DAILY MAIL IS GUILTY OF SPREADING FALSE ALLEGATIONS THAT IDF FIRED AT GAZANS WAITING FOR HUMANITARIAN AID BY SHOWING LOTS OF PICTURES OF DEAD AND INJURED PALESTINIANS

Biden now says Gaza ceasefire he predicted over ice cream probably WON'T happen by Monday - and reports of Israeli troops killing Palestinians waiting for food will 'complicate' hostage talks

 

By Miriam Kuepper, James Callery and Nikki Schwab

 

Daily Mail

Feb 29, 2024

 

Palestinians transport casualties following what Hamas called a 'massacre' on civilians waiting for food aid in Gaza City on Thursday by Isreal Defense Forces

 

President Joe Biden said Thursday that a ceasefire in Gaza probably won't happen by Monday, amid reports of Israeli troops shooting Palestinians waiting for food aid on Thursday. 

While eating an ice cream cone Monday in New York City, Biden told reporters that ceasefire talks were 'close' and that his hope was that by the following Monday there would be a pause in fighting. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chimed in the next day by pointing to U.S. polling that showed a majority of Americans supporting Israel, which he said gave Israel 'additional strength to continue the campaign until absolute victory.' 

As Biden left for his Texas border trip Thursday he told reporters 'hope springs eternal' when asked about a ceasefire.

'I was on the telephone with people in the region,' he said. 'Probably not by Monday, but I'm hopeful.' 

 

 

President Joe Biden said Monday, while holding an ice cream cone during a taping of Seth Meyers' comedy show, that he hopes a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas can take effect by early next week

 

Biden also said he hadn't learned the full details of the more than 100 civilian deaths in Gaza, but answered 'I know it will' when asked if the violent episode would complicate ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas has accused the IDF of opening fire in a 'massacre' that has left 107 dead near Gaza City but Israel says Palestinians were killed when panicked truck drivers were surrounded and tried to drive through the crowd. 

Israeli sources confirmed troops opened fire at 'several people' after feeling threatened by crowds near the aid point.

A witness said that the violence unfolded when thousands of people desperate for food rushed towards aid trucks at the western Nabulsi roundabout.

'Trucks full of aid came too close to some army tanks that were in the area and the crowd, thousands of people, just stormed the trucks,' the witness said, declining to be named for safety reasons.

'The soldiers fired at the crowd as people came too close to the tanks.'

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll has reached 107 and hundreds more were injured.  

An Israeli government spokesperson described it as a tragedy and said initial indications show that deaths were caused by delivery drivers ploughing into a surging crowd.

'At some point the trucks were overwhelmed and the people driving the trucks, which were Gazan civilian drivers, ploughed into the crowds of people, ultimately killing, my understanding is, tens of people,' spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters.

'It's obviously a tragedy but we're not sure of the specifics quite yet.'

Aerial photos released by the IDF purport to show the scene as Palestinians attempted to obtain food from aid trucks.

Heartbreaking footage also shows clusters of people surrounding several of the vehicles in scenes of desperation. 

The White House said on Thursday it is looking into reports of Israeli fire on Palestinians waiting for aid, describing it as a 'serious incident'. 

 

Al Jazeera published videos which they claim show the aftermath of the alleged shooting on Thursday. People appear to run away and take cover in one, while injured people are taken away in another

Aerial photos released by the IDF purport to show the scene as Palestinians attempted to obtain food from aid trucks near Gaza City 

 

'We mourn the loss of innocent life and recognize the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where innocent Palestinians are just trying to feed their families,' a White House National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement.

'This underscores the importance of expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including through a potential temporary ceasefire.'

Hamas also released a statement warning it could stop taking part in negotiations after the incident. 

It said: 'The negotiations conducted by the movement’s leadership are not an open process at the expense of the blood of our people.'

Al Jazeera published videos which they claim show the aftermath of the alleged shooting. People appear to run away and take cover in one, while injured people are taken away in another. 

'The crowd approached the forces in a manner that posed a threat to the troops, who responded to the threat with live fire,' one Israeli source said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the incident.

Witnesses claimed Israeli troops opened fire as people pulled flour and canned goods off trucks.

A spokesperson for the IDF said there was no knowledge of shelling at the location of the shooting in northern Gaza. The military later said dozens of people were hurt as a result of pushing and trampling when aid trucks arrived.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office said he 'condemned the ugly massacre conducted by the Israeli occupation army this morning against the people who waited for the aid trucks at the Nabulsi roundabout'. 

Medical teams were unable to cope with the volume and severity of injuries from dozens of wounded people who arrived at al-Shifa hospital, Qidra said.

The head of Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza City, Hussam Abu Safieyah, said it had received 10 dead bodies and dozens of wounded patients from the incident west of the city. 'We don't know how many there are in other hospitals,' Safieyah said. 

 

An image released by the IDF purporting to show the scene. 'At some point the trucks were overwhelmed and the people driving the trucks, which were Gazan civilian drivers, ploughed into the crowds of people, ultimately killing, my understanding is, tens of people,' Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters 

An image released by the IDF purporting to show the scene as clusters of people surrounding several aid trucks

Doctors and nurses are looking after patients at the Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, on Thursday

Relatives of Palestinians killed during the attack mourn as their bodies are taken from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue for burial in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Thursday

A man lies on the floor as Palestinians receive medical care at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, on Thursday

Palestinians carry the bodies of those killed in the attack from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue for burial in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Thursday

Palestinians mourn near a body at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, after Israeli soldiers allegedly opened fire at Gaza residents waiting for aid trucks, on Thursday

Palestinians receive medical care at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, after Israeli soldiers allegedly opened fire at Palestinians who rushed towards trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, on Thursday

Injured Palestinians receive medical treatment in Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for humanitarian aid trucks after reportedly feeling threatened at Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City, Gaza, on Thursday

Palestinians carry the bodies of those killed from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue for burial in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Thursday

 

Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food. 'We've been eating animal feed for two months,' he added.

He said Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd, causing it to scatter, with some people hiding under cars.

After the shooting stopped, they returned to the trucks and the soldiers opened fire again. Nahel said he was shot in the leg and fell over and then a truck ran over his leg as it sped off. 

Medics arriving at the scene on Thursday found 'dozens or hundreds' lying on the ground, according to Fares Afana, the head of the ambulance service at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza.

He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and that some were being brought to hospitals in donkey carts.

