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Iran’s Palestinian Proxies: United Against Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh

Posted By on November 19th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15182/hamas-islamic-jihad-united

Hamas is hardly on its way to transforming itself into a non-violent movement that would uphold Israel’s right to exist. Its decision to refrain, this time, from pounding Israel with rockets is in no way a sign of moderation or pragmatism. Instead, the terror group needs a break from the fighting in order to prepare better for its main goal: to take down Israel down, once and for all.

Hamas leaders – like their PIJ counterparts – are motivated for their own well-being; the well-being of the two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip is a joke to them. Why else would PIJ endanger their people by forcing Israel to respond to the launching of hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilian communities?

This is not a good guy/bad guy scenario. Instead, it is a temporary rift between two extremely bad guys, both of whom are wholly committed to destroying Israel, even if that means destroying their own people along the way as well.

Iran’s Palestinian proxies, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), after last week’s round of aggression towards Israel, are said to be at odds with each other. PIJ is reportedly disturbed that Hamas did not join in firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of senior PIJ commander Bahaa Abu al-Ata in the Gaza Strip. PIJ, it seems, feels that Hamas left it out in the cold.

The two terror groups may not enjoy a full meeting of minds – as witnessed by Hamas’s current failure to bombard Israel with rockets, but these differences are unlikely to escalate into a major confrontation between Hamas and PIJ.

At the end of the day, both groups share the same strategy and goals, as well as the same “enemy” – Israel. They may disagree, but when it comes to waging jihad (holy war) and eliminating Israel, Hamas and PIJ always manage to find common ground.

PIJ’s disappointment in Hamas has nothing to do with Hamas’s recognizing Israel’s right to exist and laying down its weapons: Hamas has done neither. Rather, PIJ and its supporters are disappointed because Hamas chose to refrain, this time, from firing rockets into Israel when PIJ was busy doing just that last week.

Hamas, of course, remains committed to its ideology. Its charter, to which it also remains committed, states:

“There is no solution to the Palestinian problem expect by jihad. Palestine has been an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection; no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it.”

Hamas’s charter also makes it clear that the terrorist group “views the other Islamic movements with respect and appreciation.” The charter goes on to explain that even when Hamas “differs from them in one aspect or another on one concept or another, it agrees with them on other points and understandings.”

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Purging the Pro-Lifers Democratic AGs bar anti-abortion candidates from any support.

Posted By on November 19th, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/purging-the-pro-lifers-11574122435

Anti-abortion Democratic officeholders are about as rare as pandas, but many in their party’s leadership won’t be satisfied until they’re extinct.

On Monday the Democratic Attorneys General Association decreed that it will only give money and strategic help to AG candidates who “publicly commit” to supporting access to abortion. The message: If you’re a pro-life Democrat, or merely one with misgivings about the party’s opposition to any restriction on abortion, don’t run for attorney general. Or for any other office.

Mark this as one more step toward making America’s two main political parties into warring cultural camps with no room for individual conscience. American politics was healthier, and less polarized, when Democratic ranks included pro-lifers and some Republicans favored abortion rights. Compromise and tolerance were easier to come by.

HISTORY, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Resistance: Czechoslovakia and America By David Lanza

Posted By on November 19th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/11/resistance_czechoslovakia_and_america.html

As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Eastern Europe, a growing portion of our own political system has become dedicated to totalitarianism. We can better understand our own socialist media culture when we revisit one Eastern Bloc country’s resistance to a notorious Soviet crackdown. In the Prague Spring of 1968, Soviet tanks invaded and reimposed full communist tyranny after Czechoslovakia had temporarily loosened the reins of Soviet control.  The Czechs responded heroically, practicing various forms of resistance and showing complete unity in a way that the United States of today could not match. (The full story of the Czech resistance has been famously recounted in Phil Kaufman’s film The Unbearable Lightness of Being.)

When the Soviet tanks suddenly rumbled through Prague and other Czech cities in August of 1968, the Czechs responded with unified action that would seem impossible in similar circumstances in the U.S. today. The Czech response of 1968 would put modern American institutions to shame.

Almost immediately, Czech radio and television stations began broadcasting unauthorized programs denouncing the invasion and presenting actual news to the Czechoslovakian people. These stations broadcast from undisclosed locations, moving around the country on a nightly basis to avoid detection. In today’s United States, could we count on our mainstream media to oppose a totalitarian crackdown? Would our media overcome their own totalitarian sympathies in order to transmit clandestine broadcasts?

