Tuesday, December 31, 2024
MY PICKS ... BIGGEST WINNER: DONALD TRUMP ... BIGGEST LOSER: AMERICA
The 2024 winners and losers revealed: MAUREEN CALLAHAN spares no one in her Wickedly Brat-tastic year wrap (DON'T read this if you're an easily offended A-lister!)
By Maureen Callahan
Daily Mail
Dec 31, 2024
That was all we heard this election cycle, but the threat wasn't Donald Trump - it never was. The true threats to Democracy were the Bidens and the Dems, shamelessly executing the greatest political cover-up in American history.
2024 was the year of Ozempic and the Olympics, Diddy and The Donald, royal courage and calamity, tech bros, yet more Taylor Swift, lawfare and a left-wing establishment humiliated — and that's just for starters!
Biggest losers: Joe, Jill, Barack and the entire Democratic machine
Threat to democracy, threat to democracy, threat to democracy!
That was all we heard this election cycle, but the threat wasn't Donald Trump — it never was.
The true threats were the Bidens and the Dems, shamelessly executing the greatest political cover-up in American history: President Biden, before even taking office, was non compos mentis.
Instead, a nameless, faceless cabal (really led by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and bad 'Dr.' Jill) operated shadow government for the past four years, then shamelessly tried to sell doddering, infirm, confused Joe as our best option for the next four — until that fateful debate.
Sinister doesn't begin to describe it. The only question: Will Americans get a full, muscular, public investigation to rival January 6? Or will the Bidens get to slink away in ignominy in 2025?
F-ups and hiccups: Kamala
In the end, 'word salad' came to define Harris's botched run. Not even Obama's top doctors — with a heavy assist from the left-wing media — could get this patient on message.
Nor did that same media's wholesale blackout of her husband Doug Emhoff's problems with women — allegedly impregnating the nanny during his first marriage and smacking an ex-girlfriend in the face so hard that she spun around — help Harris feel presidential, let alone feminist.
Our would-be commander-in-chief ended the year with a sloppy, hiccupping, homemade video.
'Don't you ever let anybody take your power from you,' she slurred. Sorry, Kamala: The American electorate did just that.
Biggest winner...
He survived lawfare, character assassinations and attempts on his life — but Trump sprung right back up to yell, 'Fight! Fight! Fight!'
Despite polls that showed this year's presidential race neck-and-neck, petty scandal about his closeness to Laura Loomer and Don Jr.'s love life — along with a campaign that felt chaotic in the final stretch – Trump pulled it out bigly, with the genius of campaign co-chair Susie Wiles, who will now serve as the first female chief-of-staff to a president ever.
Year of the podcast
Speaking of powerful women: Megyn Kelly stumped for Trump the night before the election, doubtless moving the needle for on-the-bubble female voters wary of Trump's history with women. Kelly's mega-hit podcast has rivalled superstars such as Joe Rogan in a year that's seen more consumption of news via earbuds than ever.
Terminal prognosis: the liberal media
Indeed, that noise you hear is a well-deserved death rattle.
Post-election, MSNBC has been shedding viewers by the millions. Mascot Rachel Maddow took a $5 million pay cut. ABC's George Stephanopoulos cost his network $16 million after he falsely said Trump had been convicted of rape. And the New York Times is busy trying to cover up their complicity in the big Biden-health lie. Trust, as the old saw goes, takes years to build but seconds to break.
Biggest face-plant: Oprah
TV titan-turned-tyrant, suddenly slim Winfrey began the year with a primetime special flogging Ozempic while blaming America — which turned her into a billionaire — for making her feel bad about her body all these years.
Then she hosted Kamala — or, as Oprah hollered from her belly, KA-MA-LA HARR-IS! — for another special, this one featuring Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez and a cloying Meryl Streep, pretending to screw up by calling our bumbling Veep 'President Harris'. Oops, indeed.
Oprah's waning credibility took yet another hit once we learned her production company earned nearly $2.5 million from the Harris campaign for this worthless boondoggle.
Real Royalty
Her bombshell announcement, in March, that she had cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy shocked the world. That the Princess of Wales was seemingly forced into this disclosure, following her months-long disappearance and one unartfully altered family photo, brought shame to the internet ghouls, desperate celebs and late-night comics who had made fun.
Her courage, her calm, and ability to see beyond her own plight — telling fellow sufferers that 'you are not alone' — proved Kate the true jewel in the Crown.
The Princess of Wales's bombshell announcement, in March, that she had cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy shocked the world.
Harry and Meghan's year ended on a hard belly flop: Hollywood publicly distancing itself from the Gruesome Twosome before their Netflix docuseries 'Polo' landed with a critical and commercial thud.
Rotten Royals
Impeccable with timing as ever, Meghan Markle dropped the trailer for her new domestic venture, 'American Riviera Orchard', just days before Kate's disclosure.
Jarred jams to Kris Jenner simply couldn't compete. Nor could H&M's 'faux royal' tours to Colombia and Nigeria. Their year ended on a hard belly flop: Hollywood publicly distancing itself from the Gruesome Twosome before their Netflix docuseries 'Polo' landed with a critical and commercial thud.
The big question for 2025: What next for their 'professional separation' as a couple?
Best comeback: Demi Moore
Who isn't rooting for Demi?
After suffering a humiliating divorce from the much-younger Ashton Kutcher, and showing great strength amid ex-husband Bruce Willis's dementia battle, she's just snagged a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for 'The Substance', in which she plays an aging actress desperate for youth.
