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Prince Andrew’s Ex Might Write Tell-All Book About Jeffrey Epstein’s Perversions

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During the NewsNight interview conducted by a BBC reporter, the Duke of York did not say that he regretted having forged a friendship with Epstein, nor did he express any compassion or sympathy for Epstein’s victims. Photo Credit: Getty - Contributor

If you’ve been reading about the disgusting Prince Andrew scandal, good news: you’ll get a chance to read about it all over again soon. In a book.

By: Anthony Montilaggio

The prince’s former girlfriend is said to be considering publishing her own account of Andrew’s lechery. Part of the tale involves the prince’s dinner with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and former president Bill Clinton, who has had to defend against his own allegations of debauchery and worse.

Lady Victoria Hervey “has already been doing interviews discussing her brief fling with the Duke of York and how it threw her into the heart of Epstein’s depraved world,” reported the New York Post. “She says she was introduced to the pedophile by his accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell — who she likened to a James Bond character — and feels she only escaped Epstein’s clutches because she was “too old.”

Hervey, “who dated Prince Andrew and stayed at Epstein’s apartment in New York, said while she didn’t see any of the girls staying in the apartment at the time, she felt “very uncomfortable” there and eventually cut her trip short, moving in with a friend. “I felt I was being watched, there were cameras, there were hidden cameras and I left I think after about 10 days or so,” she told UK television show Good Morning Britain.

Hervey said that when the revelations about Epstein came out she was “completely shocked. I had no idea, I really had no idea and the more I was reading about it the more I was like wow, I was actually in one of these apartments,” according to Good Morning Britain.

A source close to Hervey reportedly told Sun Online that “there’s a lot more that she has not yet revealed – and she thinks now is the time to pen her memoirs. “Victoria has had a really explosive life – she’s seen it all – debauched parties, threesomes with celebrities – all sorts,” an insider revealed. ‘There is a lot that she has never revealed about the Royal family, members of high society and big-named stars. She’s done many interviews but has always kept many things under her belt.’”

It remains unclear where US authorities are investigating Prince Andrew for any possible wrongdoing. “Many of the court papers related to the Epstein case are still sealed and unavailable to the public,” reported ABC News in Australia. “British legal experts, meanwhile, are divided over whether the prince enjoys immunity from prosecution as a senior member of the Royal Family. Some say he should reach out to US officials in an effort to clear his name rather than wait for a subpoena or legal action that would force him to testify.”

Report: Mother of Hunter Biden’s Child Worked at Washington Strip Club Under the Name “Dallas”

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Photo Credit: Paul Morigi / Getty Images file

Forget the drug addiction, sleeping with his one-time sister-in-law, being tossed out of the Navy and cozying up to the Ukrainians and Chinese. Now it has come out that former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter — allegedly – liked to visit a strip join in Washington, D.C.

By: Pat Savage

There, the reports allege, the mother of his child performed to cash – at roughly the same time Biden was dating his deceased brother’s wife.

Biden, 49, “allegedly frequented Mpire Club, located in the heart of D.C. in Dupont Circle, where Lunden Alexis Roberts worked, who went under the stage name “Dallas,” according to The Daily Caller, which cited a report in The New York Post’s Page Six.

“Mpire is located blocks away from the strip joint Archibald’s Gentlemen’s Club, where employees told the New York Post they suspect Hunter Biden used the VIP room to smoke crack,” the Daily Caller noted. “DNA test results confirmed Hunter Biden is the father of former basketball player Roberts’s baby, a motion filed Nov. 20 in Independence County, Arkansas, on behalf of Roberts said. Roberts filed a petition for paternity and support for her 1-year-old baby in May, the Daily Mail reported. Hunter Biden denied the allegations in August and requested the court dismiss the allegations altogether. Hunter Biden reportedly fathered Roberts’s child while in a relationship with his late brother’s wife, Hallie Biden.”

Roberts used to perform under the stage name “Dallas,” the Washington Examiner reported. “She was working at the club at about the time she became pregnant with Biden’s child. Employees remember Dallas as “really sweet,” with one employee saying she has a “heart of gold and is a smarty-pants.”

Mpire Club, where “guests said Biden was “well-known,” is three blocks away from the club Archibald’s, a VIP club where Biden was accused of smoking crack last year while holding $50,000-a-month position on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas firm that has been a key figure in the impeachment hearings against President Trump. Hunter Biden joined the board when his father was vice president and President Barack Obama’s “point man” on Ukraine,” according to the Examiner. “A valet at the five-star St. Regis hotel near Archibald’s recognized a photograph of Biden but could not confirm if he had visited the area with Roberts, saying: Honestly I can’t say, but Hunter Biden has been here with brunettes and blondes.”

Fox News recently quoted Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former Polish president who is on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, as saying that “Hunter Biden was indeed chosen to join its advisory board because of his name. He said that is simply how the world of business works.”

Two Killed in London Bridge Stabbing Attacks; Suspect Wore Fake Explosive Vest

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Stabbing attacks have become an epidemic in London since voters elected the city’s first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan. And now there has been another one.

By: Terrence McHue

Police shot and killed a man suspected of stabbing several people there on Friday. Authorities later ruled it to have been a terrorist attack.

Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu told a press conference outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters that the attack on London Bridge had been declared a terrorist incident, according to NBC News,

“A male suspect was shot by specialist armed officers from the City of London Police and I can confirm that the suspect died at the scene,” he noted. “A number of other people received injuries during this incident — as soon as we can provide an update on their conditions we will… I can confirm at this time we believe a device that was strapped to the body of the suspect was a hoax device. Officers continue to carry out meticulous searches in the area to ensure there is no outstanding threat to the public.”

“The attack was first reported just before 2 p.m. (9 a.m. ET). Soon after, Transport for London confirmed that London Bridge station, a major terminal for commuters across the southeast of England, was closed,” NBC said. “At the same time, the London Ambulance Service declared a major incident and confirmed it had a number of crews at the scene.”

Several passersby at the scene bravely wrestled the terrorist to the ground on London Bridge before disarming him and fleeing as bobbies open fired. One man, the DailyMail reported, “risked his own safety by running through the traffic and jumping through a central partition to tackle the alleged knifeman, while others also rushed to help him. The man had been walking on the other side of London Bridge and disarmed the alleged attacker, he was one of six who disarmed the man before police took control of the situation. Dramatic footage shows what appears to be a struggle on the floor before an armed police officer unloads a series of round at the alleged knifeman lying on the floor.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson held an impromptu press conference and said, “Anybody involved in this crime and these attacks will be hunted down and will be brought to justice. This country will never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack, and our values — our British values — will prevail.”

