Saturday, August 13, 2022

Former President Trump's lawyer certified in June that no classified material remains at Mar-a-Lago - Adam Sabes

 

by Adam Sabes

FBI agents seized records that were marked as classified during their raid, according to released documents.

Former President Trump's lawyer certified in a June letter that no classified material was still at Mar-a-Lago, two sources with knowledge of the investigation tell Fox News. 

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant on the Florida estate of former President Donald Trump on Monday and seized items, which include 11 sets of material that are listed as classified.

Trump said after the warrant was publicly released on Friday that the documents taken by federal agents were "all declassified."

Trump's lawyers previously held a high-level meeting in June with people from the Justice Department and the FBI, which was briefly attended by the former president, but it's unclear if the letter was signed during the meeting.

FBI SEIZED CLASSIFIED RECORDS FROM MAR-A-LAGO DURING SEARCH OF TRUMP RESIDENCE

Former President Donald Trump in New York City following the FBI raid at his Mar-a-Lago home.

Former President Donald Trump in New York City following the FBI raid at his Mar-a-Lago home.  (Felipe Ramales / Fox News Digital)

Lawyers for the former president could face serious legal consequences if they knowingly gave false information to law enforcement.

Agents from the FBI seized records that were marked as classified and some that were marked as top secret during their raid.

In a Truth Social post on Friday, after the warrant was made public, Trump disputed whether the documents the FBI seized were classified.

LIVE UPDATES: FBI SEIZED CLASSIFIED RECORDS FROM MAR-A-LAGO DURING RAID OF TRUMP'S FLORIDA RESIDENCE

Former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.  (Charles Trainor Jr./Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

"Number one, it was all declassified. Number two, they didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request..." Trump said. "They could have had it anytime they wanted—and that includes LONG ago. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS ASK. The bigger problem is, what are they going to do with the 33 million pages of documents, many of which are classified, that President Obama took to Chicago?"

Trump waves to crowd post FBI raid on Mar-a-lago

Trump waves to crowd post FBI raid on Mar-a-lago (Felipe Ramales: Fox News Digital)

After Trump's social media post, the National Archives and Records Administration said in a press release that former President Obama isn't in control over presidential records from his administration.

The warrant states that "45 Office," all storage rooms and all other rooms used by Trump and his staff were searched on Monday.

Fox News' Bill Mears contributed to this report.

 

Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-president-trumps-lawyer-certified-june-no-classified-material-remains-mar-lago

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New twist in FBI raid: Trump had 'standing order' to declassify documents taken to residence - John Solomon

 

by John Solomon

Former president's office describe previously undeclared process that led to sensitive documents landing in Mar-O-Lago.

Donald Trump's office told Just the News on Friday that the classified materials the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate were declassified under a "standing order" while he was president that allowed him to take sensitive materials to the White House residence at night to keep working.

The official statement is likely to become the focus of the president's legal defense as the FBI and Biden Justice Department investigate whether he stole records covered under the Presidential Records Act or mishandled classified materials under the Espionage Act, allegations included in a search warrant released by a federal court in Florida on Friday.

The president's defense is rooted in the legal principal that the president and vice president are the ultimate declassifying authority of the U.S. government and through executive orders most recently issued in 2003 by George W. Bush and Barack Obama in 2009 that specifically exempt the president and vice president from having to follow the stringent declassification procedures every other federal agency and official must follow.

Trump has maintained for weeks that any documents still containing classified markings in his possession after he left office were previously declassified. On Friday night, the statement issued to Just the News explained exactly how that declassification occurred in his mind.

The very fact that these documents were present at Mar-a-Lago means they couldn’t have been classified," the former president's office stated. "As we can all relate to, everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time. American presidents are no different. President Trump, in order to prepare for work the next day, often took documents including classified documents from the Oval Office to the residence.

"He had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken into the residence were deemed to be declassified," the statement added. "The power to classify and declassify documents rests solely with the President of the United States. The idea that some paper-pushing bureaucrat, with classification authority delegated BY THE PRESIDENT, needs to approve of declassification is absurd."

Two former senior aides who worked for Trump in the latter half of his term said they were aware that Trump routinely took documents to the residence rather than return them to the Staff Secretary or the intelligence official who provided them. Asked whether there was a standing order, one former official "I don't know anyone or anything that disputes that."

Ordinarily, documents declassified by a president are later retrieved and marked declassified, usually by crossing a line through the prior classification markings. But former top aides to prior presidents acknowledged the president's power to declassify was absolute and at times resulted in instant declassification decisions.

One prior administration official related an instance where his boss, while talking to a foreign leader, gave top-secret information to the leader, declassifying simply by sharing what he had seen in a top-secret marked document. Another official related an instance he witnessed in which a president, during a meeting, received a top secret document  and one official got up to leave because his clearance was only at the secret level.

"The president instantly approved that staffer to stay and consume the top-secret intelligence because it benefited the president's work at that moment," the person told Just the News.

The president's detractors in Congress, the DOJ, and the intelligence community are likely to contest the president's arguments. But officials familiar with national security law said courts generally have held the president's power to declassify is far-reaching and that the process for how that happens can be more happenstance, something the Bush and Obama executive orders from 2003 and 2009 made clear.

Obama's executive order no. 13526, issued in 2009, laid out the stringent process all federal officials and agencies needed to follow for declassification, but explicitly exempted the sitting president and vice president from having to follow those procedures.

 "Information originated by the incumbent President or the incumbent Vice President; the incumbent President’s White House Staff or the incumbent Vice President’s Staff; committees, commissions, or boards appointed by the incumbent President; or other entities within the Executive Office of the President that solely advise and assist the incumbent President is exempted from the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section," the Obama order stated.

Officials said it is likely the FBI will seek to find any officials or witnesses who knew or can confirm there was a "standing order" as described by the Trump statement. But in the end, officials said the president's declassification powers were sweeping and likely would be viewed as such by the courts.

 

John Solomon

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/breaking-trump-describes-process-how-he-declassified-documents

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A Deal Will Not Stop the Mullahs from Going Nuclear - Majid Rafizadeh

 

by Majid Rafizadeh

Regrettably, it looks as though the Biden administration and Europe -- through their endless concessions and a staggering lack of deterrence -- are still trying to force-feed the world a hostile Iran, armed with nuclear weapons.