Surely now guaranteed her first Oscar nod, 62-year-old Demi — unlike some of her contemporaries — has never seemed more comfortable in her own skin.
Falling stars: Nicole Kidman and JLo
Bad wigs, bad Botox and a spate of ridiculous roles culminating in her unwatchable cougar-flick 'Babygirl', 57-year-old Kidman gave us 2024's most unwanted disclosure that while filming she was 'so turned on' that at times she would plead: 'I don't want to orgasm anymore!'
Based on dismal box office returns, no one wants to see this either, Nicole.
Add in those strange fashion-fisticuffs with Salma Hayek at a Balenciaga show, Kidman's snide red carpet dismissal of a correspondent from Pop Crave, and her ultra-narcissistic claim that accompanying husband Keith Urban to oncology wards is hard for her — 'I have to not absorb someone else's emotions… [it's] too much' — well, we all could do with a good, long break from this uncomfortably public midlife crisis.
Speaking of: No amount of staged pap strolls in the Hamptons could distract from J.Lo's annus horribilis. Ben Affleck moving out of their marital home in the metaphorical dead of night — shortly after she released a documentary about their epic, unstoppable love — followed by the cancellation of her tour. Family comes first, she said, though reports had ticket sales in the toilet.
The coming year may be equally grim for this alleged, one-time gun mule for Diddy.
After suffering a humiliating divorce from the much-younger Ashton Kutcher , and showing great strength amid ex-husband Bruce Willis's dementia battle, Demi Moore has just snagged a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for 'The Substance'.
No amount of staged pap strolls in the Hamptons could distract from J.Lo's annus horribilis.
A-list arrest
Freak-offs, baby oil, beatdowns, a car bomb and blackmail: No other celebrity scandal reaches that of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking, kidnapping and bribery, among others.
Combs is being held in a Brooklyn federal detention center along with this year's other great villain, accused assassin Luigi Mangione, while awaiting trial. The only question: Who else — guilty or not — will be dragged into this deepening saga? Rape-accused Jay-Z has already denied wrongdoing.
Girls rock pop
It was a 'Brat' summer courtesy of Charli XCX and a breakout year for Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter.
The mother of them all, of course, remains Taylor Swift, who's finally wrapped her 21-month Eras tour, grossing a record $2 billion.
A triumph to be sure. But now, Taylor, we beg of you: Give us a break and disappear for a while. And take the tacky Kelces with you.
Olympic heroes
Simone Biles had a historic comeback after testifying before the Senate about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, then overcoming the 'twisties' to win four medals in Paris.
Visually impaired gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik whipped off his Clark Kent frames and went viral, winning two medals for Team USA on the pommel horse.
And rapper Snoop Dogg became an unlikely star of the show, earning a reported $500,000 a day as a special correspondent for NBC during the games. But will 2025 be as triumphant for Snoop? His former relationship with Diddy, the man he has called a 'brother', may come to haunt him.
Blake Lively v. Justin Baldoni: The feuding 'It Ends With Us' co-stars have fired off savage accusations, PR wars and, in Lively's case, a civil lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by Baldoni, who also directed the movie.
Simone Biles had a historic comeback after testifying before the Senate about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, then overcoming the 'twisties' to win four medals in Paris.
Quick-fire round
TAYLOR SHERIDAN: The 'Yellowstone' creator clearly thought he'd won his feud with exiting star Kevin Costner, only to sully all five seasons by casting himself as Costner's sexier, tougher replacement. Would have been funny if it wasn't so pitiable.
INDUSTRY: HBO's Succession-sized hole has been filled by this tense, glamorous drama about young strivers and aristos in finance — with Kit Harington a starry third-season addition.
NIKKI GLASER: Breaking through after twenty years as a jobbing comic, Glaser slayed at this year's 'The Roast of Tom Brady' and in her own HBO stand-up special. She's hosting the Golden Globes this weekend.
BLAKE LIVELY v. JUSTIN BALDONI: The feuding 'It Ends With Us' co-stars have fired off savage accusations, PR wars and, in Lively's case, a civil lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by Baldoni, who also directed the movie. Baldoni's camp say he's about to file a countersuit that will 'shock everyone'. Given the year we've all had, that's an incredibly high bar.
DR. JILL'S DISLIKE OF KAMALA GOES BACK TO THE DEMOCRATIC DEBATE OF JUNE 27, 2019
Jill Biden's 'frosty' feud with Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff takes new bitter turn
By Nikki Schwab
Daily Mail
Dec 31, 2024
A new report confirms that Dr. Jill Biden's (right) feud with Vice President Kamala Harris (center) has continued through the post-election period, with sources saying things are 'frosty' between the Bidens and Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff (left)
A new report confirms that Dr. Jill Biden's feud with Vice President Kamala Harris has continued through the post-election period.
The Wall Street Journal chronicled the final months of the Biden presidency in a story Monday, with White House aides describing the general vibe at the White House as 'depressing' and 'draining.'
And the misery extends to the top.
Since Harris' November 5th election loss, the relationship between President Joe Biden and Dr. Biden and Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, 'has at times been frosty,' the paper said, 'in private settings.'
Sources pointed out that Dr. Biden has long disliked Harris due to her ravaging Biden on the debate stage back in June of 2019 - during the first Democratic debate of the 2020 cycle.
Harris' memorable debate performance was attributed to her hammering Biden for being against busing policies that helped desegregate schools.
