IDF strikes Hamas targets after rocket lands in Southern Gaza Strip - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

The IDF attack was carried out in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory earlier last night.

IDF fighter jets and aircraft attacked a number of terror targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday night after a rocket landed in an open field in Israel, the military announced.

Rocket sirens sounded on Friday evening in Sde Avraham and Holit, both located along the southern Gaza Strip border. 

Soon after, the IDF and local authorities revealed that a rocket was spotted landing in an open field, causing no injury.

This comes after another rocket landed in an open area in Israeli territory on Thursday evening, setting off rocket sirens in Sderot, Ibim and Nir Am in southern Israel.

Following the Friday attack, an IDF spokesperson announced that fighter jets and other aircraft attacked a number of terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation. 

The IDF's retaliatory attack targeted a Hamas training facility, a station containing anti-aircraft launchers in development, a factory used to produce concrete for digging terrorist tunnels and storing weapons, and infrastructure for Hamas terror tunnels.

 

"For the second day in a row, Gaza is under Zionist attacks during Ramadan," said a spokesperson for Hamas following the attack, The Jerusalem Post's sister publication Maariv reported Saturday. "Gaza is fighting and will wake up to a new day and continue to fight for her liberation from the occupying people."

 

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/rocket-sirens-sounded-in-southern-gaza-strip-border-665373

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Canada: J-Space Supports NDP Party's BDS Resolution to Actively Campaign Against 'Illegal Settlements' - Christine Douglass-Williams

 

by Christine Douglass-Williams

A “progressive” Jewish voice advances the agenda against Israel.

 

J-Space is known as a “respectable,” “Progressive” Jewish voice in Canada. It is more or less the counterpart to J-Street in America. Several days ago, the New Democratic Party (NDP) in Canada passed an anti-Israel, BDS-supporting Resolution, 04-10-20 (Justice and Peace in Israel-Palestine), at its 2021 Convention. J-Space supported it. See its official statement HERE.

A little background about the NDP for Americans who may be unfamiliar with it: the NDP is a far-Left, Progressive Party, with now only 24 out of 338 seats in the House of Commons. The NDP actually served as Canada’s official opposition party from 2011 to 2015, but its support has dwindled. It is worthwhile to note that the NDP also founded an “unofficial” New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus in 1998.

Last year, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh stated that his party does not support BDS, as reported by the Canadian Jewish News:

He unequivocally condemned BDS, stating that it “creates tensions and divisions,” and “does not advance peace.” Singh stated that neither he nor the NDP support BDS, believing that it is not “the right path forward.”

Singh is regarded with distaste in many circles. He ostensibly supports Sikh separatism and was banned from India for insulting its human rights record and accusing it of genocide. But despite his condemnation of BDS a year ago, to an astute observer, his declarations were suspicious, given his party’s prior ambivalence about BDS. But now, Singh has taken the gloves off to  expose his real views of Israel. The new resolution just passed by the NDP states:

…Therefore BE IT RESOLVED THAT the NDP actively campaign in support of the demand of Palestinian unions, civil society and unions across Canada and around the world for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the Israeli state…

Ending all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine
Suspending the bilateral trade of all arms and related materials with the State of Israel …

The full document can be read HERE.

The biggest shock is that J-Space actually backs this resolution. J-Space issued its own statement about the resolution, which included:

As Canadian Jews committed to Israeli-Palestinian peace, we welcome efforts that re-affirm Canada’s long-standing role as a balanced and proactive voice for self-determination and security for both Jews and Palestinians.

At JSpaceCanada, we consider Israel’s settlement enterprise to be a violation of the democratic principles on which it was founded. We believe there is a fundamental distinction between the State of Israel and the Occupied Territories….

By focusing its activism on the Occupied Territories, the resolution sends a message that the status quo is untenable and a liability for long-term peace and security.

By contrast, the prominent Canadian Jewish group Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) issued a press release: “NDP RESOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS AN ONGOING TOXIC OBSESSION WITH ISRAEL.”

Some questions to ponder:

• How could J-Space possibly support a movement to delegitimize the Jewish State of Israel, knowing the Palestinian goal to obliterate it, all in the name of “human rights”?
• Is J-Space also fighting against the human rights abuses within the Palestinian territories — from extrajudicial killings and random detainments, to honor violence against women and persecution of gays? Is J-Space seeking to represent these victims? Victims also include Palestinian children, many of whom are taught to murder Jews in jihad summer camps. The Palestinian school curriculum also teaches hatred of Israelis and the glories of martyrdom. This is psychological child abuse. Fostering a death culture that uses children as human shields is another form of violent abuse. Does J-Space care about their human rights when the perpetrators are the Palestinian rulers of the territories?
• Does J-Space not recognize the hostile contents of the original Charters of the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, Hamas, the PLO, and in general the culture of jihad against Israel? including the pay-for-slay program, in which jihadists are paid and glorified for murdering innocent Israelis (including babies and children)?
• Does J-Space know that Mahmoud Abbas has stated that not a single Israeli will be allowed to live in a Palestinian state?
• Surely J-Space must know about a key event in the Palestinian “resistance“: the Arab Revolt of the 1930s, led by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, against Jewish immigration to the Jewish ancestral homelands. Then the Mufti went on to collaborate with Hitler and Eichmann in working toward a brutal “Final Solution” against the Jewish people. The Palestinian “resistance” began long before the birth of the Jewish state in 1948.
• Does J-Space not know about the Palestinian “resistance” chant, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free“? This is a call for Israel’s annihilation from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
• Does J-Space know that an influential face of the Palestinian “resistance” in America, Representative Rashida Tlaib, believes in a one-state solution, that is, in the total annihilation of Israel?
• Does J-Space understand the full impact of its actions in supporting Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions against the State of Israel?