  • When the regime's television host asked him about the video showing concrete being poured into the Arak reactor's pipes to block them, Ali Akbar Salehi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran responded: "[N]ot the pipes you see here. We had purchased similar pipes, but I couldn't announce it at that time.... We needed to be smart." — Iran Focus, August 2, 2022.

  • In addition, during the deal, several reports, later proven to be accurate, warned that Iran was conducting secret nuclear activities.

  • Now, thanks to the Biden administration's focus on reviving the nuclear deal... the Iranian regime bought time by dragging out the negotiations long enough to reach the nuclear threshold.

  • Regrettably, it looks as though the Biden administration and Europe -- through their endless concessions and a staggering lack of deterrence -- are still trying to force-feed the world a hostile Iran, armed with nuclear weapons.

  • One can only assume that the Biden administration is hoping to bribe the mullahs with up to a trillion dollars just not to bomb Israel while he is still president. Meaning that afterwards would be splendid?

  • Not only are deals such as the Biden or Obama nuclear deal failing to halt the predatory regime of Iran from advancing its nuclear program and possessing nuclear weapons, it actually facilitates Iran's going nuclear by legitimizing its weapons.

Believing that the ruling mullahs of Iran will halt their nuclear advancement with a deal is laughable. The 2015 nuclear deal required that the core of the Arak nuclear reactor would be filled with concrete and disabled. When asked about the video showing concrete being poured into the reactor's pipes to block them, Ali Akbar Salehi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran responded: "[N]ot the pipes you see here. We had purchased similar pipes, but I couldn't announce it at that time.... We needed to be smart." Pictured: Salehi delivers a speech at the Bushehr power plant, on November 10, 2019. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

The Biden administration has spent all its political capital to resurrect the nuclear deal -- presumably to perpetuate the idea that a nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime will stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, believing that the ruling mullahs of Iran will halt their nuclear advancement with a deal is laughable.

The Iranian regime has even boasted about its shrewd policy of deceiving and misleading the international community during the previous nuclear deal. One of terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, for instance, was that the core of the Arak nuclear reactor would be filled with concrete and disabled. Iran, according to the country's Fars news agency, claimed that it had poured in the concrete and destroyed the reactor core. The US State Department, during the Obama-Biden administration, confirmed the move as well.

Later, however, Ali Akbar Salehi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, openly admitted in an interview on Iran state television that the government had not complied with this requirement; instead, it had misled the international community: "For three years we have been saying we did not pour cement into the Arak heavy water reactor." When the regime's television host asked him about the video showing concrete being poured into the Arak reactor's pipes, Salehi responded:

"[N]ot the pipes you see here. We had purchased similar pipes, but I couldn't announce it at that time. Only one person knows so in Iran, the highest senior official. No one else knew. We needed to be smart. In addition, to not destroy the bridges behind us, we needed to also be building bridges, so that if we needed to return, we could return faster."

Other instances of deception include the detection of radioactive particles in Turquz Abad during the 2015 nuclear deal, and Iran's reluctance to answer simple questions posed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about Tehran's undeclared and secret facilities. In addition, during the deal, several reports, later proven to be accurate, warned that Iran was conducting secret nuclear activities. For example, Israel's then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pointed out in his speech to the UN General Assembly in 2018 that Iran had a "secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Iran's secret nuclear weapons program."

At the same time, two non-partisan organizations based in Washington, DC -- the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) -- have released detailed reports about the fact that was Iran had undeclared clandestine nuclear facilities during the nuclear deal.

The Iranian regime was also supposed to restrict the amount of specific nuclear materials it possesses during the nuclear deal. According to a report by the IAEA, however, the ruling mullahs violated the deal by holding more heavy water, used for the production of nuclear weapons.

Now, thanks to the Biden administration's focus on reviving the nuclear deal and their apparent inability to see anything beyond the nuclear deal, the Iranian regime has bought time by dragging out the negotiations long enough to reach the nuclear threshold. Several high-ranking Iranian officials, including Iran's atomic energy chief, are currently bragging that the Islamic Republic has the ability to build a nuclear bomb. The Institute for Science and International Security released a study confirming this:

"Iran has enough enriched uranium hexafluoride (UF6) in the form of near 20 and 60 percent enriched uranium to produce enough weapon-grade uranium, taken here as 25 kg, for a single nuclear weapon in as little as three weeks. It could do so without using any of its stock of uranium enriched up to 5 percent as feedstock. The growth of Iran's stocks of near 20 and 60 percent enriched uranium has dangerously reduced breakout timelines."

Regrettably, it looks as though the Biden administration and Europe -- through their endless concessions and a staggering lack of deterrence -- are still trying to force-feed the world a hostile Iran, armed with nuclear weapons.

The mullahs rule over a country that the US Department of State has repeatedly called the world's top, leading or foremost sponsor of state terrorism (such as here, here and here).

One can only assume that the Biden administration is hoping to bribe the mullahs with up to a trillion dollars not to bomb Israel while he is still president. Meaning that afterwards would be splendid?

Not only are deals such as the Biden or Obama nuclear deal failing to halt the predatory regime of Iran from advancing its nuclear program and possessing nuclear weapons, it actually facilitates Iran's going nuclear by legitimizing its weapons.

 

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18799/iran-mullahs-going-nuclear

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Biden administration divided on 'gender affirming' care for minors as other countries pull back - Greg Piper

 

by Greg Piper

HHS wants to force doctors to treat children with puberty blockers, even as FDA warns of severe side effects for girls. "Unqualified" office developed affirming guidance with no FDA involvement, FOIA response suggests.

As medical authorities and regulators worldwide warn against rushing gender-confused youth into puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and sharply restrict the practice, the U.S. is divided not only between state and federal governments but among the feds themselves.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration added a warning to "gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists" based on their "plausible" connection to spontaneous increases in intracranial pressure in girls, reaffirming years of warnings about Lupron and undermining the feds' top transgender official.

