Speaking at the convocation ceremony for NYU's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Steven William Thrasher called President Donald Trump a "fascist," described Israel as an "apartheid" state, endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and praised Occupy Wall Street. Photo Credit: Washington Free Beacon
A graduation speaker at New York University called President Donald Trump a “fascist,” described Israel as an “apartheid” state, endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and praised Occupy Wall Street in a two-minute excerpt from his Monday speech.
By: Mikhael Smits
Speaking at the convocation ceremony for NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Steven William Thrasher praised his fellow doctoral graduates for their fight against the various perceived evils.
“Many of us have been together at Occupy Wall Street, and at Black Lives Matter protests, and against that fascist in the White House,” Thrasher said to cheers.
When the applause quieted, Thrasher took aim at Israel, which hosts the largest pro-gay “Pride Parade” in the Middle East.
“I am so proud, so proud, of NYU’s chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace,” he said, “for supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against the apartheid state government in Israel.”
The BDS movement targets Israeli organizations and companies doing business in Israel in an effort to weaken Israel economically and politically, forcing the Israeli government to change its policies. Israel is not an apartheid state.
In 2018, Northwestern University named Thrasher its inaugural Daniel H. Renberg Chair.
According to an announcement from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, Thrasher will “will focus on social justice in reporting, with an emphasis on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community.”
A campus newspaper story following the announcement stated Thrasher hopes to “establish programs and classes that examine media coverage of sexual and gender minorities.”
The Washington Free Beacon contacted Northwestern’s Medill School for its views on Thrasher’s comments and the BDS movement. It declined to comment.
During the Monday convocation ceremony, Thrasher placed his political causes at the center of the university’s mission.
“This is what we are called to do,” he said. “This is our NYU legacy, that we are connected in radical love.”
NYU awarded the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) a Presidential Service Award earlier this year. SJP members around the country have engaged in physical violence, apologized for anti-semitic activity, and praised terrorists. Its funding comes heavily from organizations like American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which has ties to Palestinian terror.
Thrasher previously received his bachelor’s degree in dramatic writing and film/TV production from NYU. In the interim, he worked as a journalist and at NBC’s Saturday Night Live. (Washington Free Beacon)
CNN reported on Wednesday that three more parents pleaded guilty in federal court to what authorities have labeled the largest collegiate admissions scam that has ever taken place.
Edited by: JV Staff
Gregory Abbott, founder and chairman of a food and beverage packaging company, his wife, Marcia Abbott, and Peter Jan Sartorio, the founder of a frozen burrito company, all went before a federal judge to formally enter their pleas to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, according to the CNN report.
Prosecutors said evidence included recorded phone calls and emails that show all three communicating directly with the mastermind of the scheme, William Rick Singer, in order to obtain guaranteed admittance for their progeny into the prestigious college of their choice, as was reported by CNN.
As part of their plea agreements, prosecutors are recommending the Abbotts serve 12 months and a day in prison, while Sartorio would serve between zero and six months.
Prosecutors said the Abbotts paid Singer a total of $125,000 in purported donations to his foundation to inflate their daughter’s scores on both the ACT and SAT exams. Mark Riddell, who has also pled guilty for his role in the scam, corrected her test scores for the ACT in March and then for the SAT subject tests in October, according to the CNN report.
In court in Boston on Wednesday, the Abbotts said they understood the scores would be corrected but did not know the details of how it would happen. “I didn’t know the system. I didn’t know how things were implemented,” Marcia Abbott said.
In April, the Jewish Voice reported that actress Lori Loughlin and her husband were among the 16 parents who face charges for conspiracy in the infamous college admissions scandal. The couple was indicted on charges of mail fraud and money laundering. If convicted, the pair will face up to 40 years in prison.
As reported by Fox News, the indication of potential prison time is finally sinking in for Loughlin, and panic is setting in. The Queens-born 54-year-old star from “Full House”, “Fuller House” and “When Calls the Heart” was downplaying the consequences of the whole ordeal, but now is terrified of the possibility of spending time behind bars.
“She has been in complete denial and thought maybe she could skate by,” a source told E! News. “She refused to accept any jail time and thought the DA was bluffing. She was adamant she wouldn’t do any jail time.” Critics, including the sketch artist at the court, have said that Loughlin appeared “arrogant” during the court hearing. “Lori is finally realizing just how serious this is,” the source continued. “She is seeing the light that she will do jail time and is freaking out.”
Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were arrested in March for allegedly bribing their daughters’ ways into the University of Southern California (USC) for $500,000 each. The posh couple allegedly mad payments to the ‘charity’ of scam mastermind, William “Rick” Singer, to get their daughters Isabella and Olivia Jade recruited to the USC crew team, even though neither of the girls is a rower. Isabella and Olivia’s statuses at USC are on hold while the school’s investigations into the individual cases is ongoing. Olivia has become a YouTube and Instagram celebrity, but has lost several of her main endorsements in the aftermath of the scandal.
A top-secret Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence document obtained by TPS exposes an elaborate network of connections between Yasser Abbas, son of PA head Mahmoud Abbas, and other PA senior officials who are involved in terror-financing and money-laundering.
By: Baruch Yedid
The severe allegations leveled against Abbas and the other officials in the document include the financing of terrorism, money laundering, illegal money transfers and bribery.
Businessmen from several Arab countries conspired with PA officials, including from the PA’s foreign ministry, to launder funds for terror groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and armed militias in Syria.
The network is also involved in tax evasion and money smuggling in the US.