Johnson “said he would stop his own campaigning this evening and he would be reviewing the matter in the next few hours. In the middle of the 2017 election, campaigning was suspended across all parties after a terrorist attack,’ Yahoo News reported. “I urge everyone to be vigilant and one cannot help but think back to what happened in 2017 in a similar part of the city, and I hope people as fast as possible will be able to go back to their business,” he said.

Jeremy Corbyn’s Anti-Semitism Soars; Bibi Signals Possible End to Intelligence Sharing with UK

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Many Labour lawmakers “have been unhappy with the party's direction under leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured above) a veteran socialist who took charge in 2015 with strong grass-roots backing,” the Bee added. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Corbyn refuses to take opportunity to apologize for anti-Semitism.

Edited by: TJVNews.com

 “Jeremy Corbyn has declined to apologize to the U.K. Jewish community after the chief rabbi criticized how the party deals with anti-Semitism claims,” the BBC reported on Tuesday.

In the BBC interview, the Labour leader was asked four times if he would like to apologize for anti-Semitism in Labour. He rejected each opportunity.

Labour’s Shadow Defense Secretary Nia Griffith said Corbyn should apologize, the BBC reports. “We need to apologize to our colleagues in my own party who have been very upset and to the whole of the Jewish community,” she said.

Corbyn was asked about anti-Semitism following comments by the U.K.’s chief rabbi, who slammed Corbyn for failing to stem anti-Semitism within his party.

“A new poison – sanctioned from the top – has taken root in the Labour Party,” Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wrote in an op-ed published by The New York Times on Monday.

“The way in which the leadership has dealt with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud – of dignity and respect for all people,” he wrote.

With the Dec. 12 general elections looming, Mirvis has called on everyone to “vote with their conscience,” adding that the “very soul” of the country is “at stake.”

“It is not my place to tell any person how they should vote. I regret being in this situation at all. I simply pose the question: What will the result of this election say about the moral compass of our country?” he wrote. “How complicit in prejudice would a leader of Her Majesty’s opposition have to be to be considered unfit for office?”

“Would associations with those who have incited hatred against Jews be enough? Would describing as ‘friends’ those who endorse the murder of Jews be enough?”

In a related development, Fox News reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that his country may stop sharing intelligence with the U.K. if Jeremy Corbyn wins next month’s election and follows through on his pledge to stop selling weapons to Israel, according to a report Tuesday.

The Telegraph reported a statement the Israeli prime minister made in September — and now reinforced by intelligence officers — suggests he would cut intelligence ties with Britain if Corbyn becomes its leader.

Corbyn, who leads the Labour Party, has been an unabashed hater of Israel, an apologist for Islamic terror groups and a virulent anti-Semite. Allegations of anti-Semitism have grown within the Labour Party since Corbyn was elected leader in 2015, according to the Fox News report.

James Sorene, chief executive of the Britain Israel Communications and Research Center, warned that a Corbyn victory would make London and the U.K. government “be seen as the center of the global anti-Israel movement,” as was reported by Fox News.

Israel, along with the U.S., remains one of the U.K.’s most important intelligence partners on matters of terrorism and security. Mossad, the country’s main spy agency, is second only to the CIA in terms of intelligence sharing with Britain’s intelligence services.

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com

Germany to Finally Outlaw Hezbollah Terror Organization Next Week, Report Says

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Der Spiegel magazine had reported on Thursday that Germany's Interior, Justice and Foreign Ministries had agreed to move towards outlawing Iran-backed Hezbollah. Photo Credit: alaraby.co.uk

Edited by: Fern Sidman

According to the DW.com web site, Der Spiegel magazine had reported on Thursday that Germany’s Interior, Justice and Foreign Ministries had agreed to move towards outlawing Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The report indicated that the decision could happen next week when cabinet ministers are scheduled to meet. 

According to Der Spiegel, the move would effectively ban all Hezbollah activities on German soil, including the waving of its yellow flag, which controversially has been shown during pro-Iranian and anti-Israeli demonstrations in Berlin.

The Times of Israel has reported that at the behest of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, the Bundestag debated a nonbinding resolution calling on the government to “examine whether the conditions exist for a ban on Hezbollah as one organization, and, if necessary, to issue such a prohibition and implement it immediately.” 

Reuters reported that Germany’s attorney general had been given full power of attorney to investigate Hezbollah’s activities in September.  The reports came barely two months after US ambassador Richard Grenell renewed pressure on Germany to ban the Lebanese-based organization, which the US has classified as a terrorist organization.

INN reported later on Thursday, an Interior Ministry spokesman denied that an outright ban of Hezbollah by Germany was in the cards, reported Deutsche Welle.

The spokesman, Steve Alter, clarified on Twitter that reports about a so-called “ban on activities” of Hezbollah — which is a less stringent legal measure — “cannot be confirmed.”

Hezbollah is a Shiite Islamist party and terrorist organization operating in Lebanon and supported by Iran. It has had a presence in the country’s parliament since 1992 and its military wing is said to be more powerful than Lebanon’s armed forces.

It is responsible for frequent attacks on Israel and denies the Jewish state’s right to exist.

The German government has so far argued that recognizing Hezbollah as a legitimate part of Lebanon’s government is necessary for political engagement with the Middle Eastern country.

In 2013, the European Union of which Germany is a member, blacklisted Hezbollah’s “military wing” as a terrorist organization, while failing to blacklist the group’s political arm.

However, EU members such as the Netherlands and United Kingdom consider all of Hezbollah a terrorist entity, as do the United States, Canada, Israel and even the Arab League, according to an INN report.

The British government formally announced in February that it intends to ban the political wing of the Hezbollah terror organization, after previously having banned its military wing.

INN reported that Germany’s Minister of State Niels Annen said in August that his country will not follow Britain’s lead, arguing that the Shiite Muslim organization remained a relevant factor in Lebanese society.

German Jewish leaders called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to fully outlaw Hezbollah.

“We’re also hoping to get Germany’s help — and we talked about this today — in recognizing Hezbollah as a unified entity and banning it from Germany as our ally, the United Kingdom, did this year,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in June during a meeting with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, in Berlin.

Discovery by Hebrew University Scientists Could Revolutionize Chemotherapy

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Hebrew University Professor Alexander Binshtok in his lab. Photo Credit: Hadas Parush/Flash 90

New technique targets cancer cells and leaves healthy ones alone; patients would receive less chemo and fewer side effects

By: Eurekalert.org

It is a feeling that many who receive a cancer diagnosis can identify with: heartbreak and fear, followed by hopes that chemotherapy will save the day. Unfortunately, for many patients, chemo’s painful side effects cause them to stop treatment prematurely.