 

Palestinians mourn outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, where the bodies of those killed are lying outside the medical centre, on Thursday

Injured Palestinians receive medical treatment in Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces open fire on people waiting for humanitarian aid trucks at Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City

A Palestinian is resting on a barge at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, following IDF soldiers allegedly opening fire at Palestinians waiting for aid trucks

Palestinians mourn near bodies at  Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Thursday

Al Jazeera video claims to show Palestinians gathering for aid before the alleged Israeli attack

A Palestinian man receives medical care at Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Thursday

Palestinians were brought to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after they were injured in the alleged shooting

Bodies of Palestinians killed while waiting for humanitarian aid trucks at Al-Rashid Street, lay on the ground in shrouds at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, on Thursday

 

Videos posted on social media showed trucks carrying many dead bodies. Reuters verified the location of one video to Nabulsi roundabout that showed several men who were motionless, as well as several wounded people.

Another video, which hasn't been independently verified, showed bloodstained people being carried in a truck, medics treating people on a hospital floor, and bodies being wrapped in shrouds.

'We don't want aid like this. We don't want aid and bullets together. There are many martyrs,' one man said in a video.

Referring to the incident, an Israeli military spokesperson said: 'There is no knowledge of Israeli shelling in the area.'

Hamas warned in a statement that the incident could lead to the failure of talks aimed at a deal on a truce and hostage release.

'The negotiations conducted by the movement's leadership are not an open process at the expense of the blood of our people,' it said, referring to Thursday's deaths and saying Israel would be responsible for any failure of the talks.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas sent fighters into Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. 

 

Relatives of Palestinians killed during the attack mourn as their bodies are taken from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue for burial in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Thursday

Al Jazeera video, which the news agency claims to show Palestinians gathering for aid in Gaza

Relatives of Palestinians killed during the attack mourn as their bodies are taken from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue for burial in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Thursday

Palestinians carry the bodies of those killed in the attack from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue for burial in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Thursday

Injured Palestinians receive medical treatment in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, on Thursday

Palestinians sit by their injured relatives at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, on Thursday

 

Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza say 30,035 people have been confirmed killed in the enclave since then, with thousands of others believed to be buried under rubble.

Another 70,457 were wounded according to the tally, but it does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures. It says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza, maintains detailed records of casualties. Its counts from previous wars have largely matched those of the UN, independent experts and even Israel's own tallies. 

Gaza has suffered widespread devastation and has been largely isolated during the conflict. Trucks carrying food reached northern Gaza this week, the first major aid delivery to the area in a month, officials said on Wednesday.

Aid groups say it has become nearly impossible to deliver humanitarian assistance in most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order, with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys.

The UN says a quarter of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation and around 80 per cent have fled their homes.

The increasing alarm over hunger across Gaza has fuelled international calls for another ceasefire, and the US, Egypt and Qatar are working to secure a deal between Israel and Hamas for a pause in fighting and the release of some of the hostages.

Mediators hope to reach an agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts around March 10. But so far, Israel and Hamas have remained far apart in public on their demands.

Meanwhile, UN officials have warned of further mass casualties if Israel follows through on vows to attack the southernmost city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population has taken refuge.

They also say a Rafah offensive could decimate what remains of aid operations.

IDF DID NOT FIRE ON GAZANS AS FALSELY REPORTED BY THE MEDIA

New footage shows IDF not involved in Gaza incident

The incident, which Hamas says resulted in more than 100 killed, happened in the early morning. Some 30 trucks with humanitarian aid encountered a Palestinian mob that tried to loot the supplies. Those killed were trampled to death or run over by the trucks trying to drive away

 

Israel Hayom

Feb 29, 2024

 

Aerial photos released by the IDF show Palestinians attempting to obtain food from aid trucks in Gaza. They clearly show that no IDF troops were involved in the incident

 

In an attempt to dispel the notion that Israel had acted improperly in the tragic incident in Gaza in which dozens were trampled to death while seeking humanitarian aid from trucks, IDF Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari made a statement to the media in which he showed new footage to support the Israeli version, proving that the IDF forces did not fire on the crowds. 

The incident, which Hamas says resulted in more than 100 killed, happened in the early morning. "Some 30 trucks with humanitarian aid encountered a Palestinian mob that tried to loot the supplies. They entered the strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing and after about 1000 feet were met with throngs, resulting in them being crushed by the vehicles. The footage clearly shows that no IDF troops were involved in the incident," Hagari said. 

Hagari also turned to the hostages who have been held by Hamas since the Oct. 7 attack on the Gaza-border communities, in which more than 1000 were murdered and many were taken captive. "If you can hear me – 146 days have passed. Each day is unbearably long. Every soldier fighting in Gaza is fighting for you. This is the most important thing for the fighters. We meet families, we are committed to bringing you back," Hagari said, "Since the beginning of the campaign we have destroyed over 1000 launchers."

WANTING TO WIN IN NOVEMBER, BIDEN IS THROWING ISRAEL UNDER THE BUS

As US elections loom, Biden administration’s hostility toward Israel grows

The idea that by combating terror Israel is creating more terrorists, coupled with the push for a Palestinian state, is part of a campaign to harm Israel.

 

By Israel Kasnett 

 

Israel Today

Feb 29, 2024

 

 

Joe Biden talked about a ceasefire with Seth Meyers o February 26, 2024

 

The Biden administration appears to be acting with increased hostility toward Israel, having reversed the “Pompeo Doctrine,” sanctioned settlers and a company that manufactures parts for Israel’s Iron Dome system, and switched to harsher language with regard to calling for a ceasefire.

“There is a fundamental disconnect between the policy fantasy land in Washington and the reality of life in Israel after Oct. 7, Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS.

Despite what the US administration may believe, “There is no path to peace without Israel destroying all remaining Hamas command and control in Gaza, massive reforms to the Palestinian Authority, dismantling UNRWA [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency] and excluding Hamas patrons like Qatar from any involvement,” Goldberg said.

Complicating matters, US presidential elections will take place in November, and the Biden administration is worried its support for Israel is causing it to lose crucial votes. Terrified of losing Michigan and other states with sizable numbers of Muslims, US President Joe Biden appears to be willing to endanger Israel to gain the support of a voting bloc in which Jew hatred is prevalent.

“I think we’re witnessing a moment of opportunism where left-wing ideologues inside the White House are using the pretext of a political problem in Michigan and the prospect of Saudi-Israel normalization to ram through all the bad policy ideas that have been rejected for years,” said Goldberg. “The polling in Michigan doesn’t justify a need for Biden to attack Israel, and Riyadh cares a lot more about US defense and nuclear energy commitments than a two-state solution.”

While it is true that the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, White House officials have expressed opposition to an Israeli ground attack in Rafah and the Biden administration is pressing a two-state solution, a notion most Israelis currently reject. Israel’s Knesset confirmed this when it opposed unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time, “The Knesset united with a huge majority against the attempt to dictate to us the establishment of a Palestinian state. The vote sends a clear message to the international community—unilateral recognition will not bring peace closer but will push it further away.”