As Czechoslovakian radio struggled to stay on the air, they used familiar voices to convey the news. The broadcasters could not identify themselves, but their voices were known to the listeners from years of service. The recognition of these trusted voices reassured the listeners that the broadcasts were authentic. Today in America, recognizable news anchor voices would have the opposite effect. Americans do not trust the network newscasts.  Instead, many Americans get their news from late night “comedians,” most of whom spend their airtime advocating the very policies that motivated the Soviet tanks in 1968.  Late-night comedians are expert at the kind of character assassination and “two minutes hate” that are used in countries where the law is enforced under the treads of tanks. They would not rally Americans in opposition to a totalitarian crackdown.

P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

Lewis and Clark Explorer’s Home County Purges His Statue Daniel Greenfield

Posted By on November 19th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2019/11/lewis-and-clark-explorers-home-county-purges-his-daniel-greenfield/

The War on Statues began with easy Civil War targets and then quickly became what it had always been, a broad spectrum war on America.

I originally wrote this article quite a few years ago. It’s becoming truer every year.

Columbus is an easier target than America itself, though the left considers both colonialist vermin. Americans are less likely to protest over the banishment of Columbus to the politically correct gulag  than over the banishing America itself, which was named after another one of those colonialist explorers, Amerigo Vespucci. First they came for Columbus Day and then for the Fourth of July.

The battles being fought over Columbus Day foreshadow the battles to be fought over the Fourth of July. As Columbus Day joins the list of banned holidays in more cities, one day there may not be a Fourth of July, just a day of Native Resistance to remember the atrocities of the colonists with PBS documentaries comparing George Washington to Hitler.

A nation’s mythology, its paragons and heroes, its founding legends and great deeds, are its soul. To replace them with another culture’s perspective on its history is to kill that soul.

That is the ultimate goal of political correctness, to kill America’s soul

And now it’s time for more soul-killing.

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The Focus Group Impeachment Farce Bribery . . . the latest baseless charge. Joseph Klein

Posted By on November 19th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/11/focus-group-impeachment-farce-joseph-klein/

The Democrats are engaging in focus group impeachment proceedings. Led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they are now accusing President Trump of “bribery,” an impeachable offense specifically identified as such in Article III, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution.

“The devastating testimony corroborated evidence of bribery uncovered in the inquiry, and that the president abused his power and violated his oath by threatening to withhold military aid and a White House meeting in exchange for an investigation into his political rival — a clear attempt by the president to give himself an advantage in the 2020 election,” Speaker Pelosi told reporters. The Democrats’ switch from using the more esoteric Latin term “quid pro quo” came after they learned from focus groups organized by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in key battleground states that the charge of bribery resonated more with “ordinary” Americans. Democrat House Intelligence Committee member Jim Himes explained that “it’s probably best not to use Latin words.” Too confusing for folks living in the heartland, the Democrat elitists believe.

Looking to focus groups to validate the Democrats’ “bribery” charge against the president shows how desperate they are in trying to move vast numbers of undecided voters in their direction. They are counting on the public testimony of witnesses and shouting “bribery” over and over again from the rooftops to make their case. But, as the New York Times reported, “after hours of testimony, thousands of news reports and days of streaming headlines, one thing was clear: A lot of Americans weren’t listening.” And for those who are listening, they are deluged with competing narratives. The Democrats are contaminating public discourse by continuously leveling super-charged, unsubstantiated accusations against President Trump that now include bribery. Then they bristle when he fights back.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel: World Leader in Technology, Diversity and Human Development Visiting a miracle nation that embraces life. Christine Douglass-Williams

Posted By on November 19th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/11/israel-world-leader-tech-diversity-human-frontpagemagcom/

Reprinted From World Net Daily.

With the aim of improving accuracy in reporting about Israel, the Israeli government press office hosted Christian Media Summit 2019 from Nov. 3-6. It kicked off at the Friends of Zion Museum, featuring speeches by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.

As a Summit delegate, I represented the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem-Canada. Most striking to me amid the pomp-and-ceremony, impressive lectures and historic sites was Israel’s embrace of life, which was evident in the fabric of its culture.

Israel is like a world unto itself and the epitome of diversity, despite the tainting of the word “diversity” by progressives. Israel’s Aliyah process of the return of Jews from the four corners of the earth, including Africa, China and India, makes its diversity obvious. One can also observe in a single day the catering to both devout Christian evangelicals and gay party seekers, the latter of whom must hide for their own safety in surrounding Islamic lands.

