Hitler's secret history revealed: Study suggests Nazi leader's grandfather was Jewish
By Chris Ciaccia
Fox News
August 6, 2019
For years, the rumor existed that Adolf Hitler's paternal grandfather was Jewish, but the claim went unsubstantiated. Now, a new study suggests that the grandfather of the Nazi leader was indeed Jewish.
Published in the Journal of European Studies, the study, authored by family physician and psychologist Dr. Leonard Sax, refutes claims made by the German historian, Nikolaus von Preradovich, who said: "'Not a single Jew’ (kein einziger Jude) was living in Graz prior to 1856."
"Drawing on evidence from Austrian archives from the 1800s, Dr. Sax documents that there was in fact a settled community of Jews living in Graz before 1850," a press release accompanying the study states. "And, Dr. Sax presents overwhelming evidence that Preradovich was a Nazi sympathizer who was offended by the suggestion that Adolf Hitler was a Vierteljude (a one-quarter Jew)."
"No independent scholarship has confirmed Preradovich’s conjecture," the study's abstract adds.
The claim that Hitler had Jewish ancestry was first put forth by his personal lawyer, Hans Frank. In 1930, 16 years prior to his execution at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Frank claimed to have uncovered evidence that Hitler's paternal grandfather was a Jewish man living in Graz, Austria.
Frank's claims were eventually published in 1953, as part of his memoirs, after he had been executed for committing war crimes.
According to The Sun, Frank uncovered evidence that Hitler's grandfather lived in the same house where Hitler's grandmother, Maria Anna Schicklgruber, lived.
Little is known about Schicklgruber until she turned 42. She eventually gave birth to her son, Alois Hitler in 1837, and refused to divulge the details of his father. The priest eventually baptized him Alois Schicklgruber and entered "illegitimate" on the baptismal register.
Schicklgruber later married Johann Georg Hiedler and her last name was changed to Hitler from Schicklgruber, according to the book "The Making of Adolf Hitler." It is unclear why her name was changed to Hitler and not Hiedler. She died in 1847 in Lower Austria.
Rumors first came to light that Hitler had Jewish ancestry while the Nazi leader was still in power in the 1930s. He ordered the SS to investigate the claims and they supposedly found no evidence of any Jewish links.
In 1937, Hitler ordered genealogist Rudolf Koppensteiner to publish a family tree that showed all of his ancestors to be Austrian Germans, The Sun added.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Us Jews don’t claim Hitler, you Christians are welcome to him!
Wednesday, August 07, 2019
INCOME TAX LAWSUITS FILED
by Bob Walsh
Donald Trump personally, the California Republican Party, the National Republican Party and a group of four specified Republican registered voters have all filed suit in federal court against the formerly great state of California over the idiotic and clearly unconstitutional requirement that persons running for President on the primary ballot MUST supply their last five years of income tax returns for public scrutiny to be placed on the ballot.
I am not a lawyer I don't even play one on TV. That being said I am having a hard time seeing how this is remotely constitutional.
Donald Trump personally, the California Republican Party, the National Republican Party and a group of four specified Republican registered voters have all filed suit in federal court against the formerly great state of California over the idiotic and clearly unconstitutional requirement that persons running for President on the primary ballot MUST supply their last five years of income tax returns for public scrutiny to be placed on the ballot.
I am not a lawyer I don't even play one on TV. That being said I am having a hard time seeing how this is remotely constitutional.
RECYCLING BITES THE BIG WEENIE
by Bob Walsh
The largest bottle and can recycling operation in the formerly great state of Californai, rePlanet, shut down its entire operation Monday, closing down 284 locations and sacking 750 workers.
The crashing value of the product and the increased minimum wage and insurance requirements was cited as the cause.
In 2018 residents of the state paid out about $1.5 billion in deposits on cans and bottles. About 50% of this was redeemed.
The largest bottle and can recycling operation in the formerly great state of Californai, rePlanet, shut down its entire operation Monday, closing down 284 locations and sacking 750 workers.
The crashing value of the product and the increased minimum wage and insurance requirements was cited as the cause.
In 2018 residents of the state paid out about $1.5 billion in deposits on cans and bottles. About 50% of this was redeemed.
OPPORTUNISTIC RAPACIOUS BASTARDS
by Bob Walsh
That is a functional definition of the legislature of the formerly great state of California. There are democrap supermajorities in both houses. All constitutional offices are democraps. The Republicans, are, at best, a chihuahua nipping at the heels of a pack of jackals.
Among other reactions of this august body of scumbags is a reintroduced plan to institute a $25 transfer tax on all firearms purchases, and an additional sales tax on small arms ammunition. These taxes will, at least in theory, go to the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Programs.
"While Washington refuses to take action, California can take a bold step forward to end gun violence. A $25 tax on firearms is a small amount for gun owners to pay to stem the tragic violence guns inflict on innocent Californians and will create a permanent and desperately needed funding source to reduce gun violence in our state."
The assholes who are pimping for this are a little fuzzy about exactly how extracting more money from honest,, law abiding gun owners is going to "stem the tragic violence" and the assertion that guns inflict this tragic violence is obvious horseshit. I am fairly certain that never in the history of the formerly great state of California has a gun ever inflicted violence on anybody. People using guns have on occasion done so. The guns don't do so by themselves.
But why let a good crisis go to waste. Truth be damned.
That is a functional definition of the legislature of the formerly great state of California. There are democrap supermajorities in both houses. All constitutional offices are democraps. The Republicans, are, at best, a chihuahua nipping at the heels of a pack of jackals.
Among other reactions of this august body of scumbags is a reintroduced plan to institute a $25 transfer tax on all firearms purchases, and an additional sales tax on small arms ammunition. These taxes will, at least in theory, go to the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Programs.
"While Washington refuses to take action, California can take a bold step forward to end gun violence. A $25 tax on firearms is a small amount for gun owners to pay to stem the tragic violence guns inflict on innocent Californians and will create a permanent and desperately needed funding source to reduce gun violence in our state."
The assholes who are pimping for this are a little fuzzy about exactly how extracting more money from honest,, law abiding gun owners is going to "stem the tragic violence" and the assertion that guns inflict this tragic violence is obvious horseshit. I am fairly certain that never in the history of the formerly great state of California has a gun ever inflicted violence on anybody. People using guns have on occasion done so. The guns don't do so by themselves.
But why let a good crisis go to waste. Truth be damned.
GALVESTON HAS SOME VERY STUPID COPS OR A VERY STUPID MOUNTIE ARREST TECHNIQUE POLICY
Handcuffed black man is led by rope down street by cops on horseback
CBS News
August 6, 2019
GALVESTON, Texas -- The Galveston Police Department is apologizing for the way officers arrested a black man over the weekend, CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV reported. The department said two officers arrested a 43-year-old man for criminal trespass in downtown Galveston.
The man was handcuffed and a rope was clipped to the handcuffs before he was led walking down the street by the two officers on horseback. Police say he was being taken to a Mounted Patrol Unit staging area.
A photo of the arrest was taken and shared on social media. It shows the man with his hands behind his back, walking between the horses and the officers, with one of the officers holding the blue rope.
"While this technique of using mounted horses to transport a person during an arrest is considered a best practice in certain scenarios, such as during crowd control, the practice was not used correctly in this instance," the department said.
The officers involved were apparently familiar with the man and had been told that he'd been warned against trespassing at the location several times.
Galveston Police Chief Vernon L. Hale, III said in a statement Monday that, "First and foremost, I must apologize to (the man arrested) for this unnecessary embarrassment. Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest. My officers did not have any malicious intent at the time of the arrest, but we have immediately changed the policy to prevent the use of this technique and will review all mounted training and procedures for more appropriate methods."
"We understand the negative perception of this action and believe it is most appropriate to cease the use of this technique."
There was no word on whether any disciplinary action is being taken against the officers.
EDITOR’S NOTE; The photo started a shitstorm of social media comments saying it evokes connotations of slavery and civil rights issues.
The Daily Mail identified the Galveston mounties as Officer Patrick Brosch and Officer A. Smith.
Quick, git a rope!
CBS News
August 6, 2019
GALVESTON, Texas -- The Galveston Police Department is apologizing for the way officers arrested a black man over the weekend, CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV reported. The department said two officers arrested a 43-year-old man for criminal trespass in downtown Galveston.
The man was handcuffed and a rope was clipped to the handcuffs before he was led walking down the street by the two officers on horseback. Police say he was being taken to a Mounted Patrol Unit staging area.
A photo of the arrest was taken and shared on social media. It shows the man with his hands behind his back, walking between the horses and the officers, with one of the officers holding the blue rope.
"While this technique of using mounted horses to transport a person during an arrest is considered a best practice in certain scenarios, such as during crowd control, the practice was not used correctly in this instance," the department said.
The officers involved were apparently familiar with the man and had been told that he'd been warned against trespassing at the location several times.
Galveston Police Chief Vernon L. Hale, III said in a statement Monday that, "First and foremost, I must apologize to (the man arrested) for this unnecessary embarrassment. Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest. My officers did not have any malicious intent at the time of the arrest, but we have immediately changed the policy to prevent the use of this technique and will review all mounted training and procedures for more appropriate methods."
"We understand the negative perception of this action and believe it is most appropriate to cease the use of this technique."
There was no word on whether any disciplinary action is being taken against the officers.
EDITOR’S NOTE; The photo started a shitstorm of social media comments saying it evokes connotations of slavery and civil rights issues.
The Daily Mail identified the Galveston mounties as Officer Patrick Brosch and Officer A. Smith.
Quick, git a rope!
TOO BAD BIDEN DID NOT SAY SHOOTINGS TOOK PLACE IN HOUSTON AND MICHIGAN DURING A TELEVISED DEBATE
Confused Joe Biden condemns shootings in 'Houston' and 'Michigan' when the deadly massacres actually happened in El Paso and Ohio
Daily Mail
August 5, 2019
When former Vice President Joe Biden commented Sunday night on the weekend's mass-shootings that killed 29 people, he misstated where in the United States they had taken place.
Biden, 76, referred to the rifle massacres as 'the tragic events in Houston today and also in Michigan the day before.' The carnage unfolded Saturday in El Paso, Texas and in the early hours of Sunday morning in Dayton, Ohio.
The Democratic presidential front-runner was speaking to a group of about 75 donors at a high-dollar fundraiser in San Diego.
Biden is a gaffe-prone campaigner; he said last week during a Democratic primary debate that he opposed giving President Trump 'eight more years' in office.
At the Detroit debates last month, Biden said 'eight more years of Trump will change America in a fundamental way.'
The U.S. Constitution limits the president to just one more four-year term.
During a fundraiser in early May, Biden also mixed up then-British Prime Minister Theresa May with Margaret Thatcher.
Biden was a U.S. Senator for Delaware during the time Thatcher was prime minister.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Biden even had the Dayton shooting occur the day before the Houston shooting.
Daily Mail
August 5, 2019
When former Vice President Joe Biden commented Sunday night on the weekend's mass-shootings that killed 29 people, he misstated where in the United States they had taken place.
Biden, 76, referred to the rifle massacres as 'the tragic events in Houston today and also in Michigan the day before.' The carnage unfolded Saturday in El Paso, Texas and in the early hours of Sunday morning in Dayton, Ohio.
The Democratic presidential front-runner was speaking to a group of about 75 donors at a high-dollar fundraiser in San Diego.
Biden is a gaffe-prone campaigner; he said last week during a Democratic primary debate that he opposed giving President Trump 'eight more years' in office.
At the Detroit debates last month, Biden said 'eight more years of Trump will change America in a fundamental way.'
The U.S. Constitution limits the president to just one more four-year term.
During a fundraiser in early May, Biden also mixed up then-British Prime Minister Theresa May with Margaret Thatcher.
Biden was a U.S. Senator for Delaware during the time Thatcher was prime minister.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Biden even had the Dayton shooting occur the day before the Houston shooting.
DAVID TEMPLE RECONVICTED IN 1999 SHOTGGUN MURDER OF PREGNANT WIFE
Dramatic retrial finds high school football coach, 51, guilty of 1999 murder of his pregnant wife so he could marry his blonde co-worker
Daily Mail
August 6, 2019
A former high school football coach was found guilty for a second time of the 1999 murder of his pregnant wife in Texas.
David Temple, 51, was accused of shooting his wife, Belinda, who was eight months' pregnant when she was killed in 1999.
Temple, who coached at Alief Hastings High School, was found guilty of her murder in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison. However, nine years later the Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction, claiming that prosecutors hid or delayed turning over hundreds of pages of evidence to Temple's defense team, ABC13 reported.
David Temple's re-trial got underway in June 2019. During closing arguments, State prosecutor Lisa Tanner was reported by the Houston Chronicle as saying: 'The circumstances are damning. Only one person could do this.'
He told authorities that he came home from a trip to the park and store with the couple's 3-year-old son and found his wife dead amid an apparent burglary. She was found in the house with a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Prosecutors argued that Temple, who was having an affair with a coworker named Heather Scott, killed Belinda with a close-contact shotgun wound shortly after she arrived home from getting soup for their son who was sick.
Daily Mail
August 6, 2019
A former high school football coach was found guilty for a second time of the 1999 murder of his pregnant wife in Texas.
David Temple, 51, was accused of shooting his wife, Belinda, who was eight months' pregnant when she was killed in 1999.
Temple, who coached at Alief Hastings High School, was found guilty of her murder in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison. However, nine years later the Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction, claiming that prosecutors hid or delayed turning over hundreds of pages of evidence to Temple's defense team, ABC13 reported.
David Temple's re-trial got underway in June 2019. During closing arguments, State prosecutor Lisa Tanner was reported by the Houston Chronicle as saying: 'The circumstances are damning. Only one person could do this.'
