Friday, April 12, 2024

04/12 Links Pt2: The Failed Practice of “Jew-Washing”; Silence is acquiescence; Palestinian membership at UN appears on hold; ISIS plot to poison Sea of Galilee

From Ian:

Andrew Pessin: The Failed Practice of “Jew-Washing”
The Jew-washer might naturally object here that it is not because those individuals are Jewish that he dislikes them. The proof is that there are many other Jews, the good Jews, that he likes perfectly well. It is because they are Zionists that he does not like them. It is not them personally—it is their ideas, their ideology, their behaviors in support of that ideology. His attitude and behavior reflect anti-Zionism, then, not antisemitism. And of course (many agree) it is acceptable to object to, be hostile toward, even to hate, an ideology, and that ideology’s concomitant behaviors.

But now, let us note, this response only succeeds if we endorse the Generality Assumption, i.e. if we assume that antisemitism requires hating all (or at least most) Jews. For if Jews come in many types—if there are many different ways in which individuals manifest or express or conceive their Jewishness—then it is perfectly conceivable that someone legitimately characterizable as an antisemite might not hate all or even most Jews.

The crucial question should not be whether he hates all or most Jews, in other words.

It is whether the people he hates, he hates for their Jewishness.

To see this, imagine officials of the medieval Church rejecting the charge of antisemitism. “We do not hate all Jews,” they might say, “only those Jews with a certain ideology and behavior. When Jewish people change these—and convert to Christianity—they are A-1 by us!”[11]

The flaw in this defense is obvious: the ideology and behavior these officials rejected was the very essence of those individuals’ Jewishness. They may not have hated the individual people who were Jews (once they converted), but they hated Jewishness. They then absurdly claim not to hate Jews because they do not hate those people who are no longer Jewish by the relevant criteria—namely people who reject Jewishness.

But now Zionism, too, is intimately or essentially related to many Jews’ self-conception and identity. Not every Jew’s, obviously—many Jews claim to derive their anti-Israelism from their Jewishness (as we shall discuss below), and often express their anti-Israel sentiments prefaced with “As a Jew…” But there are in fact many more Jews for whom their Zionism, their connection to and support for the State of Israel, grounded in three-plus millennia of Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, is an essential part of their Jewishness.[12] To hate them for their Zionism just is to hate them for their Jewishness. A person may have a lot of anti-Israel, A-1 Jews among his friends, then, but that itself does not exonerate him from hating the Jews he does hate for their Jewishness.

This account is coarse, clearly, and needs to be refined. As currently formulated, for example, it may turn many of the divisions within the Jewish people into antisemites against each other: if it counts as antisemitic to hate Zionist Jews for their Zionist Jewishness, it would also count as antisemitic to hate the “As a Jew”s who ground their anti-Israelism in their form of Jewishness. Similarly, when generalized this account may classify almost any objection to any group’s ideology or practices as a form of racism or bias. To hate members of ISIS for their ideology might have to count as a form of Islamophobia, since presumably their form of Islam is essential to their ideology and identity, and so on.

To prevent these serious consequences at least two things are needed:
(1) Articulation of just when and where certain beliefs and practices become essential to or part of individuals’ identities. This would yield a distinction between ideologies (toward which it is generally acceptable to be hostile) as opposed to people and their identities (toward whom it is generally not acceptable to be hostile).
(2) A close look at the specific contents of the beliefs and practices that compose people’s identities to see which, if any, it might be legitimate (i.e. not a form of “bias”) to oppose.

These are large projects beyond the scope of this essay, but a start may be made at least with respect to Jew-washing. We shall begin in the next part of this essay by getting a little clearer on just how Jew-washing works.
The Holocaust as Jew-Haters’ ‘Gotcha’
Curious, isn’t it? Leftists as a rule recognize the right to national self-determination. Jones, for instance, has written for Catalonia’s right to form a new nation, calling it an expression of that “basic democratic principle.” The tenet is enshrined in yellowing volumes of Lenin and honored by progressives with respect to countries around the world. Only when it comes to the Jews is national sovereignty regarded as uniquely wicked, to the point that a trendy word exists — anti-Zionist — to convey opposition to a state’s very existence. Leftists really should ask themselves the question I once did, setting myself on the path from Trotskyism to Zionism: Since our tradition supports the right to self-determination absolutely everywhere, why is Zionism considered shorthand for evil? The question answers itself.

Another way of considering the issue of Holocaust guilt, by the way, is to see it as a source of never-ending hostility against the Jews — for burdening non-Jews with guilt over what was done to the Jewish people. As Howard Jacobson writes in a brilliant essay, “When Will Jews Be Forgiven the Holocaust?” the answer to his titular question is “Never.” “Those we harm, we blame,” he observes, “mobilizing dislike and even hatred in order to justify, after the event, the harm we did. From which it must follow that those we harm the most—we blame the most.”

And while Germany is the most immediate bearer of this guilt, Jacobson suggests the feeling is universal. Jews prick the world’s conscience, and the world resents it. This includes the left, which nurtures itself on gratifying myths about its part in that seemingly Manichean era known as World War II. Our people were the bravest and best fighters against the Nazis, they say; how dare anyone say we have a problem with Jews?

But this legend has a disturbing way of falling apart. A glance at history reveals that those fighting under the red flag demanded that Jews reject “particularism,” including Zionism, and remain in Europe to fight for socialist revolution. Revolution did not come; the industrialized slaughter of the Jews did. Jews paid the price for the failure of the socialist vision.

This genocide should have prompted not only a deep rethink on the left, but a plumbing of its soul. A hint of it came after the war by Polish Jewish Trotskyist intellectual Isaac Deutscher, who wrote that “of course” he’d abandoned his anti-Zionism. “If, instead of arguing against Zionism in the 1920s and 1930s I had urged European Jews to go to Palestine,” he wrote, “I might have helped to save some of the lives that were later extinguished in Hitler’s gas chambers.”

But how many of Deutscher’s comrades, and their ideological descendants, have shown themselves willing to reflect on their program and actions in the early 20th century — about how their dogmatic insistence that Jews rely on universalism and the solidarity of their proletarian brothers ended with Auschwitz? So fourscore years after history established the legitimacy of Zionism, anti-Zionism is more popular than ever. The last genocide of the Jews is hurled against the Jews, in support of those pursuing a new extermination campaign against the Jews, by those whose tradition regarding the Jews isn’t as irreproachable as they want to believe.

“Get over it!” a member of my former party once yelled at our German comrades, who were seen as harboring neurotic, crippling shame over the Holocaust. So Jones would like Germany to get over it, and rejoin the war on the Jews, absolved and free at last of that nasty, pesky guilt.
Silence is acquiescence
And where were our elites? University professors celebrate murder. Women’s groups ignore rape. Newspapers publish cartoons that trade on anti-Semitic tropes. Our government will not condemn a specious allegation by a corrupt regime that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, and not only supports a UN resolution that calls for a ceasefire without the return of the hostages as a precondition, but would even deny Israel the means to defend herself against an avowedly genocidal terrorist organization (if it could, but thankfully cannot).