The ire between the two women has also spilled out into plain sight.
During the president and vice president's first public appearance after the Democrats handed the White House back to President-elect Donald Trump, Dr. Biden sat stone-faced next to Harris and Emhoff.
THE ORIGINAL SIN: The feud is now five and a half years old, with Dr. Biden disliking how then Sen. Kamala Harris (right) went after former Vice President Joe Biden (left) over the issue of busing on June 27, 2019 - the first 2020 Democratic primary debate
The event was the traditional Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, which put the first and second couples together just six days after Harris' loss.
On Election Day, Dr. Biden sported a red pantsuit - the traditional color for Republicans - which led to speculation from the MAGA crowd that she didn't really want Harris to win.
One Fox News host, Emily Compagno, even went as far to suggest that the first lady voted for Trump due to the hue of her outfit.
That is extremely unlikely - but it was still interpreted as shade.
Earlier this month at the Kennedy Center Honors, those watching the presidential box noticed that neither Biden acknowledged Harris or Emhoff when the crowd stood to welcome them to the Kennedy Center.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates pushed back to the Journal and denied any chill in the relationship between the president and vice president, while Harris' spokesperson Kirsten Allen said Biden and Haris 'have a close working relationship and have developed a friendship that extends to both of their spouses.'
A spokesperson for the East Wing additionally denied the Journal's reporting to DailyMail.com about the 'frosty' relationship between the first lady and Harris pointing to the extensive campaigning Dr. Biden did for Harris ahead of Election Day.
Sources told DailyMail.com earlier this month that the first lady is vengeful over what happened to her husband.
Vice President Kamala Harris (left) was seated next to Dr. Jill Biden (right) at the annual Veterans Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery six days after losing the election. Wall Street Journal sources suggest the relationship is even more 'frosty' behind-the-scenes
THROWING SHADE? Jill Biden wore a red pantsuit on Election Day - a color typically reserved for Republicans. The bold choice prompted a Fox News host to suggest that she voted for President-elect Donald Trump over her husband's replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris
After his disastrous June 27 debate against Trump, top party leaders pressured 82-year-old Biden to bow out.
He did so on July 21 - endorsing Harris a few hours later.
'Jill views Democrats on Capitol Hill, the [wider] party, the Obamas, staff inside and outside the White House, the media, and all of Washington, D.C. with such misguided resentment that I can't imagine she [isn't] encouraging [Joe] to burn the whole thing down, despite his better judgment,' one insider said.
And Biden's inner thoughts about the race are now spilling out.
The Washington Post and then the Journal reported that behind closed doors Biden is telling people that he believes he could have won had he stayed in.
The president isn't criticizing the Harris campaign's effort, the reports said, but rather has been pointing out that he beat Trump once before.
The political climate was vastly different in 2020, with Trump's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic front-and-center.
Four
years later, American voters remembered the 2019 Trump economy fondly,
while incumbents around the globe were being voted out of power due to
economies still sagging thanks to the pandemic.
THE ISLAMIST SYRIAN REGIME IS BEGINNING TO TAKE SHAPE
Islamist rebel commander tapped as acting Syrian defense chief
Head of HTS armed wing Murhaf Abu Qasra gets nod as new rulers look to transform insurgents, including foreign jihadi fighters, into army
The Times of Israel
Dec 31, 2024
Syria’s new authorities announced on Tuesday that the military chief of the Islamist group that spearheaded the offensive that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad had been appointed defense minister in the transitional government.
“The General Command announces the nomination of General Murhaf Abu Qasra as defense minister in the new government of the Syrian Arab Republic,” said a statement carried by the official news agency SANA.
Abu Qasra, 41, a former agronomist, led the armed wing of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham for five years.
As commander of the Islamist rebel forces, he played a key role in the offensive that ousted Assad on December 8 after a lightning advance from north Syria to the capital Damascus.
On Sunday, Abu Qasra was given the rank of general in a decree from HTS chief Ahmed al-Sharaa, now Syria’s de facto leader.
Some other key positions in the transitional government, headed by Mohammad al-Bashir, have already been filled.
Syrian sources said Sunday that several foreign jihadi fighters had been installed in the country’s armed forces, along with the leaders of other Syrian armed factions that fought alongside HTS, as part of an effort to shape the patchwork of rebel groups into a professional military.
HTS was once aligned with al-Qaeda, but al-Sharaa has cut ties with the group and since coming to power has preached religious coexistence and promised not to enforce strict adherence to Islamic fundamental principles.
In remarks broadcast on Sunday, al-Sharaa said the new Syria “cannot be run by the mentality of groups and militias.”
Bashir, who led the rebels’ self-proclaimed “Salvation Government” in their northwestern Idlib bastion, was made interim prime minister until March 1. That’s when Syria’s different factions are set to hold a political dialogue to determine the country’s political future and establish a transitional government that brings the divided country together.
Speaking to al-Arabiya Sunday, al-Sharaa said HTS would dissolve itself at the March 1 meeting after years of being the country’s most dominant rebel group.
In an interview with AFP on December 17, Abu Qasra said HTS would be “the first” to dissolve its armed wing and integrate into the national forces, demanding that other groups do the same.
Abu Qasra also said that the new leadership would seek to extend its authority to semi-autonomous, Kurdish-held areas in Syria’s north and northwest.
Al-Sharaa said Sunday that talks were ongoing with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria, whom he hoped to integrate with the Syrian security agencies.