He told authorities that he came home from a trip to the park and store with the couple's 3-year-old son and found his wife dead amid an apparent burglary. She was found in the house with a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Prosecutors argued that Temple, who was having an affair with a coworker named Heather Scott, killed Belinda with a close-contact shotgun wound shortly after she arrived home from getting soup for their son who was sick.
WHAT MORE CAN CALIFORNIA DO TO PREVENT MASS SHOOTINGS? ….. FALL OFF INTO THE OCEAN!
California Ammo Check Law Blocked 100 Sales In First Month
LAPPL News Watch
August 6, 2019
California’s new ammunition background check law in its first month stopped more than 100 people from buying bullets illegally, officials said late Monday as they struggled to deter more of the mass shootings that have roiled California and other states over the last week.
“Countless other prohibited persons were likely deterred from even trying to purchase ammunition that they cannot lawfully possess,” Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a court filing. He disclosed the early results in response to a gun owners’ rights group attempt to block the law that took effect July 1.
A federal judge is expected to decide later this month whether to halt the law as a violation of the Second Amendment right to bear arms and other federal laws.
The filing came as Gov. Gavin Newsom said the federal government should follow California’s lead in requiring background checks for ammunition buyers. “Guns don’t kill people,” Newsom said, noting that it also requires ammunition.
The Democratic governor convened a 90-minute emergency meeting with Becerra and several dozen law enforcement leaders, community members, civil rights leaders, researchers and emergency responders to grapple with what more the state can do to prevent mass shootings.
LAPPL News Watch
August 6, 2019
California’s new ammunition background check law in its first month stopped more than 100 people from buying bullets illegally, officials said late Monday as they struggled to deter more of the mass shootings that have roiled California and other states over the last week.
“Countless other prohibited persons were likely deterred from even trying to purchase ammunition that they cannot lawfully possess,” Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a court filing. He disclosed the early results in response to a gun owners’ rights group attempt to block the law that took effect July 1.
A federal judge is expected to decide later this month whether to halt the law as a violation of the Second Amendment right to bear arms and other federal laws.
The filing came as Gov. Gavin Newsom said the federal government should follow California’s lead in requiring background checks for ammunition buyers. “Guns don’t kill people,” Newsom said, noting that it also requires ammunition.
The Democratic governor convened a 90-minute emergency meeting with Becerra and several dozen law enforcement leaders, community members, civil rights leaders, researchers and emergency responders to grapple with what more the state can do to prevent mass shootings.
MEXICANS NAB MILLIONAIRE MURDERER WHO WAS ON THE 15 MOST WANTED FUGITIVE LIST OF THE US MARSHALS SERVICE SINCE 2015
SoCal Millionaire Fugitive Charged In Death Of His Wife Is Captured In Mexico
LAPPL News Watch
August 6, 2019
A Southern California millionaire fugitive sought after he was charged in the 2012 death of his wife was arrested late Sunday in Mexico and is now in the hands of U.S. authorities, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.
Peter Chadwick, a wealthy real estate investor, had been arrested and charged in the death of his wife at their Newport Beach home in October 2012. Her body was found in a trash bin in San Diego County.
Chadwick had claimed wife Quee Chadwick was kidnapped and killed by a handyman, according to the US Marshals Service, which placed him on its 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list. The agency said Chadwick claimed he was kidnapped and forced to drive to Mexico to dump his wife's body.
After his release on a $1.5 million bond as he awaited trial, Chadwick failed to appear for a January 2015 court hearing. He had surrendered his British and American passports and agreed to live with his father, "a wealthy investor," in Santa Barbara.
LAPPL News Watch
August 6, 2019
A Southern California millionaire fugitive sought after he was charged in the 2012 death of his wife was arrested late Sunday in Mexico and is now in the hands of U.S. authorities, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.
Peter Chadwick, a wealthy real estate investor, had been arrested and charged in the death of his wife at their Newport Beach home in October 2012. Her body was found in a trash bin in San Diego County.
Chadwick had claimed wife Quee Chadwick was kidnapped and killed by a handyman, according to the US Marshals Service, which placed him on its 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list. The agency said Chadwick claimed he was kidnapped and forced to drive to Mexico to dump his wife's body.
After his release on a $1.5 million bond as he awaited trial, Chadwick failed to appear for a January 2015 court hearing. He had surrendered his British and American passports and agreed to live with his father, "a wealthy investor," in Santa Barbara.
IN ATTEMPTING TO SAVE HIS THRONE, JORDAN’S KING TURNS AGAINST ISRAEL
How King Abdullah II is Working to Undermine Peace With Israel
By Yochanan Visser
Israel Today
August 5, 2019
Several Israeli media outlets reported over the weekend that Jordanian King Abdullah II had turned-down a request for an urgent meeting from Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.
The report appeared to be not true according to Israeli Government officials who responded to an inquiry by this reporter.
Still, if the report isn’t true indeed Netanyahu would have had good reason to ask for the meeting because the Jordanian leader increasingly appears to behave not as a ‘peace partner’, but as a foe of Israel.
As we reported last week the King recently met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in Amman reportedly to coordinate moves ahead of the publication of US President Donald Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ the new out-of-the-box approach to the Palestinian Israeli conflict.
“According to Arab sources who sent this reporter classified information about the deliberations between the two leaders a strategy was discussed which would undermine Trump’s peace plan and increase the pressure on Israel. Both Abdullah and Abbas are facing increasing domestic opposition against the way they handle the severe problems in Jordan and the territories under PA control. To divert attention Abbas and Abdullah reportedly decided to play the el-Aqsa card and are waiting for an opportunity, for example, a visit by an Israeli or American official to the Temple Mount, to stir severe unrest in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” we wrote last week.
By creating an artificial crisis over the el-Aqsa mosque Abdullah and Abbas could save their regimes and at the same time drive a wedge in the emerging Sunni Arab coalition of countries who are cooperating with Israel and the US to change the approach toward the conflict.
It’s a known fact that King Abdullah II is trying to change the relationship with Israel and not for the better.
At the beginning of this year, the Jordanian leader decided to team-up with Abbas in an attempt to foil an Israeli plan which aims to significantly improve living conditions in the Arab parts of Jerusalem and to change the matriculation programs at Arab schools in the city.
At the end of 2018, Abdullah decided not to extend the Israeli lease of two parcels of land adjacent to the border with Israel by pulling out of two annexes of the 1994 peace agreement with the Jewish state.
The decision was taken after escalating domestic pressure to re-take the enclaves and to scale-down the relationship with Israel.
The Jordanian King also uses Jerusalem to stir-up anger at home and uses harsh language to denounce Israel’s policies in its capital and to underline the Muslim claim on the city.
“Jerusalem and the future of Palestine are a red line for Jordan. I don’t think I can make it any clearer… As a Hashemite, how could I (possibly) relinquish Jerusalem? That is impossible. It is a red line. (I say) a resounding no to (relinquishing) Jerusalem,” he said at the end of March sounding a lot like Abbas.
The peace treaty with Israel has in essence been an agreement between the Hashemite Kingdom and the Jewish state and not between the Jordanian people and Israel but that seems to have been changed now
Even Jordanian ministers openly show their hatred for Israel as was proven by Information Minister Jumana Ghneimat who in January 2019 walked across a large Israeli flag at the entrance of the Professional Unions complex in Amman.
Recently the Jordanian authorities took new anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli measures.
Globes reported in June that tourists entering Jordan were no longer allowed to bring with them items with Jewish symbols on it.
The Jordanians claimed the measure was related to ‘security’ but Israeli officials didn’t buy this claim and said it was a “grave phenomenon” which aroused anger and disappointment among tourists.
On Thursday last week, Jordan’s government decided to shut down Aaron’s Tomb near Petra after a large group of Israelis “illegally prayed” at the site according to Jordanian Waqf Minister Abdul Nasser Musa Abu al-Basal.
Al-Basal justified the move by saying that the Israelis had committed “violations” at the site and had performed “rituals without knowledge of the ministry.”
Jordanian media claimed that the Israeli visitors had performed “Talmudic religious ceremonies” at the site of the tomb.
However, Rony Ayalon, a tour guide accompanying the large group of Israelis said that the Jordanian authorities had humiliated the group and forced them to remove yarmulkes and head coverings.
“They stripped everyone down. Women had their head coverings removed, men had their kippas (yarmulkes) taken off…anyone found with a religious characteristic had it confiscated,” Ayalon told reporters.
He insisted no prayers were recited at the site a claim which turned out to be true after video’s of the incident were posted on social media.
Media claims that Jordanian social media users were outraged by what a Jordanian official dubbed Israeli “hooliganism” weren’t true either.
Comments from ordinary Jordanians condemned the Abdullah regime for creating a “scapegoat”.
By Yochanan Visser
Israel Today
August 5, 2019
Several Israeli media outlets reported over the weekend that Jordanian King Abdullah II had turned-down a request for an urgent meeting from Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.
The report appeared to be not true according to Israeli Government officials who responded to an inquiry by this reporter.
Still, if the report isn’t true indeed Netanyahu would have had good reason to ask for the meeting because the Jordanian leader increasingly appears to behave not as a ‘peace partner’, but as a foe of Israel.
As we reported last week the King recently met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in Amman reportedly to coordinate moves ahead of the publication of US President Donald Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ the new out-of-the-box approach to the Palestinian Israeli conflict.
“According to Arab sources who sent this reporter classified information about the deliberations between the two leaders a strategy was discussed which would undermine Trump’s peace plan and increase the pressure on Israel. Both Abdullah and Abbas are facing increasing domestic opposition against the way they handle the severe problems in Jordan and the territories under PA control. To divert attention Abbas and Abdullah reportedly decided to play the el-Aqsa card and are waiting for an opportunity, for example, a visit by an Israeli or American official to the Temple Mount, to stir severe unrest in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” we wrote last week.
By creating an artificial crisis over the el-Aqsa mosque Abdullah and Abbas could save their regimes and at the same time drive a wedge in the emerging Sunni Arab coalition of countries who are cooperating with Israel and the US to change the approach toward the conflict.
It’s a known fact that King Abdullah II is trying to change the relationship with Israel and not for the better.
At the beginning of this year, the Jordanian leader decided to team-up with Abbas in an attempt to foil an Israeli plan which aims to significantly improve living conditions in the Arab parts of Jerusalem and to change the matriculation programs at Arab schools in the city.
At the end of 2018, Abdullah decided not to extend the Israeli lease of two parcels of land adjacent to the border with Israel by pulling out of two annexes of the 1994 peace agreement with the Jewish state.
The decision was taken after escalating domestic pressure to re-take the enclaves and to scale-down the relationship with Israel.
The Jordanian King also uses Jerusalem to stir-up anger at home and uses harsh language to denounce Israel’s policies in its capital and to underline the Muslim claim on the city.
“Jerusalem and the future of Palestine are a red line for Jordan. I don’t think I can make it any clearer… As a Hashemite, how could I (possibly) relinquish Jerusalem? That is impossible. It is a red line. (I say) a resounding no to (relinquishing) Jerusalem,” he said at the end of March sounding a lot like Abbas.
The peace treaty with Israel has in essence been an agreement between the Hashemite Kingdom and the Jewish state and not between the Jordanian people and Israel but that seems to have been changed now
Even Jordanian ministers openly show their hatred for Israel as was proven by Information Minister Jumana Ghneimat who in January 2019 walked across a large Israeli flag at the entrance of the Professional Unions complex in Amman.
Recently the Jordanian authorities took new anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli measures.
Globes reported in June that tourists entering Jordan were no longer allowed to bring with them items with Jewish symbols on it.
The Jordanians claimed the measure was related to ‘security’ but Israeli officials didn’t buy this claim and said it was a “grave phenomenon” which aroused anger and disappointment among tourists.
On Thursday last week, Jordan’s government decided to shut down Aaron’s Tomb near Petra after a large group of Israelis “illegally prayed” at the site according to Jordanian Waqf Minister Abdul Nasser Musa Abu al-Basal.
Al-Basal justified the move by saying that the Israelis had committed “violations” at the site and had performed “rituals without knowledge of the ministry.”
Jordanian media claimed that the Israeli visitors had performed “Talmudic religious ceremonies” at the site of the tomb.
However, Rony Ayalon, a tour guide accompanying the large group of Israelis said that the Jordanian authorities had humiliated the group and forced them to remove yarmulkes and head coverings.
“They stripped everyone down. Women had their head coverings removed, men had their kippas (yarmulkes) taken off…anyone found with a religious characteristic had it confiscated,” Ayalon told reporters.
He insisted no prayers were recited at the site a claim which turned out to be true after video’s of the incident were posted on social media.
Media claims that Jordanian social media users were outraged by what a Jordanian official dubbed Israeli “hooliganism” weren’t true either.
Comments from ordinary Jordanians condemned the Abdullah regime for creating a “scapegoat”.
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
IF ONLY SOMEONE HAD BEEN ARMED
The El Paso mass shooting took place in a state that has more than one million concealed carry permit holders and way more people who carry guns illegally
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
August 5, 2019
Every time there is a mass shooting, whether here or abroad, pro-gunners are quick to bemoan, “If only someone had been armed.”
We’ve just had two mass shootings within 12 hours of each other, the first at an El Paso Walmart in which 20 shoppers were killed and the second on a street lined with bars in Dayton, Ohio that left nine people dead.
Let me concentrate on the El Paso shooting. There were more than a thousand shoppers in the Walmart store and many more in the adjoining mall. With more than one million concealed carry permit holders in Texas and way more people who carry guns illegally, it stands to reason that a significant number of the Walmart shoppers were armed when the lone gunman started shooting.
So, what did the armed shoppers do when the gunman started shooting? They ‘jackrabbitted’ in every direction just like everyone else did to get away safely. As for the gunman, he gave up as soon as he was confronted by the police.
I’m a pro-gunner and an ardent defender of the right to bear arms, but I have to laugh every time I hear some idiot say, “If only someone had been armed.” There have been instances in which a private citizen with a gun stopped a gunman from killing other people, but those instances have been almost non-existent.