Now, a research team headed by Professor Alexander Binshtok, head of the Pain Plasticity Research Group at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Medicine and Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, has developed a method that delivers chemotherapy drugs directly to malignant cells and bypasses healthy ones. This discovery could allow doctors to reduce chemo doses for patients, thereby reducing the unpleasant side-effects associated with the treatment, and improve treatment compliance and overall prognoses.

“Most anti-cancer treatments are not sufficiently specific, meaning they attack healthy cells together with the malignant ones they’re trying to get rid of,” explained Binshtok. “This leads to the many serious side-affects associated with chemo therapy. Eliminating cancerous cells while leaving healthy ones alone is an important step towards reduce patients’ suffering.”

The new findings were published in a recent issue of Frontiers in Pharmacology. The study focuses on the selective expression of the TRPV2 protein by cancer cells. When activated, TRPV2 protein opens a canal inside cell membranes. Binshtok and his team studied liver cancer cells and were able to successfully insert a low dose of doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic agent, through the canal and directly into cancer cells. Not only did the new method target cancer cells without harming healthy ones. In the future, the precision of this delivery method may allow doctors to prescribe lower chemo doses and to relieve patients from some of the harsher effects of chemo.

“It’s too early to make concrete predictions but we are hopeful this discovery will lead the way towards a new, more targeted delivery method for chemotherapy treatment, one that will drastically reduce patients’ pain,” Binshtok concluded.

###

CITATION: 2-APB and CBD-Mediated Targeting of Charged Cytotoxic Compounds Into Tumor Cells Suggests the Involvement of TRPV2 Channels. Hagit Neumann-Raziel, Asaf Shilo, Shaya Lev, Maxim Mogilevsky, Ben Katz, David Shneor, Yoav D. Shaul, Andreas Leffler, Alberto Gabizon, Rotem Karni, Alik Honigman, and Alexander M. Binshtok, Frontiers in Pharmacologyhttps://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2019.01198

FUNDING: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DIP), Israel Science Foundation, Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant, Rosetrees Trust.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) is Israel’s leading academic and research institution, serving 23,000 students from 80 countries. HU produces a third of Israel’s civilian research and is ranked 12th worldwide in biotechnology patent filings and commercial development. To date, HU faculty and alumni have won 8 Nobel Prizes. For more information, visit http://new.huji.ac.il/en.

Hebrew University’s Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) is revolutionizing neuroscience research. ELSC aims to develop a thriving interface between theory and experiments across levels – cognitive, biological, and computational neuroscience, paving the way to innovative discovery in brain research. (eurekalert.org)

Dozens Killed in Iraq as Protests Escalate

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Iraqi security forces used live ammunition against mostly unarmed demonstrators Thursday, killing at least 40 people in one of the bloodiest days since anti-government protests began last month, security and medical officials said. 

Edited by: TJV.com
 
At least 25 people were killed and more than 200 wounded when security forces opened fire on protesters who had blocked key roads and bridges in the southern city of Nasiriyah. 

Baghdad said it had sent military troops to restore order across southern Iraq, where protests have grown increasingly violent. Demonstrators have occupied buildings and bridges and have clashed with security forces, who have used tear gas and live ammunition almost daily since protests began.

Amnesty International denounced the violence in Nasiriyah, calling it a bloodbath. 
 
“The scenes from Nasiriyah this morning more closely resemble a war zone than city streets and bridges. This brutal onslaught is just the latest in a long series of deadly events where Iraqi security forces meted out appalling violence against largely peaceful protesters,” said Lynn Maalouf, the group’s Middle East research director. 

Al Jazeera reported that Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi fired Lieutenant-General Jamil al-Shammari less than a day after he was put in charge of bringing order to Dhi Qar, of which Nasiriyah is the capital. Local media also reported late Thursday that the governor of Dhi Qar had resigned. 
 
In Baghdad, security forces shot and killed four people and wounded at least another 22 as protesters tried to cross the Ahrar Bridge, which leads to the Green Zone, the heavily fortified seat of Iraq’s government. 

The clashes came a day after protesters burned down an Iranian consulate in the holy city of Najaf. The staff at the consulate were unharmed because they had evacuated just before the attack, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported Thursday. Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi called for a “responsible, strong and effective” response to the attack. 
 
This was the second time protesters had attacked an Iranian diplomatic mission. Earlier this month, protesters threw Molotov cocktails over the consulate walls in Karbala, but the fire did not catch. 
 
The demonstrators are demanding an end to government corruption and what they perceive as increasing Iranian influence in Iraqi affairs. 
 
More than 350 people have been killed and thousands more wounded since October. (VOA News)

Knesset Speaker Makes Last-Ditch Effort to Spare Israelis from Another Election

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With under two weeks remaining until Israel’s parliament will automatically disperse unless a new government is formed, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein is making a last-ditch effort to get the two largest factions together to form a national unity government. Photo Credit: Flash 90

“Gantz is frustrated with Lapid,” an MK close to Blue and White leader Benny Gantz reportedly said, referring to number two on the party list Yair Lapid.

By: WIN Staff 

With under two weeks remaining until Israel’s parliament will automatically disperse unless a new government is formed, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein is making a last-ditch effort to get the two largest factions together to form a national unity government.

However, one of those two factions, Blue and White, is seen as divided over how to proceed. Blue and White won 33 seats in the September Knesset election, edging out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, which earned 32 seats in the 120-member parliament.

“Gantz is frustrated with Lapid,” said a Blue and White MK close to the faction leader, MK Benny Gantz, according to Kan public television.

The reported frustration is with MK Yair Lapid, number two on the faction list.

Lapid and MK Moshe Ya’alon, who is ranked third in Blue and White, are adamantly opposed to negotiating with Netanyahu, saying that the faction’s position has been to reject any possibility of joining forces with the Likud led by Netanyahu as long as the incumbent prime minister faces indictment.

Last week, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit announced that Netanyahu would be indicted in connection with three cases of alleged corruption.

Ya’alon tweeted on Wednesday that “we have made clear that we would agree to a rotation on condition that Gantz is first.” a reference to the discussion that Blue and White and the Likud would rotate holding the position of premier in a unity government.

“We will not sit in a government headed by Netanyahu as long as he is not acquitted in court,” Ya’alon continued.

However, Gantz is seen as looking for wiggle room to make a deal that would prevent the country from having to go to a third Knesset election within a year as the formation of a government parliamentary coalition remains elusive.

The Likud has been proposing that Netanyahu take on the position of prime minister first, though only for a few months before Gantz would take over. That point is crucial for the Likud leader because an Israeli court has ruled in the past that a cabinet minister cannot serve while under indictment. Ironically, no such ruling has been made regarding a prime minister.