The incinerated bodies of October 7 awoke the generational trauma of the ovens of the Holocaust; now rampant anti-Semitism here awakes memories its precursor, Germany in the 1930s. Prospects of a government-sponsored genocide in Canada remain remote. But public expression of Jew-hatred has become normalized in six short months. Escalation of the violence we have already seen seems likely. Many of our Jewish neighbours are terrified, and so should we be too.

Have you ever wondered what you would have done in Germany in the 1930s? Would you have stood against the gathering storm? Would you have fought to save the sophisticated, civilized society that Germany was? Would you have hidden Jews or helped them escape? Or would you have stayed silent and inactive, distanced yourself, looked the other way, avoided your Jewish friends out of fear? Or worse, would you have reported them to the Gestapo?

Well, now you know.

If you are a bystander now, then you would have been then too.

If you are (God forbid) one of those parroting the new anti-Semitic tropes, chanting “from the river to the sea,” accusing Israel of genocide, or ripping down posters of the hostages, then you might have been one of those betraying Jewish neighbours to the Gestapo.

We are now called upon to make good on the pledge the world made after the Holocaust: never again. Never again is now. Not just for the sake of our Jewish neighbours, although that is reason enough. But for the sake of our own society.

We cannot sit this out. If we remain silent, if we do not stand up to this tsunami of hate here in Canada, then haters are exactly what we will become. To be silent is to acquiesce; to remain neutral is to become complicit in a vile refashioning of our society.

Perhaps, once Israel achieves its aims in Gaza, the tsunami will recede and the acts of hate will decrease. But a cancer of hatred has metastasized within our body politic. If we do not act now to cut it out, it will spread further, and one day we will look back and wish we had acted, because those few decent people left will not recognize what we will have become.


‘No consensus’ in Security Council on full UN membership for Palestinians, says chair
Members of the UN Security Council failed to reach a consensus Thursday on a bid by Palestinians for full UN membership, meaning the longshot effort is now likely headed for a more formal council vote.

The Palestinians, who have had observer status at the world body since 2012, have lobbied for years to gain full membership, which would amount to recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Any request to become a UN member state must first pass through the Security Council where Israel’s ally, the United States, wields a veto, and must then be endorsed by the General Assembly.

In light of Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza, launched in response to the terror group’s October 7 onslaught, the Palestinians revived a 2011 UN membership application last week, prompting the Security Council to launch a formal review process. This included the ad hoc committee that failed to reach consensus Thursday and was composed of the council’s member states.

During its closed-door meeting “there was no consensus,” said Maltese Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, who holds the council’s rotating presidency for April.

However, two-thirds of the members were in favor of full membership, she said, without specifying which countries.

While the ad hoc committee can only move forward by consensus — loosely speaking, when everyone is in agreement — any Security Council member may now put forth a resolution for a vote on the matter.

According to diplomatic sources, a vote could be held on April 18, brought forth by Algeria which represents Arab nations on the Council.

Even if the matter were to receive the necessary nine of 15 votes, observers predict a veto from the United States.
Palestinian membership at UN appears on hold
The U.N. Security Council’s Standing Committee on the Admission of New Members emerged on Thursday afternoon without a consensus—for the second time this week—on the topic of Palestinian membership.

Vanessa Frazier, the Maltese ambassador to the global body and president this month of the Security Council, told reporters that “there was no consensus” in the meeting, which was closed to the press, and she anticipates no further meetings by the committee.

By longstanding Security Council practice, membership applications are only turned over to the council for a vote if consensus is reached at the committee level. Two-thirds of the council wants to move forward to a vote on Palestinian membership, while five countries are not yet prepared to support Palestinian membership, according to Frazier.

Robert Wood, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters prior to Thursday’s meeting that “the product of a two-state solution needs to come from bilateral negotiations.”

“This has been our position for quite some time. Many other countries share that position as well,” he said. “Pushing toward a vote on a Security Council resolution at this point I think is unfortunate if that is what happens. But that certainly is the discussion we understand is going on.”

A reporter asked if Washington would veto such a vote. “I am not going to get ahead of all of this,” Wood said. “Just to say our position has not changed on this question.”

The council had set a deadline for this month to move the application forward, and with the United States making clear that it won’t change its position, the Palestinians’ hopes appear dashed at this point.

The committee is expected to produce a report as early as Friday indicating the lack of consensus and its inability to recommend full Palestinian membership.

Several diplomats told reporters after Thursday’s meeting that Algeria—the council’s de facto representative of the Palestinians and greater Arab and Muslim world—plans to initiate its own Security Council resolution on full Palestinian membership.
Third Provisional Measures in South Africa v Israel
The ICJ’s treatment of evidence in its latest order is not the only cause for concern. An additional cause of concern is some inconsistencies in the judicial approach of individual Judges in South Africa v Israel. Obviously, judges do sometimes contradict their previously held positions, and indeed opinions can and should change over time. In fact, opinions should indeed change when reality demands it, so long as they follow the lines of interpretation of international law, which undoubtedly encourages the development of the law with time.

Indeed, there is no “precedent” of the ICJ concerning the interpretation of Article 59 of the Statue. Yet, it is nevertheless imperative that Judges provide clear legal reasoning should they change their approach (see, for instance, Judge Abraham’s declaration in Marshall Islands v India), in order to promote consistency and validity and to allow for dialogue as to the possible development of the law in a certain direction. In the words of Judge Abraham: “It is indeed a judicial imperative which the Court has always recognized, and which in my view is incumbent upon all its Members, that it must be highly consistent in its jurisprudence, both in the interest of legal security and to avoid any suspicion of arbitrariness.”

For this reason, it is concerning that Judge Xue Hanqin, who has in previous cases consistently been adamant that erga omnes (partes) interests do not translate into standing before the ICJ (Belgium v Senegal, Canada & Netherlands v Syria (“I voted against the Order because of my consistent position on the question of standing in such so-called actio popularis cases”), including in a case concerning alleged genocide (The Gambia v Myanmar), found an exception in the case at hand, without presenting any legal justification.

Similarly, Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf complained recently that the compromissory clause of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) was being used to litigate issues under international humanitarian law, leading him to suggest that the ICJ should “put an end to the attempts by States to use CERD as a jurisdictional basis for all kinds of claims which do not fall within its ambit”. Notwithstanding, in the South Africa v Israel case, Judge Yusuf called for a halt to Israel’s “aerial bombardments, the ground assaults on urban areas and refugee camps by the Israeli army, and the removal of the obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid”.