Both Abu Qasra and al-Sharaa have spoken out against Israel’s military incursion into Syria, where troops are holding a buffer zone on Mount Hermon near the Golan Heights. They have also criticized Israeli airstrikes on Syrian military facilities since Assad’s fall, which Israel says are aimed at preventing them from falling into hostile hands.
In comments carried by state media Monday, Iranian security chief Ali Akbar Ahmadian said that a new “resistance” would emerge in Syria to fight Israel, while insisting that the so-called axis of resistance set up to stage attacks on the Jewish state had not been weakened by Assad’s fall.
“With the occupation of Syrian territories by the Zionist regime, a new resistance has been born that will manifest itself in the years to come,” said Ahmadian, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, IRNA news agency reported.
Tehran’s allies in the region, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have suffered severe blows in conflicts with Israel since war broke out in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 251 kidnapped into the Strip.
ERDOGAN DREAMS OF BEING THE NEW ATATURK
Amidst Mideast power upheaval, Turkey emerges as a threat to US and Israel
Turkey's president supported the rebels who overthrew Syria's Bashar Assad and has long supported Hamas, even hosting its leadership.
By James Sinkinson
JNS
Dec 31, 2024
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
With the overthrow of Syria’s government, Turkey, under Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is set to replace Iran as the Middle East’s new chief belligerent. As such, it presents a growing threat to Israel and U.S. interests in the region.
Yet, unlike the paper tiger Iran has turned out to be, Turkey is strong economically, militarily and, as a NATO member, politically. Erdoğan also has ambitious designs to expand Turkey’s power and will likely prove one of the West’s greatest challenges in the coming months and years.
Whereas Turkey was once a staunch ally of Israel and the West, Erdoğan has taken it on a reckless path of Islamization and imperialism. He seems to be aiming to reburnish the Ottoman Empire’s glory, in which Turkey ruled the Middle East and North Africa for centuries, including what is now Israel.
Though embedded in NATO, Turkey is technically still an ally of the West, yet many of its actions betray that relationship. For starters, Turkey has seized about 3,500 square miles of Syrian territory, about 15% of the country, a bona fide occupation. Yet, the media, most Western nations and the United Nations are silent on this illegal land seizure.
Instead, world attention has focused on Israel’s presence in a tiny buffer zone separating it from Syria. Israel took this temporary measure after Syria’s recent coup, with the aim of preserving its 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria following the Yom Kippur War, which was an act of aggression on Syria’s part.
Turkey, on the other hand, harms U.S. interests in Syria by attacking American-backed Kurdish forces. What’s more, Erdoğan’s government is the main supporter of Islamist rebels who recently overthrew the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Turkey also plays host to Hamas leadership, and Erdogan has long supported the Palestinian terrorist group.
Turkey’s presence in Syria could potentially be dangerous for Israel should Erdoğan use his Islamist allies in the country to attack the Jewish state. The Turkish president has also consistently made inflammatory remarks regarding Israel. He’s even threatened to invade the Jewish state.
In short, Turkey can no longer be treated as an ally of the West. It is an enemy and should be treated as such with caution, utmost suspicion, and, depending on Erdoğan’s behavior, punishment.
Turkey occupies Syrian territory in violation of international law. Turkish-backed forces control a wide swath of territory adjacent to the Turkish-Syrian border. This is a genuine occupation of a foreign state, unlike Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria.
This occupation has displaced 600,000 people and included the use of ethnic cleansing. In 2018, for example, Turkey’s invasion of Afrin in northwest Syria displaced the town’s Kurdish population and replaced them with Arabs and Turkmen. Ethnic cleansing and forcible transfer are clear violations of international law. But no, the United Nations has not passed any resolutions condemning Turkey or demanding it withdraw its forces. Nor have any charges been filed against Turkey before the international courts.
Turkey claims its actions in Syria target terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is indeed listed as a terror organization by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union. However, the Turkish government has for decades also ruthlessly persecuted Turkey’s Kurds, who now number some 25 million, about 20% of the country’s population, and who seek autonomy. It is clear that Erdoğan’s primary aim is to squelch the Kurds’ bid for self-determination wherever it is promoted.
The media ignore Turkey’s belligerence, focusing instead on Israel’s defensive actions. For example, CNN published a headline reading, “Watching with trepidation and glee, Netanyahu orders military to seize Syria buffer zone,” while a Wall Street Journal headline read, “Israel’s expanded perch on Syria’s border puts Damascus in its sights.” No mention is made of Turkey’s occupation of northern Syria or its atrocities against the Kurds because, of course, neither can be blamed on Jews.
Turkey harms American interests in Syria. Turkish forces frequently attack the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed militia in Syria’s north and east. The SDF, supported by 2,000 U.S. military personnel in Syria, was instrumental in defeating ISIS and is vital to preventing its resurgence. Recently, Turkish-backed forces seized control of two SDF-held towns and are poised to attack the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Erdoğan may use Syria to attack Israel. Turkey is the primary sponsor of the Syrian rebels. The Syrian rebels’ leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, formerly of Al-Qaeda, is now the country’s de facto ruler. Videos show his men declaring their intent to march on Jerusalem. In one clip, they announce, “From here to Jerusalem. We’re coming for Jerusalem.” Nevertheless, the Biden administration has decided to trust Julani and his Islamist bunch, even removing the $10 million bounty that the United States had placed on his head.
