The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."
The IDF’s “Firm Hand” drill simulates conflict erupting in the north and spreading to other arenas—including Iran.
Israeli Combat Engineering Corps of the Central Command during a
military training in the Golan Heights in northern Israel on Sept. 4,
2008. Photo by IDF Spokesperson/Flash90
An Israel Defense Forces exercise, dubbed
“Firm Hand,” which began on Monday and will last two weeks, simulates a
war beginning with a clash in the north and spreading to other fronts,
including Iran.
Under the command of the IDF General
Staff, the large-scale drill simulates intense multi-arena war. It
involves the Israel Air Force, Navy, ground force, and units active on
the electromagnetic spectrum and in the cyber arena, the IDF stated.
The exercise’s northern focus is reflected by the fact that it is being led by Northern Command’s 91st “Galilee” Division, responsible for defending against Hezbollah from Lebanon, and the 36th Ga’ash (Golan) Armored Division, which is responsible for the Syrian border.
The first week of the drill tests these
divisions’ ability to deal with attacks by Hezbollah and aligned terror
groups from the northern front and to take the fight to the enemy in its
own territory.
Simulating the most extreme scenarios, the exercise’s simulation expands to include direct hostilities with Iran.
“There will be hundreds of aircraft in the
air of all types—fighter jets, including F-35s, helicopters, unmanned
aerial vehicles,” a military source told JNS.
Reservists are joining active service units in the drill. The “Spectrum” units will practice disrupting enemy communications.
“We understand that almost every war scenario will involve multiple arenas,” the source stated.
Such a scenario would be starkly different
from the five-day conflict (“Operation Shield and Arrow”) Israel fought
against Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza earlier this month—a conflict
that could have expanded to other arenas had it continued.
The current drill, the largest since the
May 2022 “Chariots of Fire” exercise, though smaller in scale, has been
planned long in advance.
The IDF Home Front Command will test its plans to save lives, without disrupting routine in the civilian sector.
“As part of the exercise, the active
maneuvering of security personnel will be felt throughout the country:
military and armored vehicles, aircraft and naval vessels,” said the
IDF.
The exercise has gained the attention of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for the Middle East.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant hosted CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla at the ministry’s
headquarters in Tel Aviv, briefing him on the exercise.
“Minister Gallant expressed his
appreciation to Gen. Kurilla for his great contribution to the ongoing
cooperation and deep bond between the United States and Israel. He also
emphasized the importance of U.S. involvement in ensuring stability and
expanding the circle of peace in the Middle East,” a statement by
Gallant’s office said.
Gallant, together with IDF Chief of Staff
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, also updated Kurilla on the achievements during
“Operation Shield and Arrow” against PIJ in Gaza.
Kurilla’s three-day visit, which began on
Tuesday, included a visit to Military Intelligence’s Unit 504, the human
intelligence unit, and an operational panel discussion with Halevi on
ways to boost joint capabilities and coordination.
Kurilla also participated on Tuesday in a situational assessment at the
IDF General Staff Operations Center in Tel Aviv as part of the “Firm
Hand” exercise.
Our country is in peril, perhaps like never before.
By some miracle, Republicans managed to time the news cycle correctly
last week. The Durham report was released, excoriating the FBI’s
handling of pretty much everything since Former FBI Director Robert
Muller. And, the House Judiciary Committee held additional whistleblower
hearings. Things could hardly look worse for the FBI — and, the once
venerable institution deserves the scorn and opprobrium being heaped on
it by the bucket full.
What exists now, barely more than a year out from my retirement, is unrecognizable.
It’s deeply saddening, watching an institution designed to
ferret out and prosecute the enemies of the constitution being
infiltrated, compromised, and consumed by the very ideologies it was
created to combat. This isn’t something to be celebrated or trivialized
by silly slogans like, “the FBI should be Control-Alt-Deleted.”
Unfortunately, conservative media is all too happy to propagate such
fatuousness. Soundbites rule over substance.
The media industrial complex is popularizing the same
spirit of demagoguery that got us into this mess in the first place.
It’s so easy to fall into this trap, especially when the enemy is within
the gates. The loudest voices aren’t necessarily right.
Our country is in peril, perhaps like never before. The FBI
ethos has been eroded, like a once proud marble edifice pitted,
cracked, and broken by the onslaught of weather and time. And, just like
the processes that reduced ancient structures to rubble, a process has
been at work to deconstruct our civil society and our institutions.
The problem isn’t complex, its systemic, and the cause
isn’t served by celebrating the loathsome. Perhaps I’m just too old
school for this particular debate, but doxxing fellow FBI street agents
in the name of “whistleblowing” is inexcusable. For me, it’s nothing
less than fratricide — the guilty should face a rhetorical firing squad.
Any good street cop knows, you never endanger your brothers
and sisters in blue, regardless your own personal sense of bitterness
or betrayal. But, in the frenetic world of social media and corporatist
news, blood is in the water. And, blood sells. There’s a Biblical
principle that’s apropos, whoever rolls a stone, it will be returned on
him. In the vernacular, it’s “what goes around, comes around.”