That didn't stop the Biden administration from asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Aug. 4 to reinstate a Department of Health and Human Services mandate requiring doctors to perform gender transitions on children and some private insurers and employers to cover them.

Medicare and Medicaid weren't covered, though. Religious liberty law firm Becket, which is representing religious healthcare providers, noted HHS declined to issue a "National Coverage Determination" on sex-reassignment surgery in 2016, citing conflicting study results on benefits versus harms.

The FDA's response to a Freedom of Information Act request suggests the agency wasn't even consulted when HHS's Office of Population Affairs drafted guidance that claims "early gender affirming care is crucial to overall health and well-being," blockers are "reversible," and hormones are "partially reversible."

The March guidance prompted alarm from a former FDA official, who wrote in Newsweek that his colleagues were "circumvented on transgender clinical pharmacology recommendations by an obscure, obviously unqualified HHS office."

FOIA officer Meredith Schlaifer told former Department of Education lawyer Hans Bader the FDA had no communications between the commissioner's office, media affairs and the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research on the drafting and publishing of the OPA guidance.

In a Liberty Unyielding essay Tuesday, Bader said the agency responded only after he sued the FDA and HHS, which has yet to respond to a similar request.

HHS and FDA didn't respond to queries on Bader's characterizations.

"The American stance is at odds with a growing consensus in the West to exercise extreme caution when it comes to transitioning young people," journalist and "Tomboy" author Lisa Selin Davis wrote in the Common Sense newsletter last month.

Scandinavian countries have sharply restricted "gender affirming" treatments in the past two years, with Sweden limiting youth transitions to "exceptional cases" and Finland banning "irreversible treatment" for this "experimental practice" of gender reassignment.

The National Health Service is closing the U.K.'s central gender-identity clinic for youth, known as Tavistock, following a high-profile lawsuit by a former patient, Keira Bell, and an independent review by Hilary Cass, former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics.

Cass' interim report on Tavistock this spring found "major gaps in the research base underpinning the clinical management" of youth, now predominantly girls "first presenting in adolescence with gender-related distress." Staff said they felt pressured to "adopt an unquestioning affirmative approach" at odds with the process for "all other clinical encounters." 

A diagnosis of "gender distress" also led to "diagnostic overshadowing" of other healthcare issues children were having, Cass said. The Times of London reported the clinic's services will be farmed out to regional children's hospitals, with an emphasis on mental health services and "holistic care."

Cass shared her July 19 letter to NHS recommending an ongoing research program to study the "pause" rationale for puberty blockers now that adolescent girls are the predominant patients. These drugs may disrupt "maturation of the part of the brain concerned with planning, decision making and judgement." 

The French National Academy of Medicine warned this year that "the greatest reserve is required" for the use of blockers and hormones in children and adolescents, "given the side effects such as impact on growth, bone fragility, risk of sterility, emotional and intellectual consequences and, for girls, symptoms reminiscent of menopause."

It emphasized there is "no test to distinguish a 'structural' gender dysphoria from transient dysphoria in adolescence" and the rising number of detransitioners shows "the risk of over-diagnosis is real."

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists updated its position on gender dysphoria last fall to recognize that "evidence and professional opinion is divided" on the affirming approach versus talk therapy, given the "paucity of quality evidence on the outcomes" for gender-confused youth and particularly the "long-term effects of medical and surgical affirming treatment."

Even as gender-affirming advocates try to tarnish the "social contagion" explanation for the explosion in gender-confused adolescent girls, the justification for their treatment is under the microscope.

Responding to law professor Khiara Bridges' congressional testimony claiming "one in five" transgender people attempt suicide due to transphobia, Manhattan Institute fellow Leor Sapir said the "affirm-or-suicide mantra" that's popular in the Biden administration has little basis in research.

It's based on a "small handful of deeply flawed studies that, at most, find loose correlations between 'affirming' interventions and improved mental health," Sapir wrote in evolutionary biologist Colin Wright's newsletter.

Surveys of transgender-identified youth (TIY) "do very little to vet respondents when they say they 'attempted' suicide" and compare apples to oranges, he said. TIY "exhibit extraordinarily high rates of mental health problems" apart from gender distress that confound comparisons with non-TIY.

This is particularly the case with rapid-onset gender dysphoria, whose adolescent sufferers are "known to have very high rates of anxiety, depression, history of sexual trauma, anorexia, and eating disorders, all of which typically precede their gender-related distress."

Sapir pointed to a January study in European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry that examined suicidality in transgender adolescents, with a median age of 16, at specialty clinics in Toronto, Amsterdam and London. By comparing apples to apples — similar mental health profiles in TIY and non-TIY — "the disparities in suicidal behavior reduced considerably," he said.

 

Greg Piper

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/biden-administration-divided-gender-affirming-care-minors-other

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Egyptian delegation to visit Israel to discuss terrorists' release - Dalit Halevi

 

by Dalit Halevi

Islamic Jihad threatens to renew fighting if Israel refuses to release top terrorist arrested in Jenin and hunger-striking terrorist.

 

Members of Islamic Jihad's military wing take part in military parade in Gaza
Members of Islamic Jihad's military wing take part in military parade in Gaza                 Atia Mohammed/Flash90

A senior Egyptian security delegation is expected to visit Israel and Gaza in the near future, in order to discuss the release of Islamic Jihad leader in Samaria Basa'am Asadi and security prisoner Khalil Awawada, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

It was Asadi's arrest that prompted the Islamic Jihad terror group to threaten to carry out an attack on Israelis near the Gaza border, leading Israel to close roads and transportation in the area. When the tensions and threats continued, Israel began Operation Breaking Dawn to end the threat.

Awawada has been on a hunger strike for over 150 days, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed noted.

As part of the ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Jihad terror group, it was agreed that Egypt would work to release Asadi and Awawada. The Islamic Jihad leader has claimed that Israel agreed to these conditions, which were set by Islamic Jihad. Israel has denied these claims.

Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad has also threatened to renew the fighting with Israel if Israel does not release the two prisoners or if Awawada dies.

Da'ud Shihab, a senior Islamic Jihad official, told the news outlet that his terror organization is in constant contact with Egypt, especially regarding Awawada's release, due to his serious health situation and the danger to his life.

