The Times editorial board calls itself “stalwart supporters” of Israel, while the cartoonist responsible for recent charges of anti-Semitism claimed that Trump encourages ‘the expansionist radicalism of Netanyahu.”
By: WIN Staff
Following expressions of outrage and demands for action over the publication of an anti-Semitic cartoon in the New York Times on April 25, the newspaper’s editorial board published an opinion piece on Tuesday, adding to two previous responses, one of which specifically came from New York Times opinion section, where the caricature appeared.
The board acknowledges that the cartoon had portrayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog wearing a Star of David on a collar, leading U.S. President Donald Trump, depicted as a blind man wearing a skullcap, adding that “however it came to be published, the appearance of such an obviously bigoted cartoon in a mainstream publication is evidence of a profound danger — not only of anti-Semitism but of numbness to its creep, to the insidious way this ancient, enduring prejudice is once again working itself into public view and common conversation.”
The Times had previously claimed that “a single editor working without adequate oversight downloaded the syndicated cartoon and made the decision to include it.”
It added that “such imagery is always dangerous, and at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, it’s all the more unacceptable.”
The editorial board picks up on that theme in its op-ed article, writing “that Anti-Semitic imagery is particularly dangerous now” and referring to the deadly attack on a Chabad synagogue in the San Diego area on Saturday and the just-released report which shows that violent-anti-Semitic-attacks in the US doubled in 2018.
“For decades, most American Jews felt safe to practice their religion, but now they pass through metal detectors to enter synagogues and schools,” notes the editorial board
It also refers to “the even greater hostility and danger” to Jews in Europe.
The board defends its coverage of Israel, insisting that “we have been and remain stalwart supporters of Israel, and believe that good-faith criticism should work to strengthen it over the long term by helping it stay true to its democratic values. But anti-Zionism can clearly serve as a cover for anti-Semitism — and some criticism of Israel, as the cartoon demonstrated, is couched openly in anti-Semitic terms,” it adds.
However, Antonio Moreira Antunes, the cartoonist behind the controversial caricature, appeared unrepentant in an exclusive interview with the Jerusalem Post. Specifically, he told the Post, “What will be the reason why I cannot do a critique of Israeli policy without being immediately categorized as anti-Semitic? I have nothing against the Jews but I have many things against the politics of Israel.” He added, “I try to make critical cartoons of situations that seem to me wrong, unfair and undemocratic.”
The Post says that the cartoonist replied by e-mail to their questions but that he did not explain why he drew a skullcap on Trump’s head.
The Times has been called out by one of its own contributors, Bret Stephens, who wrote in his column that this case of anti-Semitism in the pages of the newspaper is not an isolated incident.
“The Times has a longstanding Jewish problem, dating back to World War II, when it mostly buried news about the Holocaust,” writes Stephens, “and continuing into the present day in the form of intensely adversarial coverage of Israel. The criticism goes double when it comes to the editorial pages, whose overall approach toward the Jewish State tends to range, with some notable exceptions, from tut-tutting disappointment to thunderous condemnation.” (World Israel News)
On May 1, more than 200 young leaders from 10 countries gathered in Krakow, Poland, to take part in the first-ever ‘Emerging Leadership Conference,’ a youth-led initiative to combat global anti-Semitism launched by the International March of the Living.
On Wednesday, May 1, the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom Hashoah), more than 200 young leaders from 10 countries – Jewish and non-Jewish – gathered at the Jageillonian University in Krakow, Poland, to take part in the first-ever ‘Emerging Leadership Conference,’ an initiative of the International March of the Living launched in response to the torrent of anti-Semitic events and growing global trend of hate crimes against Jews over the last two years. The conference included a wide-ranging discussion of the young leaders’ responsibilities as the new frontline in the war against anti-Semitism and centered on the development of a declaration launching a campaign to rally the support of their peers around the world.
Edited by: JV Staff
Bringing together students and young professionals from the United States, Canada, Panama, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and the UK, the conference was led by 20 youth delegates who experienced anti-Semitism firsthand on college campuses or in their personal lives.
“Our enemies are everywhere – in the universities, in the streets, and in the political arena. What happened here in Poland is happening in all other countries, and it is time to act,” said Alberto Levy, a Duke University graduate from Panama who began receiving death threats after a Twitter feud with an anti-Semite took a violent turn. “Therefore, we need to remember, to understand where we come from and the destructive impact of anti-Semitism and racism of any kind on humanity. We need to embrace the reality, to understand the world we are living in and the threats that we are dealing with. And we need to fight, to act, to stop being indifferent. We cannot be bystanders to any act of racism or intolerance because we need to set an example strong enough to brand anti-Semitism as simply unacceptable in the eyes of the masses.”
In addition to hearing from Levy, now a lawyer and a member of the Latin American Federation of Young Jews, and Izzy Lenga, a British young professional working with the UK Labour Party and the Jewish Labour Movement, the conference participants were also addressed by Baruch Adler, Vice-Chairman of the International March of the Living, Michael Soberman, Director of the International March of the Living’s Emerging Leaders Program and a Senior Educational Consultant for the iCenter for Israel Education, Dr. Zohar Raviv, International VP of Education for Taglit-Birthright Israel, and Rabbi Dr. Danny Schiff, Foundation Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, who was well acquainted with all 11 victims of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh last October.
“Some people say that anti-Semitism is on the rise, but perhaps it never really went away. In truth, it’s just emerging back into the light. Some say that Pittsburgh will go down in history as one of the many cities in which Jews were killed for being Jews. But the story is not so simple,” said Rabb Schiff when addressing the students. “It is true – there is rising anti-Semitism. But it is also true that there are those who want to embrace us and support us, to hold us up and help us rebuild. The Jewish people does not dwell alone, we have friends who want to offer their support. So if we are serious about combatting anti-Semitism, let us choose our allies and work together. Let’s not pretend that we are by ourselves.”
“Additionally, we must acknowledge that the best response to anti-Semitism is to embrace our Judaism ever so fervently and deliberately. Embracing Jewish life is the best way to frustrate the well-laid plans of anti-Semites. Every one of you can undermine their plans by committing to become the finest Jews imaginable.”
Following the lectures, the delegates were split into groups for interactive sessions facilitated by the youth delegates during which they worked on drafting defined portions of the ‘International Declaration Combating Anti-Semitism, Racism and Intolerance.’ When the students reconvened, the different parts were woven together to form a single, powerful statement, which will be read by the delegates on Thursday, May 2, during the closing ceremony of the 31st annual International March of the Living at Birkenau.