All of this — the corruption of the FBI’s integrity, the
doxing of street agents, the infantile calls for defunding — is
symptomatic of the national corruption of character and discourse which
underlies what we’re witnessing in our institutions.
It’s the very same spirit we all deplore in our morally
bankrupt leadership. It’s the same insidious self-centeredness that’s at
the heart of “wokeness.” The spirit that says “I’ll define myself” in
vain defiance of nature.
It’s an ancient evil; the eons old rebellion of Lucifer,
who nurtured the thought, “I shall be like the Most High.” None of us
are above His law, and until we understand that, our republic and its
institutions are doomed to an inexorable decay.
FBI leadership has been overcome by liberal hubris.
Thinking their notions of politics or justice outweigh centuries of
carefully constructed process. They imagine themselves to be above the
law, that the constitution is living and malleable, subject to their
tinkering.
There aren’t easy solutions anymore. We’re far beyond that
point. The task is Homeric, and we’ve no hope for success unless we’re
all pulling on the oars. It’s not enough to tweet about defunding the
FBI — a simple minded platitude that has no real meaning. We all have to
champion the constitution at home, in our communities, and in the
national arena.
A disease is at work in the body politic, and the
weaponization of the FBI is merely one of its symptoms. Coursing, at
fever pitch, through the seventh floor of FBI HQ is the Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion Initiative. It sounds innocuous enough, however
DEI is merely the newest evolution of the old racial quotas practice. It
devalues those deemed to be minorities, creates schisms based on
immutable characteristics or sexual preference, and replaces equal
treatment under the law with a pernicious and amorphous “equity.”
On the FBI’s official website,
FBI Director Christopher Wray states, “The diversity and inclusion of
our workforce is something I care deeply about…because the success of
our efforts impacts our operations, our culture, and our future.”
DEI will ensure a future workforce committed to the
principles of political correctness and politicization. Having been
inured to the philosophy of equity, taking action to influence the
political power structure will seem natural and even preferable. Of
course, the arbiters of equity are and will be powerful Democrats who
manipulate the docile through notions of fairness — a system that favors
those who support and promote Democrat hegemony.
The White House has foisted this bigoted doctrine on every federal agency and illustrates the deeply systemic nature of the problem we face.
The weaponization of the FBI is only the tip of the
iceberg. The agency I devoted twenty years of service to is only a
shadow of its former self — compromised by the left it once sought to
thwart. It’s an oversimplification to say the FBI has become an
enforcement arm of the Democrat party. Though true, that statement
misses the real threat, and the answer isn’t purely about changing
national politics.
The FBI is one cog in a much bigger left-wing machine. All
of this corruption springs from a deep state radically enhanced by the
Obama administration. Now that the White House is occupied by a puppet
of the leftist deep state, every other lever of national power has been
co-opted.
The culture of the FBI was radically changed by former Director
Robert Muller. The culture can be changed again by a director with a
mandate. Everything else is a distraction. We need the head of the snake
— the White House. And, at this point, the only candidate with a proven
track record of exercising a mandate is former President Donald Trump.
America First Legal on Wednesday released a batch of heavily-redacted emails it received from NARA that showed Hunter Biden advised his father's office during his vice presidency.
The
National Archives and Records Administration is refusing to release
myriad communications between first son Hunter Biden and his father's
staff, asserting they are protected under an exemption to the Freedom of
Information Act that covers communications between the president and
his advisors, or between advisors.
America First Legal on Wednesday released a batch of heavily-redacted
emails it received from NARA that showed Hunter Biden advised his
father's office during his vice presidency. The organization obtained
the emails from NARA through a FOIA request and has gradually released
batches of the materials it obtained. While NARA redacted many of the
emails, it further withheld entirely several more, merely confirming
their existence.
Of particular interest is a communication from Hunter Biden business
partner Eric Schwerin to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) about a
"China Lunch" that preceded an official visit from then-Chinese
President Hu Jintao to the U.S. in 2011. NARA acknowledged the
communication's existence but refused to release it because doing so
"would disclose confidential advice between the President and his
advisors, or between such advisors."
The New York Post pointed
to emails including Schwerin, OVP staffer Michele Smith, and the
then-second son that appeared on his now-infamous laptop and also held
the subject line "China Lunch." Those communications appear to show
Hunter and Schwerin discussing suggestions for who ought to receive Vice
President Biden's invitations to attend a state event. Schwerin later
relates Hunter's suggestions to Smith. The outlet noted that none of the
emails recovered from the laptop matched the time stamps from the
redacted emails but contended that one might if the sender and recipient
were in different time zones.
Three communications involve planning for a 2010 trip to Egypt,
Kenya, and South Africa by Joe Biden and his wife, Jill. The first email
from Hunter was sent to White House staffer Alan Hoffman seeking to
arrange a phone call between the pair to "talk about Africa." The second
email Hunter sent occurred after the call with Hoffman. It was sent to
the second lady's advisor, Anthony Bernal.