In doing so, Judge Yusuf seemed to ignore the fact that Hamas has embedded its military operations in densely populated areas (as presented during the oral hearing), Hamas’ hijacking of aid (not to mention extrajudicial executions of those cooperating with Israel’s distribution of aid), and also the detailed explanations presented by Israel regarding the military necessity of its operations under IHL. It is unclear why the South Africa v Israel case does not raise the same concern, as presented by Judge Yusuf in the context of CERD, that the case has nothing with the jurisdiction of the ICJ but – in Judge Yusuf’s words –“everything to do with the humanitarian law”.
House Dem Puts F-15 Deal With Israel on Ice Despite Assurances From Jewish State
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, this week withheld approval of Israel’s purchase of F-15 fighter jets from the United States, despite receiving Israel’s assurances that it will adhere to international law in Gaza.

Meeks reviewed a letter of assurances from Israeli minister of defense Yoav Gallant on Tuesday but has not yet said whether he would sign off on the F-15 deal, according to Axios. The Democratic ranking member said he is looking for "assurances" from the Jewish state that it will obey international law in using American weapons and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"At least a dozen" Democrats on the committee put pressure on Meeks to block the F-15 jet sales, a lawmaker familiar with the matter told Axios. House Democrats have recently become more critical of Israel’s fight against Hamas terrorists after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed seven aid workers from the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen.

The New York Democrat on Thursday declined to elaborate on the Israeli letter of assurances or whether he would move forward with the sale any time soon.

"I can't talk about none of those things because it’s in a [sensitive compartmented information facility], it's a secret. So, I really can't talk about [the letter]," Meeks told Axios.

"There are a lot of things that have to be considered," Meeks added. "The F-15s are not going to be delivered, if in fact [they are], until five years from now. I’ve got a lot of things that I’m looking at, doing my homework, on the ground, etc."

Rep. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.), the second-ranked Democrat on the committee after Meeks, urged the ranking member to approve the sale. "Israel faces more security threats than just Hamas," Sherman said. "Hamas doesn't have an air force, but Iran sure does, and Iran is making noises today as if they'd like to send their air force against Israel."
New bill in Congress would apply IHRA definition to civil rights law
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) introduced H.R.7945, the “Define to Defeat Act of 2024,” on Thursday, which “would apply the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism to the enforcement of civil rights laws.”

“In doing so, the legislation would provide federal officials with an objective, contemporary definition of antisemitism, better helping them to assess and prosecute criminal and discriminatory incidents motivated by antisemitism,” the congressman stated.

The IHRA definition is “objective and clear, and the use of alternative definitions of antisemitism, including instead of or in addition to the IHRA definition, impairs enforcement efforts by adding multiple standards that leave room for subjective application and may fail to identify some of the most insidious modern manifestations of anti-Jewish hate,” per the bill.

If enacted, the bill would require federal agencies to use the IHRA definition of antisemitism and its contemporary examples in anti-discrimination trainings, federal juries would be instructed to use it in cases that involve Jew-hatred and it would be used in applying civil rights law.

“Following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Jews around the world, including in America and New York, endured and continue to endure record-breaking levels of antisemitic attacks and hate,” D’Esposito stated. “My legislation would provide federal officials the tools they need to fully assess, investigate, and prosecute this criminal behavior.”

The Coalition for Jewish Values, which represents more than 2,500 Orthodox rabbis, praised the bill and called on members of Congress to support it.

“The former chief rabbi of Great Britain, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory, taught that ‘one of the enduring facts of history is that most antisemites do not think of themselves as antisemites,’” stated Rabbi Pesach Lerner, president emeritus of the coalition. “This is why it is so crucial that antisemitism be defined in a neutral fashion that clearly encompasses when it is couched as ‘anti-Israel’ rhetoric.”


Torres urges New York colleges to curb antisemitism following ADL’s report
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) called on New York colleges to curb antisemitism following the recent assessment from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that found none of the state’s 14 schools included in the report received an “A” grade.

The ADL published its “Campus Antisemitic Report Card” on Thursday, in which it examined 85 top liberals arts colleges and schools with a high population of Jewish students. The report assigned grades to schools — public and private — based on the “Jewish life on campus,” antisemitic incidents and actions taken by the administration to protect Jewish students and fight antisemitism.

Only two schools, Brandeis University in Massachusetts and Elon University in North Carolina, received “A” grades. The 14 schools based in New York, on average, got subpar grades.

Four each received B’s and D’s. Five schools got C’s. SUNY Rockland Community College and SUNY Purchase got an F.

Torres called on those institutions’ presidents to “detail concrete” actions on how they will get their institutions to the highest grades and called some schools’ evaluations “alarming.”

“Despite boasting the largest Jewish population outside the State of Israel, NYS did not have a single school that earned an A,” Torres said in a letter first shared with The Hill. “Even more alarming, most schools received either a C, D, or F. Instead of leading in the fight against antisemitism, New York is lagging. The grades speak for themselves.”
Seth Mandel: Trump Still Doesn’t Get It
That impatience, not what he feels in his heart about Jews or Israel, is what matters strategically. And his tetchiness doesn’t exactly soothe nerves. “The first person that congratulated [Biden] was Bibi Netanyahu, the man that I did more for than any other person I dealt with,” he reportedly told Axios’s Barak Ravid. “Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake.” Sour grapes over perceived personal effrontery seems to be a theme. Soon after the Oct. 7 attacks, Trump ranted about how Israel supposedly left the U.S. out on a limb in its assassination of Iranian terror master Qassem Suleimani: “I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. That was a very terrible thing. So we were disappointed by that. Very disappointed. But we did the job ourself. It was absolute precision, magnificent, beautiful job. And then Bibi tried to take credit for it. That didn’t make me feel too good. But that’s all right.”

Taking Netanyahu’s behavior personally and basing policy on that is one of the key mistakes Biden has made, because it has legitimized so many of Israel’s bad-faith critics. Is Trump offering a contrast or an echo of this? Hard to tell.

Lastly, the transactional framing of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is wholeheartedly embraced by media institutions. Take today’s New York Times report on Trump’s latest comments. It contains the following truly spectacular paragraph:

“As president, Mr. Trump consistently favored Israel against the Palestinians. He moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and brokered accords between Israel and four Arab states.”

Where to start? Does the New York Times think the Golan Heights are Palestinian territory? More likely it’s just that, to the Times, the U.S. siding with Israel over Bashar al-Assad’s Syria is about hurting the Palestinians. And there’s a reason for this: The Times, like too many others who see the conflict through the “transactional” lens, deems anything good for Israel to be bad for the Palestinians. It’s why the same paragraph slams Trump for “favor[ing]” Israel by striking Israeli-Arab peace accords. The Times opposes peace in the Middle East because it means Israel will gain recognition and therefore permanence. Those who are against the Abraham Accords still believe Israel is a temporary nuisance.

Such are the dangers of thinking purely transactionally regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And this mode of thinking—regardless of which “side” you’re coming from—introduces a measure of volatility that is uniquely unsuited to the challenges of extricating the Middle East from the bloody chaos of Hamas and its Iranian patron.
Rep. Kathy Manning says calls for suspending Israel aid embolden Hamas
Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) told Jewish Insider on Thursday that she’s worried that efforts and threats by her colleagues to suspend aid to Israel are making it less likely that Hamas will accept a deal to free the hostages, and that Hamas views such divisions between the U.S. and Israel as a victory — comments that echo sentiments expressed by other Democratic pro-Israel lawmakers in recent days.