“Despite all of the wonderful things that my college gave me, it was a hotbed of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity, which made it really difficult and painful to express my truest identity. Those experiences woke me up to the reality that anti-Semitism exists in numerous forms, near and far,” said Hallie Goldstein, a youth delegate from San Francisco, CA, who plans on making Aliyah to Israel this fall. “Being a part of the March of the Living’s Emerging Leaders Program is such a blessing for me because it allows me to engage with likeminded individuals who are committed to fighting the same kind of bigotry that I encountered regularly in college. I am eager to get this campaign off the ground and make combating anti-Semitism a lifelong commitment.”
Prior to the conference, the 20 emerging leaders, all of whom previously participated in the March of the Living, spent four days touring Poland and discussing issues of anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance with Polish and European peers. They will now use the declaration as a launch pad to create a network of global young leaders that can be activated to advance March of the Living initiatives aimed at combating anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance. They will heavily promote the campaign via social media platforms under the hashtag #SayNoToAntisemitism.
On Thursday, May 2, more than 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish youth from 40 countries and dozens of Holocaust survivors and dignitaries from around the world will participate in the 31st annual International March of the Living, an immersive Holocaust education experience – the largest of its kind – that brings tens of thousands of individuals to Poland every year to examine the roots of prejudice, intolerance and hatred. Since its inception in 1988, more than 300,000 participants from 52 countries have marched down the same 3-kilometer path leading from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Holocaust Memorial Day as a tribute to all victims of the Holocaust. Over the last 30 years, high-profile participants have included Israeli Prime Ministers, Presidents, Members of Knesset, Chiefs of Staff, and Ministers, as well as Presidents, Ministers of Education, intellectuals, and educators from around the world.
Phyllis Chesler asks: why has the NY Times refused to name the editor or editors who chose to run this cartoon? And why have these people not been fired?
The story below did not happen in Mecca or Islamabad. It happened in Manhattan
By: Professor Phyllis Chesler
Last night, my brother, who is legally blind, and who has a service dog, visited me. After dinner, when he called for a car service, I cautioned him to request someone who would accept a service dog. And so he did. Nevertheless, the dispatcher sent “Mahmoud” who absolutely refused to take the unclean, impure animal into his vehicle. My sightless brother, dog and all, was left on the street to call for another car. The driver was not apologetic. He was, rather, outraged, contemptuous, righteous. Many years ago, a dear friend who also had a service dog, was treated similarly by a Muslim driver. She refused to get out of the car but luckily she called me. I begged her to get out and she finally did so. He might have taken her on a wild ride and dropped her off on the side of a highway.
I am not talking about Mecca or Islamabad or Kabul. I am talking about Manhattan. Of course, not all Muslims….are hateful towards dogs. (I personally know many Muslims who treasure their dogs). And not all Muslims are….terrorists. But all the taxi drivers who refuse to take dogs—thereby, knowingly breaking the law, are Muslims. I have never heard of a Hindu, a Sikh, a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist, or a Zoroastrian driver who refused a service animal or who was so willing to break the law in order to obey some other kind of law, custom, habit, or to engage in such rude prejudice. Thus, the abominable cartoon that the New York Times ran and which depicted Prime Minister Netanyahu as a dog is even more ominous than it seems. Muslims consider dogs to be impure, filthy, and they cannot come into contact with them. Dogs are not treasured pets. Dogs are not to be fed. They are to be left howling and starving in the streets—taunted, perhaps stoned by boys.
Cartoons all across the Nazi world and all across the Islamic world feature Jews as dogs, rats, octopuses, spiders—all creepy crawling things that must be exterminated. And the New York Times simply had no idea that this was so. Do you really believe that? I don’t. Listen: The Paper of Record has normalized Jew-hatred as fatefully as the United Nations has. They are the running dogs (so to speak) of this rapidly escalating surge of attacks on those who are visibly Jewish—not only in Europe or in Israel—but right here in America, in our synagogues and on our streets. Alas, I laid it all out at the beginning of the 21st century, I wrote my little heart out, and kept doing so, only to be told that I was imagining danger where none exists—and by some of the very people who are now beginning to repeat my lines, including the one about anti-Zionism=anti-Semitism. My own editor attacked me for this one insight. And then the world had its way with me. Please allow me to congratulate those who came out to demonstrate against the New York Times yesterday. But I must ask: Where were the large Jewish organizations, those under fifty, members of diverse congregations, and our non-Jewish allies? And why has the Paper refused to name the editor or editors who chose to run this cartoon? And why have these people not been fired?
And why do those who oppose genocide continue to advertise their wares in the New York Times? The advertisers should think carefully before doing so again. Even if we had the “yellow vests” demonstrating day after day, I doubt the Times would change its Jew-hating culture. The question is: What will? And: Is it too late? (INN)
The writer is a Ginsburg-Ingerman Fellow at the Middle East Forum, received the 2013 National Jewish Book Award, authored 18 books, including Women and Madness and The New Anti-Semitism, and 4 studies about honor killing, Her latest books are An American Bride in Kabul, A Family Conspiracy: Honor Killing and A Politically Incorrect Feminist.
The second anti-Semitic cartoon that the New York Times published within a week. This cartoon above shows an ominous looking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an evil version of the biblical Moses. The first cartoon that the NYT ran showed a blind President Donald Trump being led a dog of a German breed. Photo Credit: YouTube
A public funeral was held on Monday for Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, the woman who was shot and killed while attending a Passover service at Chabad of Poway on Shabbat.
A public funeral was held on Monday for Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, the woman who was shot and killed while attending a Passover service at Chabad of Poway on Shabbat.
Kaye was standing in the lobby of the synagogue just before 11:30 a.m. when she stepped between Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein (the Chabad rabbi) and gunman, John T. Earnest, 19, who fired several shots from what police described as a rifle, as was reported by INN.
Her husband, Dr. Howard Kaye, told the congregation that he performed CPR on his wife and that she died quickly.
“She did not suffer,” he said reassuringly, according to CBS News.
Kaye described the gunman as “lower than an animal” who was likely raised on a diet of blood and gore, according to the INN report.
At one point, he admitted that his thoughts were coming to him so quickly he was having trouble organizing them but he wanted to share the story of a peace pole his wife had erected at their home. The pole had a message “Peace prevail on Earth” in five different languages
“My wife was a person. Is a person who did so much good in her life. Whatever good she did always turned out. And whatever I did that might not have been good, she repaired and made me look good,” he said.