The list of questions goes on. Now Canada waits to see how this NDP BDS resolution, actively supported by J-Space, will advance. One certainty is that the resolution fortifies the anti-Israel position adopted by the Trudeau Liberals at the United Nations. In November 2019, the Liberal government broke with a decade-old tradition of voting to support Israel. Instead, it voted to back a pro-Palestinian UN resolution that explicitly referenced “contested lands between the two countries as ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories.‘”

One would think the answer to all the questions above should be obvious. What isn’t so obvious is this: why would J-Space support BDS against the State of Israel, particularly given that it is a Jewish organization, especially at this particular time of instability in Israel after yet another cliffhanger election? Many (including myself) do not see valid answers, given the history of jihad against Israel, and against the Jews in particular (as well as the jihad against Christians in the entire region and beyond). “Human rights,” they say?  Nonsense.

So given J-Space’s stance on Israel being an “occupying” power that is causing undue hardship for the Palestinian people, does J-Space then agree to the International Criminal Court’s decision to investigate Israel for “war crimes”?

The Center for Canadian Jewish Affairs’ president and CEO, Shimon Fogel, issued the following statement about the NDP’s resolution:

The NDP’s adoption of resolution 04-10-20 Justice and Peace in Israel-Palestine highlights a toxic obsession with Israel to the serious detriment of the party. It is staggering that, given the state of the world and the consequential issues before us, including the pandemic, the NDP placed this resolution and one other targeting the Jewish community on the list of top Foreign Policy concerns. In doing this, the NDP ignored catastrophes unfolding in Syria, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Brazil, Hong Kong, and elsewhere around the world. That is shameful.

In order to make a constructive contribution to the complex discussion about peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the NDP must forego its pathological preoccupation with Israel, recognize there are two parties to the conflict, and stop infantilizing the Palestinians. This unbalanced and obsessive concern with Israel renders the NDP irrelevant on this subject and interferes with the party’s ability to address issues that should be core to the progressive agenda.

The NDP resolution is concerning enough on its own, but support from J-Space, along with the previous lies told by Jagmeet Singh (that he unequivocally does not support BDS) is worrying.

Another related issue is a current drive underway to display a “Nakba” exhibit in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, located in Winnipeg, a museum that was initially intended to be a Holocaust Museum. As the Jewish publication THEJ.CA states in its article Debunking the Nakba Narrative: the “Canadian Museum for Human Rights consideration of a Nakba exhibit ‘is a good example of Western ignorance.’” The thinking that the Palestinians want peace with Israel, given the irrefutable facts of history, is another example of that ignorance.

 

Christine Douglass-Williams

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/04/canada-j-space-supports-ndp-partys-bds-resolution-christine-douglass-williams/

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Antisemitism Is Inseparable from Khomeinism - Erfan Fard

 

by Erfan Fard

The Iranian Republic, which has nuclear ambitions and an aggressive ballistic missiles program, has been virulently anti-US and anti-Israel since its inception.

 

Mural of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran, image by Metod Bocko via Flickr CC

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,999, April 16, 2021

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Khomeinism, the ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran, encompasses the radical ideas of its founding father Ayatollah Khomeini. Antisemitism is a central tenet of this ideology and the regime has repeatedly threatened to exterminate the Jewish State. As recently as March 7, 2021, Iranian DM Amir Hatami claimed that Tehran has the capacity to “turn Tel Aviv and Haifa into ashes.”

In adopting the ideology of Ayatollah Ruhollah Mustafavi Khomeini upon its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran replaced the country’s millennia-old monarchy with a radical Shiite theocracy. The regime has always openly expressed its antisemitism, which cannot be expunged as it is indivisible from the Khomeinist thinking on which the Islamic Republic is predicated.

In the 1950s, as part of Israeli PM David Ben-Gurion’s “periphery doctrine,” Israel began to cultivate relationships with non-Arab states and ethnic minorities. On July 23, 1960, the Shah of Iran granted Israel de facto recognition. Israel and Iran both had strong relations with the US and opposed Soviet efforts to gain influence in the region. The Mossad and the CIA had regular contact with SAVAK to monitor and control Islamic and Marxist terrorist groups that had ties to the KGB.

But Iran-Israel relations collapsed when the Shah was deposed in 1979. After taking power, Khomeini said, “I once again remind everyone of the danger of the prevalent, festering, and cancerous Zionist tumor in the body of Islamic countries.” The newly installed mullahs used the mosques to spread antisemitic and anti-Israel propaganda. Israel and Iran have been antagonists ever since the Islamic regime took power.