Manning told JI in an interview that she’s “concerned” that “letters from some of my colleagues” about suspending aid to Israel “will be viewed by Hamas as a sign that they have succeeded, through the terrible humanitarian situation they’ve created in Gaza, which we know they expected and they exacerbate by continuing to hide underneath the civilians,” she said, referring to Hamas’ extensive network of tunnels.

“I am concerned that they now will see that they are driving a wedge between the United States and Israel,” she continued. “And why should they take a deal when, if they continue to allow the disaster to continue in Gaza — it’s doing their work for them.”

Manning emphasized that Hamas “hold[s] the key” to resolving the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and that they are the only party interested in prolonging and worsening the humanitarian crisis.

“It just seems obvious that their plan is to continue to encourage Israel to keep fighting so that they can build even more sympathy from the world,” she said. “And sadly, it’s easy to forget why the situation has developed the way it is.”

Manning had first floated these concerns, in less specific terms, on Wednesday in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing with U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power, where Manning said she is “deeply worried that there are things that we are doing that are preventing Hamas from taking the deal and releasing the hostages.”
Protester arrested at Bakersfield City Hall faces 16 felonies
A protester arrested inside Bakersfield City Council chambers Wednesday night is accused of 16 felony counts after she made a threatening comment to council members and the mayor.

Riddhi Patel, 28, was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of eight counts of threatening with intent to terrorize and another eight counts of threatening certain city officials during her comments on enhanced security at the meetings.

These upgrades, used on a trial basis at the previous City Council meeting on March 28, would permanently include metal detectors and bolstered security at future City Hall meetings. They were unanimously approved by the council later in Wednesday’s meeting.

Patel’s remarks on the matter came during the public comment portion of the meeting, during which she lambasted the proposed security upgrades.

“You guys want to criminalize us with metal detectors,” Patel said. “We’ll see you at your house, we’ll murder you.”

Following a brief pause between public speakers, Bakersfield City Attorney Ginny Gennaro directed an officer to apprehend Patel before signaling to city Mayor Karen Goh.

“Ms. Patel, that was a threat, what you said at the end,” Goh said. “And so, the officers are going to escort you out and take care of that.”

Patel was arrested without incident shortly after she returned to her seat row.

It was the second time that Patel spoke at Wednesday’s meeting. She previously highlighted that some people celebrate Chaitra Navratri, which starts this week.

“I remind you that these holidays that we practice, that other people in the global south practice, believe in violent revolution against their oppressors, and I hope one day somebody brings a guillotine and kills all of you (expletive).” (h/t jzaik)


Tal Heinrich, Spokesperson for Israel, on Fighting Back Against the World’s Lies
Before Oct. 7, Tal Heinrich was busy working as a journalist and news anchor for Israel’s Channel 14 and Trinity Broadcasting Network in the United States. But when she saw that Israel had suffered from a terrorist attack that day, she got on the first available flight and went back home. She had a new assignment: to be a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s office.

For the first 40 days of the war, Heinrich worked from Israel day and night, giving interviews in multiple languages to news stations around the world. Since Oct. 7, she’s done more than 200 interviews, and is splitting her time between New York and Israel.

“We present Israel’s justified case to the world,” Heinrich, who works with other spokespeople like Mark Regev and Ofir Gendelman, said. “We have to keep reminding the world how we got to where we are now. Unfortunately, people tend to forget how we got to a war situation and Gaza and about the atrocities of Oct. 7.”

Heinrich sees her role as “buying time for the soldiers to operate on the ground,” and showing people why Israel must defeat Hamas. “We have to remind everyone that time is running out for our stolen people, the hostages.”

The spokesperson has worked in Israeli and worldwide media for two decades; she was a broadcaster on Sport5 — The Sports Channel in Israel for 11 years, and then took on the role of field and news desk producer for CNN’s Jerusalem bureau during the 2014 Israel-Gaza war. She was also an anchor for i24NEWS, where she worked out of the Israeli station’s New York headquarters in Times Square. She is fluent in Hebrew, English, Arabic and German, and gives lectures on the Middle East through FIDF and AIPAC.

With her current assignment, Heinrich is constantly battling the double standards the world sets up for Israel. “It’s something each and every one of us knows,” she said. “We grew up feeling it, seeing it, witnessing it. At the U.N., before Oct. 7 and since then, there is a significant double standard when it comes to Israel.”
Chicago business leaders slam council’s Gaza cease-fire action amid worrying rise in antisemitic incidents
Amid near-record levels of antisemitic incidents, Chicago business leaders have issued a full-throated open letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson in response to a Chicago City Council resolution calling a "permanent cease-fire" in Gaza, without fully dismantling Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Johnson cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the resolution, which passed 24-23 on Jan. 31.

Chairman and CEO of Jet Support Services Neil Book told Fox Digital News that the Chicago business community "as a whole was angry and shocked about this resolution." In search of "an outlet to express their frustration" and "hold leaders accountable," Book authored the full-page letter to the mayor, published in the Chicago Tribune on Mar. 24 and signed by 31 business leaders. The letter urges the mayor to "remember that the first responsibility of Chicago’s Mayor and…City Council is to focus on Chicago, not on a conflict 6,000 miles away."

Book said the mayor used "his own political capital and spent his time and resources on something that he knows so little about," rather than "addressing some of the urgent issues here in Chicago." He explained that "it’s a hard sell" to convince business executives to come to Chicago because outsiders "see the violence, they see the homicide rate…they see the looting, they see the destruction [and] the lack of accountability in the court systems."

Now, rising hatred is among the difficulties the city faces. Book said he has witnessed "Jews being called baby killers and accused of genocide in the streets of Chicago." At anti-Israel demonstrations, he added that people holding Israeli flags have been "physically threatened and harassed."


THE FLAG GUY Israel-Palestine Protests & What A Jewish Super Hero Is!
Modern day Jewish Superhero THE FLAG GUY. Youve seen him on college campuses with an Israeli Flag in one hand & an American flag in the other, standing his ground amidst the noise and misinformation of the conflict, he stands his ground and is a real symbol of the strength of the Jews.


AJC New England calls Warren’s genocide claims ‘inaccurate and hurtful’
The Boston-based office of the American Jewish Committee’s New England branch sent a letter from its regional director, Robert Leikind, to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), on April 11.

He acknowledged that the senator has been “a supporter of Israel’s right to defend its

people against Hamas’s relentless efforts to destroy the world’s only Jewish state,” adding that the organization was “deeply troubled” by her remarks at a public event on April 5.

To that end, “we write to express our deep disappointment and concern about your recent comment regarding Israel’s defensive war in Gaza. You stated that there is ‘ample evidence’ that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.”

The letter noted a clarification from the senator’s office that she intended to comment only on the International Court of Justice proceedings, rather than state her own views.

