.

“It was so palpable,” he said. “Right off the bat I already knew people felt a certain way.”

Olivares recalled a middle-aged woman next to him muttering, “he’s such a monster.” A woman to his other side “just shook her head and kind of just threw her hands up in the air”, Buzzfeed reported.

“You can kind of see people were uncomfortable,” he said. “It really was one of those [things] where you feel tension in the room, and no one quite knows … how to be at ease.”

At least four of five other women said they couldn’t be impartial because they too were survivors of sexual assault,” he said. “Which was insane to me knowing that even within one room there were already five people who were willing to say in public, especially in front of him, that they were survivors of sexual assault”, Buzzfeed reported.

Xorje Olivares was dismissed as a juror.

Finding impartial jurors can be a very difficult case for such a high-profile trial, due to the enormous media coverage Harvey Weinstein has received, it is nearly impossible to find someone who is unaware of his alleged crimes and who is unbiased.

Iconic Bklyn Dem Party Boss Frank Seddio Set to Retire

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Longtime Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio is resigning. Photo Credit: City & State

By: Hans Van Fracht

Longtime Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio is resigning.

Sources reportedly told the New York Post that the 74-year-old Seddio, chairman since 2012, is going to make the announcement on Wednesday. His term in office was scheduled to have concluded in eight months anyway.

“I’m announcing I’m stepping down,” Seddio told the Post in a telephone interview. “I’ve been the chairman for [eight] years. It’s been fun. It’s been a good run. I’m retiring as the chairman and semi-retiring from my law practice. I hope God gives me a few more years.”

He will reportedly stay on as the 59th Assembly District leader.

Seddio has been a community activist his entire adult life. “There has been no one more influential and important to the quality of life in Canarsie than Frank Seddio,” noted the web site brooklyndems.com. “For almost 25 years Frank Seddio has treated the community to the largest and most elaborate Holiday Display in the City of New York. Each Christmas season Frank’s house on the corner of East 93rd Street and Flatlands Avenue has been the center of attention as he and his family members spend almost two months constructing this Holiday tradition. For decades he has delighted and brought smiles to thousands of people from all over Brooklyn.

Seddio began his community work as a member of the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization dedicated to charitable works. He served in many offices and was the youngest Grand Knight (President) of the organization which has been a part of fabric of Canarsie since its inception in 1958. He was the founder and first President of the Canarsie Volunteer Ambulance Corps. For over 25 years this organization has provided free ambulance service to the Canarsie community with over 100 volunteers who have given their time and talents, dedicating themselves to insuring life saving medical care to the people of Canarsie.

When Seddio was chosen to lead Brooklyn Democrats back in 2012 it was on the heals of controversy. As the New York Times reported then, “Though some Democratic leaders had tried to rally around another candidate for chairmanship of the executive committee of the Kings County Democratic Committee, Mr. Seddio had gathered support by the time the vote took place. His strongest challenger, Assemblyman Karim Camara, the head of the Assembly’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, decided to back Mr. Seddio. He said Mr. Seddio had promised he would broaden the party’s leadership and conduct open party meetings.