The email, which reportedly addressed "Nairobi ideas," presumably
referencing the Bidens' visit to Kenya, was redacted entirely by NARA on
the grounds that it would disclose "confidential advice between the
President and his advisors, or between such advisors." A third email
that NARA also withheld completely was entitled "Summary Africa."
In an apparently unrelated communication from 2010, a pair of Office
of the Vice President staffers discuss a "letter request from Hunter" in
which one appeared to ask the other to write a letter to the brother of
a Biden campaign supporter at Hunter's request.
The email chain appears to show that campaign supporter Rick Vitali
reached out to Hunter to secure some communication from then-VP Biden to
his brother, Sam Vitali. Hunter subsequently went to a business
partner, who then reached out to her brother in the OVP.
Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.
Beijing's primary goal is rule — not domination — of Planet Earth and the near parts of the solar system.
What is the world's largest transnational criminal organization? At 96.7 million members, it is the Communist Party of China.
Beijing's primary goal is rule — not domination — of Planet Earth and the near parts of the solar system.
This expansive Chinese view has many implications, but one of
them is that China's regime does not believe it is bound by the laws of
the international community. China's regime, with this mentality, thinks
that whatever it does by definition is within its right and therefore
not criminal.
There are in China, for instance, over 700 million surveillance
cameras in its SkyNet system, about one camera for every two residents.
Those devices are being connected to one centrally controlled system as
the regime stitches together a nationwide social credit system to
monitor every person in the People's Republic.
Taxis and other vehicles also have government-installed cameras.
The CCP has thought of everything. As a result, China is fast becoming
totalitarian and a total surveillance state.
The Communist Party cannot run such a state and claim it does not know what is going on.
This means the CCP is responsible for the tens of thousands of
Americans annually killed by fentanyl.... The result, Vanda Felbab-Brown
of the Brookings Institution wrote, is "the deadliest drug epidemic in
U.S. history."
TikTok... which Beijing effectively controls, glamorizes drug
use. Yes, the wildly popular app has community guidelines prohibiting
videos promoting drug use, but you can find clips with millions of views
teaching kids how to take illegal drugs.
The Chinese gangs use burner phones and Chinese banking apps to
move vast sums quickly, quietly, and securely through the Chinese state
banking system. The Communist Party of China tightly controls all
Chinese banks, and no one could transfer sums through their networks
without the cooperation of the regime.
"At its core, the People's Republic of China is focused on
gaining geopolitical leverage over countries in Central and South
America to be used in an eventual conflict with the United States." —
Joseph Humire of the Center for a Secure Free Society to Gatestone, May
2023
These are just a few of China's crimes as detailed in Frank Gaffney's new book, The Indictment: Prosecuting the Chinese Communist Party & Friends for Crimes Against America, China, and the World.
Unfortunately, American law enforcement prosecutes individuals when it
should be prosecuting the Communist Party of China instead.
What is the world's largest transnational criminal
organization? At 96.7 million members, it is the Communist Party of
China. The Chinese state is not only a dangerous international actor, it
is also a criminal of the most powerful and insidious kind. Pictured:
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends during the China-Central Asia
Summit in Xian, China on May 19, 2023. (Photo by Florence Lo/Pool/AFP
via Getty Images)
The Chinese state is not only a dangerous international actor, it is
also a common criminal. Perhaps we should say it is an uncommon or state
criminal, the most powerful and insidious kind.
What is the world's largest transnational criminal organization? At 96.7 million members, it is the Communist Party of China.
The Obama administration's "Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime,"
issued in 2011, defines "transnational organized crime" as
"self-perpetuating associations" operating transnationally "for the
purpose of obtaining power, influence, monetary and/or commercial gains,
wholly or in part by illegal means." These organizations protect
themselves "through a pattern of corruption and/or violence."
That describes the Communist Party to a T.
The only way the Party falls outside the Obama definition is that it does not have "economic gain" as its "primary goal."
Beijing's primary goal is rule
— not domination — of Planet Earth and the near parts of the solar
system. Xi Jinping is working to impose the Chinese imperial-era system
in which emperors believed not only that they had the Mandate of Heaven
to rule tianxia or "all under Heaven," but also were compelled by
Heaven to do so. Moreover, China's officials beginning in 2017 publicly
talked about the moon and Mars as sovereign Chinese territory, part of the People's Republic.
This expansive Chinese view has many implications, but one of them is
that China's regime does not believe it is bound by the laws of the
international community. China's regime, with this mentality, thinks
that whatever it does by definition is within its right and therefore
not criminal.
China, however, is one big crime scene. All transnational crimes
committed in the Chinese state — even those not committed by state
agents — are the CCP's criminal acts as well.
Why?
The People's Republic of China maintains the world's most
sophisticated surveillance state. With the possible exception of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), no state knows more
about the activities of its people.