John T. Earnest pleaded not guilty to murder charges at his arraignment on Tuesday, according to an AP report. Sitting behind glass panes and wearing glasses, Earnest appeared to be looking straight at Judge Joseph Brannigan of San Diego County Superior Court, showing no emotion. Brannigan said Earnest would be held without bail, calling him “an obvious and extraordinary risk to public safety.” Photo Credit: Facebook
INN reported that Kaye’s daughter, Hannah Kaye, said she chose to a pink dress of her mother because she said her mother was a rainbow, her greatest advocate and her dancing partner.
“Our story was, is and will forever continue to be nothing short of extraordinary and remarkable,” she said.
“My mother gave me every opportunity I could have dreamed of. All of who I am today is a result from the experiences we had together.”
A friend recalled how Kaye was a large supporter of President Donald Trump, always had a gift to give a friend or loved one and watched several cable news channels and read several newspapers, according to the INN report.
“Lori died on Shabbat. Lori died on Passover. Lori died in a synagogue. And Lori died saving our Rabbi,” her friend said, according to CBS News.
At the end of the service, Rabbi Goldstein said the congregation would continue to work to make the world a better place and will continue to hold services in the face of danger.
“We don’t go down for one moment. We don’t allow anyone – no terrorist, no murderer, no evil – to shut us down,” he stressed.
At the time of the shooting about 100 congregants were worshipping when the deranged gunman struck. Not only did he murder Lori Kaye in cold blood but Earnest wounded the synagogue’s rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein; 8-year-old Noya Dahan; and her uncle Almog Peretz, according to a WIN report.
World Israel News reported that Goldstein, who lost one of his fingers, said he was preparing for a service and heard a loud sound, turned around and a saw a young man wearing sunglasses standing in front of him with a rifle.
“I couldn’t see his eyes. I couldn’t see his soul,” Goldstein said.
And then, Goldstein said, “miraculously the gun jammed.”
WIN reported that in the moments that followed, the rabbi said he wrapped his bloodied hand in a prayer shawl and addressed congregants outside, vowing to stay strong in the face of the deadly attack targeting his community.
“We are a Jewish nation that will stand tall. We will not let anyone take us down. Terrorism like this will not take us down,” Goldstein recalled telling the community.
Authorities said Earnest had no previous contact with law enforcement. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life without parole or the death penalty. Earnest pleaded not guilty to murder charges at his arraignment on Tuesday, according to an AP report. Sitting behind glass panes and wearing glasses, Earnest appeared to be looking straight at Judge Joseph Brannigan of San Diego County Superior Court, showing no emotion. Brannigan said Earnest would be held without bail, calling him “an obvious and extraordinary risk to public safety.”
Leonard Trinh, hate crimes prosecutor for the district attorney’s office, provided more details about the attack, saying Earnest fired eight to 10 rounds before his AR-style rifle jammed. Trinh also said Earnest had a tactical vest, helmet and 50 bullets at the time of his arrest.
Police searched Earnest’s house in San Diego and said he also was being investigated in connection with the March 24 arson attack at the mosque in nearby Escondido.
California State University in San Marcos was the institution of higher learning that John Earnest attended. He was a dean’s list student who was majoring in nursing. Photo Credit: news.csusm.edu
California State University, San Marcos, confirmed that Earnest was enrolled as a nursing student who was on the dean’s list.
After the gunman fired numerous rounds, the AR-type assault weapon might have malfunctioned, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said, according to the World Israel News report.
An off-duty Border Patrol agent fired at the shooter as he fled, missing him but striking the getaway vehicle, the sheriff said.
WIN reported that Earnest called 911 to report the shooting, and when an officer found him on a roadway, he “pulled over, jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody,” San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said.
The rabbi, who described Kaye as a founding member of the congregation, said the attack could have harmed many more people had the shooter turned toward the sanctuary where so many were praying.
“Lori took the bullet for all of us,” Goldstein said, his hands wrapped in bandages. “She didn’t deserve to die.”
World Israel News reported that friends described Kaye as giving, warm and attentive to community members on their birthdays and when they were sick. A wife and mother, she loved gardening and made delicious challah for her family and friends, Roneet Lev said.
When the gunfire erupted, another worshipper, Shimon Abitbul, said he put his 2-year-old grandson on the floor and waited for a break in the shooting to grab the boy and sprint away.
Abitbul, who was visiting from Israel, said he was still coming to grips with the carnage.
“All of us are human beings,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you are Jews or Christians or Muslims.”
Peretz, a visitor from Israel who was wounded in the leg, said he turned around after hearing gunfire and saw the shooter standing by the door. He grabbed his niece by the hand and carried out another child.
He then saw a group of children and got them running. “I tell them, ‘Go this way, go this way,” Peretz said.
Not only did Jew hating terrorist John Earnest murder Lori Kaye in cold blood but Earnest wounded the synagogue’s rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein (pictured above) 8-year-old Noya Dahan; and her uncle Almog Peretz. Photo Credit: Chabad.org
Earlier on Monday, the shooter, John Earnest, was formally charged with murder and attempted murder, with hate crime allegations.
Prior to the attack Earnest had published an anti-Semitic screed online in which he claimed responsibility for an arson attack against a mosque in the area weeks earlier.
Police investigating the shooting attack say Earnest acted alone and was not part of any organized group.
Authorities have also charged him with arson in connection to a fire last month at an Escondido mosque.
Earlier on Monday, Earnest’s parents denounced his actions as “evil” and said they had no clue what motivated him.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the terrible attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue,” his parents said in a statement released by their attorney and quoted by AFP.
“But our sadness pales in comparison to the grief and anguish our son has caused for so many innocent people. He has killed and injured the faithful who were gathered in a sacred place on a sacred day.
“To our great shame, he is now part of the history of evil that has been perpetrated on Jewish people for centuries.”
“Our son’s actions were informed by people we do not know, and ideas we do not hold,” Earnest’s parents said.
“Like our other five children, he was raised in a family, a faith and a community that all rejected hate and taught that love must be the motive for everything we do,” said the parents.
“How our son was attracted to such darkness is a terrifying mystery to us, though we are confident that law enforcement will uncover many details of the path that he took to this evil and despicable act,” the statement said.
Chabad Lubavitch of Poway Synagogue was the sight of a horrific and deadly shooting on Shabbat, April 27th. Photo Credit: Chabad of Poway
WIN reported that Earll Pott, a family attorney who issued the statement, said the parents will not provide a legal defense for their son, who will likely be represented by a public defender. They asked for privacy.