It is easy to imagine Erdoğan using Syria and its new rulers to attack Israel at some point, though rebel leaders assert they want peace with Israel. Nonetheless, Erdoğan has sufficient leverage and resources to precipitate hostilities against Israel if he finds it advantageous.
Erdoğan persists in belligerence toward Israel. The Turkish strongman is an avid supporter of Hamas, calling them freedom fighters. He has maintained an open relationship with the terrorist group since 2006, supplying them with diplomatic, logistical and even military support. In fact, back in July, Israel foiled a Hamas terrorist attack orchestrated from Turkey, capturing five terrorists who attested to receiving Turkish military training, weaponry and cash. Turkey now hosts Hamas’s leaders after they were expelled from Qatar.
Erdoğan even threatened to invade the Jewish state, saying, “Just as we entered Karabakh (an enclave in Azerbaijan), just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them (Israel).” He has made similar threats against Greece and Cyprus, the former of which is a member of NATO. Both are also European Union members.
Turkey abandons its staunch pro-Western, pro-Israel and anti-Islamist past. Erdoğan has transformed his country into an ally of Islamists, and he seems determined to restore the caliphate of centuries past at the expense of Israel, the United States and the rest of the Western world.
If Turkey continues to thwart U.S. interests and threaten our allies, then Congress and the president should consider economic sanctions, an increased U.S. military presence and stepped-up diplomatic pressure through NATO allies.
While Israel has fewer options, it must aggressively defend its position and options on the border with Syria, as well as attack any attempts by Iran, Hezbollah or the new Syrian leaders that jeopardize the Jewish state’s security.
Originally published by Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME).
JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE MOUNT BELONG TO THE JEWS
Jerusalem doesn’t belong to you, President Erdoğan
The Waqf’s own guide recognizes, that the Jews and Holy Temple were there long before the Arabs began their occupation of Jerusalem.
By Leonard Grunstein
JNS
Dec 31, 2024
In response to loud chants of “Mr. President, take us to Jerusalem” from a crowd of young people in Mardin, Turkey, during a Dec. 22 speech, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shockingly responded, “Patience brings victory,” instead of chiding the crowd about their inappropriate demand.
Lest there be any misunderstanding about the intent of this exchange, Erdoğan has implied a number of times since 2020 that Jerusalem belongs to Turkey. Indeed, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, Erdoğan’s coalition partner, in an address the very next day, reportedly declared that the goal was for Turkey to take Jerusalem. This is in line with the resurgent neo-Ottoman posture of Erdoğan.
By way of background, the Land of Israel, including Jerusalem, was conquered and controlled by the Ottoman Empire, with Istanbul as its capital from 1517 to 1917.
The Ottoman Empire was on the losing side of World War I, and under the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920, portions of its former empire were ceded to the victorious allies to establish or reconstitute sovereign states. One such reconstituted country was the Jewish State of Israel, and Article 95 of the Treaty laid the groundwork for its re-establishment within boundaries to be determined by the Principal Allied Powers. The Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 with Turkey, in effect, reaffirmed the foregoing, as detailed in the San Remo Resolution of 1920 and unanimously adopted by the League of Nations in 1922. The United States also confirmed it in the Anglo-American Convention of 1924.
In summary, under treaties to which the Ottoman Empire and Turkey are bound and under international law, the Jewish people’s right to return to their homeland of Israel (then called Palestine), join fellow brethren there and reconstitute the Jewish State there was recognized. As Winston Churchill stated in 1922, the Jews had returned to Palestine “as of right and not by sufferance, and that this was based on their ancient historical connection.”
Erdoğan’s musings are just another one of the baseless positions circulated by biased sources promoting a false narrative and ideologically motivated revisionist history to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish State of Israel. As a matter of fact and law, the nations of the world in the League of Nations and the United States unanimously confirmed the legal right of the Jewish People to the whole of the area west of the Jordan River, then called Palestine and now known as Israel.
It is suggested that much of the uproar and machinations regarding the Temple Mount are inspired by pseudo-Muslims (not pious ones) with political and ideological driven agendas unrelated to prayer at the Al-Aksa mosque. Instead, it appears they callously tread in the Al-Aksa mosque, clad in shoes, despite the Islamic prohibition against doing so, dressed in inappropriate apparel, like shorts and T-shirts, and without head covering. They also play soccer and conduct other non-prayer activities on the Temple Mount without regard to its sanctity. This includes despoiling the Al-Aksa mosque, throwing rocks, setting off explosive devices, breaking windows, arson and other despicable acts. This abusive behavior by their fellow Muslims should offend the Muslim authorities in charge of the site. Yet, they don’t seem to have taken any actions to prevent a reoccurrence, nor does there appear to be a public outcry against the perpetrators or the laxness of the Muslim authorities.
At the same time, there are all sorts of negative reactions, protests and rancor when non-Muslims quietly and reverently pray elsewhere on the Temple Mount. This is wholly inconsistent with the usual religious sensibilities and kindness practiced by those treasuring the sanctity of a site, be it a synagogue, church, mosque, ashram, Buddhist temple or other place of worship almost anywhere else in the world.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that the Ottoman Empire agreed, pursuant to the Treaty of Paris of 1856 at the end of the Crimean War, that Christians and Jews were legally permitted to pray on the Temple Mount.
It is important to note that the 1925 “A Brief Guide to Al-Haram Al-Sharif” (i.e. the Temple Mount), published by the Supreme Moslem Council, the Waqf, refers to the seminal Jewish link to the Temple Mount (citing Samuel II, 24:25), saying this, too, is the spot, according to the universal belief, on which “David built there an Altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.”