The two primary figures at the center of the network are the brothers Assem and Issam Khourani, US and British citizens respectively.
Issam Khourani is a Lebanese businessman with British citizenship. He was also provided with a diplomatic passport by PA head Abbas, obtained through his son Yasser. He is involved in money laundering on behalf of the Hezbollah terror group and armed militias in Syria.
Assem Khourani, nicknamed Da Vinci, is an American citizen. He is involved in money laundering and illicit oil trade with Sudan. He was also provided with a diplomatic passport by Abbas and uses it to advance the network and breach US laws with the freedom the document affords him.
Yasser Abbas utilized his status to advance their network’s operations in several countries.
Sources told TPS that the two brothers obtained a PA diplomatic passport, despite the fact that they are not residents of the PA and in contradiction to the 1994 Oslo Accords with Israel.
The two brothers have a partner named Qassem Amar, and together they lead an oil empire, the Caratube International Oil Company (CIOC).
The brothers have also been implicated in incidents of murder, abduction, blackmail, drugs offenses, and the Interpol has petitioned the Lebanese and Swiss governments to obtained information about their assets.
The two also operated with Abbas junior in Ukraine, Montenegro, Sudan and in Kazakhstan, where they had set up their center of operations and established connections with the country’s ruling family and with the head of its intelligence agency. Issam married Gulshat Aliyeva, the sister of Rakhat Aliyev, the head of the Kazakh KGB, who in turn married Dariga Nazarbayeva, the eldest daughter of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Riad Maleki, the PA’s foreign minister, helped Yasser Abbas and Issam Khourani and utilized the PA’s embassies around the world for this purpose, the report says.
Mazzen Shmaye, the PA’s former ambassador to Kazakhstan, also helped Issam, who centered his operations on the oil trade in the country. Mazzen maintained ties with the Hamas terror organization through his brother, Dr. Maher Shmaye, a senior Hamas official. Mazzen utilized his position at the embassy to transfer funds from Issam’s companies to Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Supreme Shari’ah Judge in the PA and Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari’ah Justice, was the one who connected Issam Khourani to PA head Abbas.
Fatah Satri, the PA’s former ambassador in Sudan, was instrumental in aiding the Khourani brothers to circumvent US law.
TPS has learned that Shmaye made frequent visits to Lebanon and the expenses, some as high as $150,000, were paid for by Issam Khourani.
Issam has also been involved in the murder of Russian TV star and a journalist for NTK television in Kazakhstan Anastaysia Novikova, who fell from the window of an apartment in Beirut in 2004. Khourani and his brother-in-law, Rakhat Aliyev, were charged with being complicit in abducting, imprisoning, raping and murdering Novikova.
Issam has also been tied to money laundering in Austria, Lichtenstein, and Switzerland.
The Lebanese police confirmed as far back as 2007 that Issam was suspected of involvement in terrorism in the country.
Arab media has also reported that Issam maintained business ties with the PA’s ambassador to the US, to advance his business in Sudan. The report did not provide the ambassador’s name.
The PA report also shows that senior PA Foreign Service officials helped Issam evade paying taxes in the US and trade oil with Sudan, despite the US sanctions on the country.
Issam maintained illicit trade ties with Sudan with the help of PA officials and used his PA diplomatic passport for this purpose. Assem made the actual deals with the Sudanese, with the involvement of Yasser Abbas.
The Arab media reported that Da Vinci worked to obtain citizenship from an Arab country so that he could win oil trade agreements with Sudan for Caratube. Some reports said that Yasser Abbas was involved in the process, with the help of the PA embassy in Sudan.
The Interpol has issued a warrant for Da Vinci and has asked the US and the UK to freeze the brothers’ assets.
The US’ Senate House Committee on Foreign Affairs in 2012 discussed the network.
An Israeli source has confirmed that Yasser Abbas’ ties with Hezbollah have been known by the IDF since 2014.
S.F., a former senior PA official, told TPS that “corruption is killing the PA, even before Abbas leaves office,” and that the PA can expect growing inner violence, carried out by armed militias, as part of an inheritance and power battle, in the near future.
Another senior PA official, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that the PA’s resources are very limited, even before Israel cut the tax transfers to the PA over its practice of paying terrorists.
“These resources have become private property and are exploited by a group of corrupt leaders,” he said, noting that as a result “the PA is fading away and now the future of tens of thousands of Arabs is in danger.” (TPS)
In the midst of widespread attacks on Jewish targets throughout New York City, earlier today, (Wednesday, May 22), a home in the Sephardic Jewish community in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn was invaded by a dangerous burglar who at the time of this writing has still not been apprehended by local law enforcement authorities.
Edited by: JV Staff
According to a report on the Yeshiva World News web site, the home invasion took place at approximately 1:30 pm. The suspect is a black male, around 6 ft tall. He was wearing orange sneakers, dark clothing and was carrying a black knapsack.
Sources told the Yeshiva World News that the man forced his way into a home located on East 1st Street between Avenue S and T.
No weapons were displayed, although it is unknown if the man was in fact armed.
At home at the time of the invasion was the woman of the house as well as a housekeeper who is in the employ of the homeowner.
According to the report on the YWN site, the woman managed to run out of the home after the perpetrator forced his way in, however the housekeeper, whose name has not been released to the media was assaulted by the suspect. The suspect did take various items from the home, but those items have yet to be identified. The attacker was chased on foot by the housekeeper and according to sources close to the investigation, the perpetrator dropped the items he stole, before escaping the scene on foot. Thus far, the condition of the housekeeper has not been released.