There are in China, for instance, over 700 million surveillance cameras
in its SkyNet system, about one camera for every two residents. Those
devices are being connected to one centrally controlled system as the
regime stitches together a nationwide social credit system to monitor
every person in the People's Republic.
In addition, the regime uses the 1.69 billion cellphones — 0.97
billion of these are smartphones — for surveillance purposes. Taxis and
other vehicles also have government-installed cameras. The CCP has
thought of everything. As a result, China is fast becoming totalitarian
and a total surveillance state.
The Communist Party cannot run such a state and claim it does not
know what is going on. So, if large, organized criminal gangs continue
operating in China, it is obvious these organizations have both the
knowledge and approval of the party-state.
This means the CCP is responsible for the tens of thousands of
Americans annually killed by fentanyl. Fentanyl is one of dozens of
opioids Chinese gangs design and make in laboratories in China. The
gangs then sell the precursor chemicals primarily to two Mexican
cartels, which mix the Chinese precursors and then smuggle the fentanyl
into the U.S. through a wide-open southern border. The result, Vanda
Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution wrote, is "the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history."
As Ray Donovan, recently retired Chief of Operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, told Fox News Digital,
"China is the lead nation for the production of precursor chemicals
used to make fentanyl and the Chinese chemical industry is the most
unregulated industry in all of China."
Moreover, the Chinese surveillance state does more than just know and
approve of the activities of the drug gangs, it also gives them
diplomatic support. In early April, for instance, the Chinese foreign
ministry publicly stated this: "There is no so-called illicit fentanyl trafficking problem between China and Mexico."
In addition, Chinese central government and Communist Party media
outlets support the Chinese gangs. Even China's private companies
participate in this propaganda barrage. TikTok, for example, which
Beijing effectively controls, glamorizes drug use.
Yes, the wildly popular app has community guidelines prohibiting videos
promoting drug use, but you can find clips with millions of views
teaching kids how to take illegal drugs.
Moreover, the Chinese gangs launder profits through the Chinese state
banking system. Chinese "money brokers," working for Latin American
drug lords, have quickly displaced rivals with, as a source told Reuters, "the most sophisticated form of money laundering that's ever existed."
The Chinese gangs use burner phones and Chinese banking apps to move
vast sums quickly, quietly, and securely through the Chinese state
banking system. The Communist Party of China tightly controls all
Chinese banks, and no one could transfer sums through their networks
without the cooperation of the regime.
Beijing, not surprisingly, has not cooperated with American efforts to stop the fentanyl trafficking.
Why does the Communist Party resort to criminal activity? The regime
apparently sees fentanyl as a way to increase its Comprehensive National
Power, or CNP. CNP is an empirical framework, developed by the Soviets,
to rank countries. China wants the No. 1 ranking, and one way of
getting there is by decreasing America's ranking. Transnational crime,
especially peddling fentanyl, comes in handy for that.
The Communist Party's ambitions, however, go beyond CNP rankings.
ProPublica has tied Chinese money launderers, who moved Latin American
drug cash, to Beijing's attempt to influence American politics.
Li Xizhi, once China's leading money-launderer in the Western
hemisphere, and associate Liu Tao launched "a high-rolling quest for
political influence" that resulted in at least two meetings with a
recent sitting American president, Donald Trump. This appears to have
been a Chinese covert operation to penetrate American politics, as Li's
political forays had almost nothing to do with his money-laundering
business.
Furthermore, it is increasingly apparent that Chinese authorities
have decided to foster the drug trade in the Americas in order to
destabilize the region and spread corruption as well as addiction and
death. China's gangs do not just operate on the sidelines of society in
Latin America and the Caribbean, they also corrupt the ruling elites —
in other words, whole countries, as cited by Joseph Humire below.
In the Western hemisphere, China distorts business and politics. The
results of Beijing's activities are more corruption, more conflicts, and
more destabilization.
"At its core, the People's Republic of China is focused on gaining
geopolitical leverage over countries in Central and South America to be
used in an eventual conflict with the United States," Joseph Humire of
the Center for a Secure Free Society told Gatestone. "This includes
empowering autocratic leaders with ties to illicit actors in each
country to change the incentives from a free enterprise system to an
illicit enterprise system that relies on drug trafficking, human
smuggling, contraband, illegal fishing, and other illicit activities."
These are just a few of China's crimes as detailed in Frank Gaffney's new book, The Indictment: Prosecuting the Chinese Communist Party & Friends for Crimes Against America, China, and the World.
Unfortunately, American law enforcement prosecutes individuals when it
should be prosecuting the Communist Party of China instead. Similarly,
the U.S. Treasury on May 30 announced sanctions on 13 entities in China for the production of illicit synthetic drugs but failed to name the real culprit, the Party.
Criminality and lawlessness are inherent in the nature of China's
communist state, which idealizes struggle and domination, and the
continued criminality of its ruling group throws into question the
world's basic assumptions about the Chinese system.
China's Communist Party is now threatening to engulf the world with
its criminality. What is at stake, therefore, are the principles that
hold modern society together.