 

Dalit Halevi

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/358122

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7 injured in Jerusalem shooting attack - Tzvi Joffre

 

by Tzvi Joffre

The suspected terrorist managed to escape the scene and police are currently conducting searches in the area.

 

Hatzalah workers at the scene of a shooting in Jerusalem, August 14, 2022. (photo credit: UNITED HATZALAH)
Hatzalah workers at the scene of a shooting in Jerusalem, August 14, 2022.
(photo credit: UNITED HATZALAH)

At least seven people were injured, two severely, in a shooting attack targeting a bus near King David's Tomb and a parking lot in the area, located near the Western Wall on Saturday night, according to emergency services.

The suspected terrorist managed to escape the scene and police are currently conducting searches in the area.

At least five other people were moderately and lightly injured in the attack.

One of the victims is a pregnant woman in her 30s who was shot in the stomach and is currently undergoing surgery at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Ynet reported.

According to the report, four of the injured are Satmar hasidim from the United States.

Hatzalah workers at the scene of a shooting in Jerusalem, August 14, 2022. (credit: UNITED HATZALAH‏)

Hatzalah workers at the scene of a shooting in Jerusalem, August 14, 2022. (credit: UNITED HATZALAH‏)

Police closed off the Old City, blocking both entry and exit into the area and to the Western Wall plaza. Police helicopters were also operating in the area to aid the search for the suspected terrorist.

Police forces entered the neighborhood of Silwan, located south of the Temple Mount, in search of the shooter.

 

 

“I parked the car near the house and heard gunshots and screams.”

Yosef Chaim HaCohen, United Hatzalah paramedic

Yosef Chaim HaCohen, a paramedic with United Hatzalah who lives near the scene, stated, “I parked the car near the house and heard gunshots and screams. The neighbors ran to me and shouted 'terror attack.’”

MDA paramedic Shimi Grossman said: “This was a bus that left the Western Wall with worshipers heading toward the city. According to a passerby, a terrorist began to shoot indiscriminately toward the bus. When I arrived there was a great commotion, people ran in panic, MDA teams treated and evacuated a 30-year-old man and a 45-year-old man in serious condition, a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, a young man about 20 years old in moderate condition and 4 injured in light condition.”

Background

The attack comes about a week after the launch of Operation Breaking Dawn and amid threats by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist movement to attack Israel if hunger-striking prisoner Khalil Awawdeh is not released.

The last terrorist attack reported in Jerusalem took place in mid-July when a Palestinian stabbed a man in his 40s on a bus near Ramot junction.

This is a developing situation.

 

Tzvi Joffre

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-714649

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Growing up Trans in the 80s - Monroe Wesson

 

by Monroe Wesson

People need to know that it is possible to struggle with gender dysphoria as a child and become a healthy well-adjusted adult.

This is something I have never told anyone about.  I don't know if this is the right platform for this, but I want people to know that it is possible to struggle with gender dysphoria as a child and become a healthy well-adjusted adult who conforms with your biological sex.  I am glad I am not a child in this time.  My life would have been ruined before adulthood.

I was born into a well-off family with a strong Christian faith and strong Southern pride.  I was sixth out of seven children, being born the younger child of a set of twins.  My twin is a girl, I am a boy.  There were four girls and three boys.  Culturally we were deep Southern.  Relations between the sexes were as follows:  Women were always right.  Women were inherently morally superior to males in every way.  Motherhood was held as the highest prestige career possible.  Women could do no wrong.  My mother exceeded the cultural expectations put on her and deserved all the special privileges that she got.  As a young boy, my mother was the largest influence in my life.  

From first grade till about sixth grade, I wished I was a girl.  I didn’t believe I was born in the wrong body.  I wanted to know what it was like to be pregnant.  I wanted to be a mother.  When I first heard about sex-change surgery, I thought that could be something for me.  As I went thru those elementary school years, I found several different reasons for why life would be better as a girl.  Here are several of those reasons: 

Most of my school friends were girls.  They were always nice to me.  The boys were mean bullies. 

Twins are usually the same.  If I was a girl my twin and I would be the same. 

My name… when I was born it was a boy’s name, shortly thereafter, society decided it was a girl’s name.

I did exceptionally well on the sit-up portion of the physical fitness test.  So well, the coach questioned if I was cheating somehow.  After watching me redo the sit-ups, coach accepted my accomplishment.  I was not very athletic, but I was exceptional at sit-ups.  Not good enough to break any records, unless I was a girl.  Had I been a girl, I would have set the record and probably held it for several years. 

There were more girls in my family than boys.  I’d have more siblings to be close to.

As a female, I’d be allowed in the female only private spaces.  Even though I wished to be female, I was still male.  I am fascinated with the female form and find it a thing of beauty.

I could walk in high heels much better than my sisters could.

I never talked about this desire to be female.  I confided it once to my twin sister.  To the rest of the world, I was just a normal boy.  It didn’t control my life.  No one made a fuss about it.  No one went on a crusade to make this childish dream become reality.  I may have made many wishes on stars, or said many prayers in vain, but it never escalated beyond wishing.

Twice, all my sisters decided it would be fun to give me a makeover.  I thought it was a fun game to play.  I remember when it happened, I wasn’t thinking about how I wished I was a girl, I was simply thinking it was fun to play pretend with my sisters.  When they were done, they showed off their work to my mother.  They presented me to our mother as their new sister.  Mommy was not amused.  Unlike her usual freakout, she was unusually calm about it all.  It happened once more.  I suspect after the second time, my mother had a talk with my oldest two sisters.  It never happened again.  I remember her saying, “You’re going to confuse him.”  My mother usually shouted, yelled, belittled, and insulted. But for some reason, she didn't make a big deal of it.

When the girls my age started growing into women, I outgrew this desire.  I knew I was a boy.  I prepared myself to be a good husband and father.  I worked hard.  I got an education.  I grew into a man.  I found the right woman, and we got married.  We had four children.  I was the sole breadwinner until the kids were all in high school.  I am a very involved father.  We have an excellent family life, and I wouldn’t trade fatherhood or husbandry for anything in the world.  It is the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done.  The only thing I wish was different was that I could do it more.  None of this would be possible if I had tried to live out my childish wish of being female.