According to Shomrim member, Bob Moskowitz, video footage was given to the police, however Mr. Moskowitz said that he was not sure whether the image of the suspect was on the video.
In addition to the Flatbush Shomrim who were summoned to the scene of the invasion, the NYPD were called and they have been canvassing for the suspect. The police are also working on securing security camera footage from nearby homes.
If you have any information about this crime, please call 911, and please call the 24 hour Flatbush Shomrim emergency hotline at 718-338-9797.
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, Rabbi of the Chabad of Poway, whose synagogue was attacked by a terrorist gunman on the last day of Passover, will be the featured speaker at the annual Yom Yerushalayim celebration dinner of American Friends of Ateret Cohanim / Jerusalem Chai. The dinner is the main fundraising event of the American Friends, whose support is critical to the work of Ateret Cohanim in the so called Muslim and Christian Quarters of east Jerusalem. For nearly four decades, Ateret Cohanim has painstakingly brought Jewish life back (inch by inch) to the areas that became “Jundenrein” after the fall of the Old Yishuv in the 1948 War of Independence. The dinner will be held at 6:00 PM at the Marriot Marquis in midtown Manhattan on Thursday night, May 30th.
The projects and programs of American Friends of Ateret Cohanim / Jerusalem Chai, support the educational, social, recreational, and security needs of the over 1000 Jews living in these areas. These projects include day care and after school programs for children, roof top playgrounds, armed security for escort to and from school, renovations of apartments legally purchased that were neglected by squatters who lived there for many years, security cameras and other equipment strategically placed to aid the police and army, education for Israelis and tourists to understand the importance of this area to the history of the Jewish people, and the renovations of historical sites like the Churva Synagogue, the Ohel Yitzchok Synagogue, the Yemenite Village Synagogue as well as the Mark Twain Center in the old “Mediterranean Hotel” today known as Beit Wittenberg.
The choice to bring Rabbi Goldstein to the dinner was made clear to the Executive Council of American Friends by the Rabbi’s steadfast message to bring light and hope in the face of sorrow and tragedy. After his near brush with death facing the terrorist gunman who killed congregant Lori Gilbert Kaye HY’D, Rabbi Goldstein has traveled across the United States, spoken at the White House and has carried the message of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who exhorted his disciples to bring “light” to the world. Ateret Cohanim has done the same. In the face of hatred and terror by our enemies in east Jerusalem, we continue to grow and thrive, despite the physical threat of violence and psychological danger that face our families every day. Our community in the Yemenite Village in the area called Silwan by the rest of the word, recently welcomed the 23rd family and 122nd child.
In celebration of Yom Yerushalayim, guests will be entertained by world famous singer Mendy Wald and be introduced to Pete Hegseth, Fox News personality who recently aired a TV special “Battle in the Holy City”, a look at the struggle for Jerusalem.
The Guests of Honor, Aviva and Paul Gross, are the daughter and son in law of one of the founders of American Friends, Joe Mermelstein z”l. “Papa Joe” as he was called by all who knew and loved him, was one of the great activists of the Jewish people during the last 50 years. Mr. Mermelstein championed not only the cause of the Jews of the Old City, he was instrumental in raising the consciousness of the world to the plight of Soviet Jewry and is credited for making the case to bring then Prisoner of Conscience Anatoly (now Natan) Sharansky from the Gulag of Siberia to his rightful home in Jerusalem. Joe helped support the Israel Day Concert, projects in Sderot and Hebron, and was an early supporter of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Most major Jewish organizations of today have Joe Mermelstein z”l to thank. American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, together with his children Aviva and Paul, will dedicate a scenic overlook in the “Old City” in Joe’s memory at the gala Yom Yerushalayim dinner.
The dinner will also pay tribute to Rabbi Meir and Briendy Melnicke (Rabbinical Alliance of America) who will receive the Rabbinic Leadership award for his work on behalf of the Jewish people both in the United States and Israel. Albert and Louiza Allaham, purveyor of Reserve Cut and Mr. Willy Pilku will receive the coveted “Bonei” Yerushalayim award. Mr. Pilku of Core Scaffold Systems has said his goal is to be the one to build the scaffolding for the future Temple in Jerusalem.
Danny & Tzippy Finkelman (Sparks Next Productions) have been responsible for much of the creative video shown at previous dinners and will receive the Oheiv Tzion Award. Mr. Finkelman has won awards for his work at the Sundance Film Festival and was a producer of the drama “Menashe” that received universal acclaim for its portrayal of Chasidic life in Brooklyn.
American Friends is also proud to pay tribute to three outstanding young people, Michael Celler, Inna Vernikov and Estee Wald for their commitment and enthusiasm on behalf of Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
“All of us are looking forward to celebrating Yom Yerushalayim, because for no other city do we dance and sing,” said Shani Hikind, Executive Vice President of American Friends. “This is everyone’s opportunity to stand by the side of our incredible families living in the heart of Jerusalem.”
The World Jewish Congress on Wednesday condemned the World Health Organization’s approval of a blatantly one-sided annual resolution accusing Israel of perpetuating a health crisis in the Palestinian territories. The resolution was passed, with 96 countries voting in favor, 11 against, and 21 abstaining. Among those that voted against the resolution aside from Israel, were the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, and Hungary.
“The World Health Organization has, yet again, demonstrated the pervasive double standards within the United Nations which single out Israel for condemnation while absolving the Palestinian authorities of any wrongdoing or responsibility in the territories under their control,” said World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder.