The Iranian Republic, which has nuclear ambitions and an aggressive ballistic missiles program, has been virulently anti-US and anti-Israel since its inception. It has devoted itself to the construction of a transnational terrorist network in its drive to become the regional hegemon. It expanded the theater of war and escalated conflict in the Middle East with the ultimate goal of establishing an unbroken Shiite crescent across the region as a steppingstone to world domination. The transnational terrorist network that it created and supports, which it calls an “axis of resistance and regional power,” threatens far more than only the Jewish State.

While neither side wants direct conflict, both Iran and Israel have warned that it might occur. The regime continues to support proxy terrorist groups that threaten Israel, and Israel continues to thwart that effort. Since 2011, Tehran has provided military assistance and billions of dollars in financial aid to fuel the proxy war and conducted several operations against Israel involving sophisticated weapons.

Hostilities between Iran and Israel have intensified recently in both volume and scale. In September 2019, IRGC commander Hossein Salami said, “We have managed to obtain the capacity to destroy the impostor Zionist regime.” On March 7, 2021, Iranian DM Amir Hatami said, “Zionists should know that if they commit any silly acts, Iran will turn Tel Aviv and Haifa into ashes.” These are expressions of the antisemitism that is an essential part of the doctrine of Khomeinism, and it will continue as long as the regime continues.

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Erfan Fard is a counterterrorism analyst and Middle East Studies researcher based in Washington, DC. Twitter: @EQFARD

Source: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/antisemitism-is-inseparable-from-khomeinism/

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Democrats kick off push to pack Supreme Court with four new justices - Marisa Schultz

 

by Marisa Schultz

Lawmakers introduce bill to increase court from 9 to 13 justices

Democrats unveil bill expanding Supreme Court

A group of Democrats Thursday formally launched a legislative effort to pack the Supreme Court by adding four new justices, in a move that was hailed by progressive activists but quickly met with fierce GOP opposition and skepticism by Democratic leadership. 

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Judiciary Committee members Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., and Hank Johnson, D-Ga., stood outside the Supreme Court Thursday to announce their new legislation to expand the high court from nine to 13 justices. 

"We're here today because the United States Supreme Court is broken," Markey said, flanked by the Democratic lawmakers and activists. "It is out of balance. It needs to be fixed.

"Expanding the Supreme Court rights the wrongs the Republicans have done to this great court," Markey added. "Expanding the Supreme Court is equal justice and will ensure equal justice is dispensed to all Americans."

The Democrats said the far-right has hijacked the court thanks to "norm-breaking" moves by Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and expanding the number of justices is necessary to restore balance and integrity to the highest court in America.  

REPUBLICANS SLAM 'ASSAULT' ON SUPREME COURT BY DEMS' COURT-PACKING BILL, SAY MOVE WILL HELP GOP IN ELECTIONS

Nadler rejected the notion that Democrats were trying to pack the court with liberal justices and insisted it was Republicans who packed the court with maneuvers such as blocking the confirmation of Merrick Garland, former President Obama's Supreme Court pick, and ramming through Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation just before the presidential election. 

"We’re not packing [the court]," Nadler said. "We’re unpacking it."

The Judiciary Act of 2021 is just a two-page bill that would increase the number of justices on the court from 9 to 13, setting up an immediate opportunity for President Biden to nominate four new justices to be confirmed in the Democratic-led Senate.

The legislation has long-odds of passing Congress because unless Democrats abolish the filibuster, it would require 60 votes for passage in the Senate. 

But Markey said it's time to change the filibuster in order to pass the legislation with a simple majority.

"We must expand the court, and we must abolish the filibuster to do it," Markey said.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., talks about his legislation to pack the Supreme Court on April 15, 2021.

Biden himself has been cool to court-packing and has only endorsed setting up a 36-member bipartisan commission to study court reforms. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday Biden is awaiting the recommendations from the newly formed court commission before taking a stance.

"He's gonna wait for that to play out and wait to read that report," Psaki said. 

BIDEN ORDERS STUDY ON 'SIZE' OF SUPREME COURT, OTHER POSSIBLE CHANGES AMID LIBERAL COURT-PACKING PUSH

FILE - In this March 21, 2021, file photo people view the Supreme Court building from behind security fencing on Capitol Hill in Washington after portions of an outer perimeter of fencing were removed overnight to allow public access.  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Republicans immediately condemned the proposal as a delusional progressive attempt to nuke the Supreme Court. 

McConnell, who conservatives credit for reforming the court by preventing a vote on Garland and then changing Senate voting thresholds to confirm three of President Trump's nominees, immediately panned the court-packing proposal. He said the move is designed to "guarantee the rulings that liberals want" and would "destroy" the legitimacy of the court.

Democrats keep showing they don’t care about norms and institutions, only power. The latest example: a bill to pack the Supreme Court and destroy its legitimacy to guarantee the rulings liberals want.

— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) April 15, 2021

Progressives, however, said with Democrats in control of the House, Senate and White House now is the time to balance out the court, which currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.

Meagan Hatcher Mays, director of democracy policy at the liberal group Indivisible, said Republicans broke the trust that Americans have in the court.

She blamed McConnell for undoing Senate norms to ram through GOP-backed judges who are more loyal to "conservative political outcomes" than to the constitution. She said McConnell "bent over backwards" to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is "hideously unqualified to serve on the bench."

"We are here because Mitch McConnell overplayed his hand," said Mays, a founder of the Unrig the Courts coalition. "He and Donald Trump got greedy and the American people noticed."