We have reached the point where even white people hate white people.
We are accustomed to defining racism as
discrimination aimed exclusively at black people and other minorities.
The definition must be expanded to include discrimination against
whites, which is just as bad as discrimination against blacks or anyone
else. What the political left calls “anti-racism” is really code
language for racism against white people. An anti-white racial
inquisition is poisoning America by contributing to an already divided
nation. According to Gallup, the percentage of Americans who agree that
black-white relations are good is at a 20-year low.
A noted black college professor said, “We have to
exterminate white people off the face of the planet.” Vile racist
statements like this one would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, but
today, trashing whites has become an acceptable part of American life.
Whites are being demonized, marginalized, stereotyped, denigrated, and
suppressed at every turn. We have reached the point where no one likes
white people. It’s not just people of color. Even white people dislike
white people. There is open season on whites and, strange as it may
seem, large segments of the white population are all for it. Many
gullible whites are ashamed to be white and apologize every chance they
get.
Whites are being brainwashed to hate themselves and many
are capitulating. No one wants to be called “racist.” Because of this,
gullible whites are surrendering to the demand of Black Lives Matter
thugs that whites should genuflect before black people. I didn’t believe
it until someone showed me a video of a large crowd of whites on their
knees in Bethesda, Maryland, as they were led through a mass confession
of their alleged racism. It reminded me of the Chinese Cultural
Revolution where victims were forced to admit various crimes before a
crowd of people who would verbally and physically abuse them.
Diversity training such as the programs sponsored by the
City of Seattle and the Coca-Cola Company typically demand that all
white employees “undo their whiteness.” These popular trainings have
become a multi-billion-dollar industry. Not only have they failed to
create more diversity, their actual purpose is the suppression of white
people. They are all about racial indoctrination, not diversity. If
black people were required to “undo their blackness,” riots would go on
for weeks.
The white population is not being given credit for its
contributions. White men founded our republic. White men ended slavery.
Whites are largely responsible for the day-to-day commerce that puts
food on the table and clothing on our backs. Like it or not, white
people drive the engine that makes our country work. Their track record
hasn’t been perfect, but their values stand as a role-model for the
world. With the civil rights legislation of the 1960s, whites made it
possible for blacks and other minorities to become full partners in the
American Dream. “White power” was unchallenged up to that time—yet
willingly, unilaterally, they relinquished it. No one forced them to do
these things. They acted because it was the right thing to do. What are
they getting in return? Contempt, hatred, and intolerance.
The Left, says author Ben Shapiro, wants to portray America
as “an incurable mass of bigoted whites.” Colin Flaherty, in Don’t Make
the Black Kids Angry, refers to this as “the Big Lie: the war on black
people and how racist white people are waging it. That is the biggest
lie of our generation.” President Biden bought into this lie when he
said that white supremacy is the number one threat to the nation. Former
Trump aide Stephen Miller has accused Biden of “racism against white
people” and “anti-white bigotry.”
Joe Biden contributed to the war on whites with his latest
executive order on equity, an attempt to replace America’s belief in
equality with an illegal policy that emphasizes skin color over merit in
government hiring. Biden’s policy will ensure that all new federal
employees will be selected based upon their skin color so that
preference can be given to non-whites. Most Americans are not aware of
this because the media do not report on Biden’s anti-white policies.
Stephen Miller asks, “When did racism against white people
become okay?” It all began with Barack Obama. Different racial and
ethnic groups were getting along just fine until 2008. Then Obama showed
up and racial division was reintroduced into American life. Instead of
recognizing the significance of having a black president, the US has
been plagued with an epidemic of racial conflict. Obama’s inflammatory
statements, one after another, fomented animosity between races.
Accusations of white privilege and white supremacy have monopolized our
civil discourse ever since.
Anti-white hate is an offshoot of the Left’s preoccupation
with its perverted version of “diversity,” where Americans are divided
between alleged oppressors—heterosexual, white, Christian males—and
victimized groups of minorities and women. Minority groups are said to
need protection because they are oppressed by the white majority.
Oppressor and victim. “It is the old Marxist wine in new bottles,” says
David Horowitz in Big Agenda, “and the results are bound to be similar.”
Showing contempt for a half century of enlightened racial
tolerance, Democrats—with the support of academia and the media—are
trying to divide America along racial lines. Progressive liberals and
Democrats, David Horowitz explains in The Enemy Within, believe that
“what is wrong with America is that there are too many white males
occupying positions of power and influence and, allegedly, keeping
diverse, marginalized, and under-served minorities ‘in their place.’”
That may have been true in 1950, but today employers are tripping over
each other for the chance to hire and promote minority workers.
The argument that the US suffers from systemic racism and
white privilege is a myth invented to demonize whites and foment racial
division. Many leading black thinkers—Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Bob
Woodson, Candace Owens, Larry Elder—agree that systemic racism no longer
exists in the United States. Individual instances of racism are
occurring and always will occur—against both blacks and whites—but to
suggest that racism is institutionalized ignores the changes that have
occurred in the last 60 years. White institutional racism is a thing of
the past.