 Had I grown up in current times… someone would have found out.  Society encourages this type of fantasy and encourages kids to tell others about it.  I didn’t talk about it because I instinctively knew that it was wrong.  Today so many voices encourage it that I would have eventually embraced the fantasy and made it part of my identity.  Doctors and schools would have intervened to give me hormone blockers or even sex-change surgery.  It wasn’t until my 20s that I found out that sex-change surgery doesn’t give you the ability to experience reproduction as the other sex, but that it simply destroyed your ability to reproduce and mutilates your body to appear as a horrific cheap copy of the other sex.  As a young elementary school boy, I wouldn’t have understood the long-term consequences of such “medical” decisions.  I know my mother would have been opposed to the entire thing.  This would have brought down the wrath of the school district and doctors upon my parents.  The state would have intervened.  With six other children in the family, CPS would have swooped in, scattered us all to the winds, and our excellent family life would have been ruined.  Instead of producing seven well-adjusted adults who are all contributing to society and raising their own children, all the work of my parents’ marriage would have been laid waste, and we’d all be emotionally and mentally damaged adults of the government foster system.  As an adult, I would never have had a family.  I would have regretted my decision and probably have killed myself.

The treatment that worked for me, was to ensure I lived my life as a boy, not give it a lot of attention, and let nature clarify things.  I had a mild case of wishing I was a girl.  Had I grown up today, my mild case of "I wish I was a girl" would have been inflated to something life ruining.  Modern society would have ruined my life.  I empathize with the children that struggle with sex identity.  Our society is not doing them any favors.  I am glad some states and governors (Florida, DeSantis) have passed legislation to protect children from the many loud voices and influences that would ruin children's adulthoods.  I hope it spreads to other states.  To any children struggling to accept their biological sex... it's okay to feel that way.  Not everyone has that struggle, but some of us do.  You are young, get to know yourself more before defining yourself by this desire.  Nature will straighten things out for you.  If, after going through puberty it doesn't, please get counseling.  You will be much happier experiencing the love and connection of having a traditional family than giving into those desires.  I know because I lived it and had a good outcome.  You can too.

 

Monroe Wesson

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/08/growing_up_trans_in_the_80s.html

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Critics call for Biden to 'immediately end' Iran nuclear talks following attempted murder of Salman Rushdie - Andrew Mark Miller

 

by Andrew Mark Miller

Iran issued a fatwa on Rushdie's life in 1989

 

 

The attempted murder of author Salman Rushdie prompted social media users, including several members of Congress, to voice criticism of the Biden administration’s pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran in light of the country’s past support of a fatwa against Rushdie’s life.

"Iran has offered a bounty to anyone who assassinates Salman Rushdie," Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted on Friday. "Today he was stabbed in America. Why is Biden still negotiating a ‘deal' with these terrorists in Tehran?"

Rushdie was allegedly stabbed multiple times by 24-year-old Hadi Matar before a speech in Chautauqua, New York on Friday in an attack that severely injured the 75-year-old author leaving him unable to speak and likely to lose an eye.

The attack comes more than 30 years after Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for his death in response to Rushdie’s book "The Satanic Verses" causing Rushdie to require round the clock security at various points in his life.

BILL MAHER REACTS TO SALMAN RUSHDIE ATTACK: DON'T COME AT ME WITH 'ISLAMOPHOBIC' TO SHUT OFF ISLAM DEBATE

The White House says they did not get "notice" of the FBI's raid on former President Trump's private residence at Mar-a-Lago.

The White House says they did not get "notice" of the FBI's raid on former President Trump's private residence at Mar-a-Lago. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Several others joined Rubio in calling out the Biden administration in the aftermath of the attack for working with the Iranian government on a nuclear deal.

"Iran’s leaders have been calling for the murder of Salman Rushdie for decades," Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted. "We know they’re trying to assassinate American officials today. Biden needs to immediately end negotiations with this terrorist regime."

 

JK ROWLING SHOWS SUPPORT FOR SALMAN RUSHDIE, RECEIVES DEATH THREAT AFTER: ‘YOU’RE NEXT’

"This White House statement on Salman Rushdie is appalling," author Gary Weiss said in response to the White House’s reaction to the attack. "No mention is made of Iran putting a price on his head. Or that the fatwa was reaffirmed by the ayatollah in 2005 and in 2019. Is Joe Biden is THAT anxious to move ahead with the lousy JCPOA?"

In this still image from video, author Salman Rushdie is taken on a stretcher to a helicopter for transport to a hospital after he was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.

In this still image from video, author Salman Rushdie is taken on a stretcher to a helicopter for transport to a hospital after he was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.  (AP Photo)

 

"The silence of @POTUS in response to the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie looks increasingly the result of one thing:  A desperation to return to the Iran deal," Foundation for Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz tweeted. "American desperation increases regime aggression. It always has."

 

REPORTERS BANNED FROM SALMAN RUSHDIE ATTACKER ARRAIGNMENT

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Iran’s government has seemingly distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree over the years but a semi-official Iranian religious foundation has voiced support for a bounty on Rushdie that exceeded $3 million.

Author Salman Rushdie appears at a signing for his book "Home" in London on June 6, 2017.

Author Salman Rushdie appears at a signing for his book "Home" in London on June 6, 2017.  (Photo by Grant Pollard/Invision/AP, File)

Following the stabbing, Iran state media condemned Rushdie as an "apostate" who was responsible for "blasphemous" writings.

Additionally, Iranian news outlets celebrated news of the attack as the hospitalized author fought for his life on a ventilator.

A top Iranian official said that Tehran may be willing to accept a new proposal by the European Union to reach a nuclear deal if its demands are met, reports said Friday.

Tehran has previously demanded assurances from the U.S. that no future president could renege on the deal after former President Trump pulled out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and slapped Iran with stiff sanctions. 