LIBERALS RAMP UP CALLS FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICE BREYER TO RETIRE AFTER HE PANNED COURT PACKING SPEECH

The constitution doesn't mandate the number of justices be set at nine. The number is set by Congress and it can be changed without a constitutional amendment. 

The Supreme Court's website notes the number of justices changed six times before settling at the current total of nine in 1869. 

Democrats said the number of 13 is timely because it reflects how the number of appellate courts in America has grown from nine to 13 with time. 

"Today begins a new era in terms of the Supreme Court," Johnson said. "It's been taken for granted for so long that the court has to be nine people ... There simply is no need to continue with a nine- person court given the circumstances that have been expressed."

Jones, a freshman lawmaker from New York's Westchester County, said the Supreme Court's decisions on campaign finance, gutting voting rights and partisan gerrymandering show the John Roberts-led court "is hostile to democracy itself."

Jones said the Supreme Court has been "an accomplice" to voter suppression and creating a path for the "far-right to remain in power". He said expanding the court is the remedy. 

"Our democracy faces its greatest test since Jim Crow,"  Jones said. "From the insurrection at the Capitol, to the racist voter suppression being attempted all throughout the United States of America, the far-right is at war with our democracy."

Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., speaks before the Supreme Court on April 15, 2021, on his legislation to expand the Supreme Court.

Our democracy is in crisis.

If we’re going to save it, we must #ExpandTheCourt.

Today, our movement begins. pic.twitter.com/mti1ZG6Enf

— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) April 15, 2021

In addition to Biden, other Democrats are cool to the plan of court-packing. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee that has jurisdiction of the courts, said he's not ready to endorse the bill.

"I just heard about it," Durbin said. "I'm not ready to sign on yet. I think this commission of Biden's is the right move. Let's think this through carefully. This is historic."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday she also supports Biden's commission to study reforms and doesn't plan to advance the court-packing legislation to a full House vote.

"I have no plans to bring it to the floor," Pelosi said.

 

Marisa Schultz

 
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-unveil-bill-pack-supreme-court-four-new-justices

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Georgia election official warns Biden to stop 'lies' about voting law: 'Someone is going to get hurt' - Ronn Blitzer

 

by Ronn Blitzer

Gabriel Sterling warned that President Biden's rhetoric could lead to the same results as President Trump's

Biden spreading 'lies' about Georgia's election laws: Ronna McDaniel

Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer and chief financial officer for the Georgia secretary of state's office, said he has the same sense of "foreboding" he had after November's election in the months leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. 

And once again, he claimed, it is due to "misinformation" coming from an American president.

In a new Washington Post op-ed, Sterling recalled how he faced death threats and was concerned about violence as then-President Trump made claims about the election. He warned that this and worse could happen again if President Biden does not change his rhetoric about Georgia's new voting law.

WARNOCK ADMITS TO SIGNING EMAIL WITH FALSE INFORMATION ABOUT GEORGIA VOTING LAW

"Though I have not received any threats yet, thankfully, that same foreboding is creeping up again as the president of the United States and others once again spread lies about what is going on in Georgia," Sterling wrote. "So I plead with the president once again: Someone is going to get hurt. Your words matter. The facts matter."

Biden has been an outspoken critic of Georgia's law, but Sterling and others have pushed back against the president for spreading false information about the new legislation.

NEW YORK TIMES ACCUSED OF 'ACTIVISM' AFTER SHAMING CEOS WHO DIDN'T SIGN 'BIG DEFENSE OF VOTING RIGHTS'

Sterling described how Biden falsely stated that the law decreases early voting hours when in fact it increases them, and how the president has compared the law to Jim Crow segregation laws, which Sterling called a "lie."

Noting that he may not agree with every part of the law, Sterling still urged the president to be honest when discussing it, emphasizing his point by repeatedly referring back to the Capitol riot.

"We saw just three months ago how election disinformation such as this can lead to violence," Sterling said. "It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now."

 

Ronn Blitzer

 
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/georgia-election-official-sterling-warns-biden-voting-law

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The Attack on Natanz and the JCPOA - Dr. Ardavan Khoshnood

 

by Dr. Ardavan Khoshnood

Though it is constantly threatening to retaliate, Tehran has yet to do so. Will this time be different?

 

Anti-aircraft guns guarding Natanz nuclear facility, Iran, image via Wikimedia Commons

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,997, April 14, 2021

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In the morning hours of April 11, the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran was attacked, allegedly by Israel. The strike came at a sensitive time, as Iran and world powers are discussing Washington’s return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the removal of sanctions. According to Israeli estimates, as the Islamic Republic does not wish to jeopardize a US return to the JCPOA, its response to the Natanz strike will probably be belated and highly circumscribed.

On April 11, 2021, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced that its Natanz nuclear facility had had an accident that caused a blackout. A couple of hours later, the head of the AEOI, Ali Akbar Salehi, stated that the accident was in fact sabotage. The attack resulted in an explosion, and according to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, a culprit has been identified and is being sought.

This is not the first time the Natanz nuclear facility has been attacked. The first strike is believed to have taken place in 2007, when the facility was targeted in a joint Israeli-US cyberattack. The attack inserted a malicious computer virus, Stuxnet, into the facility’s systems, resulting in heavy damage. The latest known attack on Natanz prior to the April 11 blackout was in July 2020, when an explosion at the facility caused serious harm to the centrifuges.  