Netanyahu has also been facing a challenge within his own party as MK Gideon Sa’ar has called for a Likud primary election for the party chairmanship before the December 11 deadline for forming a new national government.

“This is a true alert,” said Edelstein, employing Hebrew terminology to compare the ongoing political crisis to a red alert of an incoming rocket attack.

Despite the looming deadline, analysts are saying that for now, the two largest factions have agreed to meet with the parliamentary speaker only out of courtesy and that no progress is evident toward forming a unity government, though some believe that an agreement could be reached during the final days before the potential Knesset dissolution because of what is seen as large-scale public displeasure over the protracted political stalemate.

It was nearly a year ago – late December 2018 – when the Knesset first decided to begin the process of going to an early election with the anticipation of forming a new government.(World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com

 

Jeremy Corbyn Rejects Chances to Apologize for Labour Anti-Semitism in BBC Interview

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Jeremy Corbyn during the ITV televised debate with Boris Johnson on Tuesday night. (Picture: ITV)

Corbyn refuses to take opportunity to apologize for anti-Semitism.
By: WIN Staff
“Jeremy Corbyn has declined to apologize to the U.K. Jewish community after the chief rabbi criticized how the party deals with anti-Semitism claims,” the BBC reported on Tuesday.
In the BBC interview, the Labour leader was asked four times if he would like to apologize for anti-Semitism in Labour. He rejected each opportunity.
Labour’s Shadow Defense Secretary Nia Griffith said Corbyn should apologize, the BBC reports. “We need to apologize to our colleagues in my own party who have been very upset and to the whole of the Jewish community,” she said.
Corbyn was asked about anti-Semitism following comments by the U.K.’s chief rabbi, who slammed Corbyn for failing to stem anti-Semitism within his party.
“A new poison – sanctioned from the top – has taken root in the Labour Party,” Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wrote in an op-ed published by The New York Times on Monday.
“The way in which the leadership has dealt with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud – of dignity and respect for all people,” he wrote.
With the Dec. 12 general elections looming, Mirvis has called on everyone to “vote with their conscience,” adding that the “very soul” of the country is “at stake.”
“It is not my place to tell any person how they should vote. I regret being in this situation at all. I simply pose the question: What will the result of this election say about the moral compass of our country?” he wrote. “How complicit in prejudice would a leader of Her Majesty’s opposition have to be to be considered unfit for office?”
“Would associations with those who have incited hatred against Jews be enough? Would describing as ‘friends’ those who endorse the murder of Jews be enough?”
In a related development, Fox News reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that his country may stop sharing intelligence with the U.K. if Jeremy Corbyn wins next month’s election and follows through on his pledge to stop selling weapons to Israel, according to a report Tuesday.

The Telegraph reported a statement the Israeli prime minister made in September — and now reinforced by intelligence officers — suggests he would cut intelligence ties with Britain if Corbyn becomes its leader.
Corbyn, who leads the Labour Party, has been an unabashed hater of Israel, an apologist for Islamic terror groups and a virulent anti-Semite. Allegations of anti-Semitism have grown within the Labour Party since Corbyn was elected leader in 2015, according to the Fox News report.
James Sorene, chief executive of the Britain Israel Communications and Research Center, warned that a Corbyn victory would make London and the U.K. government “be seen as the center of the global anti-Israel movement,” as was reported by Fox News.
Israel, along with the U.S., remains one of the U.K.’s most important intelligence partners on matters of terrorism and security. Mossad, the country’s main spy agency, is second only to the CIA in terms of intelligence sharing with Britain’s intelligence services.
Read more at: worldisraelnews.com

Iraqi Protesters Burn Down Iranian Consulate

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Anti-government protesters burned down an Iranian consulate building in southern Iraq on Wednesday, while six protesters were killed by security forces who fired live rounds.

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Angry protesters set fire to the Iranian consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on Wednesday evening. According to an AP report, one protester was killed and at least 35 people were wounded when police fired live ammunition to prevent them from entering the building, a police official said.

The rioters removed the Iranian flag from the building and replaced it with an Iraqi one, as was reported by the AP. Iranian staff were not harmed and escaped the building from the back door and authorities imposed a curfew in Najaf. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The incident marked an escalation in the riots that have raged in Baghdad and across the mostly Shiite southern Iraq since Oct. 1, AP reported. The protesters accuse the Shiite-led government of being hopelessly corrupt and complain of poor public services and high unemployment. They are also decrying growing Iranian influence in Iraqi state affairs.

AP reported that protesters previously attacked the Iranian consulate in Karbala earlier this month, scaling concrete barriers running the building.

Security forces have fired bullets, tear gas and smoke bombs on a near daily basis since the unrest began. AP reported that at least 350 people have been killed and thousands wounded in what has become the largest grassroots protest movement in Iraq’s modern history.

Two protesters were killed and 35 wounded when security forces fired live rounds to disperse them from Baghdad’s historic Rasheed Street, security and hospital officials said.

The street, which is adjacent to the strategic Ahrar Bridge, has been the focus of violence for a full week, with near daily incidents of deaths as a result of security forces using live ammunition and tear gas to keep demonstrators from advancing beyond a concrete barrier, as was reported by AP.

Protesters are occupying three key bridges in central Baghdad – Jumhuriya, Ahrar and Sinar – in a standoff with security forces. On Wednesday, they also burned tires on Ahrar Bridge to block security forces from accessing the area.

The burning of the Iranian consulate followed tense days in southern Iraq, where protesters have burned tires and cut access to main roads in several provinces, AP reported.

In Karbala, four protesters were killed by live fire from security forces in the previous 24 hours.

Three of the anti-government protesters were killed when security forces fired live rounds to disperse crowds in the holy city of Karbala late Tuesday, security and medical officials said. One protester died of wounds suffered when a tear gas canister struck him in clashes earlier in the day.

Protesters have largely kept away from threatening Iraq’s economy, but in the southern city of Basra daily closures of the two main Gulf commodities port has caused disruptions to trade activity, a port official said.

Protesters continued to cut major roads to Umm Qasr and Khor al-Zubair ports on Wednesday, reducing trade activity by 50%, according to the port official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Protesters also blocked roads leading to major oil fields in West Qurna and Rumaila. A senior oil ministry official said crude production was not impacted by the closures.

Three simultaneous explosions rocked Baghdad late Tuesday, killing five people and wounding more than a dozen, Iraqi officials said, in the first apparent coordinated attack since anti-government protests erupted. The bombings took place far from Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of weeks of anti-government protests that have posed the biggest security challenge to Iraq since the defeat of the Islamic State group. (AP)

PA Will ‘Sever Relations with Israel’ if Jordan Valley Annexed, Abbas Vows

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Speaking to Russia’s Sputnik news, Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed that if Israel completes annexation of the Jordan Valley, the Palestinians will pursue the Jewish state in international forums and end relations on all levels. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Mahmoud Abbas told a Russian news outlet that the Palestinian Authority will cut all ties with Israel if it annexes the Jordan Valley.