Still, “we believe that your statement was inaccurate and hurtful, and did not reflect what is happening in Gaza or the likely outcome of South Africa’s claim against Israel at the ICJ, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken called ‘meritless,’” wrote Leikind.

He noted that Warren’s remark “has provided cover to extreme voices who have been maliciously accusing Israel of genocide long before a single Israeli soldier entered Gaza.”


Starmer’s Jewish wife ‘forced out of home’ by anti-Israel protesters
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria was “effectively forced out of her own home” after pro-Palestine demonstrators launched a protest outside the couple’s north London front garden, a court has been told.

On Tuesday, demonstrators from Youth Demand — a new direct-action group affiliated with the environmental activist organisation Just Stop Oil — campaigned outside the Starmer family’s house to pressure the Labour leader to use his influence to stop the UK sending arms to Israel.

Three demonstrators, identified as Leonorah Ward, 21, Zosia Lewis, 23, and Daniel Formentin, 24, were accused of hanging a black banner outside Starmer’s house that read, “Starmer stop the killing,” surrounded by red handprints. The three demonstrators are also accused of placing rows of children’s shoes in front of the Starmers’ front door to symbolise the deaths of children in Gaza.

Prosecutor David Burns told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that Victoria “returned from a shopping trip with her son and couldn’t return to her property,” adding that she was “intimidated and scared” by the actions of the protesters.

Burns said: “This really affected [Keir’s] wife, she was effectively forced out of her own home.”

Ward, Lewis and Formentin were charged with harassing a person in their home under section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and breaching court bail conditions, namely “not to organise or participate” in any protest connected to Just Stop Oil.

The three deny public order offences.
Labour Council Candidate Suggests Hamas Bombings Inevitable
Another day, another Labour candidate is found posting some rather choice views. Khuram Majid, Labour’s council candidate for the Elland Ward in Calderdale has been reposting tweets that echo the comment that led Azhar Ali to be suspended from Labour. Not a good look ahead of the local elections…


One post wrote: “the US and Israel are lying about Gaza“, with another claiming that the Hamas bombings on 7th October were “inevitable” and another that suggesting Israel were not “surprised” by the attack. Starmer’s still saying he’s turned around the party…


About Time: Israel Expels British, French Anarchists Who Breached Security Area
Two foreign anarchists who were agitating in the area south of Mount Hebron and entered a closed military area several times were deported from Israel this week and their entry visas were denied for the foreseeable future, HaKol HaYehudi reported on Thursday.

The two anarchists, an Englishman and a French woman, were arrested a few days ago after they had entered the security area of the Mitzpe Yair settlement in the south of Mount Hebron, which was closed to civilians as a designated military zone.

The two activists confronted a military force from the Yehuda Brigade that arrived at the scene and prevented the soldiers from carrying out their assignment. The two anarchists were arrested by the army and taken to the Hebron police station for questioning.

At the end of their interrogation, it was decided to hand them over to the Population and Immigration Authority to initiate a deportation procedure against them. Following a hearing during which the suspects were given the opportunity to defend themselves against the charges, it was decided to deport them from Israel and cancel their entry visa permanently. The two were transferred to the detention facility of the Immigration Directorate and put on flights back to their countries.

Unlike Israeli anarchists, who are usually banned for only a few days from entering the area where they violated the law, foreign anarchists can lose their residence permit and deported. In the past, the immigration authority was reluctant to use this procedure out of concern for Israel’s relations with the anarchists’ home countries. This week’s deportation was a step in the right direction, but not necessarily a change of policy.
Isis terrorist plotted to poison Sea of Galilee, Israeli police say
A 22-year-old Arab from Baqa al-Gharbiya in central Israel has been charged with planning to poison the Sea of Galilee as part of an Isis plot, Israeli police said on Thursday.

Fahmi Kittani, who allegedly declared his allegiance to the terror group in 2015, planned various attacks, including assaults on IDF soldiers and suicide bombings, according to the indictment.

Kittani allegedly immersed himself in Isis ideology, actively participating in and distributing extreme content through Telegram channels associated with the terror group. In February, he allegedly circulated execution videos amongst his contacts, threatening similar actions against Jews.

Further investigations were said to have uncovered communications where Kittani expressed admiration for the killing of IDF soldiers and discussed plans for future attacks with accomplices Akram Ammar and Bilal Nasasra.

The trio are accused of planning to poison the Sea of Galilee – Israel’s primary freshwater source – by placing an animal carcass in one of the pumping stations. It is said they also attempted, unsuccessfully, to manufacture explosives based on instructions communicated through Isis networks. The prosecution has requested that Kittani remain in custody until the conclusion of his trial.

This indictment coincides with a broader crackdown on Isis-inspired terrorist activities in the Jewish state.
Lawsuit addresses rights violated by mandate to pay dues to anti-Israel union
Legal action will test the First Amendment question of whether or not it violates an employee’s religious freedom to mandate paying a union that has taken public positions in violation of its worker’s faith-based principles.

Jewish legal aid attorneys Arnold Levine and Allen Popper sued their union—the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA)—and the City of New York on Thursday in Manhattan federal court.

The plaintiffs cited ALAA’s passing of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip amid six months of war by the Israel Defense Forces after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, resulting in the murder of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of another 250. The union claimed that Israel was engaging in “ethnic cleansing and genocide” as violations of their rights.

Levine previously tried to opt out of the union, regarding its leadership as antisemitic. He learned that while he could do so, he was still obligated to pay dues.

The suit seeks to stop the requirement that Levine and Popper pay the union and reimburse them for previous payments.

ALAA, an affiliate of the United Auto Workers union, represents about 2,700 lawyers who work for New York-area groups.
Jamaal Bowman Defends Union Fighting Subpoena Over Anti-Israel Resolution
New York Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman is defending a union chapter that has resisted complying with a subpoena in a congressional investigation into an anti-Israel resolution that Republicans say may have infringed upon union members' rights.

Bowman on Thursday jumped to the defense of the United Automobile Workers Local 2325, which is refusing to comply with a March subpoena from the Education and Workforce Committee following the union’s December 19 vote for a "Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workers’ Political Speech." The resolution, which passed 1067-570, omitted any mention of Hamas but lamented Israel’s response to the attacks, accused Israel of "genocidal rhetoric," and declared support for an economic boycott of Israel.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), the committee chair, issued the subpoena after saying the union had obstructed her efforts to find out more about the vote and its impact on members. Foxx has said the union "appears to have infringed on several statutory rights of its members" by adopting the resolution.

"I stand with Local 2325 and its members’ rights to free speech and political expression. Union speech is free speech, and union members have the right to engage in democratic processes on issues of importance to them," Bowman wrote on Thursday. "Chair Foxx’s targeting of Local 2325’s resolution vote is a blatant attempt to silence a union whose members voted overwhelmingly and democratically to take a political position with which she disagrees. Such intimidation tactics go far beyond the legitimate uses of the Committee’s oversight power, and instead serve only to scare unions across the country from exercising their right to political expression for fear of unfair persecution."