“As in the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, the Commission on the Status of Women, and other bodies, the World Health Organization has debated only one country-specific resolution at this session, despite scores of conflicted regions where the deterioration of health continues to pose an alarming and pressing threat,” Lauder said.
“This resolution, which in its very essence is deeply flawed, does not once mention Hamas or its responsibility for the health crisis in the Gaza Strip and barely mentions the role that the Palestinian Authority plays in caring for its residents, placing the blame disproportionately on Israel. It also turns a blind eye to the corruption that abounds within the Palestinian leadership, and the misuse of funds that could and should be devoted to health care and are instead used to reward terrorists for murdering and maiming Israelis,” he said.
“We thank the United States, the United Kingdom, and the other countries who stood their moral ground in opposing this charade and urge other countries to think deeply and carefully about the message they are sending in supporting this clearly biased resolution. The WHO is an important organization that is much needed by the international community for the benefit of health around the world. However, its standing and efficacy is undermined by those who would rather point the world’s finger at Israel than risk having it pointed at themselves. It’s time for the international community to wake up and realize that the body tasked with our global protection has become theater of the absurd,” Lauder said.
Hundreds of supporters for the fight against antisemitism congregated in Times Square to call for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s removal from the Foreign Affairs committee for her repeated use of antisemitic tropes and her recent support for Hamas while they were firing rockets on Israeli civilians.
What’s become clear is that Omar, and along with her, Rashida “the Holocaust gives me a comfortable feeling” Tlaib, are mainstays in the Democratic party, and no amount of hand washing will wipe away their stain and “taint” of antisemitism. Leaders Pelosi and Schumer, all of the Democratic presidential hopefuls, and certainly, above all others, the host of Jewish congressmen and women who have remained silent or outwardly supported and reinforced these two scathing antisemites, are collectively responsible for what they produce.
I can tell you this: we will not be silent; nor will we stop fighting for Ilhan’s removal from the committee and the casting out from the Democratic party of unabashed antisemites who masquerade as anti-Zionists, neatly cloaking themselves as liberal humanitarians. We see right through them, and we’re moving full force ahead.
ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today praised law enforcement for the arrest of Jonathan Xie, a resident of Basking Ridge, Somerset County, NJ, for threatening to ‘shoot everybody’ at a pro-Israel march. Xie was allegedly inspired by the Palestinian terror organization, Hamas. While many terror organizations, including ISIS, al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, single out Jews and Zionists as targets, this is the first arrest of a U.S. citizen allegedly motivated by Hamas-ties in almost ten years.
“This arrest serves as a clear reminder that foreign terror organizations’ violent and hateful ideologies truly have no borders,” said Evan R. Bernstein, ADL NY/NJ Regional Director. “Hamas’ hatred of Israel seems to have motivated this individual to target pro-Israel supporters in the United States. This is once again indicative of the need for Jewish communal security, and we applaud law enforcement for this critical arrest. We must remain vigilant against extremism and hate from across the ideological spectrum.”
ADL remains in close contact with law enforcement, and its Center on Extremism monitors Islamist extremist organizations and their offshoots, including Hamas.
The Rieders Foundation is filing a formal complaint with the New York state division of Human Rights on Monday May 20, 2019 against the Rockefeller Brother’s Foundation (RBF) for its extensive and well-documented donations to groups with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel bias. Attached to the complaint is a 19 page report outlining the various individuals and organizations that the RBF supplies with grants. Stephen Heintz, president of the RBF, responded to these claims in an article that was published in Tablet magazine. Heintz reiterated that donations regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were “aimed at ending the 50-year long occupation in order to bring justice, dignity, and security to all Israelis and Palestinians.”
Heintz failed to acknowledge that many of the recipients of RBF grants strongly support a 1 state solution, as well as the boycott, divest, and sanction (BDS) movement. BDS is widely recognized as the least productive path to a peaceful solution, eliminating the possibility for two states to coexist side by side. Legislation in the United States has made BDS irrelevant in 27 states and the number is increasing steadily. BDS is a symbolic replacement for traditional anti-Semitism, as was recognized 5/17/2019 by the German Bundestag.
At the Rieders Foundation, we are also clarifying the tax-exempt status that the RBF operates under. With donations as large as $3 million to organizations such as JStreet for its “Iran Campaign”, the RBF should not remain eligible for its 501(c) 3 tax-exempt status. Other recipients of RBF grants include, Ifnotnow, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the US campaign for Palestinian rights. Organizations such as Defense for Children International (which received $25,000 from the RBF in 2017) employed board members and workers with direct ties to the Popular front for the liberation of Palestine (PFLP), “a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.”
The frightening part is that DeBlasio really thinks he is capable of dealing with the rest of the world when to us, his captives within the city boundaries, he's no more than a bumbling idiot. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
The prospects for a resurgence of the struggling chapeau industry should be getting a shot in the arm with as many as 24 Democrat candidates tossing their hats in the ring for the presidential nomination. And that’s just the latest count. But the latest contestant for this monumental but thankless job is none other than one of our own, the inept mayor of the Big Apple……Bill De Blasio. Don’t get us wrong. We and about 60% of other New Yorkers would like someone to take him off our hands and out of Gracie Mansion, but just the thought of him occupying the White House and corrupting the entire nation, is downright scary. The frightening part is that he really thinks he is capable of dealing with the rest of the world when to us, his captives within the city boundaries, he’s no more than a bumbling idiot.
