On Tuesday, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the nation’s largest pro-Israel organization, announced that it had surpassed the six million member mark. The announcement comes less than six months after the organization reached 5 million members, and one year after CUFI founder and Chairman Pastor John Hagee delivered the benediction at the ceremony formally opening the U.S. Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem.
“When we set out to create a national grassroots Christian Zionist organization in 2006 we could not have fathomed it would grow to become six million plus nor could we have conceived of how vital CUFI would be at this moment in history. Anti-Semitism has slipped away from the fringes of our nation and is now increasingly rearing its ugly head in the mainstream of American discourse. The members of CUFI shine six million lights on this dark abomination that hides in plain sight. Christians United for Israel will stand with the Jewish people and the state of Israel whatever comes our way,” Hagee said.
“I never thought I would see a day when rank anti-Semitism was commonplace on the American college campus and Congressional leaders equivocated in their condemnation of those who traffic in anti-Jewish tropes. Yet that day is upon us. I thank God that Pastor Hagee had the courage and foresight to create CUFI. For the first time in history, the Jewish community – in Israel, here at home, and elsewhere in the world – is not alone,” noted CUFI co-executive director Shari Dollinger.
In recent years, as the organization has grown faster and larger than ever before, CUFI has seen significant successes advancing its policy agenda, including:
March 2018: After a 15 month lobbying campaign, including more than one million emails sent to elected officials by CUFI members, the Taylor Force Act becomes law.
May 2018: The US formally opens its Embassy in Jerusalem after more than 135,000 CUFI members emailed the White House asking the President to keep his pledge.
June 2018: With CUFI’s support, Kenneth Marcus is confirmed as the Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.
August 2018: Shortly after CUFI engaged an in an effort to work with elected officials in Washington to introduce legislation aimed at ending UNRWA’s malevolent influence in the Middle East, President Donald Trump cuts off all U.S. funding to the U.N. agency.
October 2018: After a month’s long, behind the scenes lobbying effort, including an op-ed announcing the group’s intention to address the problems with the 1992 Anti-Terrorism Act, the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018 passes both houses of Congress and is signed into law by the President.
December 2018: The Stop Using Human Shields Act, renamed the Sanctioning of the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act, which was introduced during the 2018 CUFI Washington Summit, is signed into law.
March 2019: One week after CUFI released a statement backing associated legislation and after a month long lobbying campaign, the U.S. recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
As a result of CUFI’s efforts, leaders in Washington and Jerusalem have acknowledged the organization’s central role in strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship:
“In Jerusalem, our President said that the bond between America and Israel in his words “is woven together in the hearts of our people” — and Christians United for Israel proves this statement true every single day all across this country.”
– Vice President Mike Pence
“I consider CUFI a vital part of Israel’s national security.”
– Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
“Standing up against this global pressure campaign on Israel and the Jewish people goes to the heart of our friendship and the heart of America. And the tip of the spear is Christians United for Israel.”
– Ambassador Nikki Haley
“For decades, America has been the backbone of Israel’s support in the world. Well, the backbone of that backbone is the support of millions of devout Christians across this great country. More than any other Christian organization, CUFI works year after year to make that backbone stronger and straighter than ever.”
– Ambassador Ron Dermer
In less than two months, CUFI will be holding its 14th annual Washington Summit. Confirmed speakers include, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Senators John Cornyn, Roy Blunt, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio, Representative Dan Crenshaw, and thirteen-time Major League Baseball All-Star Pastor Mariano Rivera.
Christians United for Israel is the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States and one of the leading Christian grassroots movements in the world. CUFI spans all fifty states and reaches millions with its message. Each year CUFI holds hundreds of pro-Israel events in cities around the country. And each July, thousands of pro-Israel Christians gather in Washington, D.C. to participate in the CUFI Washington Summit and make their voices heard in support of Israel and the Jewish People.
After Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s remarks on how she felt “comforted” about her Palestinian ancestors’ role during and after the Holocaust set off a firestorm (as expected), I put out a video yesterday to correct her distortions, and without warning prior, or notice thereafter, I woke up today to discover that Facebook had removed my video (see it on Twitter).
It’s outrageous to think that for a video that did nothing but directly quote Rashida Tlaib along with the famous video of Hitler meeting with the Palestinian Mufti as they discussed their ‘shared problem of the Jews’, Facebook censored me and shut down my free speech.
As we’ve seen social media platforms de-platform voices that don’t jive with their far-Left outlook and agenda, it should come as no surprise that they’ve made me a target. But it should be unacceptable, particularly as there was no mention of it. It simply disappeared. The interesting thing is that others posted my video directly from their accounts and the video was not removed.
Please join my call for Facebook to reinstate my video post at once!
(P.S. I’ve included screenshots of the following: a Whatsapp message showing that the post was live on Facebook with a live link, and the message you get from Facebook when you follow that original link, so you can see it was all actually posted and removed.)
Superstar pop icon Madonna was scheduled to perform at the conclusion of the Eurovision contest, despite pressure from anti-Israel forces to cancel her appearance. According to a Reuters report, the “Material Girl” said, “I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be.” Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Contestants from 41 countries walked an orange carpet in Tel Aviv’s “Culture Square” on Sunday for the opening ceremony of Eurovision 2019, brushing aside security concerns and calls for a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) boycott.
Controversy, however, continues to swirl around the 64th Eurovision Song Contest where the semi-finals were held on Tuesday evening and will be held again on Thursday ahead of the grand final on Saturday. Tel Aviv was chosen as the locale as it is Israel’s hub of entertainment and business enterprises of all stripes.