The latest attack on Natanz came just one day after the Islamic regime, in breach of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) from 2015, launched advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges at the site.

While it is yet to be determined who was behind the attack, Iranian media put the blame on Israel. The Jerusalem Post states that the Israeli intelligence organization, Mossad, is indeed the likely culprit.

Why did the attack occur?

Even before Joe Biden won the US presidential election, it was clear to Iran experts that a Democratic administration would return to the JCPOA, which President Trump had left while in office. The Sunni Arab states and Israel are not satisfied with the way President Biden and his Special Representative for Iran, Robert Malley, are approaching Iran. It is believed by many observers that the US is prepared to lift all sanctions against Iran and blindly return to the JCPOA.

Tehran’s launching of its advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges may have been the reason why Israel decided to attack Natanz now. The strike is believed to have caused sufficient harm to the facility to delay the Islamic regime’s nuclear weapons program, and was thus a warning to Tehran that Israel will not tolerate these advancements. The attack was also a signal to the Biden administration that Israel will continue its operations in Iran as it deems necessary regardless of any deals the US might make with the country.

Last week, Iran met with world powers in Vienna to discuss the JCPOA. Negotiations will resume next week, and there is a strong possibility that Iran and the US will also meet. As Israel objects to the JCPOA as it currently stands, the attack on Natanz may have been a way for it to increase pressure on Tehran while communicating its position to the Biden administration.

Iran and the US might not choose to bring talks out into the open, but there is no doubt that they are engaged in talks behind closed doors. In view of the progress made in Vienna last week, it could very well be that Iran, the US, and the other world powers have already come to an agreement facilitating the removal of sanctions and a US return to the JCPOA. If that is the case, the attack on Natanz could be an Israeli reaction to any such understanding between the US and Iran.

How will Iran respond?

The Iranian FM blamed Israel for the attack and said Iran will take revenge. The hardline Iranian newspaper Kayhan, which is connected to the Supreme Leader, blamed the attack on Israel, the US, and unnamed European states, and said Iran must leave the JCPOA negotiations and punish Israel.

Iran finds itself in a difficult position. The Natanz attack is but one of a series of intelligence and counterintelligence failures the Islamic Republic has suffered in recent years. Though it is constantly threatening to retaliate, Tehran has yet to do so. Will this time be different?

The regime understands that a harsh response could jeopardize the JCPOA talks. Iran wants nothing more than for the US to return to the deal so the crippling sanctions can be lifted. Rouhani will therefore try to convince both the Supreme Leader and the top leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to hold their fire until the Vienna talks are over and the US has reentered the JCPOA. This is essential for the Iranian president, whose administration has been under heavy attack and criticism for a long time from other Iranian political factions, including the IRGC.

As the latest Natanz attack is yet another humiliating indicator of the poor quality of Iranian security and intelligence, Rouhani and company may have neither the power nor the will to halt a response from the regime.

Still, according to Israeli sources, Iran will likely keep its powder dry for the time being (or retaliate in a highly circumscribed fashion) so as not to provoke either the Biden administration or Israel-friendly US Democrats who might turn their back on Biden’s pro-Iran policy. Once the US has rejoined the JCPOA, Iran will likely consider itself free to carry out more spirited attacks on Israel and Israeli interests, either directly or through its proxy Shiite militias in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Syria, Iraq, or Yemen.

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Dr. Ardavan Khoshnood a non-resident associate at the BESA Center, is a criminologist and political scientist with a degree in Intelligence Analysis. He is also an associate professor of Emergency Medicine at Lund University in Sweden. @ardavank

Source: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/the-attack-on-natanz-and-the-jcpoa/

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Pelosi Hijacks Everything for Her Agenda -- Even the Holocaust - Rabbi Aryeh Spero

 

by Rabbi Aryeh Spero

Pelosi exploits the murder of six million Jews into a manifesto of Democrat false talking points and the demonization of millions of Americans associated with conservatism and who voted for President Trump.

One would expect the commemoration of something as tragic and sacred as the Holocaust be done in a respectful manner and not be manipulated for political goals. Such was not the case this week with Nancy Pelosi’s statement sent out on Holocaust Remembrance Day; known in Israel as Yom Ha’Shoah. Instead, she exploited the murder of six million Jews by Hitler and his regime into a manifesto of Democrat false talking points and the demonization of millions of Americans associated with conservatism and who voted for President Trump. It was sacrilege and shameful.

The first principle regarding the Holocaust is as follows: It was a unique, once-in-history genocidal plan to exterminate an entire race of people, Jews, across the globe simply because of who they were at birth. Unlike conventional warfare where antagonists may wish to eliminate those they are fighting, Hitler planned the systematic murder of those not only at war with him but those beyond the confines of the battle lines, searching for Jews worldwide even though they were not in the way of his territorial ambitions. They were murdered not for what they did or their conduct, but for simply being born into a people. While he did kill others during the war, the grand plan of Final Solution was specific to eradicating the Jewish people, no other group, from the face of the earth, leaving no trace of their ever having existed.