In response to the 2012 theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the 2015 shooting at a Paris concert hall, I heard the same laments from pro-gunners about the absence of an armed citizen who could have stopped the carnage. I wrote that even if there had been an armed citizen at the venues in Aurora and Paris, he would have to have been within very close proximity of the gunman to have had any chance of stopping him. And I also pointed out that with all the panic-stricken people scurrying in all directions, the armed citizen was more likely to shoot one of them rather than the gunman.
Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to experience more shootings like those in Aurora, El Paso and Dayton. And while some of the shootings will be carried out by home-grown Islamists, almost all of those shootings will be carried out by domestic terrorists of the white supremacist genre.
To stop such shootings, the anti-gunners would disarm America, and barring that, they would ban the possession of semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 and the AK-47 And of course, there is a renewed call for universal background checks despite the fact that Patrick Crusius, the El Paso shooter, obtained his AK-47 style gun legally after passing the required background check..
Crusius issued a 2,300 word anti-immigrant manifest shortly before he began his attack. He worried about Hispanics taking jobs from Americans when automation was eliminating many jobs. He also feared that the growing Hispanic population would turn his ‘beloved’ Texas into a ‘Democratic stronghold.’
As might be expected, the Trump-haters were quick to blame the President for the El Paso and Dayton shootings. Beto O’Rourke directly blamed Trump and Fox News for encouraging mass shootings, saying:
“We've got to acknowledge the hatred, the open racism that we’re seeing. There is an environment of it in the United States. We see it on Fox News, we see it on the internet, but we also see it from our commander-in-chief. He is encouraging this. He doesn’t just tolerate it, he encourages it, calling immigrants rapists and criminals, warning of an invasion on our border …..”
Although his rhetoric is not helpful in reducing or preventing shootings like those in El Paso and Dayton, President Trump is not to blame for these tragedies!
First and foremost, it's the shooter who is to blame. But if you want to lay blame on something other than the perpetrator for mass shootings where the shooter intended to kill Hispanics like Crusius set out to do, then blame the internet. Yes, I said blame the internet. There are a number of neo-Nazi and white supremacist websites that inspire nutjobs to carry out deadly attacks against people they perceive to be a threat to America.
In his manifesto, Crusius said:
“My death is likely inevitable. If I’m not killed by the police, then I’ll probably be gunned down by one of the invaders. Capture in this case if far worse than dying during the shooting because I’ll get the death penalty anyway. Worse still is that I would live knowing that my family despises me. This is why I’m not going to surrender even if I run out of ammo. If I’ m captured, it will be because I was subdued somehow.”
Yeah, right. Crusius surrendered the moment he was confronted by the police.
And in Dayton, the shooter was wasted by the cops within 30 seconds because they happened to be in the immediate vicinity. He was about to enter a crowded nightclub with a rifle equipped with a 100-round drum magazine when he met his end.
So, when the shooting starts, it’s not ‘If only someone had been armed’ that’s going to stop the shooter, it’s the fast response of the police that’s going to do it.
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
August 5, 2019
Every time there is a mass shooting, whether here or abroad, pro-gunners are quick to bemoan, “If only someone had been armed.”
We’ve just had two mass shootings within 12 hours of each other, the first at an El Paso Walmart in which 20 shoppers were killed and the second on a street lined with bars in Dayton, Ohio that left nine people dead.
Let me concentrate on the El Paso shooting. There were more than a thousand shoppers in the Walmart store and many more in the adjoining mall. With more than one million concealed carry permit holders in Texas and way more people who carry guns illegally, it stands to reason that a significant number of the Walmart shoppers were armed when the lone gunman started shooting.
So, what did the armed shoppers do when the gunman started shooting? They ‘jackrabbitted’ in every direction just like everyone else did to get away safely. As for the gunman, he gave up as soon as he was confronted by the police.
I’m a pro-gunner and an ardent defender of the right to bear arms, but I have to laugh every time I hear some idiot say, “If only someone had been armed.” There have been instances in which a private citizen with a gun stopped a gunman from killing other people, but those instances have been almost non-existent.
In response to the 2012 theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the 2015 shooting at a Paris concert hall, I heard the same laments from pro-gunners about the absence of an armed citizen who could have stopped the carnage. I wrote that even if there had been an armed citizen at the venues in Aurora and Paris, he would have to have been within very close proximity of the gunman to have had any chance of stopping him. And I also pointed out that with all the panic-stricken people scurrying in all directions, the armed citizen was more likely to shoot one of them rather than the gunman.
Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to experience more shootings like those in Aurora, El Paso and Dayton. And while some of the shootings will be carried out by home-grown Islamists, almost all of those shootings will be carried out by domestic terrorists of the white supremacist genre.
To stop such shootings, the anti-gunners would disarm America, and barring that, they would ban the possession of semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 and the AK-47 And of course, there is a renewed call for universal background checks despite the fact that Patrick Crusius, the El Paso shooter, obtained his AK-47 style gun legally after passing the required background check..
Crusius issued a 2,300 word anti-immigrant manifest shortly before he began his attack. He worried about Hispanics taking jobs from Americans when automation was eliminating many jobs. He also feared that the growing Hispanic population would turn his ‘beloved’ Texas into a ‘Democratic stronghold.’
As might be expected, the Trump-haters were quick to blame the President for the El Paso and Dayton shootings. Beto O’Rourke directly blamed Trump and Fox News for encouraging mass shootings, saying:
“We've got to acknowledge the hatred, the open racism that we’re seeing. There is an environment of it in the United States. We see it on Fox News, we see it on the internet, but we also see it from our commander-in-chief. He is encouraging this. He doesn’t just tolerate it, he encourages it, calling immigrants rapists and criminals, warning of an invasion on our border …..”
Although his rhetoric is not helpful in reducing or preventing shootings like those in El Paso and Dayton, President Trump is not to blame for these tragedies!
First and foremost, it's the shooter who is to blame. But if you want to lay blame on something other than the perpetrator for mass shootings where the shooter intended to kill Hispanics like Crusius set out to do, then blame the internet. Yes, I said blame the internet. There are a number of neo-Nazi and white supremacist websites that inspire nutjobs to carry out deadly attacks against people they perceive to be a threat to America.
In his manifesto, Crusius said:
“My death is likely inevitable. If I’m not killed by the police, then I’ll probably be gunned down by one of the invaders. Capture in this case if far worse than dying during the shooting because I’ll get the death penalty anyway. Worse still is that I would live knowing that my family despises me. This is why I’m not going to surrender even if I run out of ammo. If I’ m captured, it will be because I was subdued somehow.”
Yeah, right. Crusius surrendered the moment he was confronted by the police.
And in Dayton, the shooter was wasted by the cops within 30 seconds because they happened to be in the immediate vicinity. He was about to enter a crowded nightclub with a rifle equipped with a 100-round drum magazine when he met his end.
So, when the shooting starts, it’s not ‘If only someone had been armed’ that’s going to stop the shooter, it’s the fast response of the police that’s going to do it.
RECORD SET IN THE SECOND CITY
by Bob Walsh
The teeming shithole of Chicago was once known as the Second City in the U.S., behind only NYC. It is now a crime ridden, gang infested, corrupt and incompetent cesspool of liberal democrap administration.
That being said, they did set a record this weekend. They had 55 people shot over the weekend, which is a best for the current calendar year.
Let's hear it for Chicago.
It is, however, not a total waste. The army sends surgeons and medics there for trauma training.
The teeming shithole of Chicago was once known as the Second City in the U.S., behind only NYC. It is now a crime ridden, gang infested, corrupt and incompetent cesspool of liberal democrap administration.
That being said, they did set a record this weekend. They had 55 people shot over the weekend, which is a best for the current calendar year.
Let's hear it for Chicago.
It is, however, not a total waste. The army sends surgeons and medics there for trauma training.
THIS LOOKS LIKE A WORTHY CAUSE
by Bob Walsh
I am a member of IALEFI (International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors). I just got an email from one of the members regarding the National Police Defense Foundation and Officer Jonathan Roselle, South Whitehall Township, PA. He has been sacked and is being prosecuted on what may very well be a politically motivated beef.
Officer Roselle is a veteran. He was a captain in the U. S. Army (so he isn't a dummy) and did two seven months in the sandbox (so he isn't a coward or inclined to over react). He was on active duty for nine years and, at the time of the incident that got him fired, was a major in the PA National Guard.
On July 28 of 2018 he was approached by a hysterical woman reporting an attempted carjack-kidnapping. She directed him to the scene where she believe the bad guy might still be trying to jack somebody.
When he got there he saw Joseph Santos hanging onto the side of a moving car. He saw broken auto window glass at the scene. Santos' arms and hands were cut up. Santos came up to the police car and began banging on the drivers window. Officer Roselle called for backup. Santos jumped on the hood of his car and pounded on the windshield so forcefully he dislodged the dashcam mount.
Roselle originally intended to stay in his car, and said so on the radio. However Santos began to move away so Officer Roselle was fearful that Santos would attack somebody else. He exited the vehicle and Santos turned and moved "briskly" towards the officer, ignoring his orders to stop. By this time Roselle had drawn his duty weapon.
Santos approached to about 10-12 feet. Officer Roselle did not feel he could retreat as that would give Santos access to his vehicle, which had a rifle and a shotgun in it. Santos appeared to be much stronger and larger than Roselle, and seemed to be drugged and impervious to pain. He also did not appear to be afraid of being shot. Roselle did not feel he could successfully engage Santos one on one and so fired five shots, hitting Santos with all five. Santos died. As one might expect, he was drugged out of his mind.
Officer Roselle was fired and is being prosecuted.
The National Police Defense Foundation is attempting to raise funds for his defense. Their address is 21 Kilmer Drive,Bldg 2 Suite F, Morganville, N J, 07751. phone 888-safecop.
Check it out. Give if you feel it worthwhile. (I do, and did.)
I am a member of IALEFI (International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors). I just got an email from one of the members regarding the National Police Defense Foundation and Officer Jonathan Roselle, South Whitehall Township, PA. He has been sacked and is being prosecuted on what may very well be a politically motivated beef.
Officer Roselle is a veteran. He was a captain in the U. S. Army (so he isn't a dummy) and did two seven months in the sandbox (so he isn't a coward or inclined to over react). He was on active duty for nine years and, at the time of the incident that got him fired, was a major in the PA National Guard.
On July 28 of 2018 he was approached by a hysterical woman reporting an attempted carjack-kidnapping. She directed him to the scene where she believe the bad guy might still be trying to jack somebody.
When he got there he saw Joseph Santos hanging onto the side of a moving car. He saw broken auto window glass at the scene. Santos' arms and hands were cut up. Santos came up to the police car and began banging on the drivers window. Officer Roselle called for backup. Santos jumped on the hood of his car and pounded on the windshield so forcefully he dislodged the dashcam mount.
Roselle originally intended to stay in his car, and said so on the radio. However Santos began to move away so Officer Roselle was fearful that Santos would attack somebody else. He exited the vehicle and Santos turned and moved "briskly" towards the officer, ignoring his orders to stop. By this time Roselle had drawn his duty weapon.
Santos approached to about 10-12 feet. Officer Roselle did not feel he could retreat as that would give Santos access to his vehicle, which had a rifle and a shotgun in it. Santos appeared to be much stronger and larger than Roselle, and seemed to be drugged and impervious to pain. He also did not appear to be afraid of being shot. Roselle did not feel he could successfully engage Santos one on one and so fired five shots, hitting Santos with all five. Santos died. As one might expect, he was drugged out of his mind.
Officer Roselle was fired and is being prosecuted.
The National Police Defense Foundation is attempting to raise funds for his defense. Their address is 21 Kilmer Drive,Bldg 2 Suite F, Morganville, N J, 07751. phone 888-safecop.
Check it out. Give if you feel it worthwhile. (I do, and did.)
AND THE LONG KNIVES ARE ALREADY COMING OUT
by Bob Walsh
All of the bodies had not yet been removed from the WalMart in El Paso before the gun haters started screaming GUNS ARE EVIL, GUN OWNERS ARE EVIL, WE NEED MORE GUN CONTROL.
They ignore the fact that the shooters in both El Paso and Dayton legally purchased and owned their guns.
They want to ignore the inconvenience of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States..
They want to stop the ability of private citizens to own certain types or classes of weapons that they don't like. They scream about "semi-automatic assault weapons" a term that has no actual technical definition. They scream about weapons of war, another outright lie. I don't know of ANY modern army that has issued semi-automatic rifles in forty years, maybe more. (Not saying there aren't a few out there somewhere.) They scream about AK-47s (which are machine guns and highly restricted in the U. S. since 1936). They scream about "high capacity magazines" (which are almost always factory standard capacity magazines).
It is really pretty straight forward. A large chunk of the political ruling class in this country hates guns, hates people who own guns and hates people who want to own guns. Some of them (like the governor of California) have a personal tragic story behind their hatred. Others hate the fact that the citizens might be able to defend themselves independent of the government, or if needs be FROM the government. Some are just clueless assholes.
But they are coming. Be warned. They won't be happy until you are helpless and unable to defend yourselves and your families.
All of the bodies had not yet been removed from the WalMart in El Paso before the gun haters started screaming GUNS ARE EVIL, GUN OWNERS ARE EVIL, WE NEED MORE GUN CONTROL.
They ignore the fact that the shooters in both El Paso and Dayton legally purchased and owned their guns.
They want to ignore the inconvenience of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States..
They want to stop the ability of private citizens to own certain types or classes of weapons that they don't like. They scream about "semi-automatic assault weapons" a term that has no actual technical definition. They scream about weapons of war, another outright lie. I don't know of ANY modern army that has issued semi-automatic rifles in forty years, maybe more. (Not saying there aren't a few out there somewhere.) They scream about AK-47s (which are machine guns and highly restricted in the U. S. since 1936). They scream about "high capacity magazines" (which are almost always factory standard capacity magazines).