According to a Haaretz report, the winning 10 acts will qualify for Saturday’s Grand Final.
The 17 competing Tuesday are representatives from Cyprus, Montenegro, Finland, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belarus, Serbia, Belgium, Georgia, Australia, Iceland, Estonia, Portugal, Greece and San Marino, according to the Haaretz report.
Last year’s winner, Israel’s Netta Barzilai, opened the show on Tuesday night with a special version of her song “Toy” which catapulted her to fame this time last year in Lisbon. The winning country customarily hosts the following year. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Last year’s winner, Israel’s Netta Barzilai, opened the show on Tuesday night with a special version of her song “Toy” which catapulted her to fame this time last year in Lisbon. The winning country customarily hosts the following year.
Eurovision fans at home may vote if they are from one of the 17 countries participating in the semi-final, as was reported by Haaretz.
The so-called “Big Five”–Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain–automatically get into the Grand Final as they make the biggest financial contributions to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which produces the competition. In addition Israel, as the host country, pre-qualifies, according to the Haaretz report.
Viewers from Israel, France and Spain are eligible to vote in the first semi-final while people from Britain, Germany and Italy may vote in the second one.
Superstar pop icon Madonna was scheduled to perform at the conclusion of the Eurovision contest, despite pressure from anti-Israel forces to cancel her appearance. According to a Reuters report, the “Material Girl” said, “I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be.” Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Superstar pop icon Madonna was scheduled to perform at the conclusion of the Eurovision contest, despite pressure from anti-Israel forces to cancel her appearance. According to a Reuters report, the “Material Girl” said, “I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be.”
“My heart breaks every time I hear about the innocent lives that are lost in this region and the violence that is so often perpetuated to suit the political goals of people who benefit from this ancient conflict. I hope and pray that we will soon break free from this terrible cycle of destruction and create a new path towards peace,” she added.
Reuters reported that Madonna, 60, is expected to perform two songs in Tel Aviv, one from her upcoming “Madame X” album to be released in June. In recent interviews, Madonna had said that she had chosen the name of her upcoming album from the nickname that she was dubbed by her first dance instructor when she arrived in New York City in the late 1970s from her native Michigan.
She had taken her world tours to Israel in 2009 and 2012 and is a follower of the mystical form of Judaism known as Kabbalah. Reports circulated in recent years that Madonna had considered purchasing property in or near the ancient Kabbalistic city of Tzfat in northern Israel.
Reuters also reported that the singer’s Ray of Light foundation, which promotes social justice and women’s empowerment worldwide, supports a number of Palestinian projects.
They include funding teachers’ salaries at schools in the Gaza Strip through the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency UNRWA and micro loans to female farmers through the Palestine Fair Trade Association. The foundation also supports Americans for Peace Now, which campaigns for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel has launched a PR campaign to counter calls for a boycott of the Eurovision contest by the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. Security has been tight in Tel Aviv amid fears that activists may seek to disrupt the competition.
Haaretz reported that last Wednesday, the Gaza-based Palestinian Artists Association called for a boycott of Eurovision, saying that Israel was using the event to “perpetuate oppression, promote injustice or whitewash a brutal apartheid regime.”
As the Eurovision ceremony began, more than a dozen local and international BDS activists held a solidarity protest with Palestinian prisoners, briefly blocking one of the main entrances to the opening ceremony for 20 minutes, according to a Haaretz report. They were removed by 20-30 police and border police, who relocated the protestors to a different section, where the protest was allowed to continue, as was reported by Haaretz.
One protester, Sophia Ton, a musician from Russia, told Haaretz: “I am against cultural washing and the withdrawing of the world community’s attention from the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. You cannot host a cultural, music event in a place with a racist, apartheid regime. Art and culture should be a messenger for change, not for hiding the truth.”
Haaretz reported that BDS activists have called on artists and broadcasters to withdraw, saying that holding it in Tel Aviv amounted to “artwashing–whitewashing through arts” Israel’s policies toward Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
According to the Independent of the UK, the rock band ‘Alice Wolf’ have joined the boycott of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
The Mercury Prize-winning band spoke to Sky News, where they accused Israel of “weaponizing culture” and of being “serial human rights abusers”.
Wolf Alice guitarist Joff Oddie claimed that the country was using Eurovision and wider culture to “whitewash over their human rights abuses”, and said the boycott was a response to “a call from Palestinian civil society”.
“If you say you’re not gonna go to Israel, then lots of people ask you why you’re going to other countries where you don’t believe in their government’s actions,” frontwoman Ellie Rowsell added. ”People ask, ‘Why do you go to America? Does that mean you support Trump?’
“And I can see why [they] think that’s hypocritical, but you won’t do anything if you think like that. Everywhere’s f****d, and in terms of the cultural boycott of Israel, that’s what the Palestinian people have asked for.”
Meanwhile, the Times of Israel has reported that the Israeli government had taken steps to set up a public relations campaign aiming to counter calls to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest, according to a report on Friday.
The initiative posts advertisements on Google which appear to be in support of the boycott movement, but which actually link to a pro-Israel website, as was reported by Reuters. The campaign’s website describes Israel as “Beautiful, Diverse, Sensational,” a play on the initials of the movement.
The website, boycotteurovision.net, highlights Israel’s attributes with videos featuring footage of Eurovision contestants, Tel Aviv’s gay pride week and tourist sites around the country, alongside photo montages and talking points playing up Israel’s diversity, landscapes and culture, according to a Times of Israel report.