Holocaust Memorial Day was never established as a general memorial day for all those harmed during World War II, but as something specific to the once-in-history systematic implementation of that Final Solution plan to eradicate the Jewish people from existence and human history. The remedy for what happened is for the world to make sure, this time, that Never Again shall we stand by while adversaries, such as Iran, go about with plans to once again exterminate the Jewish people by destroying Israel, as is their announced plan, or by murdering all Jews worldwide who are Zionists, something every Jew is commanded to be.

In her statement, Pelosi writes: ”Seventy-six years after the Holocaust, shadows of dark forces of hate are again emerging in our nation with disturbing displays… even inside the United States Capitol on January 6.” How dare she!  Invoking the Holocaust and the hate of Jews by Hitler when describing the Jan.6 protest in D.C. is blatantly dishonest, disrespectful of those murdered by Hitler, and propaganda at its worst. This is low even for Nancy Pelosi, the godmother of today’s political viciousness, a Deep State game plan of lies which politicizes everything, crushing the soul of those things noble for political gain, slashing and burning so as to achieve One Party rule. Those that gathered in D.C on Jan .6, and virtually all who slowly walked through the Capitol, were engaged not in an act of hate against Jews. In fact, most Trump voters are supporters of Israel, and Jews, in contrast to the growing numbers of 24/7 severe critics of Israel, and even Jews, among today’s “woke” Democrat constituencies.

Pelosi talks of “Charlottesville,” the oft used Democrat talking point condemning President Trump for “siding with Nazi protestors.” This is one of the great lies in American history, reminiscent of Goebbels, who taught: "If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes a fact.” President Trump immediately condemned the neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville, but he rightfully argued that in the streets that day were other groups, not neo-Nazis, with valid concern over the toppling of statues of heroes to many in the South. President Trump was correct, and courageous and honest, in differentiating between neo-Nazis (white supremacists) and those feeling warmth and devotion to their history below the Mason-Dixon Line. Loving your native history does not automatically make one a “white supremacist”.

Pelosi, like so many of today’s universalizers, points to attacks on black churches as part of the Holocaust phenomenon. Truth is, attacks on black churches are today, thank God, very rare. There are certainly no widespread, across-the-nation attacks on black churches as there was against synagogues in prewar Germany and during Kristallnacht. Nor has an attack on any black or Jew or white ever been government policy, whereas in Holocaust Germany attacks against Jews and synagogues were exactly government policy. One should never, in campaign-like style, exploit the Holocaust to advance theories about so-called “systemic racism” against blacks nor equate crime as something Holocaust-like. Though “progressives” refuse to admit this, the truth is that in America today, it is synagogues and Orthodox-looking Jews who are, statistics prove, the highest victims of hate crimes, hate crimes committed mostly by blacks, Muslims, and Hispanics, core constituencies of Pelosi’s party.

Pelosi boasts of having led a delegation to visit Auschwitz. Normally that would be admirable, if done for pure reasons rather as a springboard for Democrat talking points blaming conservatives and Republicans for “again creating the shadows of the same dark forces and hate.” However, let it be known, when we urged Pelosi to ostracize or censure Ilhan Omar for Omar’s anti-Semitic remarks, Pelosi refused. We held a rally in D.C. asking that, as Speaker of the House, she pass a stand-alone resolution condemning anti-Semitism, an anti-Semitism swelling loudly among some of her caucuses. Pelosi refused. She may be good on symbolism, but she is AWOL in denouncing anti-Semitism by itself. Her Holocaust statement, likewise, condemns anti-Semitism only if tied to Democrat talking points. It sounds good but is often a verbal a cover for acting oppositely. I have the same objection to President Biden’s use of Holocaust Memorial Day to push for the LTGB political agenda.

The most obvious hypocrisy in all of their Holocaust P.R., is Pelosi’s and Biden’s renewal of funds to the PLO, an organization committed to Israel’s destruction, and which uses these funds to support terrorism and murder against Jewish citizens in Israel. So too, Biden’s jump start of talks and future funding for Iran, a state that proudly declares its intentions to wipe all Jews living in Israel off the face of the earth. Mr. Biden: Iran and the P.L.O. would love a genocidal Final Solution against Jews, similar to how their Grand Mufti was part of the planning with Hitler for the original one back in the '40s.

Under Pelosi’s control of D.C., we now have troops throughout D.C. reminding us not to be too active in our public assembly; we have a loss of freedom of speech and religion, an attempt to remove the ability for self-defense, constant propaganda, the big-lie routine perfected by Goebbels, and remarks from Pelosi describing her opponents as “enemies of the State.”  If anything, one of the true lessons of the Holocaust is to be wary of such conditions. We know where it can lead!

Image: Gage Skidmore

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.

 

Rabbi Aryeh Spero is president of Caucus for America, caucusforamerica.com, and author of Push Back: The Battle to Save America’s Judeo-Christian Heritage.

 
Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/04/pelosi_hijacks_everything_for_her_agenda__even_the_holocaust.html

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How Palestinian Leaders Treat Their Refugees - Khaled Abu Toameh

 

by Khaled Abu Toameh

They want millions of Palestinians to remain stuck in refugee camps so that the Palestinian leadership can continue milking the world for money.

• These Palestinian officials, in other words, would rather see their people continue living in devastating poverty as refugees rather than improve their living conditions and search for new opportunities in Western countries. They want millions of Palestinians to remain stuck in refugee camps so that the Palestinian leadership can continue milking the world for money.