The FBI revealed on Monday that it had received a warning about the Poway synagogue shooter five minutes before he carried out a deadly shooting attack, according to an INN report.
The FBI had received a warning about Earnest minutes before the attack, but did not have enough time to locate the suspect.In
Shortly before the attack was carried out Earnest posted an anti-Semitic manifesto on the 8-Chan board, an online community notorious for hosting extremists. In his manifesto Earnest accused the Jewish people of seeking to destroy the European race, accused President Trump of being controlled by Jews, and vowed to post a live-stream on Facebook of an attack on a Jewish target.
The deadly shooting in Poway that has shaken the community to the core marks the six month anniversary of the massacre that took place at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh. On October 27, 2018, 11 elderly Jewish worshippers were shot to death by truck driver Robert Bowers, 46, of Baldwin, Pennsylvania. Bowers also posted anti-Jewish screeds on the internet prior to this deadly assault on those gathering at the synagogue to pray on Shabbat morning.
On Tuesday morning, the Jewish Press reported that Chabad Rabbi Uriel Vigler was attacked by an African-American man who physically threatened him and yelled anti-Semitic vulgarities. The assault happened on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, as the Rabbi was making his way to morning prayers (Shacharit).
The assailant then ran away, and the rabbi did not need medical treatment.
Rabbi Vigler filed a complaint with the New York Police Department (NYPD).
In response to the attack, Rabbi Vigler told the TPS news agency: “I thought we were living in peace and tranquility in Manhattan. We won’t surrender to terror. We will continue to act with alacrity and full of love for every Jew and we will continue to spread light to the world.”
Rabbi Vigler is the rabbi of the Chabad Israel Center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and the director of the “Balev Echad” organization which empowers IDF soldiers who were wounded while serving in the army.
In a related development, the reprehensible anti-Semitic cartoon that appeared in the pages of the international edition of the New York Times has been at the center of a political maelstrom. Detractors of the NY Times have claimed that the iconic newspaper has essentially morphed into a contemporary version of the Nazi propaganda sheet, known as Der Sturmer.
On Monday evening, April 29, several hundred people gathered at the NY Times building on 8th Avenue in midtown to express their staunch opposition to the paper’s continual legacy of promoting anti-Semitism and establishing themselves as a tendentious repository of misinformation about Israel. Their coverage of all Israel related matters has been highly skewed and bigoted for many decades, despite the fact that pro-Israel advocacy groups have concretely challenged the veracity of the NY Times reportage.
While the well intentioned demonstration in front of the NY Times building attracted such prominent Jewish personalities as Professor Alan Dershowitz, and former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, among others, there appears to be a division among Jewish leaders on precisely what is the most effective path to traverse in order to not only confront the Times head on but to make the kind of formidable impact that result in dissuading the “Paper of Record” from tenaciously clinging to their current controversial editorial policy on Israel.
Professor Phyllis Chesler, a prolific writer, prescient scholar, leading academic and author of the ground breaking book “The New Anti-Semitism” said, “Demonstrations make for great optics, but the truth is for these gatherings to really be effective, we need rabbis, community leaders, organizational leaders, yeshiva principals and other respected personalities to bring out our Jewish youth. The paltry numbers of people that currently turn out to these demonstrations is more than embarrassing and definitely counterproductive.”
She added, “We need young people, en masse, at these demonstrations and we need them in the forefront of leadership roles as well. We need thousands in the streets expressing our positions, not just a few hundred and in many cases much less than that. While I both respect and greatly admire those who organized this demonstration at the Times building, I do question whether it was really worth it since the NY Times clearly has no intention of altering their anti-Israel propaganda policy because of this public display of angst.”
As a person who has written extensively on Israel and Jewish affairs for decades, and truly comprehends the nuances of the cognitive war that has been launched by a litany of adversaries in order to decimate the Jewish people and all that they represent, Chesler said we are living in the most dangerous of times. “Anti-Semitic incidents and Jew hating vitriol are at a fever pitch and tragically, I see even more of a dramatic escalation as each moment passes. It is really coming at us in a fast and furious fashion,” says Chesler who had offered a cogent analysis of this frightening phenomenon many years ago.
From her academic perch Chesler recalled that back in 1980 she approached the Hadassah organization as well as the United Nations and then the government of Israel with an offer to instruct people on how to scrupulously filter leftist rhetoric that is designed specifically to lambaste and flagrantly attack Israel.
“While these folks gave me a polite hearing, none of my suggestions on this matter got off the ground and that got me to thinking about the pervasive and well entrenched apathy in the Jewish world and how it can be combatted,” said Chesler.
She added that, “If Jewish organizational leaders would get together and start a campaign in which they could reach out to NY Times advertisers (many of whom are Jewish) and convince them to take their advertising dollars elsewhere, I believe that the NY Times will stand up and take notice. Losing this kind of substantial ad revenue would really help to debilitate them and that is the last thing that they need as they struggle to stay afloat financially.”
Asked what the next course of collective action should be in the war to stem the tide of this alarming rate of anti-Semitism, Chesler drew a heartfelt sigh and said, “Unity, strength and working together as we utilize highly effective modalities to make statements that will change the course of history. The clock continues to tick and time is running out.”
President Donald Trump is considering placing Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood on a U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations, the White House said Tuesday. Photo Credit: Middle East Eye
President Donald Trump is considering placing Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood on a U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations, the White House said Tuesday.
“The president has consulted with his national security team and leaders in the region who share his concern, and this designation is working its way through the internal process,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in an email to reporters.
Naming Egypt’s oldest Islamist movement a foreign terrorist organization would allow Washington to impose sanctions on any individual or group with links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood responded by saying it is stronger than any politician’s decision.
“We will remain… steadfast in our work in accordance with our moderate and peaceful thinking in what we believe to be right, for honest and constructive cooperation, to serve the communities in which we live and humanity as a whole,” a Brotherhood statement reads.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt more than 90 years ago. It came to power when its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, won the 2012 presidential election. Morsi had led the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak a year earlier.
Current Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi toppled Morsi in 2013, outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, and threw Morsi and many of its leaders in jail.
El-Sissi has shown little tolerance for the opposition and any dissent.
El Sissi had urged Trump to take the step of designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization during an April 9th visit to the White House, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing officials familiar with the matter.
After the meeting, Trump praised El Sissi as a “great president,” as a bipartisan group of politicians raised concerns about El Sissi’s record on human rights.
Many lawmakers and human rights groups have blasted al-Sissi for what they say have been numerous abuses and the recent successful referendum extending presidential terms which could allow him to rule until 2030.