The Israeli counter-campaign, according to a Haaretz report, confronts and formidably challenges incessant BDS attacks and accuses some BDS supporters of being anti-Semitic or having ties to militant groups such as Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy confirmed that it was running the campaign.
In a report that appeared last Thursday in the Guardian of London, the Israeli foreign ministry said that they intended to bar entry to people known to be planning to disrupt the contest.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon told the British newspaper that Israel would only ban those who broke Israeli law, which includes a prohibition on support for boycotts of the Jewish state, according to a Haaretz report.
“This is going to be a huge party in which thousands of people will participate but we will remain extremely vigilant in order to make sure that no one comes here in order to disturb and destroy,” Nahshon said, according to The Guardian.
Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, whose office is in charge of battling BDS, reacted on Twitter to a report about Israel attempting to prevent BDS activists from arriving in Israel for the Eurovision competition. He said that the report that was originally in the Guardian of the UK was “another lie” put forth by the paper. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
However, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, whose office is in charge of battling BDS, reacted to the report on Twitter, saying it was “another lie by The Guardian.”
Haaretz reported that concerns had been raised that the contest could be disrupted by a surge in cross-border violence between Israel and Hamas terrorists in Gaza, who are being supported by the Iranian regime. A cease-fire that went into effect a week ago has been holding thus far.
The Presenting Partner of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest is a group known as MyHeritage. As part of their One Big Family project, they have extensively researched the background of several of Eurovision’s contestants based on their DNA profile.
The first semi-final was opened by last year’s winner, Netta Barzilai. Netta’s MyHeritage DNA results showed the different journeys her ancestors took before her grandparents met, and even gave her a few surprises. She is 51.4% Sephardic Jewish from North Africa, 45.4% Ashkenazi Jewish, 1.7% Baltic, and 1.5% Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. Netta was thrilled to discover that she has some Irish DNA and shared her lifelong affinity for the Irish people.
Netta’s great-grandfather, Natan Barzilai, was from the town of Tomashov Lubelski in Poland. His original family name was Szpisajzen, and he changed it to Barzilai, both of which mean blacksmith.
It was reported that one of the DNA researchers also has family origins in Tomashov Lubelski, and he has a map of the town from the late 1930’s that lists the names of the residents. The family name Szpisajzen appears in several places.
The same researcher traveled to Poland and tirelessly searched for clues that would help him find out where Natan lived. He sifted through documents at the local and state archives, and with the help of some local residents, was able to finally locate Netta’s great-grandfather’s home.
As he added new details to Netta’s family tree, he discovered that he and Netta are in fact related by marriage!
Netta’s great-grandfather lived there until he moved to Israel in 1934. In addition to the home, MyHeritage uncovered his birth record and marriage certificate, as well as the marriage certificate of Netta’s great-great grandparents.
Netta’s grandfather married Netta’s grandmother Ilana. Ilana’s close resemblance to Netta is quite striking! Netta was very moved by the image of her grandmother and spoke about the profound impact she had on her life.
President Trump has rejected a report that he is considering sending 120,000 troops to counter Iran, but didn’t rule out deploying “a lot more” soldiers in the future.
“I think it’s fake news,” Trump said of a New York Times report that the White House is considering a plan to send 120,000 troops to the region.
“Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that,” Trump said Tuesday.
The Pentagon has dispatched an aircraft carrier and nuclear-capable bomber planes to the region in the last few days, with a Patriot missile battery and a landing platform dock ship on the way. The Patriot system offers protection from aircraft and missiles, while the LPD carries Marines and the aircraft, hovercraft, or boats needed to put them ashore to fight in distant places.
According to the Times report, the 120,0000 troops under consideration would not be used to invade Iran, something that planners say would require much bigger numbers.
Meanwhile, a senior officer in the U.S.-led military coalition combating Islamic State said Tuesday he had seen no greater recent threat to its troops in Iraq or Syria from forces backed by Iran.
“There’s been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria,” British Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika told reporters at the Pentagon in a video conference from coalition headquarters in Baghdad. “We’re aware of their presence, clearly, and we monitor them, along with a whole range of others because that’s the environment we’re in.”
The statement was in contrast to comments from the Trump administration and the Pentagon, both have asserted for more than a week that they have detected potential threats against American forces in the Middle East from Iran or Iranian-backed proxies.
Capt. Bill Urban, lead spokesman U.S. Central Command, said the recent comment from Ghika runs counter to the U.S.’s perceived threat from Iranian-backed forces.
“U.S. Central Command, in coordination with Operation Inherent Resolve, has increased the force posture level for all service members assigned to OIR in Iraq and Syria. As a result, OIR is now at a high level of alert as we continue to closely monitor credible and possibly imminent threats to U.S. forces in Iraq,” Urban said in a statement.
Senate Democrat Chris Coons said it is hard to determine whether a significant, new U.S. troop deployment to the Middle East is justified. Answering a VOA Persian question at a Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington on Tuesday, Coons said there has been no articulated strategy or briefing by the Trump administration to lawmakers on committees other than intelligence, regarding threats from Iran.
Coons called for continued U.S. dialogue with Washington’s European allies on Iran. “I would urge the Trump administration to work as hard diplomatically as they seem to be from the defense perspective, in terms of planning and developing a strategy and communicating it to Congress and the world.”
A senior military official told reporters Friday at the Pentagon that the Iranian threat was both “on land and sea” and included commercial dhows (small ships) that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a branch of Iran’s armed forces, loaded with “potential military hardware to include missiles.”