It is really pretty straight forward. A large chunk of the political ruling class in this country hates guns, hates people who own guns and hates people who want to own guns. Some of them (like the governor of California) have a personal tragic story behind their hatred. Others hate the fact that the citizens might be able to defend themselves independent of the government, or if needs be FROM the government. Some are just clueless assholes.
But they are coming. Be warned. They won't be happy until you are helpless and unable to defend yourselves and your families.
AN ALIEN FROM A DISTANT PLANET BALAMES EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK FOR THE DAYTON SHOOTING
Ohio lawmaker Candice Keller blames gay marriage, ‘drag queen advocates’ for Dayton shooting
By Joshua Rhett Miller
New York Post
August 5, 2019
A lawmaker in Ohio blamed the breakdown of the “traditional American family,” gay marriage and “drag queen advocates” for the Dayton massacre in a since-deleted Facebook rant.
State Rep. Candice Keller — a Republican from Middletown, about 25 miles southwest of Dayton — listed a slew of reasons why she believes Connor Betts, 24, gunned down nine people, including his sister, with an assault-style rifle early Sunday.
“After every mass shooting, the liberals start the blame game,” Keller wrote in the Facebook post, which had been removed as of early Monday. “Why not place the blame where it belongs?”
Keller’s post goes on to blame “drag queen advocates,” failed school policies, violent video games and children who are raised without fathers as other reasons for the mass shooting that erupted less than 24 hours after 20 people were gunned down at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
The post also claimed that a growing “hatred of our veterans,” a Democratic Congress and a rising culture that “totally ignores the importance of God and the church” were other explanations for the shooting.
Keller then criticized state lawmakers for having what she claims is “no interest whatsoever” in learning about the Constitution, especially the Second Amendment, as well as “snowflakes who can’t accept a duly-elected President,” according to the post.
“Did I forget anybody?” Keller continued. “The list is long. And the fury will continue.”
A message seeking comment from Keller early Monday was not immediately returned.
The post quickly caught the attention of several other Ohio politicians, including a councilman in Cincinnati who posted the phone number of Keller’s office in Columbus and urged people to “let her know” what they thought of her post.
The top Republican in Butler County also denounced Keller’s remarks, saying it wasn’t the right time to cast blame.
“Some want to politicize these events, and I cannot condone such comments and behavior,” Butler County Republican Party chairman Todd Hall told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones also voiced his disapproval of Keller’s take, posting a screenshot of the lawmaker’s comments late Sunday, just hours after he announced that officers in his department would “make themselves more visible” in the wake of the shooting.
“Shame shame shame Candice Keller,” Jones wrote.
By Joshua Rhett Miller
New York Post
August 5, 2019
A lawmaker in Ohio blamed the breakdown of the “traditional American family,” gay marriage and “drag queen advocates” for the Dayton massacre in a since-deleted Facebook rant.
State Rep. Candice Keller — a Republican from Middletown, about 25 miles southwest of Dayton — listed a slew of reasons why she believes Connor Betts, 24, gunned down nine people, including his sister, with an assault-style rifle early Sunday.
“After every mass shooting, the liberals start the blame game,” Keller wrote in the Facebook post, which had been removed as of early Monday. “Why not place the blame where it belongs?”
Keller’s post goes on to blame “drag queen advocates,” failed school policies, violent video games and children who are raised without fathers as other reasons for the mass shooting that erupted less than 24 hours after 20 people were gunned down at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
The post also claimed that a growing “hatred of our veterans,” a Democratic Congress and a rising culture that “totally ignores the importance of God and the church” were other explanations for the shooting.
Keller then criticized state lawmakers for having what she claims is “no interest whatsoever” in learning about the Constitution, especially the Second Amendment, as well as “snowflakes who can’t accept a duly-elected President,” according to the post.
“Did I forget anybody?” Keller continued. “The list is long. And the fury will continue.”
A message seeking comment from Keller early Monday was not immediately returned.
The post quickly caught the attention of several other Ohio politicians, including a councilman in Cincinnati who posted the phone number of Keller’s office in Columbus and urged people to “let her know” what they thought of her post.
The top Republican in Butler County also denounced Keller’s remarks, saying it wasn’t the right time to cast blame.
“Some want to politicize these events, and I cannot condone such comments and behavior,” Butler County Republican Party chairman Todd Hall told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones also voiced his disapproval of Keller’s take, posting a screenshot of the lawmaker’s comments late Sunday, just hours after he announced that officers in his department would “make themselves more visible” in the wake of the shooting.
“Shame shame shame Candice Keller,” Jones wrote.
HILLARY HAD HER SECURITY TEAM LUG LUGGAGE, RED BILL HAS HIS SECURITY TEAM SERVE AS MOVERS FOR HIS DAUGHTER
Mayor de Blasio ordered NYPD Executive Protection Unit to move his daughter out of a Brooklyn apartment, sources say
By Graham Rayman and Stephen Rex Brown
New York Daily News
August 4, 2019
Mayor de Blasio has his own moving company - the NYPD.
Hizzoner ordered members of his troubled NYPD security detail to move his daughter out of an apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, multiple sources told the Daily News.
The move happened roughly one year ago under cover of night, the sources said. Chiara de Blasio lived in the apartment at 4th Ave. and 56th St. for roughly two years, according to a source close to de Blasio’s Executive Protection Unit.
The move was an abuse of city resources, that source said.
A second source with knowledge of the move was also disgusted. “They used detectives and department vehicles on city time to move his daughter ... Please.”
The NYPD cops loaded Chiara’s belongings into two unmarked Sprinter vans frequently parked at City Hall, according to the sources. First Lady Chirlane McCray personally oversaw the move, according to one source in the unit. City Hall did not deny McCray’s involvement. The items were delivered to Gracie Mansion, the sources said.
One man who lives on the first daughter’s former block and preferred to be identified only by his first name, Gabriel, recalled some of Chiara’s belongings were left on the curb after the move. He was stunned to hear cops charged with protecting de Blasio had hauled her stuff.
“That’s terrible. Why couldn’t he get a U-Haul and do it himself? You gonna use our cops?” Gabriel, 51, said.
Sources close to the EPU said they did not know why de Blasio used his security detail for the move.
“You can’t question him,” one source close to the unit said.
“It’s just part of the job. You just do it out of respect.”
Such a request would have gone through Inspector Howard Redmond, the embattled commanding officer of the unit, sources said.
A retired NYPD chief said that lines surrounding official duties often get blurred in the Executive Protection Unit. But the chief said that unless there was an emergency, the move was “strange.”
“If they were just moving her, that’s a little much,” the retired chief said.
A second resident of the block recognized a photo of Chiara.
“Somebody had told me that (it was her). I was like, no way!” Ralph, 30, said. “I remember her style and everything.”
Sources said that Detective Ray Gerola was one of the EPU officers given the sensitive assignment. Gerola did not respond to an email. A spokeswoman for de Blasio referred The News to the NYPD for comment.
The move is the latest embarrassing episode for the troubled unit charged with keeping de Blasio safe. Last week, the Daily News reported that a bullet-resistant vest belonging to a member of the unit was lost after it was worn by actor Michael K. Williams — who played Omar from “The Wire” — during an onstage appearance with de Blasio. No report was ever filed about the missing vest.
The News exclusively reported earlier this year that the security detail covered up a car crash in which de Blasio was a passenger to protect the mayor from embarrassing headlines as he pushed for Vision Zero street safety measures. A police report showed that de Blasio’s vehicle was driving the wrong way in Harlem when the crash occurred in 2015.
An assignment in the Executive Protection Unit was once considered one of the more desirable assignments in the NYPD. Cops in the detail get to travel and frequently work overtime. But a series of discrimination lawsuits against Redmond and the city by former members of the detail revealed allegations of a dysfunctional unit filled with disgruntled cops.
“There have been a number of lawsuits filed by former members of the security detail, and there have been rumors and innuendo regarding people named in those civil actions, much of it unfair and inaccurate," said Deputy Commissioner Phil Walzak, an NYPD spokesman. "There is no information available regarding this inquiry.”
By Graham Rayman and Stephen Rex Brown
New York Daily News
August 4, 2019
Mayor de Blasio has his own moving company - the NYPD.
Hizzoner ordered members of his troubled NYPD security detail to move his daughter out of an apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, multiple sources told the Daily News.
The move happened roughly one year ago under cover of night, the sources said. Chiara de Blasio lived in the apartment at 4th Ave. and 56th St. for roughly two years, according to a source close to de Blasio’s Executive Protection Unit.
The move was an abuse of city resources, that source said.
A second source with knowledge of the move was also disgusted. “They used detectives and department vehicles on city time to move his daughter ... Please.”
The NYPD cops loaded Chiara’s belongings into two unmarked Sprinter vans frequently parked at City Hall, according to the sources. First Lady Chirlane McCray personally oversaw the move, according to one source in the unit. City Hall did not deny McCray’s involvement. The items were delivered to Gracie Mansion, the sources said.
One man who lives on the first daughter’s former block and preferred to be identified only by his first name, Gabriel, recalled some of Chiara’s belongings were left on the curb after the move. He was stunned to hear cops charged with protecting de Blasio had hauled her stuff.
“That’s terrible. Why couldn’t he get a U-Haul and do it himself? You gonna use our cops?” Gabriel, 51, said.
Sources close to the EPU said they did not know why de Blasio used his security detail for the move.
“You can’t question him,” one source close to the unit said.
“It’s just part of the job. You just do it out of respect.”
Such a request would have gone through Inspector Howard Redmond, the embattled commanding officer of the unit, sources said.
A retired NYPD chief said that lines surrounding official duties often get blurred in the Executive Protection Unit. But the chief said that unless there was an emergency, the move was “strange.”
“If they were just moving her, that’s a little much,” the retired chief said.
A second resident of the block recognized a photo of Chiara.
“Somebody had told me that (it was her). I was like, no way!” Ralph, 30, said. “I remember her style and everything.”
Sources said that Detective Ray Gerola was one of the EPU officers given the sensitive assignment. Gerola did not respond to an email. A spokeswoman for de Blasio referred The News to the NYPD for comment.
The move is the latest embarrassing episode for the troubled unit charged with keeping de Blasio safe. Last week, the Daily News reported that a bullet-resistant vest belonging to a member of the unit was lost after it was worn by actor Michael K. Williams — who played Omar from “The Wire” — during an onstage appearance with de Blasio. No report was ever filed about the missing vest.
The News exclusively reported earlier this year that the security detail covered up a car crash in which de Blasio was a passenger to protect the mayor from embarrassing headlines as he pushed for Vision Zero street safety measures. A police report showed that de Blasio’s vehicle was driving the wrong way in Harlem when the crash occurred in 2015.
An assignment in the Executive Protection Unit was once considered one of the more desirable assignments in the NYPD. Cops in the detail get to travel and frequently work overtime. But a series of discrimination lawsuits against Redmond and the city by former members of the detail revealed allegations of a dysfunctional unit filled with disgruntled cops.
“There have been a number of lawsuits filed by former members of the security detail, and there have been rumors and innuendo regarding people named in those civil actions, much of it unfair and inaccurate," said Deputy Commissioner Phil Walzak, an NYPD spokesman. "There is no information available regarding this inquiry.”
THESE TWO BOZOS, O’ROURKE AND NADLER, HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT WHEN DRAWING COMPARISONS WITH NAZI GERMANY
'Jesus Christ! Of course he's racist!' Beto O'Rourke explodes at Trump after weekend shootings and drops F-bomb at reporters as Jerry Nadler says violence due to president's rhetoric 'reminds me of the 1930s in Germany'
By David Martosko
Daily Mail
August 5, 2019
Two of President Donald Trump's most vocal opponents compared his government to Adolf Hitler's on Monday, saying the president's prejudices against Hispanics and Muslims resemble the Nazis' hatred of Jews.
Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler stripped the bark off the president in back-to-back appearances on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' program, blaming Trump's past rhetoric for Saturday's mass-shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas.
O'Rourke, who represented El Paso in Congress until this year, cited Trump's campaign-era call for a 'ban on Muslims entering the country,' a move he made in response to a 2015 gun massacre by suspected ISIS sympathizers in California.
He said Trump had declared 'all people of one religion [are] inherently defective and should be banned from the shores of this country.'
'The only modern western Democracy that I can think of that said anything close to this is the Third Reich, Nazi Germany.'
He also cited the president 'talking about human beings as though they are animals, making them sub-human to make it okay to put their kids in cages.'
Trump has repeatedly called members of the deadly MS-13 gang 'animals,' and defended his use of the word to describe the Salvadoran narcotics traffickers known for particularly gruesome methods of killing.
Nadler said minutes earlier that Trump's 'disgusting' rhetoric 'reminds me of the 1930s in Germany.'
He was responding to the president's morning message on Twitter, linking legislative action on gun control with his long-sought immigration goals.
'Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform,' the president wrote Monday morning.
'What's the connection between background checks for guns and immigration reform?' Nadler asked. 'That we have to keep guns out of the hands of invading hordes, or less-than-human people coming across our borders?'
'That's the implication. It's disgusting,' he said.
Nadler said the president 'can't get lower than he's been.'
'These shootings were clearly at least in part a result of his racist rhetoric. That's clear. His divisive and racist rhetoric,' he said. 'People have warned that they would lead to violence, and now they have.'
O'Rourke responded to Trump's tweet with a slash of his own: 'Only a racist, driven by fear, could witness what took place this weekend – and instead of standing up to hatred, side with a mass murderer's call to make our country more white. We are so much better than this president.'
He agreed on 'Morning Joe' that the 'hateful, racist, murderous rage' was 'in part inspired by this president.'
'The writing has been on the wall since his maiden speech coming down that escalator, describing Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. The actions that follow cannot surprise us,' he said.
'And anyone who is surprised is part of this problem right now, including members of the media who ask, "Hey, Beto, do you think the president is racist?"'