The citizens of Israel and their Knesset representatives are more united today than ever before, said Netanyahu.

“We voted with a huge majority against a move that will endanger Israel and the achievement of peace before we achieve a complete victory against Hamas,” he added.

Israel’s opposition leader Benny Gantz emphasized that he, too, is firmly opposed to steps that would lead to unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. “Today we passed a resolution in the Knesset with a large majority, opposing the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state. After 7/10, it would be a mistake to give such support to terrorism,” he said.

The Biden administration is also ignoring important polls, for instance by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which showed that most Palestinians support Hamas.

In addition to the growing international pressure for Israel to agree to a ceasefire and recognize a Palestinian state regardless of whether Hamas releases the 134 Israeli hostages it holds, numerous critics accuse Israel of creating a new generation of terrorists as it tries to destroy Hamas.

In a recent television segment, comedian Jon Stewart made this very claim. TV host Piers Morgan, as well as others, have also repeated this mantra.

But FDD President Clifford May pushed back against this claim, saying Palestinians are witnessing what is happening in Gaza and understand terrorism does not pay.

“Even with Hamas only weakened, we have seen some Gazans expressing this altered perspective,” he said.

“Given the educational system in the Hamas-run schools in Gaza, it’s unlikely that many people in that territory favored peaceful coexistence with Israel, but [many] will now change their minds because Israelis retaliated against Hamas for the invasion and atrocities of Oct. 7,” he said.

“If Hamas prevails in the war it has launched, Palestinians are likely to draw the lesson that terrorism pays; that their sacrifices were necessary because that’s how progress toward Israel’s extermination can be achieved,” he added.

May noted that as Israel continues to decimate Hamas, Palestinians are arriving at a wholly different conclusion to the one people like Stewart and Morgan are suggesting.

“If Hamas does not prevail,” said May, “Palestinians may conclude that terrorism is a dead end—figuratively and literally.

“They may ask themselves: To what good purpose did Hamas bring this destruction upon Gaza? Why did they build tunnels to protect them and use us—innocent civilians, men, women and children—as human shields?”

According to May, instead of joining the ranks of terrorists, Palestinians will perhaps “begin to consider alternatives.”

The idea that by combating Hamas Israel is creating more terrorists, coupled with Washington’s push for a unilateral Palestinian state and other seemingly hostile moves, “amounts to a BDS campaign to pressure Israel into concessions that jeopardize its security,” according to Goldberg.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Saturday slammed the White House for its hostility toward Israel.

“The Biden administration must stop undermining Israel and facilitating efforts to delegitimize Israel. It is misguided and unconscionable,” he tweeted.

“That needs to be condemned from both sides of the aisle in Washington,” said Goldberg.

A PLAN THAT IS GOOD FOR BOTH ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS

‘Future of Judea & Samaria’: Former US envoy unveils sovereignty plan

Former Ambassador David Friedman's proposal "protects Israel's security, respects biblical covenants and affords civil rights and human dignity to all." 

 

By Alex Traiman

 

JNS 

February 29, 2024

 

 

Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman

 

Israel suffered the worst massacre in its history on Oct. 7, at the hands of Hamas—an Iranian terror proxy that was voted into power and continues to be supported by the majority of Palestinians in Gaza. The attack proved longstanding Israeli fears that any independent Palestinian entity without overriding Israeli security control would become a staging ground for barbaric terrorism against the Jewish state.

And now, as Israel fights to permanently remove Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization, from the Gaza Strip, key members of the international community, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are doubling down on calls for the creation of a Palestinian state in all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. These nations are considering official recognition of Palestinian statehood, while Israel fights to restore order in the region, whether or not Israelis or Palestinians support a two-state outcome, let alone are willing and able to reach an elusive agreement.

Yet for the international community, there has only been a singular proposal for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: dividing a tiny parcel of land, one smaller than New Jersey, into two separate states for peoples with opposing religions and cultures.

It is in this context that former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is now proposing an alternative that recognizes the Jewish state’s biblical claims to Judea and Samaria, as well as Israel’s abilities to police the territory and build lasting infrastructure that can improve the standard of living for all the residents of the world’s most contested territory.

 

Then-President Donald Trump listens as U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman delivers remarks during the announcement of normalization of relations between Israel and Bahrain in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 11, 2020.

 

Friedman on Thursday unveiled a paradigm-shifting proposal calling for full Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.

The plan, dubbed “The Future of Judea & Samaria” and devised by the former ambassador’s Friedman Center for Peace Through Strength, seeks to deliver a “solution that protects Israel’s security, respects Biblical covenants and affords civil rights and human dignity to all.”

Friedman knows a thing or two about bringing peace to the Middle East. He served as America’s ambassador to Israel under President Donald Trump. The years in which he served were among the quietest in Israel from a security perspective, in large part because of the defunding of Israel’s enemies, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the Palestinian Authority and many of its supporting U.N. agencies.

The Trump administration also recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and declared that Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria are not inconsistent with international law—a policy now being challenged by the Biden administration. More impressive yet was the signing of four historic peace treaties between Israel and its neighbors across the greater Middle East and North Africa, known as the Abraham Accords.

While the successful ambassador has yet to discuss any future role with the former president, it is widely believed that Friedman could once again occupy a key post with significant policymaking influence in the Middle East should Trump win reelection in November.

Friedman presented an outline of the proposal at the launch event of the Keep God’s Land movement during the National Religious Broadcasters Conference in Nashville, Tenn., last week. Explaining the need for an alternative vision to a two-state solution, Friedman asserted that a Palestinian state represents “an existential security threat to the State of Israel.” He added that “efforts by past U.S. governments to design security protections if it [Israel] surrenders this territory have all failed.”

The two-state solution sought by the Biden administration and much of the international community is nothing but a “dead letter” that would only perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, there needs to be an “honest, optimistic” vision that goes beyond the two-state dogma, the ambassador told JNS on Thursday.

The Friedman Center’s “Vision for the Future” seeks to extend Israeli sovereignty to the disputed area as part of a tripartite agreement between the Jewish state, the United States and an “expanded group” of Muslim countries that have normalized ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords.

In exchange, Palestinians in Judea and Samaria will be awarded permanent residency and travel documents, but no rights to vote for the Knesset in Jerusalem. (In his plan, Friedman cites the example of Puerto Rico and Guam, whose residents do not vote in federal elections.)

In addition, Gulf countries will be asked to fund a “Marshall Plan” to improve the Palestinians’ economic conditions.

“I believe the plan is a win-win for everybody. It will take a while; it is not something that will gain support all at once, but it will work for everybody,” said Friedman, noting: “I know there are certainly members of the U.S. House and Senate that will support this.