The attack is being investigated as a hate crime. Security has been increased around Jewish institutions.
The wife of the secretary of the Jewish community in Helsingborg, Sweden, was stabbed several times on Tuesday morning, reports TPS. The woman is reported in serious condition.
The stabber fled the scene, said the news agency, adding that the attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
The woman was identified as in her 60s. The identity of the assailant was not clear.
Security has been increased around Jewish institutions in the city, according to Arutz Sheva.
A member of the Jewish community said that they live in such a hostile environment that they are afraid to identify themselves as Jews.
‘Not safe to be a Jew in Sweden’
Talia, a young Jewish woman who lives in Stockholm, told World Israel News, “I’m not shocked. It’s not safe to be a Jew in Sweden.”
Even the Orthodox rabbi wears a hat rather than a kippah, fearing for his safety, she said.
She declined to give her surname, saying that when she looks for work, a potential employer could find the article. “It’s not good for one’s career here to be pro-Israel,” she explained.
“Once again, Jews in Europe are in danger,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin stated. “Today’s brutal stabbing of a member of the Jewish community in Helsingborg, Sweden is yet another reminder that we cannot rely on fading memories of the Holocaust to keep today’s Jewish communities safe, as our schools, synagogues and community centers are turning into fortresses.
“We will fight anti-Semitism with all our might, and will speak out against these dreadful incidents. Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured, her family and community.”
In a somewhat related development, it was reported on Monday that Poland’s Foreign Ministry announced that it was cancelling the visit of a senior Israeli delegation to Warsaw to discuss Holocaust reparations.
The ministry said that it had made the decision after “Israel made last-minute changes in the composition of the delegation, indicating that the talks will focus mainly on issues related to the return of Jewish property during the Holocaust.”
The issue of returning property to Jews who suffered during the Holocaust has become a bone of contention between Israel and Poland recently. The issue has led to a wave of protests in Poland.
On Saturday, thousands of Polish nationalists marched to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, protesting that the U.S. is putting pressure on Poland to compensate Jews whose families lost property during the Holocaust.
When Representative Rashida Tlaib said in a Yahoo News podcast that she gets a “calm feeling” when thinking about the Holocaust, and lied that her Palestinian people welcomed the Jewish people to their land in the wake of World War II, she ignited a firestorm. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Haters always tip their hands – sometimes in full view of an audience.
When Representative Rashida Tlaib said in a Yahoo News podcast that she gets a “calm feeling” when thinking about the Holocaust, and lied that her Palestinian people welcomed the Jewish people to their land in the wake of World War II, she ignited a firestorm.
Not surprisingly, the New York Times rallied to the Democratic politician’s defense. “The remarks,” the paper wrote, “and the ensuing partisan furor on Monday, set off yet another feud over Israel, anti-Semitism and the first two Muslim women in the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded that President Trump and Republican leaders apologize to Ms. Tlaib “for their gross misrepresentations.” The No. 2 House Democrat and the No. 3 House Republican traded potshots. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont also jumped in, defending Ms. Tlaib and chiding the president for his “ugly attacks.”
Nor was anyone surprised that Tlaib should find comfort and support in the liberal media. Appearing on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on Monday, she claimed her words had been misunderstood, and called those who were outraged “racist idiots.” She added, “I will continue to speak truth to power, continue to uplift my grandmother (who lives in the West Bank) through love and that’s all I can do. (I will) Continue to share the human impact of what it means to be Palestinian in the occupied territories.”
“Tlaib, one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress and a Palestinian-American and an advocate for investigating whether President Donald Trump should be impeached, has been roundly criticized by Republicans, including Trump, for comments she made last week on a Yahoo News podcast,” wrote the Detroit Free Press. “Critics accused of her being “calmed” by the Holocaust, with some, notably Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., calling her comments “exactly the kind of anti-Semitic lies that are spread to delegitimize the state of Israel” on FOX News’ “Fox and Friends.”
A press release quickly put out by Tlaib’s people in an effort to quell the furor naturally blames President Trump and the Republicans. In it, she notes that the Holocaust was “a horrific persecution of Jewish people and should be remembered as such, nothing short of that. While I conveyed these sentiments during Yahoo’s Skullduggery’s Podcast, it’s shameful that right-wing extremists and GOP leadership, including President Trump, have twisted and misconstrued my words to spread falsehoods rooted in hate.
“Trump has doubled down on his party’s use of the Holocaust to score political points,” it continues. “Instead of recognizing that the accusations against me are false and that my words have been blatantly misconstrued, Trump has once again used his platform to incite hate and violence based on lies. This is yet another attempt by the administration and the GOP to try to distract from their horrible policies, lawless acts, and actual anti-Semitic rhetoric.”
Louis Farrakhan has denied that he hates Jewish people, even as he refers to them as “Satanic Jews.” Photo Credit: JTA
Louis Farrakhan has denied that he hates Jewish people, even as he refers to them as “Satanic Jews.”
Speaking at the St. Sabina Church on Chicago’s South Side, the Nation of Islam leader – who has been banned by Facebook — said once again that he is not preaching hate, even as he vilified Jews.
“I’m here to separate the good Jews from the Satanic Jews,” Farrakhan said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “I have not said one word of hate. I do not hate Jewish people. Not one that is with me has ever committed a crime against the Jewish people, black people, white people. As long as you don’t attack us, we won’t bother you.”