Organized opposition to the referendum in Egypt was almost nonexistent.
According to an AP report, some people think the Muslim Brotherhood does not meet the legal criteria required for the designation. Others think the organization is too diverse and spread out across nations, making it difficult to enforce a one-size-fits-all description. There also questions about whether a designation would complicate U.S. diplomacy.
To meet the legal criteria for the designation, a group must engage in terrorist activity that threatens the security of Americans or the defense, foreign relations or economic interests of the United States.
According to the AP report, Jonathan Schanzer, with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank, said some violent branches of the group could be designated, but other members support its extremist political views but not violence.
That “blurry” picture of the group was what discouraged earlier U.S. administrations from designating it, he said. The Muslim Brotherhood in Libya, Syria and Yemen have apparent ties to militants, while the group in Jordan bills itself as a political group, said Schanzer, who advises against a “blanket terrorist designation” of the group.
Venezuela's socialist government said Tuesday that an "attempted coup" was underway in Caracas, with opposition leader and U.S. recognized interim president Juan Guaido saying there was "no turning back" in his efforts to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro. Photo Credit: rt.com
Venezuela’s socialist government said Tuesday that an “attempted coup” was underway in Caracas, with opposition leader and U.S. recognized interim president Juan Guaido saying there was “no turning back” in his efforts to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, with gunfire erupting and troops loyal to Maduro firing water cannons at protesters. Television footage showed one Venezuela National Guard vehicle running over demonstrators who were throwing rocks at the military.
In Washington, President Donald Trump said on Twitter he was “very closely” monitoring the situation, adding, “The United States stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom!”
Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton described the unfolding drama as “a very serious situation … a very delicate moment.” He called on top Venezuelan officials, including Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, to convince military commanders to defect to Guaido.
“We want a peaceful transition of power,” Bolton said.
In video and Twitter messages, the U.S.-supported Guaido said, “Today brave soldiers, brave patriots, brave men supporting the constitution have answered our call.”
He declared, “The moment is now! The 24 states of the country have taken the path, no turning back, the future is ours. People and the Armed Forces united by the cessation of usurpation.”
But Maduro responded on Twitter, saying, “Nerves of Steel! I have spoken with the commanders of all the (defense regions and operational zones), who have expressed their total loyalty to the People, the Constitution and the Fatherland. I call for the maximum popular mobilization to assure the victory of Peace. We will overcome!”
Guaido said military troops had joined his effort to overthrow Maduro.
But the government’s communications minister, Jorge Rodriguez, said on Twitter, “We are currently facing and deactivating a small group of treacherous military personnel who took positions” near a military base “to promote a coup d’etat. We call on the people to remain on maximum alert to — with our glorious National Bolivarian Armed Forces — defeat the attempted coup and preserve peace.”
Maduro loyalists fired tear gas at demonstrators outside a military base.
Guaido appeared alongside opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez who had been put under house arrest by Maduro but said he had been “freed” by soldiers supporting Guaido.
Lopez posted a picture of men in uniform on Twitter, with the message, “Venezuela: the definitive phase to end the usurpation, Operation Liberty, has begun.”
Defense Minister Lopez asserted on Twitter that the situation in the military barracks and bases in the country was “normal” and that the military was “firmly in defense” of Maduro.
Despite widespread food and medical shortages and a failing economy in Venezuela, the socialist Maduro regime has clung to power with the support of most of the country’s military. Venezuela’s two biggest creditors, Russia and China, also have continued to support Maduro. But Bolton said, “We expect the Russians not to interfere.”
Meanwhile, the U.S., one of about 50 countries that has recognized Guaido as the country’s legitimate leader, has imposed sanctions on Caracas in an effort to curb its international oil sales.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “Today interim President Juan Guaido announced start of Operación Libertad. The U.S. Government fully supports the Venezuelan people in their quest for freedom and democracy. Democracy cannot be defeated.”
A group of Democratic strategists that includes an individual who established a political action committee backing presidential candidate Joe Biden will lead a $60 million secret money "strategy center" for Democrats for the 2020 election cycle. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Group will work with other liberal orgs, try to counter conservative media
A group of Democratic strategists that includes an individual who established a political action committee backing presidential candidate Joe Biden will lead a $60 million secret money “strategy center” for Democrats for the 2020 election cycle.
Future Majority, a Washington, D.C.-based strategy center that will work to “rebrand” the Democratic party, was launched with the intent of providing “strategic advice” to other liberal organizations, communications, and a “war room” to debunk “fake news” and “counter conservative social media,” Politico reports.
The group will focus on midwestern states for the 2020 presidential election including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to Mark Riddle, the executive director of Future Majority.
“It’s no great secret that the presidential race will be won or lost in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio—if we can win back the narrative that the word ‘Democrat’ equals people who are fighting for folks who work hard every day, we can continue to win elections,” Riddle said of the effort. “If [Democrats] get defined as being about socialism and these other words people can hear about out of Washington, then I worry.”
Dan Sena, the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2018 elections, will act as an adviser for the group. Julianna Smoot, who was a deputy director on President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, will also advise the nonprofit. The group has enlisted Democratic megadonors Philip Munger, son of Charles Munger, the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and Dan Tierney, who served as managing director of KCG Holdings, a global financial services company that was sold in 2017.
Future Majority will utilize PACs and is registered as a 501(c)(4) “dark money” nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors. Actress Alyssa Milano was tapped by the group to help spread its content on social media sites, according to the report.
Despite Future Majority just now going public on its upcoming efforts for the 2020 elections, the group was incorporated more than a year ago in January 2018, according to its filings with the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
Matthew Tompkins, a Democratic fundraiser, is listed as the group’s governor in its D.C. records.
On April 24, Tompkins established a separate committee named Biden PAC despite PACs not being able to contain the name of candidates, Federal Election Commission filings show. The same day it was established, the PAC amended its statement of organization and changed its name to the G Street PAC while removing Tompkins as its treasurer. The PAC will work to gather tens of millions of dollars and seeks to create an activist network in all 50 states for the former vice president. It will eventually be named the For the People PAC, the Hill reported. Biden’s campaign distanced itself from the efforts.
Future Majority’s incorporator is marked as Cathedral Strategies LLC, which does not appear to have a website. However, Cathedral Strategies’ own filings in D.C. show that the group was registered in 2013 by Brett Avery Seifried. The LLC’s license is currently revoked, its filings show.
Despite apologizing about the original cartoon, The New York Times published another cartoon, which appears to be anti-Semitic as well and has been widely circulated on twitter after being brought to light by Social Media legend ALX.