“I think Gulf states would be supportive if America supports it. If America doesn’t support it, I wouldn’t expect Gulf states to support it,” added the former envoy.

Friedman thinks the government in Jerusalem would get behind the plan “if it is presented to Israel as including American support, and if it is self-funded.

“It depends on what the American position is and what is this going to cost. What is the cost of assuming responsibility for Palestinian healthcare and infrastructure? That is why you need support from the Gulf and others,” he said.

The plan says it “ensures that Judea and Samaria is sovereign territory of the State of Israel in accordance with biblical prophecy and values, and guarantees that the most holy of sites to the Christian and Jewish faith remain preserved and accessible to all.”

Although Trump hasn’t been updated on the plan, the former president would regard the creation of a Palestinian terror state as “the worst thing” that could be generated in the Middle East, Friedman stressed.

“I believe the president is horrified by the actions of Hamas. He is horrified by the actions of the P.A. He signed the Taylor Force Act and knows it is not being enforced,” Friedman explained, with the latter referring to the law that bans Ramallah from receiving U.S. aid as long as it continues its policy of financially incentivizing terrorism.

If the Biden administration follows through on reported threats to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, that is something that would be reversed “on the first day of the Trump administration,” he vowed.

“I don’t think that any unilateral recognition is going to bind Israel. Israel needs to do what is best for Israel. There is a demographic reality where there is one Jewish state in the world. I doubt there will be another one,” Friedman concluded.

Q: Ambassador Friedman, on Feb. 22 your foundation, the Friedman Center for Peace Through Strength, to much fanfare, unveiled your plan for Judea and Samaria at the National Religious Broadcasters’ convention in Nashville, Tenn. Can you briefly describe the contours of the plan?

A: In a nutshell, the plan provides for Israeli sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria, permanent residency of all Palestinians living in that territory, and American and Gulf support for a “Marshall Plan” to bring better healthcare, education and prosperity to the region. It is a win-win plan that comports with biblical covenants, security concerns and the advancement of human dignity for every one of God’s creatures.

Q: Why was this presented now?

A: I’ve been advocating against the two-state solution ever since I’ve been out of government. We need an alternative to a two-state solution being pushed by the Biden administration. Biden’s approach doesn’t work. It rewards terror, creates what undoubtedly will become a terror state, creates an existential risk for Israel and its neighbors and violates the covenants that God made to the Jewish people. Those pushing the two-state solution argue that there’s no alternative to their plan. Well, here is the alternative and it is the only path that works.

Q: On Feb. 23, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared to reverse the Trump administration’s “Pompeo doctrine,” which stated that civilian Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria were not necessarily illegal according to international law. What do you make of this?

A: First of all, I think it is wrong. The Trump plan proposed the largest retention [by Israel] of land in Judea and Samaria of any plan that was ever promulgated. If it was illegal, we wouldn’t have done it. We studied the issue and concluded that it wasn’t.

In the simplest sense, lots of different territories were divided after WWI, after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, and were handed off to various territorial mandates. The Jewish people were the only nation who were assured of any rights to Palestine at the 1920 San Remo conference. The Jews were recognized as having a legal entitlement to Palestine, and nobody else was. The actual title to the land was given to the Jews.

The Ottomans had it for 400 years. Then they relinquished all claims to the land. The British were given the land in trust. They weren’t supposed to keep the land. Seventy-two percent of the land was peeled off and given to Jordan.

Now, there are no Arab countries with a claim to the land. If you look at all the potential claimants—the Ottomans, the British, the Jordanians—they all walked away from the territory. Meanwhile, the Palestinians never had any claim. The Jewish people have a claim based on biblical history: the covenant God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

If you are in the State Department, once you tell the Palestinians that they own it, what incentive do they have to compromise? You are guaranteeing the conflict will continue. The current policy is self-defeating.

Q: How do you respond to diplomats who refer to Judea and Samaria as the “West Bank”?

A: There are obvious politics behind the nomenclature. I think that the appropriate term is Judea and Samaria. “West Bank” was a name given to the territory by Jordan, and I think that is unfair. These diplomats are all pushing—at best—for a two-state solution, and by denying Israel’s historical connection to the land, they feel it is making it more palatable to get Israel to give it away.

By the way, it’s obvious that, from a de facto perspective, the Oslo Accords are over. The Palestinians and the U.S. are trying to cling to parts of Oslo they like and breach the parts they don’t like. That tells me it isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.

Q: Under the Friedman Center plan, what rights will the Palestinians have?

A: Essentially all the rights that do not threaten Israel. That includes the right to live in their homes in perpetuity, to vote for their local leaders and to transact business within Israel and the rest of the world.

Q: Will they vote in national elections?

A: Existing Arab citizens and their offspring will vote in national elections but not Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria. Israel cannot swap a military risk for a demographic one. But Palestinians will have significant voting rights on the local level on most matters that affect their daily lives.

Q: Won’t that system offend many who will claim this is a form of apartheid?

A: This is nothing like apartheid. In racist South Africa, blacks were taken from their homes and placed in “bantustans” with substandard living conditions. Under our plan, Palestinians will be assured of permanent residency in their homes and receive a significant upgrade in infrastructure, healthcare, education and overall prosperity.

Let’s remember that this is the Middle East, not America or Europe. There are no democracies here other than Israel. When Egypt ran an election, the Muslim Brotherhood took over until the military under President el-Sisi gained power. And the world breathed a sigh of relief. Our construct indeed maximizes Palestinian self-governance and prosperity without jeopardizing Israel’s security.

Another point. I don’t think anyone considers the United States an apartheid state even though Puerto Rico, Guam and other U.S. territories do not vote in national elections. This system works because the benefits achieved by these localities from their relationship with the United States outweigh the restrictions on voting. The same will be true here.

And one last point. There are around 50 Muslim nations in the world, and most go to great lengths to preserve their Muslim character. Not only does the world not object but visitors are highly respectful of these practices, as they should be. There is room in the world for one Jewish state, and the price of a Jewish state cannot be national suicide through a two-state solution.

Q: Won’t the Palestinians reject this plan out of hand as they have all other plans in the past?

A: Of course, they will, but then things will get interesting. The Palestinian people have no interest in living within a state run by the Palestinian Authority, which is a corrupt, incompetent and repressive organization. As they see the opportunity begin to emerge, I believe they will embrace it.

Q: And what about the terrorists?

A: Israel’s war on terror must continue to a successful conclusion. But this plan enables Israel to offer the Palestinians a carrot as well as a stick. In essence, Israel’s message will be: “If you want to kill us, we will kill you first, but if you want to live with us in peace we can offer you opportunities beyond your wildest dreams.”