From Old Testament stories to the Crusades to the Ottoman Empire, and ongoing efforts to obliterate it, Israel has seen it all and has bloomed in adversity. But beneath Israel’s overt intrigue is her soul, which shines from her love of life, her appreciation of human worth and nurturing of it, contrary to the grim public image foisted upon her during decades of wrangling with a “peace process” through which her enemies have sought her delegitimization and dissolution. From the day Israel was born on May 14, 1948, she has fought for her life. Her first breath was already frail as she emerged from a Holocaust. Yet nothing has impeded her pursuits of life and liberty.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

President Trump: A Trailblazer for Truth and Courage, a Partner in Jewish Destiny Rabbi Aryeh Spero

Posted By on November 19th, 2019

Conference of Jewish Affairs

(212) 252-6861    conferenceofjewishaffairs@gmail.com

November 18, 2019 — Conference of Jewish Affairs spokesman Rabbi Aryeh Spero made the following statement today regarding the Administration’s announcement that the United States will no longer consider Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem as “inconsistent with international law”.

“Conference of Jewish Affairs endorses President Trump’s and Secretary Pompeo’s breakthrough thinking and willingness to seek out and abide by historic and legal truths.

“President Trump and Secretary Pompeo are to be commended and admired for recognizing Israel’s historic and legal right to build housing on the Jewish land of Judea and Samaria and for boldly recognizing the right of individual Jews and the Jewish nation of Israel to implant communities and Jewish social life on the ancestral and holy ground which constitutes Eretz Israel.

“President Trump and Secretary Pompeo are trailblazers and the world is fortunate for their courage, vision, and consummate abilities.”

Rabbi Spero concluded, “Israel and the Jewish People have never had a greater friend than President Donald J. Trump.”

ISRAEL Comments turned off

US set to revoke ‘illegal’ status of Judea and Samaria communities

Posted By on November 18th, 2019

https://worldisraelnews.com/us-set-to-revoke-illegal-status-of-judea-and-samaria-communities/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=push_notification&utm_campaign=vwo_notification_1574098636&vwo_powered=1

Secretary of State Pompeo is expected to announce on Monday that the U.S. no longer deems Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria “illegal.”

By World Israel News and AP

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to revoke a 1978 State Department opinion called the Hansell Memorandum, which claimed that civilian settlements in Judea and Samaria are “inconsistent with international law.” The move will likely anger Palestinians and put the U.S. at odds with nations that favor their position.

According to a report by the Jerusalem Post, the State Department’s legal office embarked on a year-long review of the Hansell Memo and met with international law experts and officials from various governments.

The State Department issued the Hansell Memo in 1978 under the Carter administration, but President Ronald Reagan rejected its conclusion in 1981.

The State Department undertook review of the memo fter the Obama administration, in one of its final moves, facilitated the United Nations Security Council’s passage of Resolution 2334 in December 2016, which condemned Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as “flagrant violation[s]” of international law and with “no legal validity,” the Post reported.

According to the statement Pompeo is set to release, the Trump administration concluded that the Hansell Memo represents a distraction, and that any legal decision about the issue is appropriate for resolution by Israeli courts, according to a draft of Pompeo’s remarks obtained by The Associated Press.

“Calling the establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law has not advanced the cause of peace,” Pompeo says in the draft. “The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict, and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace.”

Previous U.S. policies under the Trump administration have included the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the movement of the U.S. Embassy to that city and the closure of the Palestinian diplomatic office in Washington.

Administrations that followed paid varying levels of lip service to the notion the Jews building towns in Judea and Samaria represented an “obstacle to peace.”

According to a 2019 report sponsored by Bet El Institutions, an organization with ties to U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, the population in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria grew to 449,508 as of Jan. 1, 2019 up 3.3 percent from 435,159 people one year earlier.

Shifting tide?

Even though the Trump Administration’s decision is largely symbolic, it could also give a boost to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political survival after he was unable to form a coalition government following recent elections.

In addition, it could spell further trouble for the administration’s oft-promised peace plan.

Last week, the European Court of Justice ruled that products made in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria must bear special labels identifying their origin.

Pompeo is expected to announce that the U.S. does not take a position on the legality of specific settlements and that the new policy would not extend beyond Judea and Samaria to other territorial disputes.

He also planned to announce that the decision did not mean the administration was prejudging the status of Judea and Samaria in any eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

The shift is a victory for Netanyahu, a longtime booster of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and had been strongly supported by Ambassador Friedman and Trump donor Sheldon Adelson. Friedman was a major fundraiser for tJewish communities in Judea and Samaria before becoming ambassador.

It may be taken by Netanyahu and the settlement movement as a green light for additional construction, or even annexation, of lands claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

Israel captured Judea and Samaria, including eastern portions of Jerusalem, in 1967’s Six-Day War, during which four Arab states attacked Israel.

After the war, Israel declared a “united Jerusalem,” home to Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount, including the Western Wall structure.