'Well, Jesus Christ! Of course he's racist. He's been racist since Day One – before Day One, when he was questioning whether Barack Obama was born in the United States,' he continued.
'He's trafficked this stuff from the very beginning and we are reaping right now what he has sown and his supporters in Congress have sown. We have to put a stop to it.'
An exasperated O'Rourke lost his temper Sunday night when a reporter at a campaign event asked if he thought Trump could 'make this any better.'
'What do you think?' he snapped. 'You know the shit he's been saying. He's been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals.'
'I don't know, like, members of the press, what the fuck?'
Trump, he claimed, is 'not tolerating racism. He's promoting racism. He's not tolerating violence. He's inciting racism and violence in this country. So, you know, I just – I don't know what kind of question that is.'
EDITOR’S NOTE: O’Rourke and Nadler infuriate me. I grew up in Nazi Germany and Trump’s rhetoric in no way even begins to approach the hateful rhetoric of Adolf Hitler. Nor have we had a Kristallnacht where uniformed Nazi storm troopers torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews. Trump has not denounced Hispanics and Muslims anywhere near as much or as damnable as Hitler denounced the Jews. And the Hispanics and Muslims in this country have not been forced out of a good job like my father was or shipped off to a death camp like my grandparents were. O’Rourke and Nadler’s claim is far worse than AOC comparing illegal immigrant detention centers to concentration camps. These two Trump-haters should be ashamed of themselves, but then, they have no shame. And worst of all, that sorry creep Jerry Nadler is Jewish and as such he should damn well know better than to compare Trump’s government to Hitler’s.
By David Martosko
Daily Mail
August 5, 2019
Two of President Donald Trump's most vocal opponents compared his government to Adolf Hitler's on Monday, saying the president's prejudices against Hispanics and Muslims resemble the Nazis' hatred of Jews.
Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler stripped the bark off the president in back-to-back appearances on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' program, blaming Trump's past rhetoric for Saturday's mass-shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas.
O'Rourke, who represented El Paso in Congress until this year, cited Trump's campaign-era call for a 'ban on Muslims entering the country,' a move he made in response to a 2015 gun massacre by suspected ISIS sympathizers in California.
He said Trump had declared 'all people of one religion [are] inherently defective and should be banned from the shores of this country.'
'The only modern western Democracy that I can think of that said anything close to this is the Third Reich, Nazi Germany.'
He also cited the president 'talking about human beings as though they are animals, making them sub-human to make it okay to put their kids in cages.'
Trump has repeatedly called members of the deadly MS-13 gang 'animals,' and defended his use of the word to describe the Salvadoran narcotics traffickers known for particularly gruesome methods of killing.
Nadler said minutes earlier that Trump's 'disgusting' rhetoric 'reminds me of the 1930s in Germany.'
He was responding to the president's morning message on Twitter, linking legislative action on gun control with his long-sought immigration goals.
'Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform,' the president wrote Monday morning.
'What's the connection between background checks for guns and immigration reform?' Nadler asked. 'That we have to keep guns out of the hands of invading hordes, or less-than-human people coming across our borders?'
'That's the implication. It's disgusting,' he said.
Nadler said the president 'can't get lower than he's been.'
'These shootings were clearly at least in part a result of his racist rhetoric. That's clear. His divisive and racist rhetoric,' he said. 'People have warned that they would lead to violence, and now they have.'
O'Rourke responded to Trump's tweet with a slash of his own: 'Only a racist, driven by fear, could witness what took place this weekend – and instead of standing up to hatred, side with a mass murderer's call to make our country more white. We are so much better than this president.'
He agreed on 'Morning Joe' that the 'hateful, racist, murderous rage' was 'in part inspired by this president.'
'The writing has been on the wall since his maiden speech coming down that escalator, describing Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. The actions that follow cannot surprise us,' he said.
'And anyone who is surprised is part of this problem right now, including members of the media who ask, "Hey, Beto, do you think the president is racist?"'
'Well, Jesus Christ! Of course he's racist. He's been racist since Day One – before Day One, when he was questioning whether Barack Obama was born in the United States,' he continued.
'He's trafficked this stuff from the very beginning and we are reaping right now what he has sown and his supporters in Congress have sown. We have to put a stop to it.'
An exasperated O'Rourke lost his temper Sunday night when a reporter at a campaign event asked if he thought Trump could 'make this any better.'
'What do you think?' he snapped. 'You know the shit he's been saying. He's been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals.'
'I don't know, like, members of the press, what the fuck?'
Trump, he claimed, is 'not tolerating racism. He's promoting racism. He's not tolerating violence. He's inciting racism and violence in this country. So, you know, I just – I don't know what kind of question that is.'
EDITOR’S NOTE: O’Rourke and Nadler infuriate me. I grew up in Nazi Germany and Trump’s rhetoric in no way even begins to approach the hateful rhetoric of Adolf Hitler. Nor have we had a Kristallnacht where uniformed Nazi storm troopers torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews. Trump has not denounced Hispanics and Muslims anywhere near as much or as damnable as Hitler denounced the Jews. And the Hispanics and Muslims in this country have not been forced out of a good job like my father was or shipped off to a death camp like my grandparents were. O’Rourke and Nadler’s claim is far worse than AOC comparing illegal immigrant detention centers to concentration camps. These two Trump-haters should be ashamed of themselves, but then, they have no shame. And worst of all, that sorry creep Jerry Nadler is Jewish and as such he should damn well know better than to compare Trump’s government to Hitler’s.
RAPID, LARGE-SCALE DECARCERATION PUTS DANGEROUS REPEAT OFFENDERS BACK ON THE STREET AND THE EFFECTIVE DECRIMINALIZATION OF CERTAIN DRUGS HAS ALSO ADDED TO THE CRIME PROBLEM
Why Baltimore sank as New York City soared
By Rafael A. Mangual
New York Post
August 3, 2019
Last weekend, President Trump described Baltimore as a “very dangerous and filthy place.” Though his tweets were in poor taste, they were not entirely wrong.
The population of Maryland’s biggest city has been dwindling — it dropped by more than 1 percent between July 2017-2018 — and its violent crime has been on the upswing. In 2018, Baltimore suffered 309 murders — 46 percent more than in 2014. Five years ago, Baltimore’s violent-crime rate was just over 1,300 per 100,000 people. By 2018, it was more than 1,815 — an increase of 40 percent.
But Baltimore’s crime problem looks even worse next to New York City. Despite boasting a population of 8.6 million residents — 14 times more than Baltimore (which was most recently estimated at just over 602,000) — Gotham recorded 14 fewer murders in 2018. That same year, the Big Apple’s violent-crime rate was less than a third of Baltimore’s, at just over 499 per 100,000 people.
So why has one city sunk while the other has soared? Many point to insufficient federal funding and the latent effects of Baltimore’s widespread, abhorrent practice of “redlining,” in which banks refused to lend to those seeking to buy homes in areas with certain racial compositions. But the city’s approach to policing and criminal justice offer better explanations.
Between 2007-2017, New York state and Maryland cut their prison populations by 19.5 and 22.9 percent respectively, according to a Vera Institute of Justice study. While there’s not much daylight between those figures, a big chunk of Maryland’s decarceration happened in just the last couple of years, as part of a reform package adopted in 2016. Between 2016 and 2017, Maryland cut its prison population by 10 percent, while New York’s dropped by just 0.7 percent.
Rapid, large-scale decarceration puts dangerous repeat offenders back on the street. According to Baltimore police stats, more than a third of the homicide suspects in 2017 were on probation or parole when their alleged offenses were committed.
The effective decriminalization of certain drugs has also added to the problem. Baltimore’s progressive chief prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, recently refused to charge a man found with 16 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle. And yet data show there’s a serious overlap between drug offenders and those who commit more violent crimes. In Baltimore, 70 percent of the murder suspects in 2017 had a prior drug arrest record. In New York City, that percentage was just 38 percent as recently as 2012, the most recent year for which data was immediately available.
More aggressive policing of drug offenders also helps push the dealers indoors, meaning there are fewer drive-by targets on the streets who could lead to carnage.
While New York has also released a large percentage of its jail population, the process was more gradual and followed increases in the average time served by inmates — especially those convicted of violent crimes. In 2009, New York’s prisoners served terms seven months longer than the national average. Violent offenders served an average of six years — 24 percent more than they would have in 1990 and a full year longer than the national average. When offenders are behind bars, they simply can’t victimize their communities, and those benefits go a long way.
Changes in policing have also had an effect. Both the NYPD and Baltimore forces were sharply criticized for the controversial deaths of Eric Garner and Freddie Gray in police custody. And, as a result, both departments have endured demoralizing accusations of racism and abuse of power. But in Baltimore, where Mosby prosecuted (but failed to convict) several police officers in relation to Gray’s death, police have drastically backed off from proactive policing tactics (such as focused investigative stops and more aggressive misdemeanor enforcement) that helped bring New York back from the brink in the 1990s. An investigative USA Today report last year revealed troubling data on the drop-off in proactivity among Baltimore cops: Between 2014-2017, “suspected narcotics offenses” reported by police “dropped 30 percent,” while “the number of people they reported seeing with outstanding warrants dropped by half. The number of . . . instances in which the police approach someone for questioning — dropped 70 percent.”
Skeptics need only look to a recent study from the University of Illinois Law Review on underpolicing, which shows that a sharp decrease in stop-and-frisks by Chicago police beginning in 2015 led to an additional 239 murders and 1,129 shootings in 2016.
While New York has also seen a recent decline in stop-and-frisks, as well as growing leniency toward certain drug offenses, the changes are much less drastic and follow more than a decade of progress that has made the Big Apple a shining example of safety. Yet, many of our city’s leaders — from Mayor de Blasio and self-styled “reformer” DAs like Eric Gonzalez to lawmakers in Albany — seem hell-bent on walking away from the policies and practices that got us to this fortunate position.
Here’s hoping that Baltimore can take some lessons from New York’s history and that New York can take one from Baltimore’s present.
By Rafael A. Mangual
New York Post
August 3, 2019
Last weekend, President Trump described Baltimore as a “very dangerous and filthy place.” Though his tweets were in poor taste, they were not entirely wrong.
The population of Maryland’s biggest city has been dwindling — it dropped by more than 1 percent between July 2017-2018 — and its violent crime has been on the upswing. In 2018, Baltimore suffered 309 murders — 46 percent more than in 2014. Five years ago, Baltimore’s violent-crime rate was just over 1,300 per 100,000 people. By 2018, it was more than 1,815 — an increase of 40 percent.
But Baltimore’s crime problem looks even worse next to New York City. Despite boasting a population of 8.6 million residents — 14 times more than Baltimore (which was most recently estimated at just over 602,000) — Gotham recorded 14 fewer murders in 2018. That same year, the Big Apple’s violent-crime rate was less than a third of Baltimore’s, at just over 499 per 100,000 people.
So why has one city sunk while the other has soared? Many point to insufficient federal funding and the latent effects of Baltimore’s widespread, abhorrent practice of “redlining,” in which banks refused to lend to those seeking to buy homes in areas with certain racial compositions. But the city’s approach to policing and criminal justice offer better explanations.
Between 2007-2017, New York state and Maryland cut their prison populations by 19.5 and 22.9 percent respectively, according to a Vera Institute of Justice study. While there’s not much daylight between those figures, a big chunk of Maryland’s decarceration happened in just the last couple of years, as part of a reform package adopted in 2016. Between 2016 and 2017, Maryland cut its prison population by 10 percent, while New York’s dropped by just 0.7 percent.
Rapid, large-scale decarceration puts dangerous repeat offenders back on the street. According to Baltimore police stats, more than a third of the homicide suspects in 2017 were on probation or parole when their alleged offenses were committed.
The effective decriminalization of certain drugs has also added to the problem. Baltimore’s progressive chief prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, recently refused to charge a man found with 16 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle. And yet data show there’s a serious overlap between drug offenders and those who commit more violent crimes. In Baltimore, 70 percent of the murder suspects in 2017 had a prior drug arrest record. In New York City, that percentage was just 38 percent as recently as 2012, the most recent year for which data was immediately available.
More aggressive policing of drug offenders also helps push the dealers indoors, meaning there are fewer drive-by targets on the streets who could lead to carnage.
While New York has also released a large percentage of its jail population, the process was more gradual and followed increases in the average time served by inmates — especially those convicted of violent crimes. In 2009, New York’s prisoners served terms seven months longer than the national average. Violent offenders served an average of six years — 24 percent more than they would have in 1990 and a full year longer than the national average. When offenders are behind bars, they simply can’t victimize their communities, and those benefits go a long way.
Changes in policing have also had an effect. Both the NYPD and Baltimore forces were sharply criticized for the controversial deaths of Eric Garner and Freddie Gray in police custody. And, as a result, both departments have endured demoralizing accusations of racism and abuse of power. But in Baltimore, where Mosby prosecuted (but failed to convict) several police officers in relation to Gray’s death, police have drastically backed off from proactive policing tactics (such as focused investigative stops and more aggressive misdemeanor enforcement) that helped bring New York back from the brink in the 1990s. An investigative USA Today report last year revealed troubling data on the drop-off in proactivity among Baltimore cops: Between 2014-2017, “suspected narcotics offenses” reported by police “dropped 30 percent,” while “the number of people they reported seeing with outstanding warrants dropped by half. The number of . . . instances in which the police approach someone for questioning — dropped 70 percent.”
Skeptics need only look to a recent study from the University of Illinois Law Review on underpolicing, which shows that a sharp decrease in stop-and-frisks by Chicago police beginning in 2015 led to an additional 239 murders and 1,129 shootings in 2016.
While New York has also seen a recent decline in stop-and-frisks, as well as growing leniency toward certain drug offenses, the changes are much less drastic and follow more than a decade of progress that has made the Big Apple a shining example of safety. Yet, many of our city’s leaders — from Mayor de Blasio and self-styled “reformer” DAs like Eric Gonzalez to lawmakers in Albany — seem hell-bent on walking away from the policies and practices that got us to this fortunate position.