By: WIN Staff

Speaking to Russia’s Sputnik news, Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed that if Israel completes annexation of the Jordan Valley, the Palestinians will pursue the Jewish state in international forums and end relations on all levels.

“As for [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu’s intention to … annex[] the Jordan Valley, we are closely monitoring his steps in this direction. If the Israeli premier really does something like this, we will turn to the UN, the International Criminal Court, and we’ll finally and irrevocably sever all relations with Israel,” Abbas stated, according to Sputnik.

Abbas also claimed that the Palestinians have taken “decisive steps” to address Washington’s position that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are not “illegal” under international law, a position recently announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Notwithstanding a longstanding near-total boycott of the Trump administration, Abbas reportedly threatened to cut off relations with the White House also.

Meanwhile, the “day of rage” the PA attempted to launch on Tuesday in response to the U.S.’ position on Judea and Samaria failed to attract significant numbers, with minor clashes mounted against Israeli security forces in places like Ramallah.

The PA shuttered schools in the morning and government offices to try to garner protesters.

The ones that did show up set ablaze posters of U.S. President Donald Trump as well as Israeli and American flags, while some rioters threw stones at IDF forces.

Later in the evening, terrorists fired two rockets from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel. One was intercepted by an Iron Dome missile battery. It was the second such attack in as many days, and Israeli aircraft retaliated with strikes on several Hamas sites in Gaza. There were no reports of injuries. (World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com

 

Report Alleges that Rep Ilhan Omar is Serving as an Iraqi Agent; She Claims Charges are “Absurd”

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Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on the campaign trail for Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders (Photo: Scott Heins/Getty Images)

By: WIN Staff 

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is reportedly denying that she “passed sensitive information that was relayed to Iran, and received funding by a foreign government,” as reported by Al Arabiya English, a Gulf-based news outlet, based on a sworn deposition by a Canadian businessman in a Florida court.

“Since the day she was elected, Saudi Arabian trolls and mouthpieces have targeted Omar with misinformation and conspiracy theories,” a spokesperson for the congresswoman wrote in a statement to The Jerusalem Post, published by the newspaper on Wednesday.

“The latest, outlandishly absurd story from a Saudi-funded media outlet is of course false and only the latest in that trend,” said the statement. “The only people Rep. Omar represents in Washington are the people of Minnesota’s 5th District. She will continue to speak out against human rights violations around the world – whether it is war crimes in Yemen or the caging of children at our border – regardless of who commits them.”

Saudi Arabia and Iran are regional rivals. Qatar, at odds with other Gulf states, is said to maintain close ties with Tehran.

Al Arabiya is a Saudi free-to-air television news channel broadcast in Modern Standard Arabic. The channel is based in Dubai and broadcasts to a pan-Arab audience; it is regarded as a competitor to Al Jazeera,” according to Wikipedia.

Al Arabiya English said that it obtained the deposition and that it was “authenticated by the attorney for the plaintiffs.”

It reported that “in explosive testimony made by video link from Toronto, Canada to a Florida District Court on October 23, Kuwaiti-born Alan Bender claims to have deep ties with governments and royal officials across the Middle East including Qatar. In his statement, he says he met Qatar’s Secretary to the Emir for Security Affairs Mohammad bin Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Masnad and two other senior Qatari officials.”

In his sworn deposition, Bender reportedly said that the three Qatari officials “claimed credit for the meteoric rise of Omar, saying: ‘If it wasn’t for our cash, Ilhan Omar would be just another black Somali refugee in America collecting welfare and serving tables on weekends.’”

According to Bender’s testimony, the secretary to the Qatari emir for security affairs said that Qatar “recruited Ilhan Omar from even way before she thought about becoming a government official.… They groomed her and arranged the foundation, the grounds, for her to get into politics way before she even showed interest. They convinced her,” says the report, adding that “Omar cooperated with the Qataris and received cash payments,” according to the deposition as reported by Al Arabiya English.

Like World Israel News, the Jerusalem Post also carried the Gulf news outlet’s report on Bender’s deposition.

Speaking to the Post, Bender said: “I confirm that the information published in The Jerusalem Post report about Ilhan Omar and Qatar is accurate 100%.” (World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com 

Turkish Ally Accused of Widespread Rights Abuses in Syria

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The New York-based Human Rights Watch claims it has “damming evidence” showing the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army is engaged in summary executions, pillaging, seizing properties, and preventing the return of people to their homes.

By: Dorian Jones

“Turkey is turning a blind eye to the reprehensible behaviors displayed by the factions it arms,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “So long as Turkey is in control of these areas, it has a responsibility to investigate and end these violations.”

Last month Turkish forces and the SNA launched an offensive in northeast Syria against Syrian Democratic Forces, which are made up mainly of the Kurdish militia the YPG.

Ankara considers the YPG terrorists, but the militia was a crucial ally of Washington’s military effort against Islamic State.

HRW cites evidence that the SNA executed prisoners, seized the homes of local Kurds, and engaged in indiscriminate shelling of civilians.

The case of Hevrin Khalaf, a prominent women’s rights activist, is highlighted. In October, Khalaf was executed after her car was stopped by a militia affiliated with the SNA.

HRW also says social media postings of videos put up by the militia appear to show the execution of women prisoners.

Ankara has so far not responded to the HRW report. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has praised the SNA for its “sacrifices” in Syria.  

Turkey is facing growing international criticism for its use of militias, which critics claim have links to radical Islamic groups, a charge denied by Ankara.

“The problem is that those people are radicals in terms of their ideology, this is criticized by the western world,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“But Turkey has done it in the last eight years, so this is a choice by the president. He takes the risk. He lets them fight on the side of the Turkish army. We will see if it’s like a hand grenade exploding in his hand or it will strengthen his position,” Bagci added.

The SNA force is around three times larger than Turkish armed forces engaged in northern Syria. Ankara’s reliance on the SNA comes as its armed forces are facing an unprecedented number of simultaneous military commitments.

“The Turkish army is already strained,” said retired Turkish general Haldun Solmazturk, who now heads the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkish Institute. “From Iraq to Idlib to eastern Mediterranean Cyprus. An additional burden will have some serious impact on the Turkish army to meet all these challenges.”

The SNA has also taken the brunt of casualties. As of November 15, 224 killed and 692 injured compared to Turkish forces casualties of 11 dead and 90 wounded. Some analysts claim the relatively low number of Turkish deaths is a reason why the operation continues to enjoy strong domestic support among the Turkish public.