Fox News' Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

 

Andrew Mark Miller is a writer at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/critics-call-biden-immediately-end-iran-nuclear-talks-following-attempted-murder-salman-rushdie

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Belgium's Prisoner Swap Treaty with Iran: "A Deal with the Devil" - Soeren Kern

 

by Soeren Kern

"If the Belgian government proceeds with this treaty, Iran's regime will further turn Europe into a roaming ground for its terrorists, targeting not just Iranian dissidents but others also, as Tehran is essentially being told that it won't pay a price." — Ramesh Sepehrrad, Organization of Iranian American Communities, July 5, 2022.

  • A Belgian court has temporarily prohibited the Belgian government from exchanging an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism for a Belgian citizen being held in Iran on dubious charges of espionage.

  • The court's ruling represents a potential blow to a controversial new prisoner exchange treaty, which critics say will embolden the Iranian government to step up its practice of taking foreigners hostage to pressure Western countries into making concessions.

  • The treaty has angered those who argue that it would grant impunity to Iranian agents such as Assadi and have accused the Belgian government of caving in to "odious blackmail." It has been variously described as: "frightening appeasement," "a green light to terrorists," and "very short-sighted," "dangerous," "outrageous," "a sign of weakness," "a stunning mistake," and "a deal with the devil."

  • "If the Belgian government proceeds with this treaty, Iran's regime will further turn Europe into a roaming ground for its terrorists, targeting not just Iranian dissidents but others also, as Tehran is essentially being told that it won't pay a price." — Ramesh Sepehrrad, Organization of Iranian American Communities, July 5, 2022.

  • "With the knowledge that prisoner swaps are an easy option, Tehran will now instruct more 'diplomats' and other operatives to engage in terrorism.... Europe must recognize that, ultimately, the only sustainable path to having a stable relationship with Iran is to support the Iranian people's democratic aspirations." — Cameron Khansarinia and Kaveh Shahrooz, Politico, August 1, 2022.

A Belgian court has temporarily prohibited the Belgian government from exchanging an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism for a Belgian citizen being held in Iran on dubious charges of espionage. Iran is suspected of holding Olivier Vandecasteele hostage to force Belgium to release Assadollah Assadi, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Belgium for masterminding a plot to bomb a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which took place near Paris in 2018. Pictured: Police guard the courthouse during Assadi's trial in Antwerp, on February 4, 2021. (Photo by Dirk Waem/Belga/AFP via Getty Images)

A Belgian court has temporarily prohibited the Belgian government from exchanging an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism for a Belgian citizen being held in Iran on dubious charges of espionage.

The court's ruling represents a potential blow to a controversial new prisoner exchange treaty, which critics say will embolden the Iranian government to step up its practice of taking foreigners hostage to pressure Western countries into making concessions.

On July 20, after months of heated debate, Belgian lawmakers voted 79 to 41 (with 11 abstentions) to approve the "Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Islamic Republic of Iran on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons." The Belgian government said the agreement, the first of its kind in Europe, is the only possible way to free Olivier Vandecasteele, a 41-year-old Belgian aid worker who has been held in solitary confinement at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since his arrest on February 24.

Iran, for its part, is seeking the release of 50-year-old Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Belgium for masterminding a plot to bomb, outside Paris in June 2018, a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group. At least 25,000 people attended the event. The plot was foiled at the last minute by Belgian, French and German police.

In February 2021, a court in Antwerp ruled that Assadi, who was attached to the Iranian mission in Austria, where he served as an Iranian regime agent under diplomatic cover, was guilty of terrorism and that his status as a diplomat did not grant him immunity from prosecution for criminal acts.

Prosecutors, who sought the maximum 20-year sentence, said that Assadi smuggled explosives for the planned bombing aboard a commercial airliner from Iran to Austria. He was arrested while on holiday in Germany, where he did not have diplomatic immunity, and was then extradited to Belgium.

Three accomplices, all Iranian-Belgian dual nationals, were given prison terms of between 15 and 18 years for their roles in the plot and stripped of their Belgian citizenship.

The ruling marked the first trial of an Iranian official for terrorism in the European Union since Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979. Iran's foreign ministry insists that Assadi's arrest and prosecution are illegal and violate the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said:

"The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to employ all possible legal and diplomatic means to protect Mr. Assadi's rights and hold accountable the governments that have violated their international commitments."

Iran is suspected of holding Vandecasteele hostage to force the Belgian government to release Assadi.

On March 11, less than three weeks after Vandecasteele's arrest, Belgian officials secretly negotiated the prisoner exchange treaty with Iran. Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said that Belgium has a "moral duty" to secure Vandecasteele's freedom. "If the bill is not fully approved, the threat to Belgian interests and certain Belgian citizens will increase," he warned. "I weigh my words: there are human lives at stake." He said that any of the 200 Belgians still in Iran "could be next to be locked up."

Critics have warned that the treaty could set a dangerous precedent by encouraging Iran to take innocent people hostage and use them as bargaining tools.

After the Belgian Parliament approved the treaty, the NCRI and several people who were civil parties to Assadi's trial took immediate legal action to prevent Assadi's transfer to Iran. The Brussels Court of First Instance dismissed the lawsuit, but the plaintiffs won their case on appeal.

On July 22, the Brussels Court of Appeals issued an order which prohibits, until further notice, the Belgian government "from proceeding, by any means whatsoever, with the transfer of Assadollah Assadi" until the prisoner exchange treaty can be challenged in court.

The treaty has angered those who argue that it would grant impunity to Iranian agents such as Assadi and have accused the Belgian government of caving in to "odious blackmail." It has been variously described as: "frightening appeasement," "a green light to terrorists," and "very short-sighted," "dangerous," "outrageous," "a sign of weakness," "a stunning mistake," and "a deal with the devil."

President-elect of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi, said in a statement:

"The Iranian Resistance strongly condemns the endorsement of the shameful deal with the clerical regime and considers it the highest incentive for the religious fascism ruling Iran to step up terrorism and to use hostage-taking as much as possible....

"The treaty was endorsed despite facing not only the widespread and unified opposition of Iranian refugees, Belgium opposition political parties, and human rights lawyers and associations but also some parties and parliamentarians who are members of the government coalition, who attempted to remove it from the parliament's agenda, and who called it a stigma that would prompt the clerical regime to commit further terrorism in Belgium and Europe."