Here’s hoping that Baltimore can take some lessons from New York’s history and that New York can take one from Baltimore’s present.
KUDOS TO RESPONDING POLICE IN EL PASO AND DAYTON
The police waded in to a sea of killing in an effort to stop it
By Trey Rusk
Running Code 3
August 4, 2019
I firmly believe that all mass shooters are chicken shit murderers. They prey on unarmed people in an effort to make a point. El Paso and Dayton were both hit this weekend by a couple of mass shooters whose objective was to fire into crowds of unarmed people in an effort to create as much carnage as possible. What the Hell? Do they consider themselves brave? In the grand scheme of things, what did they really accomplish?
Hate fueled by bigotry or personal vendetta is wrong. How can someone feel justified in murdering people to make a point. The truth is, they can't. Once the smoke clears and the dead and wounded are removed their actions have left a stain on human behavior. That's all. No one is celebrating their action.
There was no conflict. Do mass shooters feel like they are fighting a war? I have news for them. No one was fighting back. It's just murder.
The police in both instances did their jobs! They waded in to a sea of killing in an effort to stop it. Bravery in such action is what these folks get paid to do. Most people cannot do this job. That being said, please remember that the overall effects of what happens in all critical situations will affect the First Responders for the rest of their lives. It will also have a big impact on their families.
May the dead Rest in Peace. To the victim's families I say, grieve but do not be defeated. I'm not saying to forgive. I hope both shooters rot in Hell! Don't let some no-good murdering son of a bitch get his way. Embrace each other and move forward. Our nation is behind you.
That's the way I see it.
By Trey Rusk
Running Code 3
August 4, 2019
I firmly believe that all mass shooters are chicken shit murderers. They prey on unarmed people in an effort to make a point. El Paso and Dayton were both hit this weekend by a couple of mass shooters whose objective was to fire into crowds of unarmed people in an effort to create as much carnage as possible. What the Hell? Do they consider themselves brave? In the grand scheme of things, what did they really accomplish?
Hate fueled by bigotry or personal vendetta is wrong. How can someone feel justified in murdering people to make a point. The truth is, they can't. Once the smoke clears and the dead and wounded are removed their actions have left a stain on human behavior. That's all. No one is celebrating their action.
There was no conflict. Do mass shooters feel like they are fighting a war? I have news for them. No one was fighting back. It's just murder.
The police in both instances did their jobs! They waded in to a sea of killing in an effort to stop it. Bravery in such action is what these folks get paid to do. Most people cannot do this job. That being said, please remember that the overall effects of what happens in all critical situations will affect the First Responders for the rest of their lives. It will also have a big impact on their families.
May the dead Rest in Peace. To the victim's families I say, grieve but do not be defeated. I'm not saying to forgive. I hope both shooters rot in Hell! Don't let some no-good murdering son of a bitch get his way. Embrace each other and move forward. Our nation is behind you.
That's the way I see it.
Monday, August 05, 2019
THE ONE DIARY ENTRY ANNE FRANK COULD NOT WRITE
75 years ago this week, the Gestapo finally came for her - now a leading historian has pieced together a nerve-shredding account of that fateful day
By Jonathan Mayo
Daily Mail
August 4, 2019
On August 4, 1944, Anne Frank and her family were betrayed, arrested by the Gestapo, taken from the Amsterdam annexe where they had hidden for two years and despatched to concentration camps.
Anne’s poignant diaries stopped that day.
Now, Jonathan Mayo relates the tragic events, minute by minute, that Anne was unable to record herself.
The background
Otto and Edith Frank and their daughters Margot and Anne fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and settled in the Netherlands.
But by the summer of 1942 life for Dutch Jews was increasingly harsh. They were forced to wear yellow stars, and forbidden to run a business, travel on trams, sit on a park bench or even ride a bicycle.
So that July, after 16-year-old Margot received a call-up to work in a German labour camp, the family went into hiding in the upper storeys of Otto Frank’s Amsterdam business premises.
They were joined by another family, Auguste and Hermann van Pels with their son Peter, and a dentist named Fritz Pfeffer.
For more than two years they endured a clandestine life in the cramped quarters. But by August 1944 they were daring to hope that the city would soon be liberated by the Allies.
‘I have the feeling that friends are approaching,’ Anne wrote in her diary.
But the families were far from safe: there was a bounty for turning in Jews, and Amsterdam was full of informers and Nazi officials; almost 100,000 Jews in the Netherlands had already been sent to extermination camps.
Friday, August 4, 1944, 6.45am
It is a misty morning in Amsterdam. On the second floor of the secret annexe at 263 Prinsengracht, 15-year-old Anne is asleep in a bed so small there are chairs at the end to make it longer for her. It is her 761st day in hiding.
On the walls of the bedroom are pictures she’s cut out from magazines of the British Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose and film stars Greta Garbo and Ginger Rogers. Anne shares the room with 55-year-old Fritz Pfeffer, who is also fast asleep.
In the room above them, Auguste Van Pels’ loud alarm clock goes off and Anne waits for the creak of a floorboard as Auguste’s husband, Hermann, makes his way downstairs to the bathroom. There is a strict daily timetable for washing and dressing.
Next door to Anne in a briefcase in her parents’ bedroom is her most precious possession — her diary, which she started just a few weeks before they went into hiding.
The first diary was a red-and-white checked cloth-covered book which soon filled up, so now Anne uses school exercise books.
Almost every day, holding a fountain pen in her distinctive way between her index and middle fingers, Anne writes about ‘things that lie buried deep in my heart’, like her hopes and fears for the future, the frustrations of living cooped up with seven other people — and her love for 17-year-old Peter van Pels.
7am
A short distance away, the church clock strikes the hour. Its quarterly chimes, day and night, regulate life in the annexe, but the only person who likes the bells is Anne. She thinks the clock is a ‘faithful friend’.
Peter van Pels goes downstairs as usual to check that the ground- floor warehouse is secure, as it has been recently robbed twice.
Otto Frank had a business selling herbs, spices and pectin (a gelling agent for making jam), but it is now run by his friends Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman.
The goods stored in the warehouse are of great interest to thieves — they are worth good money on the city’s thriving black market.
In the spring of 1942, Kugler and Kleiman had built the secret annexe after office hours — including all the plumbing and carpentry — in anticipation of the increasing risks to Jews in the Netherlands.
Kugler said: ‘These were my friends, I could not let them be butchered by the Germans.’ Anne has seen with her own eyes the pressure Kugler has been under for the past two years and in May had written: ‘He can hardly talk from pent-up nerves and strain.’
7.15am
The bathroom door creaks open as Mr van Pels exits and Fritz Pfeffer gets out of bed to take his turn.
Anne removes the blackout cardboard from the window, relishing time in the room without him.
In her diary she calls Pfeffer ‘Nitwit’, and she can do an accurate impersonation of his slow way of speaking.
Pfeffer is divorced and spends some of his time learning Spanish as he hopes to start a new life in South America once the war is over with his son Walter who, six years ago, he put on the Kindertransport to the United Kingdom.
8am
The inhabitants of the annexe are well-informed about the course of the war, thanks to a small illegal radio in the van Pels’ room that picks up the BBC.
Eight o’clock is usually their first opportunity to listen to a bulletin. On July 21, news of the attempt on Hitler’s life prompted Anne to write: ‘Now at last I am getting really hopeful, now things are going well at last. Yes, really they’re going well. Super news!’
Today, the news is the French city of Rennes has fallen to U.S. troops advancing through Brittany.
8.20am
There are three taps on the floor of the van Pels’ bedroom above, which doubles up as a kitchen, signalling to Anne that her porridge is ready.
She dashes up, grabs her bowl and brings it downstairs. Anne has only a few minutes to eat it and tidy her room before the warehousemen, who have no idea there are people hiding in the building, start to arrive downstairs.
Everyone in the secret annexe now has to be as quiet as possible — they can’t even use the toilet as the pipe runs through the warehouse.
They have been especially scared of discovery since the arrest of their greengrocer and his wife, who were caught hiding Jews.
8.30am
At Gestapo HQ in Amsterdam the phone rings in the office of SS officer Julius Dettmann of Department IV B4, the unit assigned to arresting Jews in the city.
A reliable informant tells him there are Jews hiding in an office building at 263 Prinsengracht.
The secret annexe is now silent as the warehousemen arrive. The Frank family are immersed in books; Otto loves Charles Dickens and has a dictionary to help improve his English.
The library books are brought by the small team of helpers who keep them supplied with food and drink.
9am
The office staff have arrived in the first-floor offices and the sound of their typewriters and telephones masks any noise from upstairs. But everyone in the annexe still walks around in socks just in case.
One of the office staff, 35-year-old Miep Gies, comes up to the annexe to ask for their shopping list.
For the past two years it has been her responsibility to supply them with groceries and milk.
Anne is desperate to chat and Miep promises they’ll have a proper conversation when she returns in the afternoon with the shopping.
A great deal of food has to be found to feed eight people — Anne once described Miep as being so laden with bags she looked like a pack mule.
At home, Miep and her husband Jan are hiding a student who has refused to make a declaration of loyalty to the Nazis.
9.45am
In Peter van Pel’s small room on the top floor, Otto is giving dictation to help him improve his English. Encouraged by the Frank sisters, Peter is expanding his knowledge by learning languages, maths and woodworking.
Hanging on the wall is his bike that he hopes one day he will be free to ride again.
10.45am
A car pulls up outside 263 Prinsengracht and a uniformed Austrian Gestapo officer named Karl Josef Silberbauer gets out.
He is followed by four Dutch civilians employed by the Gestapo. All of them are armed.
Silberbauer, 33, has blond, short-cropped hair and narrow eyes. Having assisted in the round-up of Jews in Vienna in 1943, he was transferred to Amsterdam to carry on his awful task.
The men enter the building and Silberbauer speaks to Willem van Maaren, the warehouse foreman.
Van Maaren suspects people are hiding in the building after he saw a cat bowl had been mysteriously refilled with water.
More than once he has put flour on the floor to get footprints. (Van Maaren is later one of the people suspected of having betrayed the Franks and the others.) He points towards the staircase.
One Gestapo man stays in the warehouse while the others go to the first-floor offices.
The timings are approximate from here . . .
10.47am
Miep Gies looks up to see a man holding a gun. ‘Stay put,’ he says. Kugler opens his door and comes face to face with Silberbauer. ‘Who owns this building?’ he yells.
‘We just rent it,’ Kugler replies. ‘Stop playing games with me! Who’s the boss here?’
‘I am,’ Kugler says calmly. Miep hides her illegal ration cards and money she used to buy groceries.
10.55am
Kugler is opening filing cabinets for Silberbauer. He finds nothing incriminating, but asks to see the other rooms in the building.
Kugler takes him on a tour of the first floor, including the lavatory and kitchen. ‘Outwardly I showed great calm, but inwardly I was terrified,’ he later recalled.
Upstairs in the annexe, Otto Frank hears a noise, but thinks nothing of it. He carries on with Peter’s English lesson.
11.10am
Silberbauer demands to be taken to the second floor. With a gun inches from his back, Kugler leads him up the staircase and into the first of three storerooms.
The three Dutch henchmen wait outside. Silberbauer paces up and down, his heavy boots loud on the wooden floor.
He wants to know if there are hidden weapons and orders Kugler to open the crates, sacks and barrels.
Downstairs Miep hears her husband Jan arriving to collect his packed lunch as usual. She leaps up and grabs him by the arm before he can come into the office.
‘Jan, it’s wrong here,’ she says, handing him his lunch, the illegal ration cards and money. Miep gives him a little push.
‘Jan understood me completely and disappeared,’ she said years later.
11.40am
The storerooms have revealed nothing but Silberbauer wants to see the rear of the building and the two men walk onto a landing.
In front of them is a bookcase with shelves holding grey box files. The bookcase conceals the door to the annexe — Kugler’s idea.
‘My heart was in my mouth. We had come to the crucial place,’ he later said.
To his dismay, the Gestapo men start trying to move it. He now realises they have been betrayed. ‘The moment I had been dreading for two years had arrived.’
The Gestapo find the hook to unfasten the bookcase and it swings open, revealing a grey door.
‘No one would ever guess that there could be so many rooms hidden behind that plain grey door,’ Anne had written.
Kugler hesitates, but is pushed through the door from behind. He walks up a narrow set of stairs and into the Franks’ room. Its walls are covered in old peeling yellow wallpaper and sitting motionless at a table is Anne’s mother, Edith.
Kugler’s mouth is so dry, all he can whisper is: ‘Gestapo!’ Edith doesn’t move even when a man with a pistol appears from behind him.
‘Hands up!’ the man shouts. Edith had dreamed of emigrating to the United States, just like her two brothers did before the war. That dream is over.
Another Gestapo agent brings in Anne and Margot, who walk over to stand next to their mother with their hands over their heads.
Above them in Peter’s room, Otto is checking the results of his pupil’s dictation and saying: ‘In English “double” is spelled with only one “b”!’ when suddenly they hear the sound of running feet.
Otto stands indignantly — none of them should be making such a loud noise at this time of day. The door opens; an armed man stands there.
Peter and Otto put their hands up and the man orders them to walk downstairs.
‘When the Gestapo came in with their guns, that was the end of everything,’ Otto later said.
11.55am
Victor Kugler and all the inhabitants of the secret annexe are gathered in the Franks’ bedroom with their hands in the air. Margot is crying quietly.
Standing in the middle of the room is Silberbauer, studying their faces. ‘Where is your money?’ he snaps.
‘Where are your valuables? Come on, come on, we don’t have all day!’
Otto points towards a cupboard and Silberbauer walks over and drags out the Franks’ wooden chest. He spots Otto’s briefcase that contains Anne’s diaries and tips them on the floor, putting the chest’s contents into the briefcase.