Ankara’s heavy use of SNA forces made up of mainly Syrian Arabs is also widely seen as a tactic to dispel allegations Turkish forces are invading another country.

Analysts point out, given that Turkey once ruled the region when it was the Ottoman Empire, Arab nations remain nervous about any irredentist Turkish aspirations. The Arab League has strongly condemned the Turkish operation.

Ankara insists it is committed to Syria’s territorial integrity.

“Our operations in northern Syria aim to clear terrorists from their strongholds, create safe conditions for the return of refugees robbed of their homes & lands,” tweeted Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish president’s communications head.
 
“Kurdish groups have forced many Arabs from their homes in areas under their control in northern Syria,” said former Turkish ambassador Mithat Rende. “These towns and cities controlled by Kurds are Arab towns with Arab names, with Kurdish minorities.”

Erdogan claims up to two million Syrians who fled to Turkey to escape the civil war will be returned to a so-called “safe zone,” that is being created in northern Syria along the Turkish border.

The Turkish president is looking to the international community for funding to pay $20 billion for the building of hundreds of thousands of new homes in the “safe zone.”  

Next week Erdogan will press his case when he is scheduled to hold a meeting with French, German, and British leaders on the sidelines of the London NATO summit.
 
“We invite the international community to support us in helping our Syrian brothers and sisters to safely return to areas where they can live in peace regardless of their religious and ethnic identities,” tweeted Altun Wednesday.

However, the actions of SNA forces are seen as fueling accusations Ankara is seeking to remove local Kurdish populations and replace them with Arabs considered more sympathetic to Turkey.

“There weren’t many mistakes by the Turkish army, but there was a tactical mistake when it comes to public diplomacy in the communication,” said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen who served widely in the region. “It’s a fact some of these militias have committed crimes, and this is being used against Turkey, that it’s involved in ethnic cleansing.”

Ankara vehemently denies any intention that it’s seeking demographic changes in Syria. However, the latest findings by HRW can only add to questions over Turkey’s plans for a safe zone and mass return of Syrians.

“Executing individuals, pillaging property, and blocking displaced people from returning to their homes is damning evidence of why Turkey’s proposed ‘safe zones’ will not be safe,” said Whitson. (VOA News)

Rockland County Man Charged in Connection with Four Bank Robberies in NY & NJ

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The disguised bandit is Yosef Ziegler of Airmont, federal authorities said. Photo Credit: COURTESY: Bergen County Prosecutor

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that YOSEF ZIEGLER was arrested in connection with four bank robberies in the counties of Rockland, Dutchess, and Bergen from January 24, 2019, through October 29, 2019. The defendant was arrested this morning in Airmont, New York, and presented in White Plains federal court this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judith C. McCarthy.

Edited by: TJVNews.com

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “In quick succession, Yosef Ziegler allegedly committed a series of daring broad-daylight bank robberies in New York and New Jersey. Ziegler’s alleged conduct not only put bank employees, law enforcement, and the public at risk. Traumatic events such as this can also cause lasting undue emotional distress on victims and bystanders. Yosef Ziegler now stands accused of bank robbery charges which could potentially earn him 25 years in federal prison.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint[1]:

On January 24, 2019, at approximately 4:20 p.m., ZIEGLER entered a bank in Pomona, New York, announced that he had a bomb, displayed a cylindrical device attached to wires, and demanded that employees empty the bank’s vault. ZIEGLER collected approximately $76,000 in United States currency and then fled.

On April 17, 2019, at approximately 12:00 p.m., ZIEGLER entered a bank in Park Ridge, New Jersey, announced that he had a bomb, and demanded that employees empty the bank’s vault. ZIEGLER collected approximately $30,150 in United States currency and then fled.

On June 25, 2019, at approximately 11:50 a.m., ZIEGLER entered a bank in Wappingers Falls, New York, announced that he had bomb, with a device in his hand attached to wires that connected to his belt, and demanded that employees empty the vault and teller draws. ZIEGLER collected approximately $22,500 in United States currency and then fled.

On October 29, 2019, at approximately 12:00 p.m., ZIEGLER entered a bank in Fishkill, New York, wielding what appeared to be a firearm, which he pointed at employees while demanding that they empty the bank’s vault. ZIEGLER collected approximately $105,000 in United States currency and then fled.

Altogether, ZIEGLER allegedly stole over $233,000 from the four robberies.

ZIEGLER, 29, of Airmont, New York, faces a maximum term of 25 years in prison for each of the three counts of bank robbery. The statutory maximum sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for information purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the respective judge.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force, FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, FBI Newark Division, Bergen County Prosecutors Office, the Ramapo Police Department, the Fishkill Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Berman also thanked the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance.

 This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorney Courtney L. Heavey is in charge of the prosecution.

Historic UK Confab Rejects BDS, Seeks Ties Btwn Israel & Arab Countries

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Last week, the London Jewish Chronicle reported that a significant number of prominent officials and public figures representing 15 Arab countries joined forces in unison in the UK capital last Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov 19-20) in an initiative that resulted in the historic repudiation of the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement. (Courtesy of U.K. Campaign Against Antisemitism)

By: Fern Sidman

Last week, the London Jewish Chronicle reported that a significant number of prominent officials and public figures representing 15 Arab countries joined forces in unison in the UK capital last Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov 19-20) in an initiative that resulted in the historic repudiation of the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement.

According to a report in the Jewish Journal, the conference was sponsored by the US-based Center for Peace Communications, whose board of directors is headed by former US Ambassador Dennis Ross. The CPC describes itself as “a group of Americans who believe that security and prosperity in the Middle East and North Africa require a peace between peoples.” Joseph Braude, the convener of the conference, is a senior fellow at the Middle East Program of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, in Washington D.C., and is CPC’s founder and president.

The New York Times reported that, Mustafa el-Dessouki, Egyptian managing editor of an influential Saudi-funded newsmagazine, Majalla, was one of the council’s main organizers. He said that while traveling around the Middle East in recent years he has met many like-minded Arabs “who had kind of been waiting for somebody like me to come along,” including Lebanese citizens.

El-Dessouki noted that Arab news media and entertainment have long been “programming people toward this hostility” directed at Israel and Jews, while political leaders were “intimidating and scaring people into manifesting it.”

Jassim Mohammad, an Iraqi counter-terrorism expert living in Germany, urged Arab security services to stop the spread of “radicalism and hate” in the media, schools and mosques and to spread “corrective content about Israel and Jews.” He said that these changes were a “matter of Arab national security.”