Q: Mr. Ambassador, there have been other proposals for Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria in the past. How does this differ from prior plans?

A: Prior plans sought to retain Area C for Israel and cede Areas A and B to the Palestinians. But if areas A and B remain isolated from Israel, they will just turn into Gaza and we will be perpetuating the conflict. Israel needs sovereignty over areas A and B along with C, both for its security and to create the opportunity for Palestinians to prosper within Israeli society.

I pivoted from the Trump administration’s “deal of the century” because the Palestinian response to the Trump plan was so hostile. It seems futile to offer a compromise to those who don’t want to compromise. I’m convinced that after Oct. 7, any discussion of a Palestinian state will incentivize further terror. We had a dry run for a Palestinian state both in Gaza and in Area A of Judea and Samaria. These are places where no Jews live, and there is no Israeli military presence. We’ve seen that it doesn’t work. It creates a bubble in which terrorism flourishes. These are painful lessons we learned on Oct. 7.

Q: And how long will it take for all of this to be achieved?

A: It could take a generation, especially with all the hatred and distrust that has emerged from Hamas’s barbaric assault. But I think the fundamental principle is sound: To all Palestinians willing to live in peace with Israel, Israel (with help from its friends) will assume the responsibility for their well-being. Again, this works from all three relevant perspectives: Israel’s security, advancing human dignity and being faithful to biblical covenants. I believe that this plan puts Israel on the right trajectory to the right outcome.

'I DON'T HATE JEWS. I JUST WISH THEY WERE CHRISTIAN'

Mass. GOP denounces candidate who said, ‘I will also exile all Jews’

The state's Republican party encourages voters to vote against Lori Kauffman. 

 

JNS

Feb 29, 2024

 

The Republican Party of Massachusetts is urging people not to vote for Lori Kauffman for the Republican State Committee.

“Don’t forget, I’ll likely get voted into office on March 5. Long-term goals are to ban same-sex marriage (never should have been legalized) and trans will be illegal. Yes illegal,” Kauffman posted on social media on Feb. 25. “I will also exile all Jews.”

When someone responded that it was good that Kauffman was kicked off LinkedIn for posting the same message, she responded: “I’m guessing you had a hand in reporting me. I have stage four cancer so there are many connections I will now not get to say goodbye to, but it’s worth it to tell the truth about what needs to be done.”

On social media, Kauffman has repeatedly self-identified as a Russian Jew. But she has posted that she doesn’t trust Jews, that Jews are weak and embarrassing, that Hitler was “based” and that Jews lie about the Holocaust.

“Yeah, I’m Jewish, but I have Christian values and believe Jews are destroying the world. Well, I don’t believe that, I know it,” she wrote last August. On Feb. 27, she wrote, “This isn’t about ‘hate’ this is about saving the country. I don’t hate trans. And I don’t hate Jews. I just wish they were Christian.”

On the same day, the Massachusetts GOP posted that it took “immediate and decisive action” on Dec. 15, when it learned Kauffman was running for the state committee, and unanimously passed “a resolution condemning Ms. Kauffman’s statements and urging her not to run for state committee.”

“It’s important to note that State Committee positions are subject to public election, and as such, the MassGOP lacks authority to prevent Ms. Kauffman from pursuing candidacy,” it stated. “We urge the residents of the First Suffolk District to vote against this candidate.”

It added that Kauffman’s “reprehensible rhetoric has no place within the Republican Party or in the broader American political dialogue. The MassGOP unequivocally denounces her vile language and has taken every measure within its capacity to disassociate from Ms. Kauffman.”

BIDEN BETRAYS ISRAEL TO APPEASE THOSE VOTERS WHO SUPPORT HAMAS

Why is Biden pushing for an immoral hostage deal?

Pressure on Israel to agree to pay an exorbitant ransom for the hostages that will grant victory to Hamas isn’t just politically motivated. It’s a betrayal of American interests

 

By Jonathan S. Tobin  

JNS

Feb 28, 2024

 

Joe Biden embraces Mahmoud Abbas

 

A late-night comedy show isn’t the place you generally go for insights on the prospects for stability in the Middle East. But the appearance this week of President Joe Biden on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” gave us more than just another example of the broadcast network’s daily in-kind contributions to the Democrats and Biden’s re-election campaign.

The fawning interview served up softballs to the 81-year-old president, intending to undermine concerns about his age and declining abilities. It also served as an opportunity for him to tell us just what the United States stands for in international affairs. The fuzzy rhetoric of the president about being a “Zionist” notwithstanding, his statements about what he wants to happen in the Middle East showed that he was primarily interested in currying favor with his party’s intersectional left wing that despises Zionism and that is well-represented in Hollywood. Working to ensure that Islamist terrorists no longer pose a threat to Israelis or Americans wasn’t high on his “To Do” list.

That was evident in his comments about the imperative for a ceasefire in the current war against Hamas as part of a deal to free Israeli hostages, for Israel to halt its campaign to eradicate the last strongholds of Hamas in Gaza and to pause the fighting before the start of Ramadan. It was also inherent in his insistence that the Palestinians should be rewarded for the Oct. 7 massacres with a diplomatic process that will lead to statehood that they don’t want, but which they can use to continue their genocidal campaign to destroy the one Jewish state on the planet.

An immoral hostage deal

For nearly five months, the Jewish world has been calling for the release of hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 massacres in southern Israel—all of them. Indeed, the freedom of the hostages is one of Israel’s two main war goals alongside the elimination of Hamas. But as ongoing negotiations for the release of the more than 100 Israelis still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza continue with flurries of diplomatic activity involving the United States, as well as Hamas’s ally Qatar, something is missing from the discussion of the proposed terms for such a deal. And that is a moral compass.

Trading the lives of innocent Israeli civilians who were kidnapped from their homes amid an orgy of mass slaughter, rape and torture that took place on Oct. 7 for the release of Palestinians who have been convicted of acts of violence against Jews, including murder, is a bizarre and immoral concept that has already become normalized. Indeed, it is Israel’s government that has done more to normalize this idea because of its record of paying exorbitant prices to free Israelis held by terrorists. The most recent was in 2011, when Jerusalem traded 1,027 prisoners, including hundreds with Jewish blood on their hands, to gain the release of Gilad Shalit, a young soldier who had been kidnapped by Hamas in 2006. That decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now hangs over the current negotiations as not just a terrible precedent but a benchmark of extortion that Hamas—and its foreign enablers—believe can be made to look as if it were a bargain.