We’ve struggled for years under his and his wife, Chirlane’s rule and we just found out more bad news. That the program she started 4 years ago, the ThriveNYC scheme funded by 900 million $ of taxpayer money to improve our town’s mental health, has disappeared. Since its inception, the organizers of that questionable boondoggle have largely failed to keep records and appear to have accomplished nothing. And Chirlane was selected by her loving spouse to run this monumental undertaking although her, call it what you will, claim to fame is as a black/lesbian/activist poet, political speech writer and wife to Hizzoner.
So, under her “leadership” nearly one billion bucks are gone like the cleanliness and efficiency of our subway system, like the destruction of our acclaimed three elite high schools that have sent off tens of thousands of kids to better the world community and of course, the stupidity of running Amazon out of town by AOC. All of the above and more given to you by the De Blasio family team of incompetents who might perhaps even might be labeled criminals by an honest prosecutor if one can be found to dig into this mess of their administration.
Some might complain that his campaigning around the country will deprive us of his “leadership.” Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democrat consultant might have hit the nail on the head with his comment on the matter: “New York city residents have never felt that he’s been involved in the grind that makes NYC government work. So it doesn’t matter. The bureaucracy is running this place. He’s not running it.” So… do we ever miss the likes of Mayors Guiliani and Bloomberg!!!! Our thought bears repeating. As incompetent as De Blasio is as our own Mayor and as much as we’d like to see him go, the thought of him as president is our nightmare. Don’t let it happen!!
The conference billed as “Peace to Prosperity” will serve as a “pivotal opportunity to convene government, civil society, and business leaders to share ideas, discuss strategies, and galvanize support for potential economic investments and initiatives that could be made possible by a peace agreement.” Photo Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten
Bahrain on Tuesday defended its decision to host a White House-engineered conference to address the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, saying its only objective is to support the “brotherly Palestinian people.”
While the Palestinian Authority rejected a White House-sponsored economic conference planned for next month in Bahrain, which is part of the rollout of President Trump’s long-awaited Israel-Palestinian plan, Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, tweeted that his country respects the Palestinian leadership’s steadfast position safeguarding Palestinian rights, but also defended his country’s decision to host a conference to address the Middle East crisis.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the White House announcing the upcoming economic workshop to be held in Manama in Bahrain on June 25th and 26th, the conference billed as “Peace to Prosperity” will serve as a “pivotal opportunity to convene government, civil society, and business leaders to share ideas, discuss strategies, and galvanize support for potential economic investments and initiatives that could be made possible by a peace agreement.”
According to the White House, the “Peace to Prosperity” forum will facilitate discussions on an ambitious, achievable vision and framework for a prosperous future for the Palestinian people and the region, including enhancements to economic governance, development of human capital, and facilitation of rapid private-sector growth. If implemented, this vision has the potential to radically transform lives and put the region on a path toward a brighter future.
“I look forward to these important discussions about a vision that will offer Palestinians exciting new opportunities to realize their full potential. This workshop will engage leaders from across the entire Middle East to promote economic growth and opportunity for the people in this important region,” said United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin.
“The ‘Peace to Prosperity’ workshop underscores the close strategic partnership between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United States as well as the strong and shared interest in creating thriving economic opportunities that benefit the region,” stated Bahrain Minister of Finance and National Economy Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
According to an AP report, Bahrain’s foreign minister said that both the official and popular position of Bahrain “has been and continues to be championing the brotherly Palestinian people in the restoration of their legitimate rights in their land and an independent state with its capital as east Jerusalem, additionally economically supporting the Palestinian people.”
The conference “serves no other purpose” than to help the Palestinian people “through developing their abilities and enhancing their resources,” said Bahrain’s foreign minister.
The eventual peace plan is expected to feature proposals for regional economic development that would include Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is working to rally key Arab states, like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and others, to help bankroll economic incentives that could get Palestinians to buy into its Mideast plan, according to an AP report.
Bahrain hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and is a close ally of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are widely believed to be seeking closer ties to Israel, viewing it as a potential ally against Iran, a shared enemy.
The report also indicated that Rabbi Marc Schneier, (the presiding spiritual leader of the Hamptons Synagogue in Long Island), who was appointed special adviser by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, said he knows of no other Gulf leader that has been more preoccupied with establishing relations with Israel and bringing other Gulf states onboard.
The AP reported that Schneier said King Hamad told him in a 2016 meeting in the palace that “our only hope for a strong, moderate Arab voice in the Gulf is a strong Israel.” He noted that the king also sent an interfaith delegation from Bahrain to Jerusalem not long after the Trump administration moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in recognition of it as Israel’s capital.
“It’s not a question of Bahrain being a participant. They have led this effort, at least since I’ve known the king for eight years,” Schneier said, adding that it’s no wonder that the king “would embrace” the opportunity to host the Mideast meeting.
According to an Al Jazeera report, Palestinian officials said the conference would not address the core political issues of the conflict: final borders, the status of Jerusalem, or the fate of Palestinian refugees.
“The cabinet wasn’t consulted about the reported workshop, neither over the content, nor the outcome nor timing,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday.
“Any solution to the conflict in Palestine must be political … and based on ending the occupation,” he added.
This statement was reiterated by Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization. “We were not consulted by any party on the announced meeting to take place in Manama, Bahrain,” he said. “We have not mandated any party to negotiate on our behalf.”
He added that, “Attempts at promoting an economic normalization of the Israeli occupation of Palestine will be rejected.”