The cartoon originally published in The New York Times included an apparently blind President Donald Trump wearing a yarmulke while being led by a dog with the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Star of David collar.
Following the publication of the clearly anti-Semitic cartoon, Israeli cartoonist Shay Charka posted his edited version of the cartoon. In the new version he replaces President Trump’s face with a copy of The New York Times, and the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a book of protocols that shows a snake winding its way around the world on the cover, and the Star of David dog collar tag with “BDS.”
Israeli cartoonist Shay Charka posted his edited version of the NYT anti-Semitic cartoon. In the new version he replaces President Trump’s face with a copy of The New York Times, and the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a book of protocols that shows a snake winding its way around the world on the cover, and the Star of David dog collar tag with “BDS.”
The creator of the original cartoon, Antunes, who works under the mononym António, is a Portuguese cartoonist who has a history of publishing anti-Semitic cartoons. In 2006 a cartoon published during the Second Lebanon War depicts one leg tied up with explosives and attached to an Islamic crescent moon, and another leg – adorned with the American flag – attached to a bloody Star of David.
The New York Times originally issued a statement to appear in their Monday international edition which just said they erred in publishing the cartoon but made no mention of an apology. Only after receiving major backlash on twitter and elsewhere did they issue a second statement where they issued a formal apology.
Despite apologizing about the original cartoon, The New York Times published another cartoon, which appears to be anti-Semitic as well and has been widely circulated on twitter after being brought to light by Social Media legend ALX.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO and National Direction of the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) tweeted “This is insensitive, inappropriate, and offensive. It shows once again that the @NYTimes needs to educate its staff about #antiSemitism. We call on them to take immediate action.”
Jason D. Greenblatt, assistant to President Trump, tweeted “Confounded & shocked by another terrible decision by @NYT. As our nation is grieving the deadly attack in #Poway, how did a cartoon like this make it into their paper…again?! We need answers!”
Writing at artvoice.com, attorney Omar Rosales — a former NXIVM member — says that help may be available to sex abuse victims of Keith Raniere, the alleged mastermind behind the self-empowerment cult NXIVM.
Headlined “Rosales: Day of reckoning coming for Bronfman-Raniere with NY Child Victims Act,” the piece begins by noting that it was on February 14, 2019, that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Child Victims Act (CVA) into law. The CVA extends the statute of limitations to prosecute child molesters in New York State and provides a one-year window for victims of child abuse to file lawsuits against their abusers and the institutions who allowed the abuse to continue.
“The legislation was a culmination of over 15 years of dedicated work by advocates and victims of sexual assault survivors to bring justice to the survivors of sexual abuse. For many years, the law was stalled in the New York Assembly by efforts from the state Catholic diocese,” Rosales points out. “However, Governor Cuomo noted that Pope Francis’s new efforts to address the sex abuse scandal and allow victims to seek assistance from Courts turned the tide in the bill’s favor.”
According to Rosales, the Child Victims Act makes three important changes to New York law:
– The statute of limitations for victims to file civil lawsuits has changed. Previously, victims had to file a lawsuit by age 23. Now, victims are allowed to file lawsuits up until the age of 55.
– If a victim did not previously sue by the time they were 23, they will have a one-year window of opportunity to sue the abuser and/or institution that employed the abuser. The window begins on August 14, 2019.
– Felony charges can now be sought against the abuser until the victim is 28 years old. Misdemeanor charges can now be sought against the abuser until the victim is 25 years old. The statute of limitations in criminal cases is no longer the time from when the criminal act occurred but relates to the age of the victim.
“The institutions that employed the abuser are now liable,” Rosales continues. “These include churches, schools, camps, Boy Scouts of America, and other institutions. This is important because, in many instances, the abuser worked under the cloak of a provider and was a person placed in a position of trust over the victim. Also, many times, the institution knew about the abuse but attempted to hide the crimes or discredit the victims. The institutions also tend to own property, assets, accounts that can be seized to satisfy a judgment. Whereas the abuser probably does not have the money to cover compensation for the victim, the institution can provide monetary compensation.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into the National Rifle Association, according to CNN. Photo Credit: Twitter
New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into the National Rifle Association, according to CNN.
A spokesperson for Mrs. James told CNN that it has issued subpoenas, as part of the investigation.
“As part of this investigation, the Attorney General has issued subpoenas,” a spokesperson for Mrs. James told CNN in a statement. “We will not have further comment at this time.”
Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization which advocates for gun control and regulation, told CNN that it recently filed a complaint with the New York Attorney General against the NRA in regarding to its tax-exempt status.
An official with “Everytime for Gun Safety” told CNN that a report issued by The Trace and the New Yorker prompted its complaint.
The report alleged that a handful of NRA contractors, executives and vendors “have extracted hundreds of millions of dollars” from the organization’s budget.
“In light of the recent, credible allegations of excessive invoicing and personal enrichment by insiders, it’s encouraging that the New York Attorney General is looking into the NRA, and we renew our call for other state and federal authorities to do the same,” John Feinblatt, the President of Everytown for Gun Safety, told CNN in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported within the last few days that the National Rifle Association was dealing with internal turmoil — as its president, Colonel Oliver North, accused the groups longtime Chief Executive, Wayne LaPierre, of financial misdeeds.
Mrs. James’s investigation deals with “related-party transactions between the NRA and its board members; unauthorized political activity; and potentially false or misleading disclosures in regulatory filings,” a source familiar with the matter told the Journal, according to CNN.
“The NRA will fully cooperate with any inquiry into its finances,” William A. Brewer III, an attorney for the NRA and partner at Brewer Attorneys and Counsel told CNN in a statement. “The NRA is prepared for this, and has full confidence in its accounting practices and commitment to good governance.”
In a letter released on Thursday, which was sent to the group’s board of directors, Mr. LaPierre hit back — accusing Mr. North of forcing him to resign and trying to extort him.
Mr. North informed the National Rifle Association’s members on Saturday that he will not serve another term as the organization’s president, and would be resigning in the coming days.
Mr. North accused Mr. LaPierre previously of “charging over $200,000 in wardrobe purchased to an NRA vendor,” according to CNN, which cited a Wall Street Journal report.
The NRA did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Jeff Wiesenfeld and Prof. Alan Dershowitz at demonstration at NY Times building in Manhattan.