The NCRI said that Assadi should remain in prison. Farzin Hashemi, deputy chair of the NCRI foreign affairs committee, noted that hundreds of people would have been killed if the plot had succeeded. He added:

"The experience of the past four decades has shown that making concessions to a terrorist regime will only embolden it and endanger the lives of more innocent people."

In a July 6 letter to the Belgian Parliament, 20 members of the European Parliament warned that that the treaty "gives a green light to the religious fascism ruling Iran to continue its criminal activities and terrorism on European soil." They added: "Such an agreement will result in more crimes and assassinations in Europe, and unless we all take a firm stand, this will not be the last of these deadly terrorist plots."

Ramesh Sepehrrad of the US-based Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC), in an interview with Al Arabiya English, agreed:

"If the Belgian government proceeds with this treaty, Iran's regime will further turn Europe into a roaming ground for its terrorists, targeting not just Iranian dissidents but others also, as Tehran is essentially being told that it won't pay a price."

Indeed, the Belgian treaty with Iran might well have immediate consequences for other European countries.

On July 14, for instance, a court in Sweden sentenced 61-year-old Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prosecutor, to life in prison for war crimes in connection with the mass executions of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. Nouri was arrested after flying to Sweden in 2019 and was tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Iran is now threatening to execute Swedish-Iranian Ahmadreza Djalali, a scholar of disaster medicine, who was arrested during a business trip in 2016 and sentenced to death the following year on dubious charges of spying for Israel.

In an opinion article — "Belgium's Prisoner Swap Deal will only Encourage Iranian Terrorism" — published by Politico, Iran experts Cameron Khansarinia and Kaveh Shahrooz warned that Brussels is paving the way for more Europeans to be taken hostage:

"Assadi had plotted his terrorist attack while serving as an Iranian envoy in Vienna, and the Islamic Republic likely has many other such operatives across Europe. With the knowledge that prisoner swaps are an easy option, Tehran will now instruct more "diplomats" and other operatives to engage in terrorism.

"The regime will come after Iranian human rights activists and opposition figures living abroad even more brazenly than before. These activists fled Iran seeking safety. Now, they'll have to live in fear of the long, and increasingly muscular, arm of the regime in every corner of Europe — with already a macabre record of killings in Germany, France and Switzerland....

"The Belgium treaty will only intensify the already troubling pattern of kidnapping for ransom. In recent months alone, news of the Iranian regime's flagrant abuse of European citizens has been constant: A Swedish academic, a French tourist and a German national have all been taken hostage, and face mistreatment and possible execution in Iran....

"Though the Belgian government claims it signed the treaty because it had done "everything it could" to free its citizen, that is simply false. Supplication and spinelessness aren't the only options available to Europe.

"In the face of hostage-taking, Europe should be bold. When Tehran takes a European hostage, that country — and, perhaps, others acting in concert — should begin expelling Iranian diplomats. If the situation continues, it should declare the Iranian ambassador persona non grata and close the embassy as well. Adopted by Germany in the 1990s, this approach was very effective at temporarily curbing Iranian terrorism in Europe.

"Additionally, any European country whose citizens are kidnapped should remove the families and affiliates of Iranian officials from their country.

"Then, it should confiscate the regime's assets in Europe too. European countries hold billions of euros affiliated with the Islamic Republic and its officials, and those funds should be frozen and confiscated, returned only when European hostages are released and hostage-taking ceases.

"Finally, Europe must recognize that, ultimately, the only sustainable path to having a stable relationship with Iran is to support the Iranian people's democratic aspirations. Otherwise, such steps are merely kicking the proverbial can down the road."

 

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18797/belgium-iran-prisoner-swap
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US Reform, Conservative rabbis had enough of anti-Zionist rhetoric - Zvika Klein

 

by Zvika Klein

DIASPORA AFFAIRS: A rabbinical coalition in the US is countering the growing trend of incoming Reform and Conservative rabbis who feel they need to avoid or criticize Zionism.

 

 MEMBERS OF the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition at a Washington conference (photo credit: ZIONIST RABBINIC COALITION)
MEMBERS OF the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition at a Washington conference
(photo credit: ZIONIST RABBINIC COALITION)

"Unfortunately, what’s happened is that there’s a narrative out there which is that part of the Conservative and Reform American rabbis feel that we have an instinctive need to be critical of Israel,” says American Conservative Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt.

The Potomac, Maryland, community leader was in Israel recently, discussing the raison d’etre for the organization that he helped found and is chairman of – the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition.

The coalition was established two years ago, after rabbis, mainly from the Reform and Conservative movements, felt that their movements weren’t representing them on issues regarding Israel and Zionism. According to Weinblatt, it’s a counterreaction to the reaction of the Reform movement to the move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem and anti-Zionist trends from within the progressive Jewish religious movements.

“One of the things is that as a result of those public critiques, which are in sermons and in writings [of US rabbis], I think what many rabbis don’t realize, it’s not going to change or move the needle in Israel, but it will have an impact on the people who hear that message, which is American Jews sitting in the pews,” Weinblatt told The Jerusalem Post. “There was a time when that didn’t happen, but in the last few years it certainly has come to the forefront. I’m deeply concerned about that.”

Distancing US Jewry from Israel, the Jewish world and Judaism

Weinblatt continued by saying that the negative sermons of progressive rabbis in the US have caused distancing from Israel itself, which also distances them from people from the Jewish world and from Judaism.”

He spoke about the group of progressive rabbinic students from seminaries in the US that signed a petition against Israel during Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021. “We hear this anecdotally from those [rabbinic students] who are pro-Israel, that they’re afraid to speak out in their classes. We saw it with a letter that was published last year by 90 rabbinical students. With all of these factors involved, I think it’s very important to have the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition.”

He shared that some of the hundreds of the member rabbis have “expressed a sense of loneliness in their own movements and have been very happy to hear that there are other rabbis who are liberal and progressive [and] who share the commitment to Zionism.”

About 50% of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition members are Conservative rabbis, 35% are Reform rabbis, and the rest are Modern Orthodox.