We need to unite the country more than ever, yet large
segments of our population are doing all they can to marginalize white
people as an oppressor class. As a white man who has oppressed no one, I
am appalled at the inquisition against whites and hope we can get this
straightened out before we wind up with a nation full of racial
neurotics.
Bureau says director leaving Washington controversy behind for a few days to speak to counterterrorism experts, attend law enforcement memorial.
Just
hours after informing Congress he wouldn't comply with a subpoena and
turn over an informant document on the Biden family investigation, FBI
Director Christopher Wray hopped on the bureau's Gulfstream jet and
ferried off to the more friendly confines of Las Vegas.
The flight manifest for the FBI’s official jet shows Wray left the
Washington suburb of Manassas, Va., at about 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday and
landed about four hours later in Nevada’s most famous tourist city.
Agency officials said the jaunt was for official business and that
Wray would be speaking to a conference of counterterrorism officials,
meeting with the FBI’s Las Vegas field office, and attending a
law-enforcement memorial ceremony.
"Director Wray is speaking to counterterrorism and law enforcement
practitioners at a conference in Las Vegas to reinforce the continued
importance of the counterterrorism mission and thank them for their
service," the bureau's national press office in Washington told Just the
News.
"He is also scheduled to meet with FBI employees from the Las Vegas
Field office. There were changes made to the original itinerary to allow
Director Wray to provide remarks at a 9/11 Line of Duty Death service
on Friday."
The trip allows the FBI boss to escape an increasingly hostile
atmosphere for himself in Washington, where congressional Republicans
announced Wednesday that they would seek to hold Wray in contempt of
Congress for refusing to turn over a subpoenaed memo that lays out
bribery allegations against President Biden.
The memo, known as a FD-1023 form, includes information provided to
the bureau in June 2020 by a confidential human source alleging a
bribery scheme involving Biden when he was vice president. Lawmakers
learned about the existence of the memo from FBI whistleblowers.
Wray tried to defuse the situation earlier Wednesday in a phone call
with House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer,
R-Ky., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, saying that while he would not
comply with the subpoena by turning over the memo to Congress, he would
allow lawmakers to visit FBI headquarters and look at it in a private
room.
The two lawmakers, who have been leading an investigation into the
Biden family’s foreign business dealings, said Wray's offer was
unacceptable and that Congress had every right to demand at the memo be
turned over under a subpoena.
Comer made clear he plans to seek a contempt vote as early as next week in Congress.
"While the FBI has apparently leaked classified information to the
news media in recent weeks, jeopardizing its own human sources, it
continues to treat Congress like second-class citizens by refusing to
provide a specific unclassified record," Grassley said.
Comer said lawmakers scored one victory Wednesday: Wray confirmed the
existence of the FD-1023 memo the whistleblowers identified.
"Today, FBI Director Wray confirmed the existence of the FD-1023 form
alleging then-Vice President Biden engaged in a criminal bribery scheme
with a foreign national," the powerful House committee chairman
said. "However, Director Wray did not commit to producing the documents
subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee.
"While Director Wray – after a month of refusing to even acknowledge
that the form existed – has offered to allow us to see the documents in
person at FBI headquarters, we have been clear that anything short of
producing these documents to the House Oversight Committee is not in
compliance with the subpoena," Comer continued. "If the FBI fails to
hand over the FD-1023 form as required by the subpoena, the House
Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings."
The standoff even got the Biden White House riled up – issuing a
statement late Wednesday suggesting Republicans were being unreasonable
and should not proceed to find Wray in contempt of Congress.
"This silly charade by Chairman Comer is yet another reminder that
his so-called 'investigations' are political stunts not meant to get
information but to spread thin innuendo and falsehoods to attack the
President," White House spokesman Ian Sams said.
Comer has wide support for a contempt motion among fellow
Republicans, from Speaker Kevin McCarthy to influential members of the
House Intelligence Committee.
"The U.S. Congress is an equal branch of government. He's part of the
Justice Department. Well, we constitutionally have the right to see the
information that Comer has requested," Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., an
intel panel member, told the "Just the News, No Noise" television show.
"And the idea that the FBI director gets to determine what Congress does
and doesn't get to see. That's not acceptable.
"And so I assume Director Wray will be given the choice to either
comply. I haven't talked with Kevin about this. I mean, but I expect the
speaker has probably made it very clear to him that he will either
comply with what the request is, or Congress will have a contempt vote."
Bobby Charles, a former assistant secretary of state who worked as a
congressional investigator during the 1990s when Bill Clinton was
president, said Comer's contempt effort will likely succeed.
"This is a subpoena that the Congress in its oversight capacity and
legislating capacity has every right to see," he said. "I think in the
courts –and I was a Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals clerk – I think
they will be vindicated. I think Congress, if they seek the enforcement
of this subpoena, will be vindicated."