Of his being banned, he noted, “I’m not gonna let them put you in jail, what they call Facebook jail. Some of us did not come out tonight because they did not wish to be censored.” He added, “I am a hated man today — you can’t even have a picture with me.”
Farrakhan went on the chronicle many of the other people he claims he doesn’t hate. “I’m not a misogynist. I’m not a homophobe. Do not be angry with me if I stand on God’s word.”
On a page devoted to the fiery minister, the Southern Poverty Law Center refers to him this way: “Farrakhan blames Jews for the slave trade, plantation slavery, Jim Crow, sharecropping and general black oppression. Farrakhan’s tone grew more belligerent in June 2010, when he sent letters to several leaders of the Jewish community as well as the Southern Poverty Law Center demanding that they acknowledge the evils they have perpetrated and that they work to further Farrakhan’s goals. The letter ended with a threat to “ruin and destroy your power and influence here and throughout the world” if his terms were not met.
Among his direct quotes, according to the site:
* “The Jews, a small handful, control the movement of this great nation, like a radar controls the movement of a great ship in the waters. … The Jews got a stranglehold on the Congress.”
* “And you do with me as is written, but remember that I have warned you that Allah will punish you. You are wicked deceivers of the American people. You have sucked their blood. You are not real Jews, those of you that are not real Jews. You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government, and you are deceiving and sending this nation to hell. But I warn you in the name of Allah, you would be wise to leave me alone. But if you choose to crucify me, know that Allah will crucify you.”
* “And the Christian right, with your blindness to that wicked state of Israel … can that be the holy land, and you have gay parades, and want to permit to have a gay parade in Jerusalem when no prophet ever sanctioned that behavior. How can that be the Israel, how can that be Jerusalem with secular people running the holy land when it should be the holy people running the holy land. That land is gonna be cleansed with blood!”
Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler, who appears hell-bent on taking down President Donald Trump, is – in the words of the New York Daily News – “rockin’ and rollin’ in campaign cash from the music industry and other intellectual property businesses that he oversees as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, a review of recent federal records reveals.”
Nadler reportedly received no less than $65,000 from PACS (political action committees) in the corporate music industry, executives, lobbyists and lawyers, a Daily News search of Nadler’s campaign receipts found. According to the newspaper, Nadler also spent more than $30,000 on a Grammy Awards party in Los Angeles in February.
While no illegality is alleged, any exchange of money and influence – if it happened – is not something with which politicians want to be tarred.
“Congressman Nadler’s record speaks for itself — he has a long history of taking difficult, principled stands, fighting for good government and supporting legislation in the best interest of his constituents and country,” said a statement provided by the campaign.
Undaunted, Nadler continues to make as much noise as he can in an attempt to swing DC politics back in Democrats’ direction. By most accounts, however, he is failing. He recently threatened to hold former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt if he didn’t testify. As the Wall Street Journal insightfully pointed out, “Mr. Nadler insists the point of his subpoena fusillade is to obtain “evidence” as part of his “investigation” into “abuses of power” by Mr. Trump. This is obviously untrue, as evidenced by Mr. Nadler’s dogged, daily efforts to make sure he does not obtain any information of value.”
In the meantime, Nadler continues to invite headlines by aiming invective at Attorney General William Barr. Just two days ago, he announced to the press that he was considering a report recommending that the House of Representatives hold… Barr in contempt of Congress for defying a valid subpoena issued by this Committee.
“This is not a step we take lightly,” Nadler said. “It is the culmination of nearly three months of requests, discussions, and negotiations with the Department of Justice for the complete, unredacted report by Special Counsel Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 election, along with the underlying evidence.
“I appreciate the fact that the Department responded to the offer we made to them last week and met with us yesterday in a last minute effort to reach an accommodation. We heard the Department out, we responded to them in good faith, and after all was said and done, we, unfortunately, were still unable to reach agreement, and we proceeded with our markup today.”
The family behind Purdue Pharma is finding that no one wants their donations.
The Sacklers, long a formidable name in New York society and known for their generosity, have been – rightly or wrongly – blamed, at least in part, for the opioid crisis.
The billionaires behind OxyContin and other pharmaceuticals has donated tens of millions of dollars to such prestigious institutions and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbia University and the American Museum of Natural History.
Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than 200,000 deaths from prescription opioids since the launch of OxyContin back in 1996. And part of that awful stench seems to have attached itself – rightly or wrongly – to the Sackler name.
The family has “become synonymous with the opioid crisis. And it’s costing them their social status in NYC,” the New York Post recently wrote. “More than 2,000 lawsuits target Purdue Pharma for aggressively marketing OxyContin despite the painkiller having known addictive qualities. New York and Massachusetts lawsuits filed by the states’ attorneys general revealed Purdue’s plan, titled “Project Tango,” to roll out medicine to counter OxyContin addiction — ensuring profit on both ends of the spectrum. Connecticut, Rhode Island and Utah have also taken legal action.”
Indeed, the Post quotes one source who reportedly told them, “I wouldn’t invite them to my house. I like to socialize with people who are not involved in trouble … and [who] try to improve society, not hurt it.”
The situation grew worse when Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat and 2020 presidential candidate, decided to kick the family while it was done. She commented recently that she would like to see the Sackler family held accountable for its role in precipitating the opioid crisis.
“This crisis has been driven by greed, pure and simple,” Warren posted on medium.com. “If you don’t believe that, just look at the Sackler family. They’re billionaires. They own mansions around the world. Entire wings of museums in New York and London have been stamped with the family name. “But here’s the thing: the Sacklers made their money pushing OxyContin. Pushing it even as study after study demonstrated its addictive potential. Even as hundreds of thousands of Americans died.”