For close to 15 years, the BDS movement has been a virtual nemesis for Israel, as they have launched academic, economic, political, cultural and religious boycotts of the Jewish state. The ultimate objective of the BDS movement is the total destruction of Israel as a Jewish state.

Critics of BDS reject its charge that Israel is an apartheid state, asserting that in Israel (outside of the West Bank) “Jews and Arabs mix freely and increasingly live in the same neighborhoods…there is no imposed segregation.” Critics have also argued that the BDS movement is antisemitic in the form its opposition to Zionism takes, drawing analogies to the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses and accusing it of promoting the delegitimization of Israel.

Its opponents argue that at official university levels, the BDS movement inundates university organizations and departments with various and recurring anti-Israel resolutions, often without notice or time for open debate. They say that BDS supporters bring outsiders to influence opinion or to vote on university resolutions even when this is unauthorized. Whether a resolution passes is not as important as keeping the debate alive at official university levels. The goal is to influence future policymakers to find fault with Israel.

The London Jewish Chronicle also reported that the representatives of Arab countries called for expanded and enhanced civil relations with Israel.

According to a JPost report, chief among the litany of accomplishments at the monumental conference was the formation of a new group called the Arab Council for Regional Integration, a declaration signing ceremony and a nuanced and thoughtful discussion on issues that are generic to the Middle East, such as radical Islamic terrorism, regional economic interaction & cooperation and charting a course aimed at improving relations with Israel.

The JPost reported that those in attendance represented a diverse demographic and included a sizable contingent of youth, women, diplomats and artists, who envision the potential of crafting a just, sustainable and long-term peace initiative with Israel. The eclectic cadre of intellectuals seek to gain even a further understanding of the complex issues in the region that has often been dubbed a “powder keg.”

The Jewish Journal reported that Mohammed Dajani, a Palestinian academic who shocked the Arab world by taking a group of his students to Auschwitz, were already well known to Israeli activists. Professor Dajani suggested that the stories of close interaction with Jews could be collected and published by the new Arab Council. Photo Credit: YouTube

The Jewish Journal reported that Mohammed Dajani, a Palestinian academic who shocked the Arab world by taking a group of his students to Auschwitz, were already well known to Israeli activists. Many of the opinions that were voiced at the conference were not only completely supportive of a productive relationship between Jews and Arabs but were considered highly significant because this is the first time that such declarations have been made in public and on the record. Professor Dajani suggested that the stories of close interaction with Jews could be collected and published by the new Arab Council.

As such, the delegates to the conference which did not include Israelis, raised the pivotal issues of the lack of genuine reconciliation between Egypt and Israel as well as Jordan and Israel, since the countries in question signed the “cold peace” treaties in the 1990s.

Some visible figures at the event included Egyptian MP Mohammed Anwar Sadat, nephew of the late president Anwar El Sadat, as was reported by the JPost. The conference took place on the anniversary of the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s historic 1977 visit to Israel. On November 19, 1977, Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel officially when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and spoke before the Knesset in Jerusalem on how to achieve a comprehensive peace to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Some visible figures at the event included Egyptian MP Mohammed Anwar Sadat, nephew of the late president Anwar El Sadat, as was reported by the JPost.

The conference took place on the anniversary of the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s historic 1977 visit to Israel. On November 19, 1977, Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel officially when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and spoke before the Knesset in Jerusalem on how to achieve a comprehensive peace to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Peace treaty was finally signed by Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin in Washington, D.C., United States, on 26 March 1979, following the Camp David Accords. Both Sadat and Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for creating the treaty. On October 6, 1981 during a military parade, Anwar El-Sadat was assassinated by a Palestinian terrorist commando, as revenge for having signed peace with Israel.

In February of 2019, the Jewish Voice reported that approximately, three years ago, an eclectic group of twenty-five Jewish -Americans formed the Anwar Sadat Congressional Gold Medal Commission, to lobby Congress to select and award the late President of Egypt with the highest civilian award of the United States of America. The award is considered the utmost expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions to humanity. A U.S. Congressional Gold Medal is designed by the United States Mint to specifically commemorate the person and achievement for which the medal is awarded.

Also included in the conference were the former Kuwaiti Minister of Information, Sami Abdul-Latif Al-Nisf; and two prominent Islamic religious figures, Hassen Chalghoumi, a Paris-based Tunisian cleric, and Lebanese imam Saleh Hamed.

The speakers at the conference specifically addressed the historic friendship and alliances that Jews and Arabs had forged for centuries as they both inhabited the same countries in the Middle East. Calling for Jews to return to the Arab countries of their birth or the birthplace of their antecedents, the gathering exhorted Jews to dedicate themselves towards a complete rapprochement between their people and the collective Arab enterprise, according to the JPost report.

Each member shared the view that isolating Israel had not been beneficial to the Palestinian cause and has also torn apart “the Arab social fabric, as rival ethnic, religious and national leaders increasingly apply tactics that were first tested against Israel,” the Times reported.

No Israelis attended the event, due to the fact that many participants could be prosecuted for having contact or relations with Israelis, which is a form of normalization.

The Jewish Journal also reported that in a video link from Washington D.C., Ambassador Dennis Ross told the participants at the conference that their deliberations “would have been wonderful if they had happened years ago,” but nevertheless he welcomed the initiative. He said, “You represent the voices who say enough. The more voices like yours who are prepared to speak out, the more you will build your voice [in talking] with Israel, and the more you will influence Israel’s leaders. You represent a ray of hope: it is a courageous endeavor, but also the right endeavor, and I am inspired by your example. You know you are on the right path.” Photo Credit: Wikipedia
The Jewish Journal also reported that in a video link from Washington D.C., Ambassador Dennis Ross told the participants at the conference that their deliberations “would have been wonderful if they had happened years ago,” but nevertheless he welcomed the initiative.

He said, “You represent the voices who say enough. The more voices like yours who are prepared to speak out, the more you will build your voice [in talking] with Israel, and the more you will influence Israel’s leaders. You represent a ray of hope: it is a courageous endeavor, but also the right endeavor, and I am inspired by your example. You know you are on the right path.”

Former British prime minister Tony Blair was piped into the event, according to a UWI report. He commended the group for speaking out and nurturing stronger Arab-Israeli ties noting that it was vital to “any realistic possibility of an enduring peace.” He also called for a two-state solution.

The council’s members, however, stressed their belief that it is impossible for Arab countries to reach formal diplomatic relations with Israel without a resolution to the Palestinian conflict and noted that “polls show that when Israelis are offered the enticement of acceptance by Arab nations, they become more willing to compromise, even by giving up land,” reported the Times.