UNC said 'further review' would be required before implementing any of the task force's recommendations
The University of North Carolina
(UNC) medical school disbanded its diversity, equity and inclusion
(DEI) task force without implementing its recommendations, just months
after banning DEI statements from admission, hiring, promotion and
tenure.
UNC said it plans to disband its DEI
Task Force, without implementing its recommendations, including
integrating social justice into the school's curriculum.
The UNC DEI document also
included recommendations that were partially based on the DEI protocols
of the Association of American Medical Colleges that requires students
to study topics like "Unconscious Bias Awareness," "Understanding and
Responding to Microaggressions," and "Understanding that America's
medical system is structurally racist."
In
April, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE),
which monitors and advocates for free speech on college campuses sent a
letter to UNC regarding its DEI initiatives.
UNC's
medical school issued a public reversal DEI task force, making it the
first medical school in the U.S. to take such an action. (Lance King)
UNC responded to FIRE's letter, stating it planned to disband the Task Force with "no plan to implement the Task Force’s recommendations now or in the future."
"Even
if the recommendations were revisited in the future, further review and
revision would be required," the university stated, given the new
guidelines adopted by the university that prohibit UNC from requiring an
employee or an applicant to "affirmatively ascribe to or opine about
beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles regarding mattes of
contemporary political debate or social action as a condition to
admission, employment, or professional advancement."
In
January, Color Us United, which advocates for a race blind society,
launched a campaign that called on the university to rescind its DEI
policies for medical school staff and students by lobbying school
trustees, bringing bills to the state legislature and educating the
public on social media.
In February, UNC's Board of Governors voted to ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) statements
and compelled speech from consideration in the admission, hiring,
promotion and tenure process. Prior to this change, UNC's med school
required applicants to provide a statement detailing their commitment to
DEI.
UNC
said it planned to disband its DEI Task Force with "no plan to
implement the Task Force’s recommendations now or in the future." (Google Maps)
UNC's School of Medicine Guidelines for Appointment, Promotion and Tenure
(APT) previously declared that "A statement for each area is required
as part of the C.V." and "should outline depth and breadth of efforts in
each area, including but not limited to impact of work, philosophy and
style, team-based projects, and mentee interactions."
Color
Us United President Kenny Xu told Fox News Digital that the move by
UNC's medical school is a win for the medical community and their future
patients
Previously, job applications and prospective students were required to provide a statement detailing their commitment to DEI.(Melissa Sue Gerrits)
"We’re
proud of UNC’s decision to reject the DEI framework that lowers the
quality of doctors and inundates their students with ideologies that
have nothing to do with what is medically necessary," he said. "Our next
step is to take UNC’s decision to other medical schools in our country
to fully rid medicine from DEI’s divisive influence. We will also
continue monitoring UNC’s School of Medicine to ensure that employees
are not fed DEI trainings and curricula any longer."
"It
is important to note UNC is the first medical school to revoke their
DEI framework without legislative interference, because it shows that we
convinced key decision makers on the merits of revoking DEI, and showed
it’s harmful consequences on employees, student education, and the
public," he added, also noting that he will be presenting on the medical
school's DEI programs at the UNC CHapel Hill Board of Trustee meeting
in July.
Kendall Tietz is a Production Assistant with Fox News Digital.
The Israeli Energy Ministry and the Energian company announced on Wednesday the discovery of a new natural gas field off the coast of Israel, estimated at 68 billion cubic meters.
Miriam Alster/Flash90Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz speaking in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The new deposit received the name 'Katlan,' which means 'Orca' in Hebrew
The
Israeli Energy Ministry and the Energian company announced on Wednesday
the discovery of a new natural gas field off the coast of Israel,
estimated at 68 billion cubic meters.
This
new reservoir was hailed as significantly important, especially
considering Israel's annual consumption as being less than 13 billion
cubic meters. The new field was named "Katlan," which means "Orca" in
Hebrew.
It was considered
the fourth-largest gas discovery made off the coast of Israel in the
last decade. The largest field is Leviathan, with an estimated reserve
of 600 billion cubic meters.
The
second largest is Tamar, estimated at 300 billion cubic meters, while
the Karish-Tanin gas field, also owned by Energian, has an estimated
reserve of 100 billion cubic meters. This makes Katlan the smallest.
AP Photo/Ariel SchalitIsrael's offshore Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, on September 29, 2020.
"The
orca, a powerful marine mammal, is a symbol of determination and
courage. We will start exploiting Katlan as quickly and efficiently as
possible,” said Energian CEO Matthew Rigas in a statement.
“This
will create considerable value for all our partners and open up new
opportunities for Israeli gas in the local and regional market, and for
the benefit of the Israeli economy as a whole," he added.
Energean Plc/AFPThis
handout picture released by Energean oil and gas company on September
20, 2022 shows an Energean Floating production storage and offloading
ship in the Karish field, an offshore gas field in the Mediterranean sea
west of Haifa, Israel.
Engineers
reportedly plan to use existing infrastructure, which was already put
in place for natural gas production from the "Karish" reservoir that started operations six months ago.