The Palestinians, who severed ties with the United States more than a year ago, have repeatedly expressed fears that the White House would try to buy them off with large sums of investment in exchange for freezing their demands for an independent state. They have also expressed concerns that Washington is trying to rally support from other Arab countries to pressure them into accepting a plan they see as unacceptable.
Al Jazeera reported that Social Development Minister Ahmed Majdalani, meanwhile, said Palestinian officials would not attend the June meeting.
“There will be no Palestinian participation in the Manama workshop,” Majdalani, who is also a member of the executive committee of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told Reuters news agency.
“Any Palestinian who would take part would be nothing but a collaborator for the Americans and Israel.”
On that note, the Times of Israel has reported that Bashar Masri, a Palestinian industrialist with vast business holdings throughout Judea and Samaria, has said he had turned down an invitation to the conference.
“I will not participate in this conference, and none of the representatives of our companies will participate,” he wrote on Facebook. “We reaffirm our clear position: We will not deal with any event outside the Palestinian national consensus.”
The Jerusalem Post reported that former PA minister of information Nabil Amr, welcomed the US administration’s decision to delay the announcement of the political part of the deal and described it as an “important step in the right direction.”
In an interview with Maan news agency, Amr also welcomed the workshop “on condition that it does not come as an alternative to a political solution, which is the basis for tackling the conflict on the Palestinian-Israeli track.” Amr called on the Palestinian leadership to be more open to the political developments in the region and the world and to positively engage with influential forces in the international arena, including the US.
Having recently been denied a visa to the visit the United States, Hanan Ashwari, a longtime PLO representative and aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, slammed the planned Bahrain meeting, saying it was not “a peace plan, “ according to an Al Jazeera report.
“This is just an economic workshop and another way of rewarding Israel again and maintaining Israel’s control of our land and resources,” Ashrawi told Al Jazeera.
“It is the Americans who have rejected everything so far; from the law to the agreements, to the basic requirements of peace to the components of any viable peace process … It shows a lack of understanding of the issues of the region,” she added.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, also affiliated with the PLO – condemned the conference as a “stab in the back of the Palestinians and their martyrs and prisoners. The workshop, the group said, “marks a departure from the resolutions of the Arab summits and is a suspicious embroilment in the American-Israeli project to liquidate the Palestinian cause.”
Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East envoy, said it was “difficult to understand why the Palestinian Authority would reject a workshop designed to discuss a vision with the potential to radically transform lives and put people on a path toward a brighter future.” Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Palestinian Islamic Jihad official Ahmed al-Mudalal said the Palestinians reject economic initiatives that are part of a deal to “erase” the Palestinian cause.
Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East envoy, said it was “difficult to understand why the Palestinian Authority would reject a workshop designed to discuss a vision with the potential to radically transform lives and put people on a path toward a brighter future.”
“History will judge the Palestinian Authority harshly for passing up any opportunity that could give the Palestinians something so very different, and something so very positive, compared to what they have today,” Greenblatt said.
“Our economic plan is an ambitious but achievable vision; it presents an alternative path with the potential to unlock a prosperous future for the Palestinian people if they choose to follow it,” Greenblatt said.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor who is also the chief architect of the “Deal of the Century” said that it had been disheartening that the Palestinian leadership had attacked the Middle East peace plan before it is unveiled. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor who is also the chief architect of the “Deal of the Century” said that it had been disheartening that the Palestinian leadership had attacked the Middle East peace plan before it is unveiled.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Kushner said, “The Palestinian people, along with all people in the Middle East, deserve a future with dignity and the opportunity to better their lives. Economic progress can only be achieved with a solid economic vision and if the core political issues are resolved.”
According to the TOI report, David Friedman, the United States Ambassador to Israel has embraced the “Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce,” a group led by Jewish settlers that seeks business alliances with Palestinian partners. The group’s Palestinian co-founder, businessman Ashraf Jabari, said he had been invited and planned on attending.
It is unclear how any large-scale projects would be carried out in the Gaza Strip. The US and Israel consider Gaza’s Hamas rulers to be a terrorist group and have no direct contacts with them.
Intelligence indicates that the Iranian regime is using its terror proxy groups to conduct attacks on ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical Persian Gulf shipping lane that has become the center of international tensions as Tehran seeks to foment instability in reaction to President Donald Trump's efforts to strangle the hardline regime. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Iran and terror proxies escalating attacks, developing sophisticated weaponry as standoff heats up
Intelligence indicates that the Iranian regime is using its terror proxy groups to conduct attacks on ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical Persian Gulf shipping lane that has become the center of international tensions as Tehran seeks to foment instability in reaction to President Donald Trump’s efforts to strangle the hardline regime.
U.S. intelligence collected over the past month had indicated that Iran has been installing missiles on small vessels in the Gulf region. Tehran is relying on a large network of terror proxies and allies to attack not only commercial vessels in the region, but also U.S. military assets stationed there.
Iran has a long history of conducting terror attacks in this manner, fueling worry in the Trump administration that Tehran could carry out a large-scale attack via its terror networks. In just the past two years, Iran has been identified as being responsible for at least 143 attacks against shipping vessels in the Gulf, according to expert analyses of the ongoing tensions in the region.
There is further evidence Tehran is developing a range of tactical weapons and smaller vessels that could pose significant problems for the U.S. Navy and its larger boats, according to U.S. intelligence assessments and experts.
The Trump administration has responded by sending greater U.S. military assets to the region and issuing a range of sanctions. Trump himself has warned the Iranian regime at multiple junctures, including during the weekend, that any attack on the United States or its allies will result in a crushing response.