Warren added that she looks forward to an America “where when people like the Sacklers destroy millions of lives to make money, they don’t get museum wings named after them, they go to jail.”
Should New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio run for president? The recent New York Times headline said it best: ‘De Blasio for President? ‘Nah’ Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Should New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio run for president? The recent New York Times headline said it best: ‘De Blasio for President? ‘Nah’
Indeed, the prospect of a de Blasio campaign for the White House often produces giggles. As New York magazine recently wrote, “De Blasio hasn’t officially declared his candidacy for president, though it sure looks like he’s going to, traveling to early primary states, holding $5,000-a-plate fundraisers, and opening his own PAC to fund national candidates and pay for his own stateside travel. He’s also pretty close to qualifying for the primary debates this summer, needing a one percent showing in just one more reputable poll to make the cut. Though the mayor appears ready to take on the toughest job in America, his allies in New York — not to mention his constituency — aren’t quite as thrilled.”
The Atlantic chimed in, as well, noting that the mayor’s communications director, Mike Casca, “who two months ago joined the payroll of his PAC, quit on Friday afternoon, shortly after attempting to bat down the latest round of stories that the mayor was soon joining the crowded Democratic-primary field. His government press secretary walked last month, in part to avoid being pulled into forthcoming 2020 efforts. His 2013 campaign manager, Bill Hyers, didn’t respond when I asked him what he made of the mayor’s White House ambitions, though he’s been talking with Pete Buttigieg about getting involved with his campaign.
John Del Cecato, the consultant who made de Blasio’s ads in the past, including the breakthrough, blockbuster spot featuring de Blasio’s biracial son, Dante, which turned around his 2013 mayoral race, won’t be involved either, though he declined to comment other than to confirm that he wasn’t going to participate. Lis Smith, a member of de Blasio’s 2013 team who was later denied an administration post after her own tabloid run-ins, is Buttigieg’s communications adviser.”
The liberal New Republic magazine asked in a recent headline, “Why Is Bill de Blasio’s Presidential Dream a Sad Joke?” Part of its answer was that “as de Blasio weighs entering the 2020 race, the prospect of a President de Blasio has been met with widespread derision. The New Republic’s Alex Shephard termed his interest in the presidency an “embarrassing quest for national fame,” while the mayor’s own allies (anonymously) told Politico that his flirtation with a presidential run was “f-ing insane.” De Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, has said the “timing is not exactly right” for him to launch a campaign.
The New York Times, which seems to take gleeful pleasure in dinging de Blasio for everything from calling errant snow days to ostentatiously hanging around Iowa, recently noted that Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has generated far more presidential buzz than the mayor of the country’s biggest city. Even in his hometown, there seems to be only one person who thinks a de Blasio presidential campaign would be anything other than a joke: de Blasio himself.”
A pair of community groups, the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, recently met with New York City Police Department Chief of Department Terence Mohanan and Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison. Photo Credit: BoroPark 24
Attacks on Jews in New York City continue, with a trio of assaults in three days in Williamsburg only the most recent examples.
A pair of community groups, the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, recently met with New York City Police Department Chief of Department Terence Mohanan and Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison. Also in attendance were Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, State Senator Brian Kavanagh and Councilmember Antonio Reynoso, Chaim Deutsch, the Chair of NYC Council Jewish Caucus, Kalman Yeger and Simcha Eichenstein, Evelyn Cruz – representing Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Jonathan Boucher – Chief of Staff to Councilman Stephen Levin, Boris Santos – Chief of Staff to State Senator Julia Salazar, and others.
“While the scourge of anti-Semitism is growing at an alarming rate across the country and around the world, we must face the reality that here at home in New York City we have a serious problem of anti-Semitic attacks on identifiably Jewish members of our community,” said Rabbi David Niederman, President of the UJO of Williamsburg. “People merely walking on the streets here feel like sitting ducks, worrying that they must look over their shoulder in fear of being hurt because of their faith.”
Niederman added, “We call on the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force to thoroughly investigate these two incidents. Should the evidence show that the only reason these victims were attacked was that they were obviously Jewish, Brooklyn DA should charge and prosecute the perpetrators to the full extent of the law, including hate crime enhancements.”
NYPD personnel urged locals to, among other things, report crimes. “A person reports a hate crime in the same manner as they would report any other crime. If it is a serious crime in progress, call 911. If it is a non-serious crime, or a crime that occurred in the past, call your local precinct. The responding police officers will provide whatever immediate assistance is needed, and begin the reporting process. If the situation is deemed to be a possible bias-motivated incident, the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force will be notified,” the NYPD says on its Hate Crimes Task Force web site.
Upon notification of a possible hate crime, detectives from the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force will respond and conduct a thorough investigation. The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is a dedicated citywide team of investigators who are responsible for investigating all hate crimes and related incidents that occur within the city. Victims of hate crimes can be assured that they will be provided with the appropriate assistance, by the local precinct’s Community Affairs team and the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force. People’s immigration status does not in any way prevent them from reporting Hate Crimes or receiving essential services.
New York’s JFK airport was ranked at 86th place worldwide. In general U.S. airports did not do well in the ratings. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
How do New York’s airports rank in comparison with other airports? The 2019 annual international airport ratings have been released by AirHelp, an organization that specializes in air traveler rights and pursues compensation in cases of delays or cancellations. As reported by Bloomberg News, NYC’s local airports did not fare well in the rankings of 132 airports around the world. Newark Liberty Airport in NJ was ranked close to the bottom of the barrel at 116th place. New York’s JFK airport was ranked at 86th place worldwide. In general U.S. airports did not do well in the ratings. The best ranked airport in the U.S. was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which took 34th place.