Over 500 people gathered in front of the NY Times building on 8th Avenue @ 40th St. in NYC to protest against the vile, obscene cartoon that had appeared over the weekend in the International edition of the NY Times. It depicted a blind Trump, wearing dark glasses and a yarmulke, being led by a dog with the face of Netanyahu. The outrage over this Der Sturmer type of hatred prompted grass roots organizers, Jeff Wiesenfeld, Hillary Markowitz, Helen Freedman and Judy Kadish of AFSI, to quickly call for the protest at the Times. Starting time was scheduled for 5:30, but hundreds of people had gathered by 4:30. Jeff Wiesenfeld, the MC, opened the program with a denunciation of the Times for its 120 year old campaign of slander and bias against Israel and the Jews. Although the Times tended to lay the blame for the cartoon on one careless editor, we know that the entire newspaper and its owners are responsible.
The impressive roster of speakers, including Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Prof. Alan Dershowitz, Rabbi Eli Abadie, and Alex Landsman, all sounded the same note in different ways. The shameful record of the Times, the evil words leading to evil deeds such as the latest terror attack in Poway, Ca’, the Times’ support for the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel Congressional trio of Omar, AOC, and Tlaib, and the need to actively combat the rising anti-Semitism in America and world wide, were all laid out in detail.
Another theme that the crowd seemed to enjoy was that of the duplicity and uselessness of our Democratic elected officials. Where was the Shomare–Schumer, on this issue? Where was Nadler? Engel? Any Democrats? There was only disgraceful silence. It was agreed that they would have to be voted out of office if possible. On the other hand, the crowd was urged to contact President Trump and PM Netanyahu, expressing concern about their depiction in the blasphemous cartoon and offering full support to them.
AFSI’s Charlie Bernhaut again made powerful signs accusing the Times of having blood on its hands and finding it guilty for its 120 year record of anti-Semitism. Hillary Markowitz did an amazing job preparing professional signs and arranging for the sound and stage. A large contingent of the press was present, due in part to the superb efforts of our PR professional. It will be interesting to see if any of the protest gets covered in the mainstream media or whether the fake news philosophy will prevail.
NYU has permitted what a complaint filed last week with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights calls “extreme anti-Semitism” to grow on its Greenwich Village campus. Photo Credit: JNS.org
NYU has permitted what a complaint filed last week with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights calls “extreme anti-Semitism” to grow on its Greenwich Village campus.
Adela Cojab, 22, a senior at the school, says that a pro-Palestinian organization has helped make a “hostile atmosphere” for the school’s Jewish students.
“The alleged source of the tension is an anti-Israel group, Students for Justice in Palestine, led by Leen Dweik, who went viral last month after she cornered Clinton at an NYU vigil for the New Zealand massacre victims,” reports the New York Post.
Students for Justice in Palestine is “the master of campus strife” between NYU’s Jewish students and anti-Israel activists, according to the complaint. SJP “has caused Jewish and pro-Israel students to feel unwelcome and unsafe,” Cojab alleged in her complaint.
The complaint’s filing comes amid growing concerns about the rise of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments, not only on college campuses but throughout the United States, according to Newsweek. “An FBI report found hate crimes against Jewish people rose by almost 40 percent in 2018. Neal Sher, a former Nazi war crimes prosecution officer for the Department of Justice, who is representing the NYU students, told Newsweek “there’s no question” the anti-Israel stance at colleges is rising.
“They try to claim, ‘We’re not against Israel, we’re not against Jewish students, we’re simply opposed to certain policies the Israeli government is embarking on,’” Sher told Newsweek. “There reaches a certain point where things go past the limit. Denying Israel’s right to exist crosses over to anti-Semitism.”
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal, in an op-ed by Susan Shapiro, noted that Jewish students were assaulted at an Israeli Independence Day celebration last year in Washington Square Park, where two anti-Israel student agitators were arrested after desecrating Israeli flags.
“The NYU Jewish Center received threats; swastikas were found in a residence hall,” the piece continues. “The student government passed an anti-Israel BDS—boycott, divestment and sanctions—resolution. NYU activists confronted a pregnant Chelsea Clinton and insanely blamed her for the massacre at a New Zealand mosque because she criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic slurs. Most shocking, last week the university gave a President’s Service Award to Students for Justice in Palestine for its “positive impact on the community.” SJP is known for pushing BDS, demonizing Israel and leading a boycott of Zionist student clubs.”
NYU President Andrew Hamilton has referred to academic boycotts of Israel as “contrary to our core principles of academic freedom, antithetical to the free exchange of ideas, and at odds with the university’s position.”
AOC organized a 5k event in Queens Saturday that was advertised as “a Family Fun Run supporting U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal on the Saturday following Earth Day.” What some of the 400 runners did not know going in was that the $30 registration fee was headed for the congresswoman’s campaign account. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
There is no shortage of people on social media suggesting that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is an intellectual lightweight. But until now, none have suggested she is sneaky.
AOC organized a 5k event in Queens Saturday that was advertised as “a Family Fun Run supporting U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal on the Saturday following Earth Day.”
What some of the 400 runners did not know going in was that the $30 registration fee was headed for the congresswoman’s campaign account.
“We’re getting together for our own health, for our planet’s health … and to fight for the Green New Deal together,” the freshman Democrat told the participants before they set off.
Green was, indeed, at the heart of it, as it turned out.
“A vaguely worded notices on AOC’s Facebook page — saying that the run would support “U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & the Green New Deal” — worsened the confusion,” reported the New York Post. “But the fine print on a third event-related website revealed the truth. “Registration fees are contributions to AOC for Congress,” reads the legal disclosure on aoc5k.com, which lists the Federal Election Commission rules that donors must follow.”
An AOC spokesperson confirmed that the event was, as suspected, a campaign fundraiser, and a successful one, raising more than $11,000, according to reports.
American Thinker’s Monica Showalter began a piece about the event by asking, “Anybody starting to see a gamy pattern in how socialist ‘it girl’ does politics? Her latest thing was to hold a family ‘fun run’ to support what was called her Green New Deal, and nearly 400 people signed on. In reality, the fine print showed it was a garden-variety political fundraiser for her own campaign coffers rather than any green activity. Or, well, as the New York Post noted, other than dollar bills for herself. It follows reports that she’s under investigation for misuse of campaign funds and has failed to pay her federal income taxes.”
Before the race began, AOC addressed the approximately 400 participants, saying “We’re getting together for our own health, for our planet’s health … and to fight for the Green New Deal together.”
Children three years of age and up had to pay $20 each to take part in the 1k race. “Parents cannot donate to campaigns by way of children,” The Washington Examiner pointed out. “Half of the runners came from Ocasio-Cortez’s district, which covers the Bronx and Queens neighborhoods, while the other half were from further afield.”