In October of this year, Tazpit Press Service reported that Israel acted quickly to rescind the residency status attained by BDS founder Omar Barghouti. The announcement was made by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri. Deri ordered the Population and Immigration Authority to prepare a legal opinion to revoke Barghouti’s residency status for the “breach of trust.”

Deri’s decision was adopted following the announcement by Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber regarding Deri’s authority to withdraw Barghouti’s residency, as was reported by TPS.

The Ministry noted that since 2016, Barghouti’s case was discussed on the grounds that he could not enjoy the status of an Israeli resident and its benefits while working to impose a boycott on Israel and leading the boycott movement in Israel itself. However, the issue was pending an amendment of the law which was passed in 2018 and clarified the Minister of Interior’s power to revoke residency status for breach of trust.

Following the change in the law, Deri decided to move forward with the canceling of Barghouti’s residency, according to the TPS report.

Deri stated that he intends “to act quickly to deprive Omar Barghouti of the residency status in Israel. He is a man who does everything to harm the country and therefore must not enjoy the right to be a resident of Israel.”

TPS reported that Barghouti, co-founder of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement has rejected Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and said he will only accept a single state where Palestinians have total sovereignty. He is a native of Qatar who grew up in Egypt and married an Israeli Arab, for which he was granted the residency status. He has an apartment in the city of Acre. However, an examination conducted by the Interior Ministry showed that he spends most of his time is in Ramallah.

In 2005, he founded BDS, which brings together hundreds of anti-Israel organizations and branches around the world, including Israel.

In 2014, he stated that Palestinians have a right to “resistance by any means, including armed resistance.”

Evidence that attitudes and perspectives towards Israel are being radically altered was evidenced on November 17th in Abu Dhabi, the capital of Dubai. It was there that 17-year-old Alon Leviev of Israel won the gold medal in the junior category of the Jiu-jitsu World Championship that was being hosted in the capital, Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah” was played. This symbolism of a new era of friendship had hitherto been unprecedented as no Arab country even welcomed Israeli athletes, let alone played their national anthem which speaks of the yearning of the Jew to return to his rightful and G-d given land after being banished for 2000 years.

Leviev, who competed in the 55-kilogram-and-under weight category, beat an athlete from Abu Dhabi in the final, having overcome competitors from Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, according to a report on the Times of Israel web site.

Until a few, short years ago, the Arab Emirates banned all Israeli symbols, as they actively participated in the global efforts to isolate Israel from the rest of the world.

In 2017, tournament organizers in Abu Dhabi banned Israel’s flag and national anthem — a policy directed only at Israeli participants. Tal Flicker, playing under the Judo Federation flag, won a gold at the tournament, but the anthem was not played, so he sang it himself, as was reported by the Times of Israel.

On November 25th, the Times of Israel reported that Hatikvah was once again played in Abu Dhabi after 21-year old Nimrod Ryder (who represented Israel) won the gold medal in the Adult category at the Jiu-Jitsu World Championships. He was crowned as world champion.

The World Championship in Abu Dhabi, which hosts teams from some 60 countries, is the most important competition of the year for the Israeli Jiu-Jitsu team. During the competition there are three categories – Youth (Under-18), Junior (Under-21), and Adults. The last stage of the competition included the Adults matches, where Nimrod Ryder came in first in his weight category.

Whistleblower Alleges NYC is Blocking Probes into DeBlasio & School Chancellor Carranza

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The agency charged with investigating wrongdoing in city schools are stalling or outright blocking investigations into the mayor and the School Chancellor Richard Carranza. Photo Credit: wnyc.org

By: Jared Evan

A whistleblower made an explosive allegation which the N.Y Post initially broke: The Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) for city schools is sitting on nine cases of waste, fraud and corruption involving the upper echelons of City Hall and the Department of Education.

In other words, the agency charged with investigating wrongdoing in city schools are stalling or outright blocking investigations into the mayor and the School Chancellor Richard Carranza.

One of cases cited involves first lady Chirlane McCray’s embattled $850 million mental health program, Thrive, which has a large school component.

The Thrive program has been highly controversial as far as its actual impact on the mentally ill and especially the way the first lady McCray squandered almost a billion dollars on this program.

Chirlane McCray, was given $900 million to start a mental health initiative focusing on helping the homeless in the city. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was used for, according to the New York Post.

The City Council discovered this shocking amount of potential waste during a meeting earlier in the year.

“I like the fact that money is going toward mental health, but when they say we’re seeing a benefit in all areas, I take exception to that, because I don’t see it everywhere,” Queens Councilman Robert Holden told The Post. “I’m not sure anybody does.”

The Thrive program, which had its budget raised to $250 million per year in 2019, has produced some underwhelming numbers in terms of how many people it impacts, Blaze reported.

The insider document blames Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman, who was appointed in February 2018, after prevailing in a power struggle with former Department of Investigations Commissioner Mark Peters, an aggressive prober of the mayor’s administration and city agencies, The Post reported. The insider document blames Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman, who was appointed in February 2018, after prevailing in a power struggle with former Department of Investigations Commissioner Mark Peters, an aggressive prober of the mayor’s administration and city agencies.

“Under Coleman, SCI is continuing to hold or redirect investigations into City Hall, Chancellor Richard Carranza and de Blasio allies with business or that are connected to the DOE to protect de Blasio’s image while he runs for president,” says the anonymous Aug. 20 letter signed by “SCI Investigative Staff”, and given to the N.Y Post.

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has been a lightening rod of controversy since de Blasio appointed the leftist social engineer as school chancellor in 2018, pushing a race based agenda from the start.

The school’s chancellor, made “desegregation” his signature issue when he took the job in 2018, denouncing racial inequality and promising sweeping action. He has specifically questioned whether too many students were being labeled “gifted”, the NY times initially reported.

New York City’s School Diversity Advisory Group recently demanded the elimination of all Gifted & Talented programs in Gotham’s government schools. Conservative outlet National Review described the situation: the SDAG proposes to sacrifice NYC’s high-achieving children on the altar of “equity and inclusion.”

Meanwhile at the DOE offices itself, race has become a key factor, as the radical leftist agenda has brought negativity and lawsuits.

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza is facing charges for anti-white bias at the NYC Department of Education in a $90 million lawsuit. As reported by the NY Post in June , Carranza is denying the charges, brought forth by three high-ranking DOE employees, all white women, who claim they were demoted without cause in favor of less-qualified persons of color by him after he was placed in charge of the agency in April 2018. “Under Carranza’s leadership, DOE has swiftly and irrevocably silenced, sidelined and punished plaintiffs and other Caucasian female DOE employees on the basis of their race, gender and unwillingness to accept their other colleagues’ hateful stereotypes about them,” wrote the group’s lawyer, Davida S. Perry, in the filing.