That’s because Israel is reportedly willing to trade large numbers of terrorists for each individual hostage with the number of female Israelis held captive by Hamas (undergoing who knows what torment at their hands) being especially high. The hostage releases are supposedly also going to be strung out over weeks as part of a process in which Hamas can play with the emotions of Israeli families as they hope and pray that their relatives will be let go—and that they are among those still alive (dozens of those still unaccounted for are believed to be dead). Hamas doesn’t want to include captured soldiers, particularly female soldiers, in the early stages of the deal, preferring to hold them as bargaining chips for even higher prices. The terror group that ruled Gaza as an independent state in all but name until Oct. 7 also wants many of the terrorists released to return to the Strip, thus giving them the opportunity to kill more Jews.

More than that, each hostage released, in addition to terrorists freed, will gain Hamas a day of halted fighting and increased supplies to go into the parts of Gaza controlled by the Islamist group. As such, the freedom of Israelis will not just ensure that Palestinians who have committed acts of violence will evade justice; it will mean that the terrorist group itself—pledged to the destruction of Israel and the genocide of its population—is the main beneficiary of the deal. It will be allowed to regroup, resupply and prepare to continue its war on the Jews.

With Biden promising to treat any pause in combat as an excuse to work for a permanent ceasefire, the main outcome of the next hostage deal (and there inevitably will be another) will be not so much an egregious act of extortion as a political victory for Hamas that will solidify its hold on Gaza and its place as the preeminent voice of the Palestinian people.

Pressure on Netanyahu

We know that as far as the families of the hostages are concerned, no price is too high to pay for their loved ones. They are fully entitled to advocate for a deal at any price, and no one should blame them for doing so. Who wouldn’t trade the whole world to save our children or other relations?

It’s true that the campaign inside Israel to pressure Netanyahu to accede to Hamas’s terms is inextricably tied to the country’s politics. To listen to the speeches at weekly Saturday-night rallies in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square,” as I did recently, you’d think it was Netanyahu and not Hamas who was the kidnapper, and that he was holding them in his basement rather than desperately waging military and diplomatic campaigns to free them from captivity inside the Islamist group’s remaining tunnel strongholds.

But as sensitive as the prime minister is to that kind of political pressure, the most worrisome aspect of the effort to force Israel to halt the war against Hamas is not coming from within the Jewish state but from its closest ally.

If the reported terms of a hostage deal—the prospects for which seem to change every day, if not every hour—are true, then it’s an astonishing result that ought to give everyone in the civilized world pause. The hostages are important. Still, those tasked with keeping the world safe from terrorism and working against forces that threaten the stability of the Middle East should not just be appalled by the terms, even if they mean freedom to the hostages. They should be actively using all of their political, military, economic and diplomatic leverage to ensure that it doesn’t happen. A Hamas victory in the war, sealed by a hostage deal, would not simply be a defeat for Israel but a devastating blow to the interests of the United States with implications that go far beyond the conflict with the Palestinians.

American interests at stake

Yet it is exactly the outcome that the president of the United States seems most interested in achieving.

Hamas’s leverage would ordinarily only depend on the number of hostages it holds. But in these negotiations, it has other assets. It has an international movement of sympathizers—wittingly and unwitting—and an American government that is more eager to end the war than to eliminate the group that started it with unspeakable atrocities on Oct. 7.

Biden has been at pains to appease those voters who support Hamas. The results of the Michigan Democratic primary this week, in which 13.2% of voters cast ballots as “uncommitted,” will only heighten the pressure on him to do more to please those who regard the terrorist group’s survival as an imperative.

In an act of unintended irony, during his late-night appearance, he claimed that his likely opponent in November—former President Donald Trump—was the candidate of “old ideas” that were discredited. Yet Biden’s position on the Middle East and his insistence that Israel must, sooner or later for the sake of its “survival,” accept a two-state solution is the oldest and most discredited policy option that could be imagined. At this point, it’s not just something that has been tried and failed repeatedly. Palestinians have made it clear they have no interest in a state if it means living in peace next to a Jewish one.

It’s bad enough that Biden still pretends, by every measure of public opinion notwithstanding, that Hamas isn’t broadly popular and representative of the Palestinian people. That’s made all the more egregious by his comments to Myers, in which he called for the toppling of Netanyahu’s democratically elected government because it’s “incredibly conservative.”

It’s also absurd that Biden pretends that the whole world is behind Israel but that it will lose that support unless it stops its campaign against Hamas due to Palestinian casualties falsely labeled as “genocide,” which are regrettable but only continue because the terrorists refuse to surrender. This is much like the Nazis—whose ideology is echoed in Hamas’s goals—in the last days of World War II as they preferred to see Germany destroyed and its people slaughtered rather than concede to the inevitable. His talk of the need for a holiday pause for Ramadan is equally off-base since no one in the international community seems to think it was wrong for Hamas to start a war on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.

Israelis have their own reasons for their views on a hostage deal. Some will support it because of their sympathies for the hostages and their families, or because they think it will hurt Netanyahu. Others oppose it because it will likely mean more Jewish bloodshed in the future. But American interests are also involved. This is a deal that will not just grant a victory to the perpetrators of the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust; it will mean that Hamas would exist as the main force in Palestinian politics for the foreseeable future with unknowable consequences for regional stability. It will be a gift to their Iranian funders and allies elsewhere, like the Houthis, who are threatening the global economy because of Biden’s foolish pre-Oct. 7 appeasement of Iran. Above all, in a world in which the United States still plays an irreplaceable role as the defender of Western values and security, the eagerness with which Biden is pursuing this amoral deal is a measure of just how far American foreign policy has fallen on his watch.

I AM CONFIDENT IT IS JUST A COINCIDENCE ..... OR NOT

By Bob Walsh

 

 

Fast food workers just got a huge president from Gavin Newsom, the God-Emperor of the formerly great state of California. They got a huge mandatory wage bump, from about $16 per hour minimum to $20 per hour minimum.  

It has, however just come to light that there is an "interesting" exemption.  If your fast food outlet makes their own bread on site they are exempt from the mandatory wage bump.  

By a strange coincidence one of Gavin (God I Want To Be President) Newsom's high school buddies and a MAJOR political donor owns two dozen Panera locations.  In case you don't Habla Espanol (and if you don't you should be ashamed of yourself) that means BREAD.  His buddy is exempt from a very expensive law that he had major personal input on.

I wonder if this will give a little oomph to the otherwise certain-to-be-futile recall attempt rolling on against Newsom.

A UVALDE GRAND JURY IS CONSIDERING CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw testifies before grand jury investigating Uvalde school shooting

McCraw, the state police chief, traveled to Uvalde to appear before a grand jury considering criminal charges against officers for their botched response to the 2022 school shooting.