 RABBI STUART WEINBLATT: Just as rabbinical schools wouldn’t admit someone who was racist, homophobic or misogynistic, they should also not be admitting people who are anti-Zionist.” (credit: ZIONIST RABBINIC COALITION) RABBI STUART WEINBLATT: Just as rabbinical schools wouldn’t admit someone who was racist, homophobic or misogynistic, they should also not be admitting people who are anti-Zionist.” (credit: ZIONIST RABBINIC COALITION)

The coalition just recently sent a letter to heads of rabbinic seminaries, which more than 600 rabbis signed. The letter, titled “A Rabbinic Letter of Support for Israel During the War With Hamas,” emphasized that it is important for these institutions to accept only students who are committed to Israel and to Zionism.

“We, American rabbis, write to express our concern about the attitude of many rabbinical students towards Zionism and Jewish peoplehood.”

Zionist Rabbinic Coalition

“We, American rabbis, write to express our concern about the attitude of many rabbinical students towards Zionism and Jewish peoplehood,” the first sentence of the letter stated.

“Yet during Israel’s war with Hamas in May of 2021, at a time when Israel sustained over 4,500 rockets in an 11-day period, nearly 100 students from America’s rabbinical schools signed a letter harshly critical of Israel,” the letter stated and continued: “The students went so far as to accuse the State of Israel of abusing her power by responding to rockets targeting Israeli civilians; of racist violence; suppression of human rights; and of enabling apartheid in the Palestinian territories...

“The views of these future rabbis do not bode well for engendering support for the fulfillment of 2,000 years of longing for a homeland, the most important enterprise of the Jewish people in our time. Furthermore, this attitude is out of sync with the majority of American Jews, who support Israel and consider Israel an important part of their identity.

“We believe it is the responsibility of rabbis not to exacerbate or contribute to a divide between American Jews and Israel, but to work to bridge the gap and to strengthen the ties between the two largest Jewish communities in the world,” the letter said.

It stated that “while it is not necessary to be uncritical, rabbis should encourage appreciation of Israel’s achievements as well as greater understanding of her historic quest for peace and the realities she faces.

“We want to ensure that future rabbis exhibit a connection to Jewish peoplehood and a belief in the right of the State of Israel to exist and defend herself from those who seek to destroy her. Those who lack ahavat Yisrael, of which anti-Zionism is a manifestation, cross a line and should not be leaders of the Jewish people.”

The rabbis, led by Weinblatt, implored the heads of these rabbinic seminaries to “consider in your admissions process whether or not a candidate possesses a love of Israel and the Jewish people, and [we] call upon you to include ahavat Yisrael as a criterion for admission.” They stressed that “the ordination of rabbis who harbor anti-Zionist views contributes to the distancing of Jews not just from Israel, but from the Jewish people and Judaism.”

Weinblatt shared that some of the seminaries have responded to the letter, yet most of them didn’t.

“I just had a very positive conversation with Dr. Andrew Rehfeld, [president] of the Hebrew Union College[-Jewish Institute of Religion], in response to the letter and the issues we raised,” he said of the flagship Reform Judaism rabbinic seminary.

“We decided to call upon the ordaining seminaries to ask them to consider the views of the future rabbis before accepting them, just as they wouldn’t admit someone who was racist, homophobic or misogynistic. They should also not be admitting people who are anti-Zionist.

“We started to receive responses from some of the seminaries who are interested in looking into working with us on discussing it, and some of them who don’t recognize that there’s a problem,” he shared.

Weinblatt revealed that seminaries such as Hebrew College and the American Jewish University “had a very thoughtful response.”

AS FOR the crisis between the progressive movements in the US and the Israeli government regarding the implementation of the Western Wall compromise, Weinblatt thinks that this is a subject that is of importance more to the leaders of the Reform and Conservative movements than to their constituents.

“In certain respects, I think, first and foremost, the egalitarian prayer section at the Kotel is long overdue,” he said. “I think all sides have used it [the crisis] to their own advantage, whether it is the haredim or others. And, unfortunately, each one is just trying to provoke the other side. I think we need to try to find a way to resolve it. We need to also find the areas of common consensus.”

Weinblatt continued with the self-criticism, claiming that the American Jewish community has let Israel down when supporting the JCPOA agreement with Iran.

“There was a consensus in the State of Israel that this was a threat, a central threat,” he said of the agreement. “The treaty was not good, and in some respects, the American Jewish community, I think, let Israel down.

“That also was a little bit in the back of my mind when starting the coalition. If there’s such a strong consensus from Left to Right on an issue of security, threatening Israel, we have an obligation not to be arrogant, not to try and dictate what Israel should do, but, rather, to understand and to help our people understand those issues.”

WEINBLATT WAS originally ordained by the Reform movement, but later on left the movement and became a Conservative rabbi.

“When I first joined the Conservative movement in the early ’90s, there were a number of factors that were especially appealing to me, including the fact that, since its inception, it has been a Zionist movement,” he said of the Conservative movement. “And yet, I would say that the trend over recent years has been to drift a little bit away from that traditional support.

“The message that’s come from Reform and Conservative pulpits has been that Judaism is all about tikkun olam – and that is extremely important. But it overlooks and neglects the importance of particularism as well. In my perspective, we need both particularism, universalism, tikkun olam and also advocacy for Israel. What’s happened, I think, is that the pendulum has swung, in the Reform and Conservative movements, to almost the exclusion of the particularistic message that had the aspect of importance of supporting the concept of Jewish peoplehood in Israel.”

Weinblatt spoke of a sociological change within the Conservative movement, which he claimed used to try and be similar and close to Orthodox Judaism, yet nowadays is closer to the Reform movement. “There was a time, in the early 20th century, through at least the 1980s, when, in many respects, Conservative Judaism [operated] in parallel to Orthodoxy. Now that trend has moved in the other direction. There are many factors to this change.

“Our approach is very different from that of the official movements,” Weinblatt said finally. “Our approach is to be involved constructively and be positive [in relation to Israel]. It’s not a question of just being cheerleaders. It’s not a question of just having a supporter’s view for Israel, but, rather, understanding that there are certain issues that are bigger than any one specific issue.” 

 

Zvika Klein

Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-714534

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