Emma Simon, Bowman’s deputy communications director, echoed Bowman’s ire for Foxx, "A good reminder that chair Virginia Foxx is the worst!!"
Under New Social Studies Standards, Minnesota Public School Students To Learn Palestinians' 'Liberation Struggles'
Minnesota’s new K-12 social studies standards will teach students about Palestinians’ fight for "liberation" against the oppressive "colonizer" state of Israel, according to documents obtained by a think tank in the state.

Under new standards adopted by the Minnesota Department of Education, students will learn about "decolonization," with accompanying examples that portray the Jewish state as a colonizing force.

Students will be instructed to "describe how individuals and communities have fought" for "liberation against systemic and coordinated exercises of power," according to the publicly available standards. They will also be asked to analyze "the impact of colonialism" and "dominant and non-dominant narratives."

The public standards don't mention Israel directly, but non-public documents obtained by the Center of the American Experiment, a Minnesota-based think tank, show that the Israel-Palestine conflict is listed as a corresponding example to each of the above lessons.

The standards, and accompanying examples, push an "ideology" that "portrays Israel as an illegitimate state—an oppressive 'colonizer'—whose victims are entitled to forcibly throw off their oppressor," Katherine Kersten, a senior policy fellow at the center, wrote in a recent op-ed. The standards' non-public examples highlight Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) as an immigrant who has made "contributions" to "political ideas," Kersten notes.

The new standards—which were approved by a judge on Jan. 16—will allegedly help the next generations "understand our shared history" and help them avoid "repeating the mistakes of the past," a Minnesota teachers' union official told Fox 9 after the judge's approval.

Minnesota Department of Education spokesman Kevin Burns declined to answer the Washington Free Beacon's questions, deferring instead to the publicly available guidelines.
Jewish group files Title VI complaint against Dallas School District

The Israel-education organization StandWithUs submitted a Title VI complaint this week to the U.S. Department of Education for potential violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The nonprofit announced that on April 9, it provided discrimination claims at the Dallas Independent School District to the federal agency. The complaint states that Jewish students have experienced verbal taunts and harassment that referenced Hitler, Nazi Germany, the gas chambers at Auschwitz and the Holocaust, in addition to anti-Jewish slurs. A student found swastikas drawn in bathrooms, one of which featured writing that advocated burning Jews.

“Many of these incidents occurred in plain sight of teachers and administrators, both in the classroom and in school common areas, but the school took no action to protect Jewish students,” SWU stated.

“With the ongoing rise of antisemitism throughout the country, Jewish students must be assured that their places of education are safe and welcoming,” Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of SWU, told JNS. “This includes knowing that faculty and administrators will promptly address incidents of identity-based harassment, including by providing necessary education to members of the school community.”

The unnamed student who co-filed the complaint attends Hillcrest High School in North Dallas. “Throughout my entire high school experience, I have been a victim of harassment and bullying due to being Jewish,” said the student. “It has been extremely difficult to attend a school where both students and staff enable antisemitism and face no consequences.”
Cornell students to hold ‘Jewish Unity’ rally to fight rising campus antisemitism
Students and faculty at Cornell University are holding a “Jewish Unity” rally on Sunday to protest rising antisemitism at the Ithaca campus.

The fight against antisemitism will come just days after engineering student Patrick Dai pleaded guilty Wednesday to threatening to kill Jewish students on campus last October.

“After the horrific 10/7 attacks, I expected an outpouring of support and solidarity when I returned to campus. Instead, I encountered dehumanizing rhetoric, support for the terrorists, and students being accosted on campus and threatened with intimidation and violence solely because of our Jewish identity,” Amanda Silberstein, one of the student organizers, said in a statement to The Post.

“We stand together to affirm that the Jewish community at Cornell will remain strong, steadfast, and resilient, and will not only survive but thrive, as the Jewish people have done so many times before us throughout history.”

A report card on campus antisemitism published by the Anti-Defamation League on Thursday gave the Ivy League a lowly “D” grade for combatting Jewish bigotry.


Kassy Akiva: Yale Students Threaten Hunger Strike If Anti-Israel Demands Are Not Met
Anti-Israel students at Yale University are threatening to go on a hunger strike if the school does not commit to divest from weapons manufacturers “contributing to Israel’s assault on Palestine” by Friday morning, they warned in a letter to the university’s president.

“If these demands are not met by the morning of 4/12/2024, we will go on a hunger strike,” the students wrote to President Peter Salovey. “We will risk our bodily health and wellbeing in ways that mirror only a fraction of the absolute devastation that Palestinians are suffering right now, until you do. Yale’s complicity in genocide must end.”

In the wake of Israel’s war against Hamas for brutally massacring more than 1,000 people on October 7, the letter calls the United States the “empire that is funding the military conquest and colonization of Palestine” and accused the university’s investments of profiting “from this mass ethnic cleansing.”

“Our existence in this University and this country are ones defined by necropolitics,” the students continued. “Our lives here exist as they do because of the investment in the deaths of Palestinians by Yale and the US government.”

The students claimed they “exhausted every mode possible” of making their voices heard without the university making the changes they requested. The students cite various conferences, talks, meetings, and protests that they say failed to elicit a response from the administrators.

“You flaunt free speech as a protected right on this campus but treat our free speech as if it holds no real weight,” the letter reads. “Our free speech demands a response from you.”

In a now-deleted post on the Instagram account created for the strike, the students solicited donations for “life-giving aid” and medical support to help strike participants.
Harvard Students Who Accosted Israeli Classmate Have a Court Date, Though University Has Yet To Discipline Them
The Harvard University graduate students who accosted an Israeli classmate are negotiating with prosecutors over a court date and may face criminal charges, though the school has yet to take disciplinary action against them.

The two students—identified in an October Washington Free Beacon report as Harvard Law Review editor Ibrahim Bharmal and divinity school student Elom Tettey-Tamaklo—are "currently in the process of negotiating court dates" with prosecutors over their actions during an Oct. 18 "die-in" protest, according to a Thursday letter from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.). Bharmal and Tettey-Tamaklo were filmed shoving and accosting a first-year Israeli student at Harvard Business School.

Stefanik's letter, which was sent to interim Harvard president Alan Garber and Harvard Corporation head Penny Pritzker, says an initial hearing in the case is scheduled for May 7. At that hearing, a court official will determine whether there is enough evidence to criminally charge the students.

Both Bharmal and Tettey-Tamaklo remain in good standing with the school, according to Stefanik's letter, which notes that Harvard has produced "no evidence of punishment against those who have committed crimes and violated Harvard's code of conduct."

Tettey-Tamaklo is set to graduate from Harvard in May, according to his LinkedIn, meaning he could receive a degree from the Ivy League institution before his criminal case is settled. Harvard declined to comment on whether students facing criminal charges are eligible to receive degrees.