Of course, this news should not come as a shock to anyone. Year after year, the NY Airports are consistently ranked lower other airports around the country and worse than others across the globe. “Newark is traditionally one of the worst performing airports in the country and one that travelers avoid because of the delays there,” says Scott Mayerowitz, Executive Editorial Director of the Points Guy travel website.
In all fairness, though, a major reason that U.S. airports fair so poorly in the rankings is weather-related delays, explains Henrik Zillmer, AirHelp’s Chief Executive Officer. He says locations with sunny weather have a great lead in the ranking, as they will barely suffer from storm or snow related delays. This is a big advantage for European airports, compared with American ones. However, the quality of service in the U.S. airports also trails behind. He says long security lines are one of the frequently cited problems. AirHelp’s top ranked airports are Doha’s Hamad International Airport, Tokyo Haneda International Airport, and Athens International Airport, which have consistently held the top spots since 2015, when the ratings first began.
The airports’ ratings are primarily based (60 percent) on timely performance. The remaining score is divided (20 percent each) between service quality, and food /shopping options. AirHelp gathers data from multiple commercial vendors, along with its own database, and from surveys collected from 40,000 passengers in 40 countries during 2018.
AirHelp also had access to data regarding 72 airlines, rating the airline companies as well. The rankings were judged for on-time performance, service quality, and claim processing, with each of the three categories weighed equally. Qatar Airways was ranked as the top airline, for the second year in a row. American Airlines jumped to second place, having been ranked 23rd last year. It was followed by Aeromexico, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, and Qantas rounding out the top five. United Airlines Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. also saw improvements in their ratings, ranking 16th and 17th place respectively in 2018. The worst ranked airlines included in the list were: Ryanair, Korean Air, Kuwait Airways, and the U.K.’s EasyJet and Thomas Cook Airlines.
New York City’s Mayor de Blasio wanted to convert the former Park Savoy Hotel into a shelter for 150 men. A judge just said ‘Not so fast.’
Appellate Division Justice David Friedman has temporarily blocked the city from opening the planned homeless shelter on Manhattan’s Billionaires Row by granting an interim stay of a ruling.
In the wake of the judge’s ruling, city officials cannot begin putting men inside the building, which is located at 158 W. 58th St. Next to it is the posh 75-floor One57 apartment building. The ruling also gives both sides until May 20 to post their written arguments.
An attorney for the West 58th Street Coalition, which filed the suit against the city and claims the proposed shelter is a firetrap, told the New York Post on Thursday the group was “committed to making sure this building is not occupied in its current unsafe and nonconforming condition.”
“The city has an opportunity to prevent another similar tragedy before it happens, yet it remains hellbent on opening this shelter in this firetrap of a building in order to satisfy Mayor de Blasio’s political agenda,” lawyer Jeremy Honig told the Post.
De Blasio has loudly and often promised to “turn the tide on homelessness.” A report on homelessness from the mayor’s administration explains that “Today, we face a new kind of homelessness that is driven by years of wages not keeping up with the cost of housing in our city. It’s caused pain for millions and deep pain for thousands of people who have become homeless… Today, 70 percent of shelter residents are families. They are the invisible majority of our homeless crisis. For decades, the City has not done enough both these New Yorkers and the communities where they are sheltered.”
The mayor’s vision relies on three approaches, the report explains:
First, doing more to keep people in their homes by making housing more affordable
and stopping illegal evictions.
Second, making long-needed operational reforms to better serve people in shelters
and neighborhoods.
Third, a reimagined shelter strategy that:
– Removes people from all cluster apartment units by the end of 2021 and
commercial hotel facilities by the end of 2023;
– Cuts the total number of shelter facilities by almost 45%;
– Keeps homeless people as close as possible to their own neighborhoods and on a path to get back on track.
The report adds, “Now, as a city, we are confronting homelessness head on, openly and honestly. Many of the factors that create homelessness are out of our control, but City government must do all that it can to help these New Yorkers. But the City can’t do it alone – we need families, community leaders and faith-based organizations to help.”
Jeremy Reichberg has been sentenced to four years in jail for buying off some NYPD officers in what many are referring to as a gifts-for-favors scandal. Photo Credit: Jewish Voice
Jeremy Reichberg has been sentenced to four years in jail for buying off some NYPD officers in what many are referring to as a gifts-for-favors scandal.
The 45-year-old Brooklyn businessman was teary-eyed as he stood awaiting sentencing in Manhattan Federal Court. He admitted to having acted “like an adolescent” who was mesmerized by “glitz and glamour.”
“Over seven years he developed remarkable access at 1 Police Plaza by treating cops to fancy dinners and vacations in exchange for official favors,” the New York Daily News reported. “He and his fellow cop-briber Jona Rechnitz, who cooperated with prosecutors and is awaiting sentencing, gave cops a steady stream of gifts. Most notoriously, Rechnitz and Reichberg took a prostitute and two cops on a private flight to Las Vegas in Feb. 2013.”
Judge Gregory Woods said that the public “does not expect officials, including the Chief of Department, to spend time catering to the whims of well-heeled donors. This case was about much more than dollars and sense. It’s about the corruption of an important public institution.”