 

by Pooja Salhotra

 

The Texas Tribune

Feb. 28, 2024

 

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw

 

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw testified on Wednesday before a Uvalde grand jury considering whether to bring criminal charges against law enforcement officers who failed to appropriately respond to the Robb Elementary School shooting, KSAT reported on Wednesday.

The grand jury was convened in January, nearly two years after the May 24, 2022 attack that killed 19 students and two teachers and injured 17 others. Nearly 400 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting, mainly from state and federal agencies. Officers waited more than an hour to breach a classroom, where a gunman used an AR-15 rifle to shoot students.

The Austin American-Statesman first reported that McCraw traveled to Austin on Wednesday to testify before the grand jury in Uvalde. ABC News captured photos of McCraw arriving in Uvalde in an airplane Wednesday morning and leaving a few hours later.

Multiple investigations, including a scathing Department of Justice report, have condemned police for failing to follow protocol. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that if responding officers had followed general procedures, lives would have been saved.

Because grand jury proceedings in Texas are secret, McCraw’s testimony cannot be heard by the public. Twelve grand jurors listening to the evidence presented by the Uvalde County district attorney’s office will determine whether to formally charge someone with a crime.

The Uvalde County DA’s office has not said which officers, if any, who responded the day of the shooting will face criminal charges. Legal experts say officers could face charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and abandoning or endangering a child.

McCraw has previously blamed the bungled police response on local officers, including former Uvalde Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was the designated incident commander according to the school district’s active-shooter plan. In 2022, McCraw testified before the Texas Senate that it was not feasible for his troopers to assume command, even though it became apparent that Arredondo was not taking swift action.

A few months later, McCraw said he would resign if his troopers had “any culpability” in the Robb Elementary School response. Then, in December 2022, McCraw reversed himself, saying during a DPS meeting he would not resign, despite increasing pressure from victims’ families who asked for him to do so.

“If DPS as an institution failed the families, failed the school or failed the community of Uvalde — then absolutely, I need to go,” McCraw said at the time. “But I can tell you this right now, DPS as an institution right now did not fail the community.”

Of the nearly 400 officers who responded to the shooting, 91 were from DPS. A group of U.S. Border Patrol agents and local officers ultimately breached the classroom and killed the shooter.

As a state agency, DPS has faced increasing scrutiny for failing to make public their own criminal investigation into the shooting, conducted by the Texas Rangers. The report has been released to Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell, who asked that it not be released more widely, according to a DPS spokesperson. More than a dozen news organizations have sued the DPS accusing it of unlawfully withholding public records.

DPS itself investigated the conduct of seven troopers who responded to the shooting. After completing its review, the agency fired DPS Sgt. Juan Maldonado, who was on the scene within four minutes, body camera footage shows. A second DPS officer, Ranger Christopher Ryan Kindell, was terminated last January. He remains on paid leave while his appeal is pending. A third officer, Trooper Crimson Elizondo, resigned before the investigation concluded. The remaining four officers were ultimately cleared of wrongdoing.

The Austin American-Statesman reported last week that officers from multiple agencies had been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.

Mitchell began her investigation shortly after the shooting and initially said it would be completed by the end of November 2022. At that time, Mitchell said she could not determine whether charges should be filed because she had not yet received a completed investigation from the DPS’ Texas Rangers division. Mitchell received a preliminary report from the Rangers last January but later said the prosecution timeline would have to be pushed back.

A CRIMINAL IN DISGUISE

Former Houston Lawman Guilty of Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering, Awaits Life Sentence

 

By John Becker

 

Hoodline 

February 28, 2024

 

 

 

 

A former Houston-area law enforcement officer has been found guilty on federal drug trafficking and money laundering charges, officials said. Mohammed "Alex" Ahmed Kassem, a 49-year-old from Houston and ex-investigator with the Waller County District Attorney's Office, was convicted after an eight-hour jury deliberation and a four-day trial, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

 

Escorting sham heroin and drug money across state lines, Kassem exploited his law enforcement role, driving in his official police vehicle from Louisiana to Houston and then San Antonio. Kassem, who was paid a total of $31,000 during the transactions, was caught with the money hidden in his bulletproof vest and the narcotics cleverly disguised in an evidence bag. As per the U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani's office, the jury was presented with damning audio and video evidence as well as the text messages coordinating the crimes and Kassem's subsequent cash deposits.

 

In an unusual move, Kassem took the witness stand, claiming he was operating under authority and had implicit approval from his former employers to carry out these undercover operations. However, testimony from the Waller County District Attorney's Office directly contradicted his defense. U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said, "When Alex Kassem wore his Waller County peace officer credentials...he breached the most sacred of trusts—the trust a community places in its law enforcement."

FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams weighed in on the betrayal, saying, "Alex Kassem was a criminal in disguise." Operating with the pretense of his trusted role, Kassem engaged in trafficking with a peace officer's facade. Set for sentencing on June 13 by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, Kassem is facing a potential life sentence for the heroin charge, plus up to 20 years for money laundering, with possible fines reaching $10 million.

Following his conviction, Kassem, who had been out on bond, was remanded into custody where he will stay until his sentencing. The FBI with support from the DEA spearheaded the investigation that led to this conviction, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carolyn Ferko and Heather Winter prosecuting the case.

WHY GO AFTER ORGANIZTIONS THAT PROVIDE AID TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FAMILIES WHO ARE HERE BECAUSE OF BIDEN'S OPEN BORDERS POLICY?

Ken Paxton’s Annunciation House investigation is the latest attack on religious organizations aiding migrants at the border

For years, conservative religious groups and Texas politicians have accused groups housing newly-arrived migrants of encouraging, and profiting from, illegal immigration.

 

by Uriel J. García and William Melhado

 

The Texas Tribune

Feb. 29, 2024

 

Ruben Garcia, founder and director of Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, speaks with the media during a news conference Feb. 23. Garcia is reacting to the lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that claims the Annunciation House "appears to be engaged in the business of human smuggling" and is threatening to terminate the nonprofit's right to operate in Texas.

 

EL PASO — Before Annunciation House Director Ruben Garcia received a demand from the Texas Attorney General’s office to hand over sensitive documents about the migrants who have stayed at his shelter, the state had been monitoring Garcia’s and other staffers’ activity.

In court documents, Anthony Carter, a criminal investigator with Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, described Garcia dropping off groceries in a white Toyota truck and noted “several Hispanic individuals from adults to small children seen entering and leaving” one of the El Paso shelter network’s facilities. Carter noted that only three people had keys to the shelter, while everyone else had to ring a doorbell.

Rob Farquharson, an assistant attorney general in Paxton’s office, said in the same court documents that what Carter observed showed that the shelter had an “unusually covert way” of operating. He said Annunciation House appears “to be engaged in the business of human smuggling,” operating an “illegal stash house” and encouraging immigrants to enter the country illegally because it provides education on legal services. (Garcia’s lawyer said that’s just how migrant shelters operate, for the safety of guests and staff).