"Justice for this incident should have been served quickly," Stefanik wrote in her letter, "and the delay of justice that specifically allows an antisemitic student to graduate is an affront to accountability and demonstrates the cultural rot of Harvard University's leadership that has allowed antisemitism to continue."

University spokesman Jonathan Swain issued a statement on Thursday that said Tettey-Tamaklo "is not scheduled to graduate in May 2024," but he declined to provide more information.
Three Takeaways from This Week’s Disastrous Dinner for Berkeley Law Graduates
As I read UC Berkeley law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s shocking statement about how a group of anti-Israel students attended and then ambushed a dinner for graduating students at his home on April 9, I felt sick to my stomach.

Perhaps it’s because I am Iranian and, in my culture, hospitality is inarguably sacred. One’s host has certain clearly-defined obligations, but one’s guests are also expected to conduct themselves with the utmost gratitude and civility. As I watched a short video that showed Palestinian American student Malak Afaneh, co-president of the Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine, spouting anti-Israel rhetoric in Chemerinsky’s home, then claim it was free speech, I knew precisely how her mother and father would have responded had she been Iranian. Let’s just say it would not have been pretty.

Perhaps it’s because I’m Jewish and I love to host Shabbat and holiday meals, and I felt truly sorry for Chemerinsky and his wife, law school professor Catherine Fisk, as their garden dinner for 60 students was hijacked by these shameless radicals, and the brilliant couple was quickly forced to act as boundary-setting parents of petulant children.

Whatever the reason, I was disgusted by what I saw and read. And then, I had a few realizations about what transpired at what was supposed to be one of three dinners Chemerinsky and Fisk were to host for graduating law students who, thanks to the pandemic in 2021, missed out on an annual opportunity to enjoy dinner at the dean’s home as first-year students:

A Pattern of Shameless Ingratitude
Last Friday, an “Al-Quds Day” anti-Israel rally held in Dearborn, Mich. made headlines worldwide when videos showed a speaker and attendees chanting “Death to America!”— on American soil. I didn’t know which was more shameless and horrific — the unbelievable chants or the fact that “Al-Quds” rallies, which are borrowed straight from the genocidal playbook of the regime in Iran, now are being held in the U.S. Perhaps it was no coincidence that one protester even held up an image of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, who originally conceived “Quds Days” and who labeled America “The Great Satan.” Tens of millions of Iranians associate Khomeini’s policies, which continue today, with brutal suppression of human rights, especially against women. As an American, I never thought I would see his vile face on a poster at a rally in the U.S.

I recognized the same shameless ingratitude as I watched Afaneh, cold and seemingly numb, refuse to give up the microphone as Chemerinsky repeatedly pleaded with her to stop. “Please leave our house,” he begged. “You are guests in our home.” The tense exchange was the very definition of civility versus incivility.

It should be mentioned that last week, a poster depicting a caricature of Chemerinsky holding a bloody fork and knife, with the words, “No dinner with Zionist Chem while Gaza starves,” was on full-display at bulletin boards at the law school building and on social media. “I never thought I would see such blatant antisemitism, with an image that invokes the horrible antisemitic trope of blood libel and that attacks me for no apparent reason other than I am Jewish,” Chemerinsky wrote in his statement.

First, he was depicted as a bloodthirsty Jew, and then, students ambushed a dinner at his home. How cruel and shameless.
UC Berkeley condemns student antisemitic threats, school says it can’t disclose if it’s disciplining offenders
Days after the posting of a video that showed the dean of the University of California, Berkeley’s law school and his wife clashing with anti-Israel students at their home during what was meant to be a congratulatory graduation dinner, the university’s president condemned the incident as “antisemitic, threatening and not [a reflection of] the values of this university.”

After the incident, in which a student grabbed a microphone to give an unauthorized speech about the plight of Palestinians at the home of law school Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, some students and local Jewish leaders are left wondering whether UC Berkeley will take disciplinary action, and are calling out the school’s leadership for a lack of transparency.

“When you don’t take [immediate] action, people have permission to continue escalating their tactics,” Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council, told Jewish Insider.

“What we are seeing is inaction on the administration’s part, and we know whenever a student is investigated, it goes into a black box and we don’t learn what happened,” Gregory said. “Are they going to be reprimanded or expelled? That information is not public so there’s no transparency for Jewish students, faculty and community members and that also looks like complete inaction in terms of holding someone accountable.”

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening, when several third-year law students were invited to attend one of three dinners celebrating their upcoming graduation at the Oakland home of Chemerinsky and his wife, law school professor Catherine Fisk.


Germany blocks Glasgow University’s anti-Israel rector from entry
The British-Palestinian surgeon elected last month as rector of Glasgow University has been blocked from entering Germany.

Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who has repeatedly praised terrorists, said he had been “forcibly prevented” from travelling.

The doctor has hailed a terrorist murderer in a newspaper article, tweeted praise for an attack that saw Israeli soldiers murdered, and delivered a tearful eulogy to the founder of a terror group that was later involved in the October 7 atrocities, the JC previously revealed.

Writing on X/Twitter on Friday, Abu-Sittah said: “Invited to address a conference in Berlin about my work in Gaza hospitals during the present conflict. The German government has forcibly prevented me from entering the country

“Silencing a witness to genocide before the ICJ adds to Germany's complicity in the ongoing massacre.”

The surgeon, who rose to prominence when he was interviewed by the BBC, Sky and CNN while working in Gaza during Israel’s current war against Hamas, has repeatedly praised Palestinian militants.

In a 2019 post to X/Twitter, he wrote: “You have all our loyalty in memory of the two heroes, the martyrs Miloud Ben Lumah and Khaled Aker. They landed in gliders into our occupied territories and killed 30 Zionist soldiers in an hour. Glory to the martyrs.”

The post appears to refer to a 1987 incident dubbed the Night of The Gliders, in which two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC) used hang gliders to fly into Israel and kill several soldiers.

In 2014, the PFLP-GC was proscribed in Britain. The organisation, which fought on the side of the Assad regime during the Syrian civil war, has also been designated as a terror group by the United States and the European Union.


Biden Admin Lets Sanctions Waiver for Iran-Russia Nuclear Work Expire—But Won't Commit to Enforcing Those Sanctions
The Biden administration has allowed a series of sanctions waivers that permit Iran and Russia to engage in joint nuclear work to lapse but won't commit to enforcing those sanctions, sowing confusion about U.S. policy at a time when both countries are building out Tehran's atomic infrastructure.

The waivers, which were last renewed in August 2023, expired at the beginning of 2024. They provided upwards of $10 billion in profit for Russian-state controlled firms, such as the Rosatom energy company, for work at Iran's various nuclear plants, including contested military sites suspected of housing the country's atomic weapons program.

Yet the Biden administration will not commit to enforcing those sanctions now that the waivers have expired. A State Department spokesman would not say why the waivers were allowed to expire and told the Washington Free Beacon that officials are still "reviewing the waiver as part of the regular review process" and that a public comment will only be given "once a decision is made as part of that review." The response is fueling questions on Capitol Hill as Iran advances plans to invest at least $50 billion in its Russian-made nuclear plants.