Four commercial ships were damaged last week in the Gulf and carry the hallmarks of Iranian-backed attacks.
“While details remain murky, this development underscores how Tehran and its proxies may exploit maritime vulnerabilities in the region,” the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, or FDD, a think-tank with close ties the Trump administration, noted in a recent policy brief on the situation.
“Tehran has a history of targeting civilian vessels transiting the Gulf and threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one fifth of the world’s seaborne oil passes,” FDD stated in a policy briefing issued by veteran military intelligence experts Andrew Gabel and Bradley Bowman. “During the last two years of the Iran-Iraq War, Iran conducted 143 attacks against shipping in the Gulf. Last month, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri threatened to close the strait.”
Iran has a history of using its terror proxies to conduct attacks in order to shield the regime from responsibility and avoid sparking a large-scale war that would surely end in the Islamic Republic’s destruction.
“To avoid international condemnation and direct confrontation with the United States military, Tehran may use covert operators to conduct attacks,” FDD noted in its brief. “This could include the use of divers or crew members to sabotage vessels. Such an approach would be consistent with Tehran’s use of proxies and asymmetrical terrorist attacks. Such tactics enable Tehran to achieve its objectives at a relatively low cost, while evading attribution and consequences.”
Similarly, a weekend rocket attack near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad also bared the hallmark of Iran. Sources in the region told the Washington Free Beacon the attack was likely conducted by Iran’s Hezbollah assets in Iraq.
While Iran could not compete with U.S. forces in a conventional war, the hardline regime in Tehran has focused on developing smaller military vessels that carry sophisticated weaponry suited for fast attacks.
President Donald Trump has, in the past, openly showed Fox New his favoritism, commending the station as his most faithful new outlet. The network has been his first pick when it was time for him to give an interview, and the network was spared when he condemned scores of other media groups for promoting ‘fake news’.
As reported by Yahoo! News, now the president seems to have soured a bit, even on Fox News. On Sunday May 19th, the President took to Twitter to criticize Fox network, for the second time. Mr. Trump expressed dismay with the conservative network for interviewing Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor from South Bend, Indiana. “Hard to believe that @FoxNews is wasting airtime on Mayor Pete, as Chris Wallace likes to call him. Fox is moving more and more to the losing (wrong) side in covering the Dems,” Trump wrote. In an afternoon flurry of tweets, the President added, “Chris Wallace said, ‘I actually think, whether you like his opinions or not, that Mayor Pete has a lot of substance…fascinating biography.’ Gee, he never speaks well of me.” Nevertheless, the president proceeded to schedule an interview with the network for that evening.
The first indication that Trump was feeling tension with the network was last month. The president took a swipe at Fox after it hosted a town hall meeting with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, another 2020 presidential contender. “So weird to watch Crazy Bernie on @Fox News,” Trump tweeted. The audience “was so smiley and nice. Very strange,” wrote Trump, implying that he thought it was filled with Sanders supporters.
The stiffening ties with Fox News began after two former important Fox personnel departed from roles in his administration. Namely, Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive, who resigned from a post as White House communications director in March, after only nine months on the job. The other is former Fox news anchor Heather Nauert, who served as spokeswoman at the State Department. Nauert was promoted to a senior State post and had been considered as a potential candidate to replace Nikki Haley as US ambassador to the United Nations. She withdrew herself from consideration in February, following issues with her nanny not having a proper visa. She also did not return to work as State Department spokeswoman, as of April. Two weeks ago, Trump nominated Nauert to serve on the panel which oversees granting fellowships at the White House.
At a campaign rally on Saturday, May 18, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that his country will never pay restitution for Jewish properties stolen during the Holocaust, and that paying restitution “violates international law and would also be a posthumous victory for Hitler, which is why we will never allow it.” Photo Credit: Shutterstock
At a campaign rally on Saturday, May 18, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that his country will never pay restitution for Jewish properties stolen during the Holocaust, and that paying restitution “violates international law and would also be a posthumous victory for Hitler, which is why we will never allow it.”
“This statement is deeply insensitive to Holocaust survivors and their families. It is also simply incorrect — the issue is not about the German Nazi confiscations during the occupation of Poland,” said Gideon Taylor, Chair of Operations, World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO). “It is about property subsequently nationalized by the Polish Communist government that continues to benefit the Polish economy. Indeed, the Polish government introduced draft legislation to address this issue over a year ago. This issue impacts non-Jewish and Jewish property owners and is particularly important for Holocaust survivors whose property was first taken by the German Nazis and then by the Polish Communists. We call for Poland to meet its commitment to non-Jewish and Jewish property owners who have waited many years for Poland to provide them with a measure of justice.”
Background Information Regarding Poland and Recent Activity on Property Restitution
In February, Secretary of State Pompeo in his first trip to Warsaw publicly called for Poland to provide restitution: “We also appreciate the importance of resolving outstanding issues of the past, and I urge my Polish colleagues to move forward with comprehensive private property restitution legislation for those who lost property during the Holocaust era.” Following the visit, the Prime Minister erroneously stated that the issue was “definitely resolved.” The Prime Minister was referring to a 1960 treaty between Communist-era Poland and the US that addressed only people who were citizens of the United States at the time of the taking of their property by Poland. Therefore, the treaty did not cover most American Holocaust survivors from Poland who became American citizens long after their property was confiscated. Nor would that agreement have affected claims from Polish Holocaust survivors or their families who live today in Israel or other countries.