• The assault on the woman triggered a wave of condemnations by Palestinian activists, who took to social media to express outrage over the Palestinian leadership's decision to use force against Palestinian refugees.

• The Palestinians who protested outside the PA embassy in Beirut, however, seem somewhat dubious that this new American money will go into the right hands. The protesters have been in Lebanon for several years now and the Palestinian leadership has done precious little to assist them.

• Judging from experience, it is safe to assume that the Palestinians in Lebanon would be lucky to see a single dollar of the Biden administration's new aid package. This is what happens when Western donors shower money on a corrupt and ruthless Palestinian leadership that sends its thugs to beat up starving refugees who are begging for help.

On March 31, militiamen from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction arrested three Palestinian activists in Lebanon's Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp who protested against the Palestinian leadership's failure to help the refugees from Syria. Pictured: Palestinians in Ain al-Hilweh protest on January 31, 2020. (Photo by Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images)

The Palestinian leadership, which is about to receive tens of millions of dollars from the Biden administration, has once again proven that it does not tolerate any form of criticism, even if it comes from impoverished Palestinian who fled their homes in Syria.

This leadership has also shown how it cares nothing about the problems facing its people, especially those who were forced to flee their homes in Syria after the beginning of the civil war there in 2011.

The number of Palestinian refugees from Syria in Lebanon is estimated at 27,000, according to statistics from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). These refugees suffer from harsh living conditions as a result of the scarcity of relief aid and lack of stable financial resources.

About 87% of the Palestinian refugees displaced from Syria to Lebanon suffer from absolute poverty, according to UNRWA.

On April 12, members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction in Lebanon used force to disperse dozens of Palestinians who were demonstrating outside the PA embassy in Beirut.

The protest was organized by Palestinian refugees who fled from Syria to Lebanon in the past decade. The protesters came to the embassy to ask for help in solving their humanitarian and economic crises. They also demanded that the embassy issue them Palestinian passports or travel documents so that they could leave Lebanon to start a new life in other countries, including the European Union and Canada.

The message the protesters sought to relay to Abbas and the Palestinian leadership: If you do not want to give us financial aid, at least help us move to other countries where we might live in dignity and earn a decent living.

Embarrassed by the protest, the PA embassy summoned its security guards and scores of Fatah activists from different parts of Lebanon to disperse the refugees.

On March 31, Fatah militiamen in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon arrested three Palestinian activists who protested against the Palestinian leadership's failure to help the refugees from Syria.

Some Palestinians officials accused the protesters and activists of being part of a "suspicious project" to resettle Palestinians in the West.

These Palestinian officials, in other words, would rather see their people continue living in devastating poverty as refugees rather than improve their living conditions and search for new opportunities in Western countries. They want millions of Palestinians to remain stuck in refugee camps so that the Palestinian leadership can continue milking the world for money.

Videos posted on social media platforms showed the Fatah thugs and security guards pushing back and beating the protesters. One of the embassy guards was filmed slapping a Palestinian woman on the face.

The assault on the woman triggered a wave of condemnations by Palestinian activists, who took to social media to express outrage over the Palestinian leadership's decision to use force against Palestinian refugees.

Some of the activists created a hashtag on Twitter titled "May your hand be broken" -- a reference to the security officer who slapped the woman on the face.

"Give the Palestinian refugees a glimmer of hope, not a slap on the face," commented an account belonging to Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Lebanon.

"The assault on a Palestinian refugee in front of the Palestinian embassy is a stain on all [Palestinian] officials," wrote social media user Ahmed Abu Shaer.

Lebanese political analyst and Middle East expert Nidal Sabeh accused Mahmoud Abbas's "thugs" of beating the woman. "Doesn't this harebrained behavior require the intervention of the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and human rights organizations?" Sabeh asked on Twitter.

"The conditions of the displaced refugees from Syria are dire," complained Palestinian refugee Yousef Atallah. "The Palestinian embassy [in Beirut] is not fulfilling its duties toward the refugees."

On April 7, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the US was planning to restart economic, development, and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. The assistance, he said, includes $75 million in economic and development assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, $10 million for peace-building programs and $150 million in humanitarian assistance for UNRWA.

The Palestinians who protested outside the PA embassy in Beirut, however, seem somewhat dubious that this new American money will go into the right hands. The protesters have been in Lebanon for several years now and the Palestinian leadership has done precious little to assist them.

Palestinian leaders are currently preoccupied with preparing for next month's parliamentary election. The plight of the displaced Palestinians in Lebanon is not on their busy agenda.

It is mortally embarrassing for Abbas, ahead of the election, to see Palestinians protesting against his failure to help them with their tragic conditions. Judging from experience, it is safe to assume that the Palestinians in Lebanon would be lucky to see a single dollar of the Biden administration's new aid package. This is what happens when Western donors shower money on a corrupt and ruthless Palestinian leadership that sends its thugs to beat up starving refugees who are begging for help.

• Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on Twitter

 

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.

 
Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17284/palestinian-leaders-refugees

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Had Obama Not Played the Race Card, George Floyd Might Be Alive - Larry Elder

 

by Larry Elder

A reflection on the Instigator-in-Chief.

 

George Floyd might be alive had former President Barack Obama not, for eight years, consistently play the anti-cop race card.