Congressional Republicans have been pressing the Biden State Department for years to nix the waivers and enforce sanctions blocking that cooperation. The Biden administration repeatedly renewed the waivers before allowing them to expire earlier this year. Republicans suspect the lapse in a renewal notice is a sign that the United States is turning a blind eye to Russia-Iran nuclear cooperation and not enforcing sanctions. Questions surrounding the sanctions waivers have been mounting on Capitol Hill in recent weeks, sources told the Free Beacon, with some lawmakers demanding an immediate briefing from the State Department.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), who spearheaded legislation last year to bar the Biden administration from renewing the sanctions waivers, said confusion around the issue indicates the administration is ignoring the highly profitable Russian-Iranian alliance.

"I pushed the Trump administration for years to end these waivers, which they did. Joe Biden and Biden officials renewed them as part of their appeasement of Iran, allowing Russia to build up Iran's nuclear program and for [Russian president Vladimir] Putin and the Ayatollah to solidify a nuclear alliance," Cruz told the Free Beacon. "Now that catastrophic, irreversible damage has been done, the administration is just ignoring the whole issue and hoping it goes away. Their choice now is to renew the waivers, and allow Russian-Iranian cooperation to continue[,] or keep them expired, and then people will ask about their years of appeasement."
State Department’s approval of Iran FM’s visa for U.N. visit splits senators
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has traveled to the U.S. — on visas granted by the State Department — twice since the Oct. 7 attacks perpetrated by Tehran’s proxy Hamas.

Ahead of his third trip, slated for next week, some legislators on Capitol Hill are voicing concern over Foggy Bottom’s continued approval of Amir-Abdollahian’s visas.

Iran’s mission to the U.N. confirmed this week that Amir-Abdollahian will be in New York on behalf of Tehran next Thursday for a U.N. Security Council meeting on Israel’s war in Gaza. The visit comes amid soaring tensions between Iran and Israel in the wake of a strike that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials, including two generals, in Syria. Iran has vowed retribution against Israel, which it blames for the attacks.

The U.S. has an agreement with the U.N. that requires the State Department to swiftly issue visas to all foreign diplomats traveling to New York for U.N. events. Those diplomats can seek permission to travel elsewhere in the country, though the U.S. is not required to accept those requests. The U.S. has denied entry to diplomats of foreign adversaries before through an exception in the host agreement relating to terrorism or foreign policy concerns and has the ability to do so for Amir-Abdollahian.

The State Department declined to comment to Jewish Insider on approving Amir-Abdollahian’s visa, which will permit his travel to New York for official business. On Capitol Hill, senators on both sides of the aisle were split over whether an exception should be made to bar Amir-Abdollahian from entry.

Asked about Amir-Abdollahian’s visa and inclusion by the U.N. in its upcoming event, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said he couldn’t “imagine why anybody would be involved with Iran. They’re the world’s largest underwriter of terror in the world, and I can’t imagine why anything that Iran can say about anything is relevant. I can’t imagine why you would platform that.”

“The United Nations can’t even condemn Hamas. It’s pretty wild. I mean, you can’t condemn cowards and rapists that hide behind civilians?” he added. “I haven’t remembered them ever saying, ‘Well, why can’t Hamas surrender and end all of this? Let’s end all of this drama.’ But they won’t because they really actually don’t care about all of the death and all of the misery of Palestinians.”
Jewish Victim Stabbed in New City
On Thursday April 11, 2024, at approximately 8:27pm, the Ramapo Police Department responded to Trailside Place in the Town of Ramapo for the report of an assault with a knife. Upon the officers arrival, it was discovered that the victim had been accosted in his driveway by an unknown suspect.

The victim was stabbed multiple times and removed from the scene to the hospital. Patrol officers located a possible suspect, and he was detained and brought to the Ramapo Police Department for questioning. The individual was cooperative and released from custody pending further investigation. The victim is currently in stable condition and expected to survive. The Ramapo Police Department was assisted on scene by the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office, the Clarkstown Police Department, Hatzolah Ambulance Corps, and Chaverim of Rockland.

Any persons with information regarding the incident are encouraged to contact the Ramapo Police Department Investigations Division at (845) 357-2400. All information will be kept confidential and can be made anonymously. Information can also be provided through the TIPS 411 platform. Rockland County residents can submit a tip via text message by texting the keyword “ROCKLANDCODA” and then their tip and sending it to 847411. The Ramapo Police Department has increased patrol presence throughout the Town. Further information will be released at a later time as it is developed.

Original Article:
In a disturbing incident, a Jewish individual fell victim to a stabbing attack. The victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, was stabbed multiple times and was reportedly transported to Westchester Hospital by Hatzolah, where he is being treated for serious injuries.

In a swift response to the incident, law enforcement officials took one suspect into custody for further investigation, as the authorities are currently investigating the incident, working tirelessly to uncover the circumstances surrounding the attack and the motivations of the perpetrator.


‘The Nazis did not win!’ Lily Ebert becomes great-great-grandmother aged 100
Auschwitz survivor Lily Ebert is celebrating “five generations of Jewish life” after becoming a great-great-grandmother at the age of 100.

The Hungarian-born British writer who “never expected to survive the Holocaust”, let alone have a family and watch it grow over the generations, welcomed her first great-great-grandchild, a baby boy, to the world this week.

Posting two images on X/Twitter of Ebert with the new addition to her family, her great-grandson Dov Forman wrote: “This week, my great-grandma, Lily Ebert, a 100-year-old Auschwitz survivor, became a great-great-grandma. [She said:] ‘I never expected to survive the Holocaust. Now I have five beautiful generations. The Nazis did not win!’ From near-death at Auschwitz to five generations of Jewish life.”

In the photos, Ebert, who marked her centenary on 29 December, can be seen beaming as she cradles the new baby, supported by other family members.

Attending the brit millah, an “emotional” Ebert gave a “moving” speech expressing her joy at living to meet the first in a new generation of her family.

"The whole family are excited my great-grandmother was able to meet him, it was very special for her,” Forman said. “She gave a speech at the brit which was very moving, she was so emotional.”

Born in Bonyhád in 1923, Ebert was the eldest daughter in a family of six children. In July 1944, after the Nazis invaded Hungary, Ebert, then aged 20, was deported to Auschwitz along with her mother Nina, brother Bela and three sisters, Berta, Renee and Piri. Nina, Bela and Berta were immediately sent to the gas chambers whilst Lily, Renee and Piri were selected for work in the camp.

Four months after arriving in the camp, the three sisters were transferred to a munitions factory near Leipzig in Germany where they worked until liberation by Allied forces in 1945.

After she was liberated, Ebert travelled with her surviving sisters to Switzerland, and in 1953 she was reunited with her eldest brother, who had survived the Nazi camp system, and the family relocated to Israel. Ebert and her husband Samuel moved to London with their three children in 1967.




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