The pseudo-Islamist temple deniers should be universally reviled for their impudent rejection of their own religious traditions and beliefs in favor of absurd propaganda.
The guide also focuses on Muslim history and its first encounter with the Temple Mount and notes that the Muslim period’s starting point is the year 637 CE, when Caliph Omar first occupied Jerusalem. This is a striking rebuke to those who falsely assert that Arab Muslims were indigenous to Jerusalem. As the Waqf’s own guide recognizes, the Jews and their Holy Temple on the Temple Mount were there first. This was more than 1½ millennia before the Arabs arrived and began their occupation of Jerusalem.
The guide also explains that the Dome of the Rock is not a mosque. The actual Arabic name of Qubbat al-Sakhrah is more precisely translated as the dome over the “foundation stone.” This accords with Jewish tradition, which refers to this stone as the Even Shetiyah “foundation stone.” It is where the Holy of Holies portion of the Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple, was located. Hence, the use of the Arabic term al-Quds for the Temple Mount is derived from Bayt Al-Maqdis, which is Arabic for the Hebrew term Beit Hamikdash.
The Al-Aksa mosque is located outside the holy precincts of the Jewish Temple and is situated on the southern extension of the Temple Mount platform built by Herod. As Al-Tabari, a 9th-century respected Muslim historian, explained, this was Omar’s intention so that Muslims would pray towards Mecca, consistent with Islamic practice and not the place of the Jewish temple as required by Jewish custom. In this regard, it should be noted that 13th-century Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya declared about the site of the Dome of the Rock: “Men of knowledge who were companions or followers of the Prophet chose the best path and did not exalt the Rock, because it is a quibla mansukha, like the Sabbath, … so too, the Rock is exalted only by Jews and some Christians.”
It is astonishing that the words of this noted Sunni scholar are simply and callously ignored in favor of the dictates of political ideology by Erdoğan.
As to Erdoğan’s other fatuous remarks about Jerusalem, pictures are worth a thousand words. Just view photographs of the Temple Mount in the 19th century when the Ottoman Empire controlled the area. These photos show an abandoned site with the Dome of the Rock and other structures in disrepair. They do not depict what might be expected if this were indeed a highly venerated site, important to the Muslim religion, which, after all, was the official and dominant religion of the Ottoman Empire that occupied and was in firm control of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, at the time.
Jerusalem does not belong to Turkey, and Erdoğan’s apparent aspirations to re-create a neo-Ottoman colonial empire are nothing more than a dystopian nightmare.
Israel is a blessing to the world. Turkey should genuinely join the circle of peace under the Abraham Accords and enjoy the shared prosperity and mutual respect it engenders. May the blessings of peace prevail.
EGYPT ISN'T A GENUINE FRIEND OF THE UNITED STATES AND NEVER WILL BE
Israel must not overlook the threats from Egypt
Egypt is the original home of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the majority of Egyptians hate Israel and would gladly discard the peace treaty with Israel if given a choice.
By Joseph Puder
JNS
Dec 31, 2024
In a move by the outgoing Biden administration that could only be interpreted as detrimental to Israel, the U.S. government sold Egypt some $5 billion in military hardware. The arms were offensive weapons that could only be aimed against the Jewish state. Egypt may not be Iran in terms of its hostility towards Israel and the United States, but its relationships with Iran, China and Russia have been gradually warming, while the Egyptians have been protective of Hamas in its war against Israel. Equally troubling, Egypt and Qatar have been the United States’s “go-to” countries in the Israeli hostage negotiations. Egyptian and Qatari elites and their “streets” consider Israel to be their chief enemy.
Let’s begin with the “cold peace” that Egypt initiated against Israel soon after the 1979 peace treaty that has, in recent years, turned even “colder.” In the interim, Egypt has been building up its military forces in the Sinai Peninsula, which is a violation of the Camp David Peace Accords. Egypt is also building tunnels across the Suez Canal to ferry its troops in what might be a surprise attack against Israel. Cairo has quadrupled its arms storage facilities along the canal, once again for use against Israel.
The Egyptian government mouthpiece, Al-Ahram, reported on Dec. 21 that the U.S. State Department “informed Congress it had approved the sale of $4.69 billion in equipment for 555 U.S.-made M1A1 Abrams tanks possessed by Egypt, $630 million for 2,183 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and $30 million in precision-guided munitions. The sale ‘will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a Major Non-NATO Ally country that continues to be an important strategic partner in the Middle East.’ ”
The State Department’s argument that the sale of weapons to Egypt is “to help improve the security of a major non-NATO ally” is ridiculous. Who exactly is threatening Egypt’s security? It is not Sudan, Libya or Ethiopia. Do President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken believe that Israel is threatening Egypt’s security? This ill-conceived idea is one that directly threatens Israel.
Geopolitically, the Middle East today resembles the historic competition of the 19th-century European powers. Egypt isn’t saddened by the damage Israel inflicted on Shi’ite Iran and Hezbollah. At the same time, Egypt would like to bring Israel down and emerge as a dominant regional power. Egypt and Iran have stepped up their diplomatic contacts since Hamas launched its war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was in Cairo recently for the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation summit (which includes Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and its most recent member, Azerbaijan). It was the first time in more than a decade that an Iranian president was in attendance in Egypt.