Israel's Energy Minister Israel Katz
emphasized that "the Katlan reserves add to those already present in
Israel. They have transformed the face of the local energy economy and
made Israel a world energy power.”
“There
is potential for further discoveries in the waters of the Mediterranean
Sea. So, under my leadership, the Ministry will continue to develop
natural gas reserves on our territory and promote the discovery of new
natural gas reserves for Israel's energy security and to ensure a
reliable, clean, and affordable Israeli energy economy,” Katz concluded.
Washington and Tehran are said to be close to an interim deal that would unfreeze billions of dollars for the regime.
Centrifuges at the Iran nuclear energy exhibition
in the Islamic Revolution and Holy Defense Museum, 2018. Credit:
Maps/Shutterstock.
Israel is worried by reports of an interim nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran being reached “in the coming days and weeks,” Israeli media reported on Monday.
Specifically, Jerusalem is concerned about
a deal that would allow the regime in Tehran to freeze part of its
nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of U.S. sanctions,
according to Kan News.
A source close to the White House told Kan
that “diplomacy is the best way to stop Iran from having nuclear
weapons,” and it was reported that messages have been broadcast between
Washington and Tehran on the nuclear issue.
Centrifuges at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in Iran. Source: Twitter.
Iran International reported on
Saturday that Washington and Tehran are close to a deal on the release
of billions of dollars in frozen funds in exchange for the release of
American hostages and “flexibility” in nuclear negotiations.
The money would reportedly come from
frozen assets in Iraq and South Korea valued at up to $10 billion or
more, according to Iranian officials.
U.S. sanctions bar Iraq from paying Iran
for natural gas and electricity it imports, and South Korea owes Iran $7
billion for oil imported prior to May 2019, when former U.S. president
Donald Trump imposed a fresh set of sanctions on Iran.
According to the Iran International
report, in return Iran would be expected to take a less rigid approach
to its nuclear program, and release three U.S. citizens held hostage in
Iran—Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz—and two U.S. permanent
residents—Jamshid Sharmahd and Shahab Dalili. All five are detained on
espionage charges.
On Friday, Iran exchanged two prisoners with Belgium in a deal that was brokered by Oman.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Kan
on Monday that while there was “excellent cooperation” between the
United States and Israel on Iran, which had resulted in several
achievements, “The State of Israel relies first and foremost on itself.”
Cohen is currently on a diplomatic trip to central Europe, and met in Zagreb on Monday with Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
Foreign
Minister Eli Cohen attends a press conference at the Prime Minister’s
Office in Jerusalem, Jan. 25, 2023. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that an
interim agreement would be “dangerous” and that “every effort” must be
made to prevent one.
“It is possible that such an agreement
will make it difficult for us to act—and we must do everything to
prevent this from happening,” he said, according to Kan.
"We are not foreigners in our home,” Israel's diaspora affairs minister tells pro-Israel Canadian parliamentarians in Ottawa.
Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli (front center) and
Canadian parliamentarians at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, May 31,
2023. Credit: Courtesy.
Ignorance, coupled with a “progressive”
worldview which disregards historical fact, is the most powerful weapon
in the arsenal of those who seek to deny Israel’s right to exist,
Israel’s diaspora and strategic affairs minister said in Canada on
Wednesday.
“In a time of ‘relative truth,’ some
portray the people of Israel as foreigners in the Land of Israel,”
Minister Amichai Chikli told a gathering of pro-Israel Canadian
lawmakers at the Parliament in Ottawa.
The event marked Israel’s 75th anniversary and the reunification of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.
“We are not foreigners in our home,” said Chikli.
“Our ancestors knew there would come a day
when there would be those who would claim we have no connection or
right to Jerusalem,” he added, citingthe passage in the Book of Samuel describing how King David insisted on purchasing the Temple Mount.
“However, I don’t think they could have
fully imagined the depths of absurdity we see today, including
condemnations of Israel for building in Jerusalem or for Jews visiting
the Temple Mount,” he continued.
The Likud minister told the gathering,
organized by the Canadian Israel Allies Caucus in the first such
commemoration of Jerusalem Day in the Canadian Parliament, that “basic
historical facts” are the most powerful weapon for those who support
Israel and the Zionist idea in the face of such “shameful ignorance.”
The event comes at a time of rising global antisemitism, often in the guise of anti-Israel activity.
Indeed, the competing Israeli and
Palestinian narratives were on vivid display at the Canadian Parliament
on Wednesday, where an anti-Israel event organized by Law for Palestine
and the Palestinian General Delegation to Canada was held on Parliament
Hill at the very same hour as the gathering of the supporters of Israel.
“At a time when antisemitism is on the
rise, it is critical that Canadian parliamentarians, faith and Jewish
community leaders stand together in their steadfast support of Israel,”
said Canadian MP Dr. Leslyn Lewis, who immigrated to Canada as a young
child from Jamaica and who now heads the Israel Allies Caucus.