The case reached beyond just Reichberg. His partner, real estate developer Jona Rechnitz of JSR Capital, was a key witness in the trial, having pleaded guilty to honest-services wire fraud in 2016, according to The Real Deal. “Reichberg was found guilty on four of five counts of conspiracy, bribery and obstruction of justice in January. The scheme, which began in 2008, saw Reichberg provide high-ranking New York Police Department officers with gifts, as well as trips to Israel and Las Vegas, in exchange for favors.”
Prosecutors pointed out that the two partners “greased the palms of NYPD brass including ex-chief Phil Banks and former inspector Stephen McAllister, now Floral Park police chief, who were never charged, as well as former deputy chief Michael Harrington, who pleaded guilty, and ex-deputy inspector James Grant, who was acquitted,” according to Newsday. “In return, Rechnitz and Reichberg were accused of getting perks that included help with tickets and gun licenses, chaplaincies in Floral Park and Westchester County that came with parking placards, police escorts, a flyover by an NYPD helicopter at a party, access to public events, and intervention in private disputes.”
The trial, whose drama was played out over the course of two months, drew even more media attention as a result of Reichberg’s co-defendant, NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant, who had earlier been acquitted of illegally receiving gifts.
Good news for New York City: private-sector employment for lower Manhattan rose to 251,334 jobs in the third quarter of 2018, the most recent data available, according to an analysis by the Alliance for Downtown New York.
“Private-sector employment in Lower Manhattan has swelled to 251,224 private-sector employees, rebounding past immediate pre-9/11 levels and fulfilling the promise to return as a vibrant and essential commercial district for the nation, the group says on its web site, quoting its Q1 2019 Lower Manhattan Real Estate Market Report.
“The employment was largely driven by strong leasing activity across industries. In total there were 2M square feet of deals in Lower Manhattan, which helped the district outperform all other submarkets during one of the busiest quarters in seven years.
“This milestone is important for both practical and symbolic reasons,” said Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin in a press release. “Practically, it proves that the rebuilding effort has diversified our city’s economy in a meaningful way while generating thousands of jobs in growth industries. Symbolically, it shows that our determination and spirit can never be broken. While our work is not yet done, this data speaks to our phenomenal growth and importance as an engine of opportunity for the city, state, and nation.”
“After 9/11, we all agreed that our primary responsibility was to commemorate those we lost,” said Larry A. Silverstein, Chairman, Silverstein Properties. “At the same time, we had to restore the commerce that has defined the lower tip of Manhattan throughout the City’s history. At the end of the day, our vision was to create a better version of New York. That vision is now a reality. The bottom line is that Downtown New York – a place many had written off – is now the City’s hottest neighborhood.”
“As the home of New York’s largest TAMI Community and 9,000 workers, One World Trade Center is proud of its role in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan,” said Douglas Durst, Chairman of The Durst Organization. “We look forward to working with our partners to bring more exciting tenants, retailers and arts & culture to this fast-growing and dynamic community.”
The district’s retail and hospitality markets continued to thrive, the group added, with 20 new restaurants, shops and hotels opening in the first quarter. The new retailers included the highly anticipated Crown Shy, a seasonal neighborhood restaurant by Chef James Kent and Jeff Katz, and The Artezen Hotel, which brought 89 new rooms to the district.
Target has stores planned for Astoria and Elmhurst — and lots of people don’t like it. Both locations are schedule to open for business no later than 2022. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Target has stores planned for Astoria and Elmhurst — and lots of people don’t like it.
Both locations are schedule to open for business no later than 2022. The locations are excellent, close to transportation and a wide variety of other retail businesses. The fear is that the big box retailer will steal employees and hurt the communities.
At present, the chain has 78 stores in the greater New York area, and over 17,000 employees. According to the company more than a dozen of those stores are so-called smaller-format outlets that measure about 40,000 square feet, roughly a third the size of a full-size store. Eight more smaller locations are planned in New York City.
“These corporations — Amazon, Target, Walmart, whoever — treat our neighborhoods like corporate playgrounds, and think our people are just open wallets,” said Patricia Chou, an organizer with Queens Neighborhoods United, in an interview with The City.
As to be expected, rallies were held on Friday afternoon to protest Target’s imminent arrival.
“In one particular bustling corner of Queens at 31st Street and Ditmars Boulevard, the arrival of Target would replace five active businesses–including a Key Food supermarket–and some vacant storefronts,” reports the web site 6sqft.com. “The busy intersection is already home to several banks, a CVS and a Starbucks. Last March, the owner of the property in question signed a memorandum with Target for a 15-year lease on a 47,000-square-foot, three-floor construction project, and there is an application for a demolition permit on file with the Department of Buildings. The new development includes 45,000 square feet of retail space in addition to Target.”
As 6sqft.com continues, “Many employees of the Key Food store are members of UFCW Local 1500. Larry Mandell, the store’s franchise owner, says he’d like to stay in the space, but his lease expires in October 2020, and he hasn’t heard back from the landlord regarding renewal negotiations.”
Meanwhile, expansion continues. The chain is preparing to open a new store in Washington Heights in 2020. It will occupy an approximately 25,000-square-foot space on West 181st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, a Target spokesperson said.
The opening was first reported by real estate publication The Real Deal, which spotted a new lease filing with the city Department of Finance. Target secured a 15-year lease at 600 W. 181st St. with landlord Maverick Management Corporation, Patch.com reports. It adds, “Target will have the option to extend the fifteen-year lease for an additional 15 years in three terms of five years, according to public records. The lease does not specify how much Target will pay for the space.”