Anne looks on, not saying a word. ‘Perhaps she had a premonition all was lost now,’ said her father.
Silberbauer is irritated by how calm they all are. ‘Get ready! Everyone must be back here in five minutes!’
Midday
The eight have backpacks full of clothes already packed in case of an emergency.
Anne calls hers ‘my escape bag’, and during night-time Allied air raids she would hug it for comfort; she goes next door to her bedroom to collect it. Victor Kugler can see fear on their faces.
As Otto takes his backpack from a hook on the bedroom wall, Silberbauer notices a large grey trunk on the floor by the window with ‘Reserve Lieutenant, Otto Frank’ stencilled on the lid.
‘Where did you get this?’ he demands. ‘It belongs to me. I was a reserve officer in the First World War,’ Otto replies.
Silberbauer, outranked by his prisoner, blushes. ‘But why didn’t you register as a veteran? They certainly would have taken that into consideration, man! You would have been sent to Theresienstadt.’
Silberbauer believes the Nazi propaganda that Theresienstadt is a refuge for Jewish veterans and the elderly, when in reality it is a concentration camp.
Otto remains silent and Silberbauer quickly changes the subject. ‘How long have you been hiding here?’ he asks.
‘Two years and one month,’ Otto replies.
The Gestapo officer shakes his head in disbelief, so Otto points to the pencil marks on the wallpaper that show how far Margot and Anne have grown since July 1942.
Convinced, Silberbauer says: ‘All right. Get your things together. Take your time.’
12.05pm
One of the Gestapo men is in Miep Gies’ office phoning for a truck. Silberbauer walks in and stands over Miep.
‘Now it’s your turn,’ he says threateningly. Miep stands to face him. ‘You’re Viennese. I’m from Vienna, too,’ she says.
Silberbauer is taken aback for a moment, then demands to see her ID card, which she hands over.
In a rage he throws it back. ‘Aren’t you ashamed that you’re helping Jewish garbage?’
He calls her a traitor and threatens terrible punishments. Miep stands as tall as she can. Silberbauer calms down and says she can stay put, but if she runs away they will arrest her husband Jan.
Miep can’t stop herself saying: ‘You keep your hands off my husband! This is my business. He doesn’t know anything about it.’
Silberbauer says he knows Jan is involved, but lets Miep go. ‘She was such a nice girl,’ he said later.
12.30pm
The truck pulls up close to the doorway of 263 Prinsengracht.
12.45pm
Fritz Pfeffer, the Franks and van Pels are brought down one by one. Silberbauer tells Kugler and Kleiman they, too, are under arrest.
As Kugler walks past foreman Willem van Maaren, he wonders if he is the one who betrayed them. A small crowd has gathered.
Clutching her backpack, Anne steps into the sunlight for the first time in over two years. She knows her fate. Jews are sent to camps and murdered.
‘The English radio speaks of their being gassed,’ she wrote. ‘Perhaps that it is the quickest way to die.’
The door of the truck is slammed shut behind her.
1pm
The truck and a police car carrying the prisoners arrive at Gestapo HQ — a former school. On the journey, none of them said a word. They are locked in a room.
Otto apologises to Kleiman, who interrupts him, saying: ‘Don’t give it another thought. I wouldn’t have done it any differently.’
5pm
Miep and husband Jan stand in the annexe. All the rooms have been turned upside down.
On the floor of Otto and Edith’s room, Miep spots Anne’s precious red-and-white checked diary and exercise books and scoops them up.
Jan has found some library books that need returning, plus Pfeffer’s Spanish books. As they pass the bathroom Miep sees Anne’s beige shawl and brings it with her.
Miep locks the door and takes Anne’s belongings to her office and puts them in her desk bottom drawer. She hopes one day Anne will return to retrieve them.
Conclusion
Three days later at Centraal Station, two sisters named Lin and Janny Brilleslijper, members of the Dutch resistance about to be taken to a transit camp, spotted the Frank family on the platform.
‘A very worried father and a nervous mother and two children wearing sports-type clothes and backpacks . . . all these people had a sort of silent melancholy about them,’ she remembered.
All four men from the annexe ended up in the same barracks in Auschwitz; Peter looked after the older men as best he could. Only Otto survived.
His wife Edith died in Auschwitz in January 1945 and it is thought Auguste van Pels perished on a transport the following month.
Peter was moved to a labour camp, where he fell ill. Five days after the camp was liberated by the Americans, he died. He was 18.
In March 1945, Anne and Margot contracted typhus at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and never recovered. It was Lin and Janny who carried their emaciated bodies to a mass grave in the camp. A few weeks later, Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British.
On the day Otto learned his daughters’ fate, Miep gave him Anne’s diary with the words: ‘Here is your daughter Anne’s legacy to you.’
The grieving Otto left them unread for some time, but was eventually persuaded they were important testimony to the persecution so many suffered at the hands of the Nazis. He agreed to publish them.
The Diary Of Anne Frank has since been translated into more than 70 languages and has sold more than 30 million copies.
The building at 263 Prinsengracht was later saved from demolition by Otto, with the Anne Frank Foundation and funded by public donations. It opened as a museum in 1960 and still attracts more than one million visitors a year.
SS officer Julius Dettmann committed suicide in July 1945 while awaiting trial in Amsterdam.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center identified Karl Josef Silberbauer in 1958, but the Austrian authorities never charged him. He died in 1972. The identity of the Dutch informant has never been discovered.
By Jonathan Mayo
Daily Mail
August 4, 2019
On August 4, 1944, Anne Frank and her family were betrayed, arrested by the Gestapo, taken from the Amsterdam annexe where they had hidden for two years and despatched to concentration camps.
Anne’s poignant diaries stopped that day.
Now, Jonathan Mayo relates the tragic events, minute by minute, that Anne was unable to record herself.
The background
Otto and Edith Frank and their daughters Margot and Anne fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and settled in the Netherlands.
But by the summer of 1942 life for Dutch Jews was increasingly harsh. They were forced to wear yellow stars, and forbidden to run a business, travel on trams, sit on a park bench or even ride a bicycle.
So that July, after 16-year-old Margot received a call-up to work in a German labour camp, the family went into hiding in the upper storeys of Otto Frank’s Amsterdam business premises.
They were joined by another family, Auguste and Hermann van Pels with their son Peter, and a dentist named Fritz Pfeffer.
For more than two years they endured a clandestine life in the cramped quarters. But by August 1944 they were daring to hope that the city would soon be liberated by the Allies.
‘I have the feeling that friends are approaching,’ Anne wrote in her diary.
But the families were far from safe: there was a bounty for turning in Jews, and Amsterdam was full of informers and Nazi officials; almost 100,000 Jews in the Netherlands had already been sent to extermination camps.
Friday, August 4, 1944, 6.45am
It is a misty morning in Amsterdam. On the second floor of the secret annexe at 263 Prinsengracht, 15-year-old Anne is asleep in a bed so small there are chairs at the end to make it longer for her. It is her 761st day in hiding.
On the walls of the bedroom are pictures she’s cut out from magazines of the British Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose and film stars Greta Garbo and Ginger Rogers. Anne shares the room with 55-year-old Fritz Pfeffer, who is also fast asleep.
In the room above them, Auguste Van Pels’ loud alarm clock goes off and Anne waits for the creak of a floorboard as Auguste’s husband, Hermann, makes his way downstairs to the bathroom. There is a strict daily timetable for washing and dressing.
Next door to Anne in a briefcase in her parents’ bedroom is her most precious possession — her diary, which she started just a few weeks before they went into hiding.
The first diary was a red-and-white checked cloth-covered book which soon filled up, so now Anne uses school exercise books.
Almost every day, holding a fountain pen in her distinctive way between her index and middle fingers, Anne writes about ‘things that lie buried deep in my heart’, like her hopes and fears for the future, the frustrations of living cooped up with seven other people — and her love for 17-year-old Peter van Pels.
7am
A short distance away, the church clock strikes the hour. Its quarterly chimes, day and night, regulate life in the annexe, but the only person who likes the bells is Anne. She thinks the clock is a ‘faithful friend’.
Peter van Pels goes downstairs as usual to check that the ground- floor warehouse is secure, as it has been recently robbed twice.
Otto Frank had a business selling herbs, spices and pectin (a gelling agent for making jam), but it is now run by his friends Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman.
The goods stored in the warehouse are of great interest to thieves — they are worth good money on the city’s thriving black market.
In the spring of 1942, Kugler and Kleiman had built the secret annexe after office hours — including all the plumbing and carpentry — in anticipation of the increasing risks to Jews in the Netherlands.
Kugler said: ‘These were my friends, I could not let them be butchered by the Germans.’ Anne has seen with her own eyes the pressure Kugler has been under for the past two years and in May had written: ‘He can hardly talk from pent-up nerves and strain.’
7.15am
The bathroom door creaks open as Mr van Pels exits and Fritz Pfeffer gets out of bed to take his turn.
Anne removes the blackout cardboard from the window, relishing time in the room without him.
In her diary she calls Pfeffer ‘Nitwit’, and she can do an accurate impersonation of his slow way of speaking.
Pfeffer is divorced and spends some of his time learning Spanish as he hopes to start a new life in South America once the war is over with his son Walter who, six years ago, he put on the Kindertransport to the United Kingdom.
8am
The inhabitants of the annexe are well-informed about the course of the war, thanks to a small illegal radio in the van Pels’ room that picks up the BBC.
Eight o’clock is usually their first opportunity to listen to a bulletin. On July 21, news of the attempt on Hitler’s life prompted Anne to write: ‘Now at last I am getting really hopeful, now things are going well at last. Yes, really they’re going well. Super news!’
Today, the news is the French city of Rennes has fallen to U.S. troops advancing through Brittany.
8.20am
There are three taps on the floor of the van Pels’ bedroom above, which doubles up as a kitchen, signalling to Anne that her porridge is ready.
She dashes up, grabs her bowl and brings it downstairs. Anne has only a few minutes to eat it and tidy her room before the warehousemen, who have no idea there are people hiding in the building, start to arrive downstairs.
Everyone in the secret annexe now has to be as quiet as possible — they can’t even use the toilet as the pipe runs through the warehouse.
They have been especially scared of discovery since the arrest of their greengrocer and his wife, who were caught hiding Jews.
8.30am
At Gestapo HQ in Amsterdam the phone rings in the office of SS officer Julius Dettmann of Department IV B4, the unit assigned to arresting Jews in the city.
A reliable informant tells him there are Jews hiding in an office building at 263 Prinsengracht.
The secret annexe is now silent as the warehousemen arrive. The Frank family are immersed in books; Otto loves Charles Dickens and has a dictionary to help improve his English.
The library books are brought by the small team of helpers who keep them supplied with food and drink.
9am
The office staff have arrived in the first-floor offices and the sound of their typewriters and telephones masks any noise from upstairs. But everyone in the annexe still walks around in socks just in case.
One of the office staff, 35-year-old Miep Gies, comes up to the annexe to ask for their shopping list.
For the past two years it has been her responsibility to supply them with groceries and milk.
Anne is desperate to chat and Miep promises they’ll have a proper conversation when she returns in the afternoon with the shopping.
A great deal of food has to be found to feed eight people — Anne once described Miep as being so laden with bags she looked like a pack mule.
At home, Miep and her husband Jan are hiding a student who has refused to make a declaration of loyalty to the Nazis.
9.45am
In Peter van Pel’s small room on the top floor, Otto is giving dictation to help him improve his English. Encouraged by the Frank sisters, Peter is expanding his knowledge by learning languages, maths and woodworking.
Hanging on the wall is his bike that he hopes one day he will be free to ride again.
10.45am
A car pulls up outside 263 Prinsengracht and a uniformed Austrian Gestapo officer named Karl Josef Silberbauer gets out.
He is followed by four Dutch civilians employed by the Gestapo. All of them are armed.
Silberbauer, 33, has blond, short-cropped hair and narrow eyes. Having assisted in the round-up of Jews in Vienna in 1943, he was transferred to Amsterdam to carry on his awful task.
The men enter the building and Silberbauer speaks to Willem van Maaren, the warehouse foreman.
Van Maaren suspects people are hiding in the building after he saw a cat bowl had been mysteriously refilled with water.
More than once he has put flour on the floor to get footprints. (Van Maaren is later one of the people suspected of having betrayed the Franks and the others.) He points towards the staircase.
One Gestapo man stays in the warehouse while the others go to the first-floor offices.
The timings are approximate from here . . .
10.47am
Miep Gies looks up to see a man holding a gun. ‘Stay put,’ he says. Kugler opens his door and comes face to face with Silberbauer. ‘Who owns this building?’ he yells.
‘We just rent it,’ Kugler replies. ‘Stop playing games with me! Who’s the boss here?’
‘I am,’ Kugler says calmly. Miep hides her illegal ration cards and money she used to buy groceries.
10.55am
Kugler is opening filing cabinets for Silberbauer. He finds nothing incriminating, but asks to see the other rooms in the building.
Kugler takes him on a tour of the first floor, including the lavatory and kitchen. ‘Outwardly I showed great calm, but inwardly I was terrified,’ he later recalled.
Upstairs in the annexe, Otto Frank hears a noise, but thinks nothing of it. He carries on with Peter’s English lesson.
11.10am
Silberbauer demands to be taken to the second floor. With a gun inches from his back, Kugler leads him up the staircase and into the first of three storerooms.
The three Dutch henchmen wait outside. Silberbauer paces up and down, his heavy boots loud on the wooden floor.
He wants to know if there are hidden weapons and orders Kugler to open the crates, sacks and barrels.
Downstairs Miep hears her husband Jan arriving to collect his packed lunch as usual. She leaps up and grabs him by the arm before he can come into the office.
‘Jan, it’s wrong here,’ she says, handing him his lunch, the illegal ration cards and money. Miep gives him a little push.
‘Jan understood me completely and disappeared,’ she said years later.