Israel has yet to annex Judea and Samaria, despite the hundreds of thousands of Jews that call it home.

The Palestinian Authority, which has not held elections in since 2006, claims that territory in Judea and Samaria will be a part of a future independent state.

Many Israelis maintain that the Palestinian Authority’s open support for terrorism, in addition to the handful of Palestinian terror groups with which it competes for power, make the prospect of an autonomous Palestinian state on its borders a major security threat.

POLITICS Comments turned off

The Pete Buttigieg Experience The mayor isn’t the only one who wants to leave South Bend. By James Freeman

Posted By on November 18th, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pete-buttigieg-experience-11574104327

Pete Buttigieg is surging again in presidential campaign polls, and media observers are once again asking whether the mayor of South Bend, Indiana has enough experience to run the U.S. government. Meanwhile, the latest depressing story out of South Bend suggests that what Mr. Buttigieg lacks most of all is achievement.

He has certainly achieved a large measure of popularity among Iowa Democrats. Brianne Pfannenstiel reports in the Des Moines Register:

Pete Buttigieg has rocketed to the top of the latest Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll in the latest reshuffling of the top tier of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
Since September, Buttigieg has risen 16 percentage points among Iowa’s likely Democratic caucusgoers, with 25% now saying he is their first choice for president. For the first time in the Register’s Iowa Poll, he bests rivals Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who are now clustered in competition for second place and about 10 percentage points behind the South Bend, Indiana, mayor.

But back home in Indiana, one of the mayor’s most distinguished employees has decided he’s had enough. Marek Mazurek reports in the South Bend Tribune today:

Last year, Elijah Arias was recognized as the South Bend Police Department’s Officer of the Year.
Earlier this month, Arias and two other former South Bend officers were sworn in at the Mishawaka Police Department, leaving South Bend with a shortfall of officers after two recent recruiting cycles yielded no new hires.

Doesn’t anybody want to work for Mayor Pete? Mr. Mazurek reports:

The South Bend Police Department has come under increased national scrutiny in connection with Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign following the fatal shooting of Eric Logan, who is black, by a white officer in June…
Sgt. Harvey Mills, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in South Bend, believes Buttigieg’s actions following the incident drove some away from the force.
“There were a lot of officers that left as a result of Mayor Buttigieg’s comments and lack of support,” Mills said.

P.C.-CULTURE Comments turned off

The Hardware Store Proves We’ll Never Erase The Sexes From Our Language By J.C. Bourque

Posted By on November 18th, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/18/the-hardware-store-proves-well-never-erase-the-sexes-from-our-language/

You see, I needed a self-centering hole locator to finish a rim joist on the deck we were building, and a pipe nipple, ballcock, and pipe dope for some plumbing repairs. I also needed to buttress a groin vault.

“I think my gender changer is lost in the mail.”

My wife looked at me with a face I had never seen in our 19 years together.

“Is there something we need to talk about?”

I had discovered that my autocorrect (a misnamed item if there ever was one) had screwed up the “ship to” address on an online order from an electronics supply house. I’d ordered a DB37 parallel cable adapter to change a male connector to a female one for a project I was working on. It’s called a gender changer.

“It’s for that electronics project at work. It’s called a gender changer,” I explained, redundantly.

“Well, it sounds pretty creepy. Haven’t we heard enough about this stuff in the news?” she replied, paying more attention to her iPad than our conversation.

“You don’t understand,” I mansplained in my best Cliff Clavin. “The DB37 connectors come in two types: female and male. The male connectors have pointy things that go into little holes in the female connectors. If you try to mate two males or two females, you won’t get a — er, connection. This is my dilemma at work. I have two males that need to — um, mate.”

Actually, I already have a DB37 male-to-female gender changer, but I couldn’t make it work no matter what I tried. Turns out it identifies as a DB25 female-to-male. I even tried affirming its feelings, but to no avail.

“Two males can’t mate,” she added. “Everyone knows that. Why are you talking about this weirdness? Are you going Caitlyn on me?”

It occurred to me that her offer to pick up some things for me at the hardware store later that day might be problematic. You see, I needed a self-centering hole locator to finish a rim joist on the deck we were building, and a pipe nipple, ballcock, and pipe dope for some plumbing repairs. I also needed to buttress a groin vault. I could imagine this was going to get ugly.

Just recently, I learned the Purdue Online Writing Lab is discouraging the use of “man” in words such as mailman (even if your mail carrier also carries a Y chromosome), mankind, and man-made. Assemblyman, sportsman, anchorman, and other terms that might refer to a person of either sex or any gender should be laundered to become gender neutral.