The New York City Board of Elections has posted its voting rolls on its website, permitting anyone – everyone – to see citizens’ home addresses and party affiliation. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Go ahead – snoop.
The New York City Board of Elections has posted its voting rolls on its website, permitting anyone – everyone – to see citizens’ home addresses and party affiliation.
Officials argue that the information they have published online was already public record. Others are sounding the alarm about violation of privacy.
The upload is enormous, consisting of literally thousands of pages. In them, the curious and the marketers can find breakdowns, district-by-district, voters who are listed according to party and street name. In all, there are 4.6 million active registered voters.
“The New York City Board of Elections’ decision was theirs to make, but we believe sensitive voter information should always be protected,” noted Caitlin Girouard, a spokeswoman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, in an official statement. “When it comes to the current administration, we need to be extra vigilant to ensure New Yorkers’ information isn’t being used for politically motivated ill will.”
Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a privacy advocacy group, told the New York Times that there was a “big difference” in posting this information from other types. “It would be incredibly easy for anyone and everyone to simply take those documents and use them for whatever purposes they want.”
As the Times noted in its report, “North Carolina and Ohio make their data freely available for download on public sites, according to Michael McDonald, an associate professor at the University of Florida who runs The Election Project, which tracks election law across the country. Washington, D.C., published its voter rolls online in 2016, but after backlash, the law was revised and the elections board there discontinued the practice. Most jurisdictions will release voter data only after a request from someone who must give their name and contact information, or will give the data only to certain groups, such as political parties. Some charge a nominal fee.”
The Board began “dumping the records online in February because election officials (including embattled executive director Michael Ryan) couldn’t make a new state deadline which required the voter data published before the new state primary elections in June,” according to CBS News. “Ryan has already been since the debacle surrounding the 2018 election, where New Yorkers were forced to wait for hours in the pouring rain because of rampant voting machine problems.”
According to a statement from a Board of Elections spokesperson, the board posted the information in February “after the state legislature passed a package of election reform bills that consolidated state and federal primary elections in June. Traditionally, state and county party primary contests were held in September and only the congressional primary was held in June. The change in primary dates meant candidates had to collect signatures sooner to get on the ballot,” says WNYC.org.
BOE representative Valerie Vazquez-Diaz said in statement that it was “the method for us to meet our obligations under the new statute and enable candidates to begin the timely gathering of signatures to qualify for the ballot.” She added, “By law, this information is a public record.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is apparently calling in some favors in order to light a fire under the delayed construction of a Greek Orthodox church at Ground Zero. “He wants the church finished,” supermarket tycoon John Catsimatidis, one of the seven, told the New York Post. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is apparently calling in some favors in order to light a fire under the delayed construction of a Greek Orthodox church at Ground Zero.
“He wants the church finished,” supermarket tycoon John Catsimatidis, one of the seven, told the New York Post.
What was once called the Cedar Street church was destroyed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine project ground to a virtual halt in December 2017 when the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese ran out of funds for what has been called an $80 million project.
The church is under construction as part of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. It is being developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Originally scheduled to be completed in 2017, the church’s construction has stalled.
The church is located in Liberty Park, overlooking the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Its dome is inspired by the world-famous Byzantine Church of the Savior in Edirnekapı, Istanbul. It will contain a meditation/bereavement space and a community room housed in the upper levels above the Narthex “to welcome visitors and faithful.” According to its official website, the new “Saint Nicholas would welcome all and be a House of Prayer for all people.”
According to reports, it will replace the original church of the same name located at 155 Cedar Street, which was destroyed on September 11, 2001 when the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed after being struck by United Airlines Flight 175.It was the only building not part of the World Trade Center complex to be completely destroyed as a result of the attacks, although the Deutsche Bank Building next door was later demolished due to severe damage and contamination.
According to the Archdiocese, another $40 million, give or take, is still need in order to finish work on the church. Questions have been asked about some of the money already raised, which some claim has been used by the church for other matters. An investigation is said to be underway.
It was last December that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America released a statement saying that it has resumed construction of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine in Manhattan. The Archdiocese then hired PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC (PwC) to investigate the project’s finances. The ensuing PwC report confirmed that all expenditures from St. Nicholas funds were indeed used for the rebuilding of the church, and donor restrictions had been followed to the letter.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Bridget Kelly, a former aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was sentenced to 13 months in prison on Wednesday for her role in the infamous Bridgegate scandal.
Mrs. Kelly, while being sentenced in a federal courtroom in Newark, Delaware, asked the judge presiding over her case to consider the impact that a prison term would have on her children — adding that Judge Susan Wigenton should sentence her to home confinement.
“I do ask you today to consider what my four children have been through over the past five years,” Mrs. Kelly said Wednesday to Judge Wigenton.
Bill Baroni, a former aide to Governor Christie, who federal prosecutors said was a co-conspirator in Bridgegate — where certain officials tried to cause traffic jams near a bridge, in an attempt to damage a local mayor who refused to endorse Mr. Christie’s re-election bid.
Michael Critichley, an attorney to Mrs. Kelly, asked Judge Wigenton to consider to “emotional and psychological effects,” imposed on Mrs. Kelly and her family, according to The Associated Press.
“The shrapnel of Bridgegate that affects the Kelly family is embedded,” Mr. Critichley said on Wednesday. “It’s gonna be there forever.”
Mr. Critchley also questioned why former Governor Chris Christie was not indicted in the scandal.
“The boys of Bridgegate are doing fine,” he said, adding that “reputationally, they’re doing fine.”
“In August 2013, after Kelly confirmed that Mayor Sokolich would not be endorsing Gov. Christie for re-election in November 2013, Baroni, Kelly, and Wildstein decided to punish the mayor by deliberately causing significant traffic problems in Fort Lee under the false pretense of a traffic study,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said recently in a statement. “From the morning of Sept. 9, 2013, to Sept. 13, 2013, they caused the local access lanes to be reduced so that only one toll booth, instead of the usual three, was accessible to the approach to the bridge for local traffic traveling through Fort Lee.”
“To maximize the congestion and the punitive impact on Mayor Sokolich, Baroni, Kelly and Wildstein caused these lane and toll booth reductions to start on the first day of the school year without any advance notice to Mayor Sokolich, the Fort Lee chief of police or borough residents,” Mr. Khanna continued. “The lane and toll booth reductions resulted in significant traffic in Fort Lee, for motorists intending to access the George Washington Bridge from local lanes and for residents, whose streets were choked with traffic.”