Satmar Defends DeBlasio on Anti-Semitism Record; Chides Felder for Critique

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Iconic Bklyn Dem Party Boss Frank Seddio Set to Retire By: Hans Van Fracht Longtime Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio is resigning. Sources reportedly told the New York Post that the 74-year-old Seddio, chairman since 2012, is going to make the announcement on Wednesday. His term in office was scheduled to have concluded in eight months anyway. “I’m announcing I’m stepping down,” Seddio told the Post in a telephone interview. “I’ve been the chairman for [eight] years. It’s been fun. It’s been a good run. I’m retiring as the chairman and semi-retiring from my law practice. I hope God gives me a few more years.” He will reportedly stay on as the 59th Assembly District leader. Seddio has been a community activist his entire adult life. “There has been no one more influential and important to the quality of life in Canarsie than Frank Seddio,” noted the web site brooklyndems.com. “For almost 25 years Frank Seddio has treated the community to the largest and most elaborate Holiday Display in the City of New York. Each Christmas season Frank's house on the corner of East 93rd Street and Flatlands Avenue has been the center of attention as he and his family members spend almost two months constructing this Holiday tradition. For decades he has delighted and brought smiles to thousands of people from all over Brooklyn. Seddio began his community work as a member of the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization dedicated to charitable works. He served in many offices and was the youngest Grand Knight (President) of the organization which has been a part of fabric of Canarsie since its inception in 1958. He was the founder and first President of the Canarsie Volunteer Ambulance Corps. For over 25 years this organization has provided free ambulance service to the Canarsie community with over 100 volunteers who have given their time and talents, dedicating themselves to insuring life saving medical care to the people of Canarsie. When Seddio was chosen to lead Brooklyn Democrats back in 2012 it was on the heals of controversy. As the New York Times reported then, “Though some Democratic leaders had tried to rally around another candidate for chairmanship of the executive committee of the Kings County Democratic Committee, Mr. Seddio had gathered support by the time the vote took place. His strongest challenger, Assemblyman Karim Camara, the head of the Assembly’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, decided to back Mr. Seddio. He said Mr. Seddio had promised he would broaden the party’s leadership and conduct open party meetings.

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Seems as though NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio has some powerful allies in the city’s Orthodox Jewish community. As of late, the Mayor has been under intense scrutiny for his lack of a concrete plan to stem the tide of growing anti-Semitism in the city.

On Friday, the Satmar Chassidic community that is based in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn took to Twitter, of all places, to let their feelings be known about criticism of DeBlasio by Senator Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn). On January 7th, Felder released an open letter that called on DeBlasio to tender his resignation for his “dismal failure in responding to the crisis.”

“We love our Orthodox elected officials who work tirelessly for the betterment of their constituents and our communities but we disagree when they berate openly other elected officials like the @NYCMayor or others etc, our #Torah teaches us a higher standard that we need to adhere,” the Satmar Headquarters tweeted Friday.

The Satmar community have, over the years, established close alliances with DeBlasio. Those who are outside of the ultra-Orthodox community have critiqued the mayor for “caving in” and not cracking down on yeshivas that do not provide their students with a basic secular education.

The NY Post reported that the Twitter account that was used by the Satmars said the message was approved “by our leadership and the personal intervention of the Satmar Grand Rebbe Aron.”

The Grand Rebbe that the Satmar community was referring to is Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, shlita. According to a report in the Post, the Rebbe is currently vacationing in Palm Springs, California. He was unavailable for comment on the post.

An anonymous source close to the issue at hand told the Post that the Satmars’ warning “seems justified.”

“By doing this Felder is screwing up high level conversations between the Jewish community and the mayor’s office,” the source said.

For his part, Simcha Felder told The Post he that believes that the Grand Rebbe of the Satmar community is unaware of the post

“I don’t believe the rebbe is approving or reading Tweets,” Felder told the Post. “The feedback that I’ve gotten overwhelmingly has been very very positive. I think people are sick and tired of what’s going on,” he said.

In defense of how the mayor has handled the 26 percent uptick in hate crimes in 2019 is City Hall spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie. She told the Post that, “we are committed to working with the Jewish community to prevent any further acts of hatred.”

Two weeks ago, the mayor proposed the creation of new multi-ethnic interfaith Neighborhood Safety Coalitions, increased NYPD presence, and new Department of Education lesson plans and curriculum as part of the City’s commitment to the prevention of hate crimes and anti-Semitic attacks. In addition to an immediate increased NYPD presence, the new Neighborhood Safety Coalitions will have physical presences in the community with neighborhood safety walks and corner watches. They will also offer ongoing programming designed to promote tolerance and break down stereotypes.

“Fearing the next act of terror will not become the new normal for our Jewish neighbors. In New York City, diversity is our strength and we respect the traditions of all who call New York City home. Intolerance will never take hold here,” said Mayor de Blasio.