The incoming Trump administration needs to keep a watchful eye on the ever-closer relations Egypt is developing with China, Russia and Iran. They also need to weigh not just the recent Biden administration’s package to Egypt but that it receives $1.3 billion annually in U.S. aid and received $235 million of military aid in 2023. All of this despite Egypt’s dismal human rights record.
According to a 2021 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and cited by the Eurasia Review, Egypt spent $15 billion on weapons purchases between 2014 and 2017, 60% of which were purchased from Russia. In the summer of 2020, Egypt received five Su-35 aircraft despite a threat of sanctions by the United States. In addition to not following through on sanctions, the United States has continued to send Egypt economic and military aid.
Egypt’s ruling circles see Russia as a key foreign-policy ally even though Egypt has been one of America’s most important partners in the region for the past five decades. Cultivating good relations with Moscow is an important pillar of Egypt’s foreign policy. Egyptians believe that strategic relations with Russia will help their country balance relations with other major powers, primarily the United States and the European Union, which have criticized Egypt for its human-rights violations. Unlike his American and European counterparts, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not concerned about issues of human rights and democracy in Egypt or elsewhere.
The results of a Washington Institute poll show that a majority of Egyptians view relations with China as more important than relations with the United States. In 2014, the two countries signed a “strategic partnership agreement,” promising cooperation in the fields of defense, technology, the economy, counterterrorism and fighting cybercrimes. During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Egypt in 2016, 21 more agreements were signed, including an agreement for $15 billion of Chinese investment in various projects.
China mediated a peace agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which then encouraged Egyptian President Fattah Abdel el-Sisi to tighten relations with China. As noted, Chinese influence in Egypt extends beyond the economic sphere.
Egypt isn’t a genuine friend of the United States and never will be. Egypt is the original home of the Muslim Brotherhood. The majority of Egyptians hate Israel and would gladly discard the peace treaty with Israel if given a choice. That same majority sympathizes with the Muslim Brotherhood. What happened to Bashar Assad in Syria might happen to el-Sisi. A revolution engineered by the Muslim Brotherhood that removes el-Sisi isn’t a farfetched scenario. But in the case of Egypt, billions of dollars of sophisticated U.S. arms and dollars would fall into the wrong hands.
In the Bible (Isaiah 36:6), the prophet Isaiah warns against trusting Egypt as a friend or ally. As it is written, “Behold you have depended upon the support of this splintered reed, upon Egypt, upon which a man will lean, and it will go into his palm and puncture it; so is Pharaoh the king of Egypt to all who trust in him.”
El-Sisi may not be a pharaoh, but Egypt is still a broken reed not to be trusted.
I'VE ORDERED THEIR CHOPPED LIVER ..... COSTLY, BUT VERY GOOD
Feds settle with Katz’s Deli over ADA violations
The kosher-style restaurant agreed to pay a $20,000 fine and improve its facilities for disabled people.
JNS
Dec 31, 2024
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Monday that it settled a lawsuit with Katz’s Deli over violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act at the Lower East Side landmark.
The kosher-style restaurant agreed to pay a $20,000 fine and improve its facilities for disabled people through a consent decree.
“The main entrance of Katz’s Deli is not accessible, the restaurant does not provide sufficient dining surfaces for persons with disabilities and despite having been renovated in 2018, its restrooms fail to comply with the ADA,” the U.S. attorney’s office stated.
“Notably, the consent decree provides for staff to assist individuals with disabilities in using the main public entrance, ensures that the required number of accessible dining surfaces are provided and requires renovations to the men’s and women’s restrooms at Katz’s Deli,” the Justice Department stated.
Founded in 1888 as Iceland Brothers across the street from the current deli location, Katz’s bills itself as New York City’s oldest deli and is famous for its towering pastrami-on-rye sandwiches, matzah ball soup and other Ashkenazi staples in what was once the center of Eastern European Jewish migration to the United States.
It is also widely known for its depiction in the 1989 comedy “When Harry Met Sally….”
“During World War II, the three sons of the owners were all serving their country in the armed forces, and the family tradition of sending food to their sons became the company slogan ‘send a salami to your boy in the Army,’” per Katz’s site.
“During the peak of the Yiddish theater, the restaurant was forever filled with actors, singers and comedians from the many theaters on 2nd Avenue, as well as the National Theater on Houston Street,” it adds. “Although the age of the Yiddish theater has passed, Katz’s still has its fair share of famous customers, whose photos now line our walls.”
The U.S. attorney’s office said that its deal with Katz’s brings to a close its 13-year “Manhattan Restaurants ADA Compliance Initiative,” which evaluated the accessibility of the 50 most popular restaurants in the borough, as rated by the 2011 Zagat guide.
NEW WONDERFULNESS FROM THE FORMERLY GREAT STATE OF CALIFORNIA
By Bob Walsh
HE KNEW I WAS DANGEROUS AND HE CAME AROUND ANYWAY, SO IT'S HIS OWN FAULT HE'S DEAD
By Bob Walsh
Khalid Williams
Monday, December 30, 2024
BURGLARY IS A LESS DANGEROUS OCCUPATION IN STATES WITH STRICT GUN CONTROL LAWS
Florida sheriff's no-nonsense response when asked about homeowner who shot and killed burglar
By Noa Halff
Daily Mail
Dec 30, 2024
Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells spoke at a news conference after a dramatic Thursday night confrontation that left one burglar dead and another in custody. 'This is the state of Florida. If you want to break into someone's home, you should expect to be shot,' he said
A Florida sheriff delivered a no-nonsense message after a homeowner fatally shot an armed intruder.
Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells spoke at a news conference after a dramatic Thursday night confrontation that left one burglar dead and another in custody.
The incident occurred around 9pm when a homeowner spotted two masked men on his surveillance cameras.
He reacted promptly - ordering his wife to safety before arming himself with a gun.
He was able to shoot one of the suspects, while the other ran away, and was later caught by police. Both suspects were revealed to be illegal migrants whose visas had expired, as reported by Fox13.
'This is the state of Florida. If you want to break into someone's home, you should expect to be shot,' Sheriff Wells boldly announced at a Friday press conference.
The dead intruder was identified as Jorge Nestevan Flores-Toledo, 27, from Mexico, who also went by Anibal Miller-Valencia.
He was rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds but died Friday morning.
The homeowner fired at least three shots.
The second suspect was identified as Michel Soto-Mella, 39, from Chile. He was found by the homeowner climbing into the window before backing away and running off.
Police found him a couple blocks from the homeowner's house. Soto-Mella was arrested and charged with armed burglary.
He is currently in police custody. Further charges are pending, according to police.
The second suspect was identified as Michel Soto-Mella, 39, from Chile. He was arrested and charged with armed burglary
Wells praised the quick-thinking actions of the victim.
'He knew something bad was about to happen, and he didn't stall. He grabbed his firearm, told his wife to get into a safe spot,' he said.
We're
trying to get everything that we can from the [surviving] suspect,'
Wells said. 'He's being somewhat cooperative, but he's not telling us
everything.'
BIDEN HAS TROUBLE PAYING TRIBUTE TO JIMMY CARTER
President Joe Biden sputtered his way through a nine-minute appearance Sunday night in St. Croix to pay tribute to the late President Jimmy Carter.
Biden's coughing and sluggish delivery reinforced concerns about the 82-year-old president's declining cognitive abilities.
The president's health has been back in the news since The Wall Street Journal published a story on December 19 on how aides dealt with a 'diminished' president throughout his entire term.
The report revealed that aides would have to repeat obvious instructions to Biden – such as where to exit a stage.
President-elect Donald Trump would often mock Biden getting lost during his own rallies on the 2024 campaign trail.
The Journal also said that Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, who co-chaired Biden's doomed 2024 campaign, had been tasked with finding the president a voice coach to improve his 'fading warble' as the newspaper put it.
The fading warble was fully apparent during Biden's remarks to the traveling press about the death of Carter Sunday night.
As Biden's term draws to a close, pundits and journalists have questioned whether media coverage of the president properly scrutinized what the White House was saying about his health.
DailyMail.com, throughout Biden's presidency, has chronicled the president's frequent bumbles and stumbles, which should have served as a clue that something was going awry.
But most Americans – and even a former White House aide – were shocked by Biden's poor performance in the late June presidential debate in Atlanta against Trump, the event that – less than a month later – prompted the Democrat to drop out.
Biden's successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, would go on to lose the presidential election.
On Fox News Sunday guest Cal Thomas said journalists were the biggest losers of 2024 for 'covering up' the president's condition.
'They covered up for Biden's mental acuity decline,' Thomas railed.
He also blasted journalists for not taking the Hunter Biden laptop seriously – which DailyMail.com authenticated – believing instead the 50-plus intelligence officials who pushed that the laptop was Russian disinformation in the weeks prior to the 2020 election.
'The media followed all of this,' Thomas said. 'And I think it's a disgrace to the profession that I've been a part of for a half a century. And I wish that we get some new blood in the media to actually practice journalism instead of practicing politics.'
CBS' Chief Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford also blasted outlets for failing to cover Biden's decline.
Biden's coughing and sluggish delivery reinforced concerns about the 82-year-old president's declining cognitive abilities
She was asked during a roundtable discussion on Sunday's Face the Nation what the most under-covered story of 2024 was.
'That would be, to me, Joe Biden's obvious cognitive decline that became undeniable in a televised debate,' she answered. 'Unquestioned.'
'It's starting to emerge now that his advisers kind of managed his limitations, which has been reported in The Wall Street Journal, for four years,' Crawford went on.
At the same time, she noted, Biden 'insisted that he could still run for president.'
'We should have much more forcefully questioned whether he was fit for office for another four years, which could have led to a primary for the Democrats,' Crawford noted. 'It could have changed the scope of the entire election.'
Self-help guru Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips were among the Democrats who mounted challenges against Biden, with Phillips specifically warning about polling that showed a real wariness to elect someone the president's age to another four-year term.
But other Democrats with presidential ambitions deferred to the elderly commander in chief, giving him an easy path to the 2024 nomination.
Crawford then pointed to a more recent report in which The Washington Post quoted aides who said Biden believed he could have beaten Trump had he stayed in the race.
'Still, incredibly, we read in The Washington Post that his advisers are saying that he regrets that he dropped out of the race, that he thinks he could have beaten Trump,' Crawford said. 'And I think that is either delusional or they're gaslighting the American people.'
The White House continues to push that Biden's cognitive health is fine.
Spokesperson Andrew Bates wouldn't substantiate the Journal's reporting and instead touted that Biden 'earned the most accomplished record of any modern commander in chief and rebuilt the middle class because of his attention to policy details that impact millions of lives.'
White House spokespeople have also pointed to the president's childhood stutter and blamed his disastrous debate performance on Biden having a cold.