Despite receiving more white votes than 2004 Democratic candidate John Kerry, Obama said: "The legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination in almost every institution of our lives — you know, that casts a long shadow, and that's still part of our DNA that's passed on. We're not cured of it. ... Racism — we are not cured of it."

Obama's own presidential victory demonstrates that America is not "systemically racist." In 2007, Gallup found that fewer Americans (5%) said they would not vote for a Black person than said they would not vote for a woman (11%), referring to his nomination rival Hillary Clinton. The same Gallup poll found that 24% and 42% of Americans, respectively, would not vote for a Mormon, referring to Mitt Romney, or for a person who would be 72 years old when he became president, referring to Sen. John McCain.

Early in Obama's first term, an incident in Cambridge, Massachusetts, gave him a golden opportunity to defuse the lie that the police engage in "systemic racism" against Blacks. The Cambridge police briefly arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, a Black friend of Obama, in his home. Gates, back from a trip, couldn't open his front door and reportedly asked his driver to help. A neighbor, observing two people she did not recognize trying to force open the front door of Gates' home, called 911. The cops arrived and politely asked Gates to exit the home so the police could determine ownership. Instead, Gates mouthed off and was briefly arrested.

Obama said, "The Cambridge police acted stupidly." But the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association and the Cambridge Police commissioner insisted the officer simply followed protocol. Obama's statement infuriated officers all across the country and set up a template for the Obama administration: Cops systemically engage in unlawful anti-Black racial profiling.

Suppose Obama had not insultingly denounced the Cambridge police. Suppose, instead, Obama had said: "I've just spoken to my friend, professor Gates. I reminded him that he is a role model and that his behavior with the Cambridge police officer, who was merely doing his job, was unacceptable. We need to understand as Americans that officers typically have a difficult job. Yes, there are bad cops, but for the most part, they're trying to do their best. And contrary to popular perception, the police, in recent years, have killed more unarmed whites than Blacks. It is a lie, not supported by the evidence, that cops are killing Blacks just because they're Black. This is not your grandfathers' America. It is our job as civilians to be respectful, polite and by all means comply. Comply; you won't die."

Suppose Obama encouraged Blacks to comply with the police and that if one feels mistreated, to get a name or badge number and sort it out later. Eric Garner died after an encounter where New York City cops arrested him for selling cigarettes. Had he not resisted, he would likely still be alive. Jacob Blake was shot several times by the Kenosha, Wisconsin, police when they suspected him of reaching for a knife. Had Blake complied, he would not be in a wheelchair today. Would that have encouraged Black suspects like George Floyd to respond differently to an encounter with the police?

Obama knows the statistics and studies. He knows there is no evidence of anti-Black "systemic racism" on the part of the police. But the political Obama knows that Black anger and resentment translate into Black votes. How many routine police encounters with Blacks escalate into something far more serious because young Blacks believe the "systemic racism" lie pushed by Black Lives Matter and their sympathizers?

Polls rate Barack Obama as one of the most admired people in America, particularly among Black Americans. Out of office, he maintains respect, power, stature and influence. As president, he could have saved lives by putting truth over politics. He chose not to. As a former president, he still can.

Mr. Obama, tell the truth. Save lives. It's not too late.

 

Larry Elder

 
Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/04/had-obama-not-played-race-card-george-floyd-might-larry-elder/

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Jewish fraternity at Rutgers egged during Yom HaShoah ceremony - Dan Verbin

 

by Dan Verbin

During a 24-hour reading of the names of Holocaust victims on Yom HaShoah, a group of students threw eggs at the Alpha Epsilon house.

During a 24-hour reading of the names of Holocaust victims on Yom HaShoah at a Rutgers University Jewish fraternity, a group of students threw eggs at Alpha Epsilon Pi’s house.

Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor Christopher J. Molloy issued a statement this week on social media saying that the university was “deeply disturbed” by what occurred and by the harm it has caused Jewish students on campus, reported Rutgers student newspaper, The Daily Targum.

“All members of our campus community deserve to learn and work in an environment in which they feel fully safe, valued and respected, free from (anti-Semitism) and all other forms of hate and discrimination,” he wrote.

Molloy stated that the incident highlights the need for the school to implement additional education and awareness programs to combat anti-Semitism. The Office of the Senior Vice President for Equity has started an outreach program to Jewish students and will also release anti-Semitism resources to the general student body starting next week.

“As we go through the diversity strategic planning process, we will attend closely to this and follow up with members of the Jewish community to ensure your voices and perspectives are reflected in our path forward,” Molloy said. “Again, I express my sincere support for our Jewish students, faculty and staff, and my full commitment to ensuring that all members of our community feel a sense of belonging here at Rutgers-New Brunswick.”

The Rutgers University Police Department is investigating the incident.

Over the weekend, the Rutgers Student Assembly released an Instagram statement expressing their support for Jews on campus.

“We, as a beloved community, must be vigilant in our condemnation of such heinous acts, continue to hold those who perpetrate such hate accountable and work to develop a culture where such actions never occur,” said the statement by assembly President Nicholas LaBelle and Vice President Arielle Dublin.

Jewish on Campus, a Jewish student organization, posted an anonymous student quote on Instagram, stating that anti-Semitism is an ongoing problem on the Rutgers campus.

 

Dan Verbin

 
Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/304448

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