“When we first read it, we thought it was creepy,” said Jerome Wesevich, a lawyer with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid who is representing Annunciation House in its legal fight with Paxton. “I don’t know if I would call it spying, but if they would have just asked us, we would have talked to them.”

Earlier this month, Paxton’s office sent lawyers to Annunciation House, seeking records about the shelter’s clients and gave Garcia a day to turn over the documents. When Wesevich said that wasn’t enough time and asked a judge to determine which documents shelter officials are legally allowed to release, the AG’s office interpreted the delay as noncompliance and filed a countersuit to shut down the shelter network.

For the past few years, right-wing advocacy groups and Republican lawmakers have targeted non-governmental organizations that shelter migrants, many of them asylum seekers, blaming them for incentivizing illegal immigration with taxpayer money.

Those efforts come as religious figures, emboldened by the rise of Christian nationalism, continue to demonize migrants and those who aid them as part of a broader scheme to dilute the American electorate. On Sunday, Ed Young, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and the longtime pastor of Houston's massive Second Baptist Church, gave a lengthy sermon in which he reportedly called migrants "garbage" and "undesirables" who are being brought in to support a "progressive, Godless" dictatorship.

"We will not be able to stand under all the garbage and raff in which we're now inviting to come into our shores," said Young, whose church has been attended for years by prominent state Republicans. "And they're already here."

Far-right Catholics have also mobilized against organizations such as Catholic Charities, calling it the "enemy of the people" and blasting it for assisting migrants — many of whom are also Catholic, but conflict with the ethno-nationalism that experts say is highly correlated with white Christian nationalist beliefs.

Last year, right-wing Catholics launched a campaign to defund bishops who aid migrants at the border; and in an interview with the group Church Militant, self-professed Christian nationalist and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, said Catholic Charities’ work was proof of “Satan controlling the church.”

 

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, said Catholic Charities’ work was proof of “Satan controlling the church.” 

 

And some Texas politicians have targeted faith-based groups like Annunciation House — which has been in operation for nearly 50 years — with accusations that such shelters encourage, and profit from, illegal immigration.

Paxton’s move comes as immigration has become one of the main issues in this year’s presidential elections and Texas has dramatically ramped up its efforts to deter people crossing the Rio Grande.

Last year, Garcia expressed concern that Gov. Greg Abbott’s escalating efforts to halt illegal immigration could impact the work of Good Samaritans.

“The church is at risk because the volunteers are asking themselves, ‘If I feed someone who’s unprocessed, if I give someone a blanket who’s unprocessed, if I help them get off the street, am I liable to be prosecuted for that?’” Garcia said during a public meeting with U.S. senators visiting El Paso. “Shame on us, that on this day, this is even being brought up in the United States.”

On Friday, Garcia said Paxton’s move is the first time a state official has actually taken action to stop the work he and his staff have done to help migrants. He said that he is “concerned about the language that is used” by some politicians to describe the work his organization and others are doing with migrants because it can “encourage people to do terrible things to organizations and to people who are trying to provide basic human services to individuals.”

A 2017 court ruling reinforced the idea that migrant shelters can’t be charged with crimes related to helping migrants. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund sued Texas in 2016 over House Bill 11, a state law with a provision that says people commit a crime if they “encourage or induce a person to enter or remain in this country in violation of federal law by concealing, harboring, or shielding that person from detection.”

The following year the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the state’s favor but said organizations that provide services to immigrants aren’t at risk of prosecution under the law, “Because there is no reasonable interpretation by which merely renting housing or providing social services to an illegal alien constitutes harboring . . . that person from detection.”

Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in court documents at the time that his agency “would not investigate, file criminal charges, or otherwise engage in enforcement activity” under this state law against non-governmental organizations that provide aid to migrants.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said Paxton’s move is “absolutely terrifying and should send a chill down the back” of people who care about immigrants’ rights and the groups that help them. She said that “extreme far-right members” in Congress have worked to defund organizations that help migrants.

“This is a wake up call for the country that this far-right extremism knows no bounds. And I assure you that what has happened to Annunciation House will be a pattern that will be executed on every nonprofit, every local government, every organization that offers care to anyone who might be undocumented, or someone who is an immigrant and an asylum seeker in this country.”

Two years ago, U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell, sent Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and two similar faith-based organizations a lengthy demand for information about migrants and the services they provide to them — not unlike the demand Paxton’s office sent to Annunciation House.

He threatened the organizations with congressional subpoenas if they didn’t comply, but two years later, Gooden said Catholic Charities has not responded to his demand.

“They know that what they're doing is so politically disgusting to the average American that the outrage would really increase if they cooperated with any oversight investigation by Congress,” Gooden said of Catholic Charities.

Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in McAllen, said the alarmist rhetoric Gooden and others are spreading about the border and her work is politically motivated.

“I wish they would come and actually see what we're doing so they can understand what is actually happening at the border,” Pimentel said. “We respond to what our own faith calls us to do, to take care of our brothers and sisters who are hurting, who are suffering.”

In a May 2023 letter to DHS Secretary Mayorkas, Gooden wrote that NGOs receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars through federal grants to provide lodging and transportation for migrants “to be released anywhere they want in the United States.” Gooden added that groups like Catholic Charities stood to financially benefit from more illegal crossings because then the federal government would provide more money to fund their facilities and services.

Pimentel disputed this characterization. She said in addition to helping house and feed migrants, Catholic Charities also serves families in four counties in the Rio Grande Valley.

Gooden’s scrutiny of Catholic Charities came at the same time as right-wing groups, like the Deposit of Faith Coalition and Alliance for a Safe Texas, were also targeting the faith-based group. The Deposit of Faith Coalition, a group of conservative Catholic organizations critical of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ stance on a number of issues from immigration to climate change, has labeled Catholic Charities an “enemy of the people,” and accused the organization of profiting off the federal assistance they use to provide shelter and food to those in need.

Pimentel said those are false accusations “based on just political rhetoric … to create a problem or a crisis so that the [Biden] administration looks bad.”

Last week, after Paxton’s investigation into Annunciation House became public, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops released a statement “expressing solidarity with ministry volunteers and people of faith who seek only to serve vulnerable migrants as our nation and state continue to pursue failed migration and border security policies.”

On Monday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement of support for Texas Catholics and other people of faith helping to “meet migrants’ basic human needs.”

Garcia said that he wants people to recognize that what’s at stake is the well-being of human beings.

“That should cause all of us to pause, take a step back and to ask ourselves, ‘How do we behave?” he said. “How do we respond when human beings are involved?”