On May 11, thousands of Polish nationalists marched in Warsaw. Many held anti-Semitic placards, demanding that Poland pay no compensation to Jews for property seized during the Holocaust. Copies of the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion were distributed.
The protests in Poland, as well as smaller ones in the United States, against returning property to Holocaust victims and their families focused on the Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act. The JUST Act, signed into law by President Trump after passing the US Congress unanimously, aims to encourage countries like Poland to fulfill their promises under the Terezin Declaration. The JUST Act serves as a powerful statement of America’s bipartisan, unwavering commitment to supporting Holocaust survivors in their quest for justice.
Last week, the Polish government cancelled a trip by Israeli officials to Warsaw because the officials were going to raise the issue of property restitution.
Former White House Counsel Donald McGahn defied a subpoena Tuesday from the House Judiciary Committee to testify about his conversations with President Donald Trump ordering him to oust special counsel Robert Mueller in the midst of Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Photo Credit: Fox News
Former White House Counsel Donald McGahn defied a subpoena Tuesday from the House Judiciary Committee to testify about his conversations with President Donald Trump ordering him to oust special counsel Robert Mueller in the midst of Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The Democratic-controlled House panel left an empty chair and a nameplate at the witness table for McGahn.
But the 50-year-old Washington attorney, now in private legal practice again, adhered to White House instructions to not testify, and a Justice Department legal opinion that Congress cannot force him to appear.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, the committee chairman, assailed McGahn’s refusal to testify, threatening to go to court in an effort to force McGahn to testify.
“Our subpoenas are not optional,” Nadler said.
He said McGahn’s testimony was essential after the Mueller report recounted that Trump directed McGahn to get rid of Mueller and then, when a news account appeared about his directive, asked him to publicly lie to deny the story, which McGahn refused to do. Mueller’s investigators interviewed McGahn for 30 hours about his interactions with Trump.
“We will not allow the president to stop this committee’s investigation,” Nadler said. The committee two weeks ago overrode Republican objections as it voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress after he refused to turn over an unredacted copy of Mueller’s 448-page report on his 22-month investigation.
The leading Republican on the panel, Congressman Doug Collins, attacked Democrats for staging the short hearing absent McGahn, calling it “a circus.”
“The Democrats,” Collins said, “are trying to make something out of nothing,” noting that Mueller concluded that Trump did not collude with Russia to help him win the White House.
Mueller reached no decision whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to thwart the investigation, but Barr and then Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein subsequently concluded that obstruction charges against Trump were not warranted.
Nadler accused Trump of trying to “run out the clock” to prevent hearings about his alleged misconduct. Nadler said Trump’s conduct in directing McGahn to get rid of Mueller and then to deny that he had done so were “not remotely acceptable.”
Nadler further dismissed the opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel against McGahn’s testimony, saying it was “entirely unsupported by the case law” related to the testimony of White House aides.
McGahn’s attorney, William Burck, on Monday said his client “remains obligated to maintain the status quo and respect the president’s instruction. In the event an accommodation is agreed between the committee and the White House, Mr. McGahn will of course comply with that accommodation.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders explained in a statement that the Justice Department “has provided a legal opinion stating that, based on long-standing, bipartisan, and Constitutional precedent, the former Counsel to the President cannot be forced to give such testimony, and Mr. McGahn has been directed to act accordingly.”
The Justice Department, in its legal opinion, said, “We provide the same answer that the Department of Justice repeatedly provided for five decades: Congress may not constitutionally compel the President’s senior advisers to testify about their official duties.”
Senator Chuck Schumer is asking the federal government to investigate whether a Chinese state-owned company’s proposal to design new subway cars for the MTA could be a national security risk. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Senator Chuck Schumer is asking the federal government to investigate whether a Chinese state-owned company’s proposal to design new subway cars for the MTA could be a national security risk.
As reported by the NY Post, on Sunday, Schumer asked for a “bottom to top review” as he pointed to the tariff war ongoing between the U.S. and China, and to the criminal charges filed last week by the Trump administration against Chinese firm, Huawei, for stealing US technology. The NY Democrat said due diligence will be necessary before allowing the Chinese company to do work for the MTA. The company is pursuing a $4 billion contract with the MTA.
In March 2018, China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC), the largest train car producer in the world, won the MTA Genius Transit Challenge and proposed investing $50 million of its own money to design a new subway car using lighter materials and “modern train control technology.” Now, as part of its plan, CRRC wants to move forward installing new technology in our subway system.
“Given what we know about how cyberwarfare works, and recent attacks that have hit transportation and infrastructure hubs across the country, the Department of Commerce must give the green light and thoroughly check any proposals or work China’s CRRC does on behalf of the New York subway system, including our signals, Wi-Fi and more,” said Schumer said in a statement.
MTA Chief External Affairs Office Max Young voiced his approval in a statement. “The MTA has robust, multilayered and vigorously enforced safety and security standards, but we support efforts of government agencies to bolster that work,” said Young.
While CRRC does not yet have a contract with the MTA and has not started any work, the company already has won contracts with transportation systems in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston. The rail tech company tends to underbid other competitors, thanks to the heavy subsidies it gets from the Chinese government. CRRC is now also in talks with Washington’s Metro system, seeking a $500 million contract for train cars.
“This kind of national security responsibility is just so big, and so complex, that the MTA and other big-city transit systems should not have to foot the burden of going it alone to assess whether or not CRRC’s low bids for work, and current contracts across the country, are part of some larger strategy,” Schumer said. “We just cannot be too careful here, especially now, amidst these tensions.”