11.40am
The storerooms have revealed nothing but Silberbauer wants to see the rear of the building and the two men walk onto a landing.
In front of them is a bookcase with shelves holding grey box files. The bookcase conceals the door to the annexe — Kugler’s idea.
‘My heart was in my mouth. We had come to the crucial place,’ he later said.
To his dismay, the Gestapo men start trying to move it. He now realises they have been betrayed. ‘The moment I had been dreading for two years had arrived.’
The Gestapo find the hook to unfasten the bookcase and it swings open, revealing a grey door.
‘No one would ever guess that there could be so many rooms hidden behind that plain grey door,’ Anne had written.
Kugler hesitates, but is pushed through the door from behind. He walks up a narrow set of stairs and into the Franks’ room. Its walls are covered in old peeling yellow wallpaper and sitting motionless at a table is Anne’s mother, Edith.
Kugler’s mouth is so dry, all he can whisper is: ‘Gestapo!’ Edith doesn’t move even when a man with a pistol appears from behind him.
‘Hands up!’ the man shouts. Edith had dreamed of emigrating to the United States, just like her two brothers did before the war. That dream is over.
Another Gestapo agent brings in Anne and Margot, who walk over to stand next to their mother with their hands over their heads.
Above them in Peter’s room, Otto is checking the results of his pupil’s dictation and saying: ‘In English “double” is spelled with only one “b”!’ when suddenly they hear the sound of running feet.
Otto stands indignantly — none of them should be making such a loud noise at this time of day. The door opens; an armed man stands there.
Peter and Otto put their hands up and the man orders them to walk downstairs.
‘When the Gestapo came in with their guns, that was the end of everything,’ Otto later said.
11.55am
Victor Kugler and all the inhabitants of the secret annexe are gathered in the Franks’ bedroom with their hands in the air. Margot is crying quietly.
Standing in the middle of the room is Silberbauer, studying their faces. ‘Where is your money?’ he snaps.
‘Where are your valuables? Come on, come on, we don’t have all day!’
Otto points towards a cupboard and Silberbauer walks over and drags out the Franks’ wooden chest. He spots Otto’s briefcase that contains Anne’s diaries and tips them on the floor, putting the chest’s contents into the briefcase.
Anne looks on, not saying a word. ‘Perhaps she had a premonition all was lost now,’ said her father.
Silberbauer is irritated by how calm they all are. ‘Get ready! Everyone must be back here in five minutes!’
Midday
The eight have backpacks full of clothes already packed in case of an emergency.
Anne calls hers ‘my escape bag’, and during night-time Allied air raids she would hug it for comfort; she goes next door to her bedroom to collect it. Victor Kugler can see fear on their faces.
As Otto takes his backpack from a hook on the bedroom wall, Silberbauer notices a large grey trunk on the floor by the window with ‘Reserve Lieutenant, Otto Frank’ stencilled on the lid.
‘Where did you get this?’ he demands. ‘It belongs to me. I was a reserve officer in the First World War,’ Otto replies.
Silberbauer, outranked by his prisoner, blushes. ‘But why didn’t you register as a veteran? They certainly would have taken that into consideration, man! You would have been sent to Theresienstadt.’
Silberbauer believes the Nazi propaganda that Theresienstadt is a refuge for Jewish veterans and the elderly, when in reality it is a concentration camp.
Otto remains silent and Silberbauer quickly changes the subject. ‘How long have you been hiding here?’ he asks.
‘Two years and one month,’ Otto replies.
The Gestapo officer shakes his head in disbelief, so Otto points to the pencil marks on the wallpaper that show how far Margot and Anne have grown since July 1942.
Convinced, Silberbauer says: ‘All right. Get your things together. Take your time.’
12.05pm
One of the Gestapo men is in Miep Gies’ office phoning for a truck. Silberbauer walks in and stands over Miep.
‘Now it’s your turn,’ he says threateningly. Miep stands to face him. ‘You’re Viennese. I’m from Vienna, too,’ she says.
Silberbauer is taken aback for a moment, then demands to see her ID card, which she hands over.
In a rage he throws it back. ‘Aren’t you ashamed that you’re helping Jewish garbage?’
He calls her a traitor and threatens terrible punishments. Miep stands as tall as she can. Silberbauer calms down and says she can stay put, but if she runs away they will arrest her husband Jan.
Miep can’t stop herself saying: ‘You keep your hands off my husband! This is my business. He doesn’t know anything about it.’
Silberbauer says he knows Jan is involved, but lets Miep go. ‘She was such a nice girl,’ he said later.
12.30pm
The truck pulls up close to the doorway of 263 Prinsengracht.
12.45pm
Fritz Pfeffer, the Franks and van Pels are brought down one by one. Silberbauer tells Kugler and Kleiman they, too, are under arrest.
As Kugler walks past foreman Willem van Maaren, he wonders if he is the one who betrayed them. A small crowd has gathered.
Clutching her backpack, Anne steps into the sunlight for the first time in over two years. She knows her fate. Jews are sent to camps and murdered.
‘The English radio speaks of their being gassed,’ she wrote. ‘Perhaps that it is the quickest way to die.’
The door of the truck is slammed shut behind her.
1pm
The truck and a police car carrying the prisoners arrive at Gestapo HQ — a former school. On the journey, none of them said a word. They are locked in a room.
Otto apologises to Kleiman, who interrupts him, saying: ‘Don’t give it another thought. I wouldn’t have done it any differently.’
5pm
Miep and husband Jan stand in the annexe. All the rooms have been turned upside down.
On the floor of Otto and Edith’s room, Miep spots Anne’s precious red-and-white checked diary and exercise books and scoops them up.
Jan has found some library books that need returning, plus Pfeffer’s Spanish books. As they pass the bathroom Miep sees Anne’s beige shawl and brings it with her.
Miep locks the door and takes Anne’s belongings to her office and puts them in her desk bottom drawer. She hopes one day Anne will return to retrieve them.
Conclusion
Three days later at Centraal Station, two sisters named Lin and Janny Brilleslijper, members of the Dutch resistance about to be taken to a transit camp, spotted the Frank family on the platform.
‘A very worried father and a nervous mother and two children wearing sports-type clothes and backpacks . . . all these people had a sort of silent melancholy about them,’ she remembered.
All four men from the annexe ended up in the same barracks in Auschwitz; Peter looked after the older men as best he could. Only Otto survived.
His wife Edith died in Auschwitz in January 1945 and it is thought Auguste van Pels perished on a transport the following month.
Peter was moved to a labour camp, where he fell ill. Five days after the camp was liberated by the Americans, he died. He was 18.
In March 1945, Anne and Margot contracted typhus at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and never recovered. It was Lin and Janny who carried their emaciated bodies to a mass grave in the camp. A few weeks later, Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British.
On the day Otto learned his daughters’ fate, Miep gave him Anne’s diary with the words: ‘Here is your daughter Anne’s legacy to you.’
The grieving Otto left them unread for some time, but was eventually persuaded they were important testimony to the persecution so many suffered at the hands of the Nazis. He agreed to publish them.
The Diary Of Anne Frank has since been translated into more than 70 languages and has sold more than 30 million copies.
The building at 263 Prinsengracht was later saved from demolition by Otto, with the Anne Frank Foundation and funded by public donations. It opened as a museum in 1960 and still attracts more than one million visitors a year.
SS officer Julius Dettmann committed suicide in July 1945 while awaiting trial in Amsterdam.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center identified Karl Josef Silberbauer in 1958, but the Austrian authorities never charged him. He died in 1972. The identity of the Dutch informant has never been discovered.
MASS SHOOTING IN CHICAGO ..... SO WHAT?
by Bob Walsh
Over the weekend seven people were shot in a city park in Chicago. But it is Chicago, so it is not extraordinary, so nobody really gives a rat's ass. Just Black folks shooting other Black folks. Nothing to see here. Move along.
DANGEROUS AND THEN DEAD IN DAYTON
by Bob Walsh
A shooter wearing body armor and carrying spare ammo opened up in a "night life" area of Dayton, Ohio about 1 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The Oregon Historic Neighborhood is full of bars, restaurants and theaters. it is generally considered to be a friendly, safe area.
The shooter managed to kill nine people with a .223 caliber rifle before he was shot to death by the cops. The cops responded almost instantly to the shooting and engaged the shooter very quickly. The sound of the music in the area may have tended to muffle the sound of shots to many people.
At least 27 people were known to be injured in this incident, though many of the injuries were minor.
The cops have not yet released the name of the dead shooter. For all I care he can rot in anonymity.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The shooter was identified as Connor Betts. He was able to fire dozens of shots with a .223-caliber high capacity rifle with a 100-round drum magazine. The police wasted him within 30 seconds as he was about to enter a crowded nightclub because they happened to be in the immediate area. Betts also killed his sister.
A shooter wearing body armor and carrying spare ammo opened up in a "night life" area of Dayton, Ohio about 1 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The Oregon Historic Neighborhood is full of bars, restaurants and theaters. it is generally considered to be a friendly, safe area.
The shooter managed to kill nine people with a .223 caliber rifle before he was shot to death by the cops. The cops responded almost instantly to the shooting and engaged the shooter very quickly. The sound of the music in the area may have tended to muffle the sound of shots to many people.
At least 27 people were known to be injured in this incident, though many of the injuries were minor.
The cops have not yet released the name of the dead shooter. For all I care he can rot in anonymity.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The shooter was identified as Connor Betts. He was able to fire dozens of shots with a .223-caliber high capacity rifle with a 100-round drum magazine. The police wasted him within 30 seconds as he was about to enter a crowded nightclub because they happened to be in the immediate area. Betts also killed his sister.
PERSONALLY I DON'T SEE A PROBLEM WITH THIS
by Bob Walsh
The House of Ice Cream is a nice new establishment on S. Cherokee Lane in Lodi, CA. They have recently added to their signage. The phrase EAT ME is now painted in large white letters against a black background on the side of the building. The lettering is about 3 feet tall. People have their picture taken in front of the sign with their ice cream cones, etc. The sign can be seen from the Heritage Middle School, which is immediately behind the ice cream shop.
Unfortunately they didn't get a permit for the sign. The city is getting snotty about it and some people who have no sense of humor have been complaining. He is going to paint the sign over until he can get straight with the city permit people, who are being dicks.
The House of Ice Cream is a nice new establishment on S. Cherokee Lane in Lodi, CA. They have recently added to their signage. The phrase EAT ME is now painted in large white letters against a black background on the side of the building. The lettering is about 3 feet tall. People have their picture taken in front of the sign with their ice cream cones, etc. The sign can be seen from the Heritage Middle School, which is immediately behind the ice cream shop.
Unfortunately they didn't get a permit for the sign. The city is getting snotty about it and some people who have no sense of humor have been complaining. He is going to paint the sign over until he can get straight with the city permit people, who are being dicks.
SOMETIMES THE WORLD JUST SUCKS
by Bob Walsh
Elizabeth Cox was a cancer survivor. After fighting it off she felt pretty good about things and went to Grandview Beach in Encinitas to celebrate with her family. While they were there a section of the cliff overlooking the beach gave way and killed Ms. Cox along with her niece, Anne Clave, 35, and Clave's mother, Julie Davis, 65.
Elizabeth Cox was a cancer survivor. After fighting it off she felt pretty good about things and went to Grandview Beach in Encinitas to celebrate with her family. While they were there a section of the cliff overlooking the beach gave way and killed Ms. Cox along with her niece, Anne Clave, 35, and Clave's mother, Julie Davis, 65.
IS THE US GOING TO STAND IDLY BY?
President Erdogan has announced that Turkish troops will enter Syria to fight against the Kurdish allies of the US
In our fight against ISIS, our main ally was the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria.
Turkey has had a long history of unbridled hatred for the Kurds and has carried out a number of massacres against that ethnic group.
On Sunday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s Islamist ruler, announced he will send Turkish troops into northern Syria east of the Euphrates River to fight the Kurdish militia.
If he does that, the US should not let its close allies get slaughtered. We should bomb the shit out of the invading Turkish troops.
But unfortunately, the US will probably stand idly by while its Kurdish allies are attacked by the Turks. Shame, shame on us.
In our fight against ISIS, our main ally was the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria.
Turkey has had a long history of unbridled hatred for the Kurds and has carried out a number of massacres against that ethnic group.
On Sunday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s Islamist ruler, announced he will send Turkish troops into northern Syria east of the Euphrates River to fight the Kurdish militia.
If he does that, the US should not let its close allies get slaughtered. We should bomb the shit out of the invading Turkish troops.
But unfortunately, the US will probably stand idly by while its Kurdish allies are attacked by the Turks. Shame, shame on us.
GERMANS WIN BATTLE IN WAR ON DRUGS
German customs seize 4.5 tons of cocaine disguised as soybeans, worth $1.1 billion
Fox News
August 2, 2019
German customs announced Friday they have confiscated a record 4.5 tons of cocaine in a container shipped from Uruguay — a haul worth an estimated 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).
Hamburg customs agency said the drugs were discovered two weeks ago when officers were completing a routine shipment check, which resulted in the country's largest single drug bust to date.
More than 4,200 packets of pressed cocaine in 211 bags were hidden inside the container, which paperwork claimed to be full of soybeans, according to authorities. The shipment from Montevideo, Uruguay, was expected to be transported to Antwerp, Belgium, but plans were thwarted when officials opened the shipment in northern Germany to only find black sports bags.
“This enormous amount represents the largest individual security of cocaine in Germany and builds on the successes of the Hamburg customs in the last two years. In 2017, around 3.8 tonnes of cocaine were withdrawn from service through three individual seizures,” Hamburg Custom Agency said in a released statement.
According to the customs agency, the cocaine has already been destroyed “amid strict secrecy and extensive security precautions.”
“This outstanding success proves once again how powerfully German customs fight crime. With its sophisticated risk analysis, customs succeed in opening the right containers and extracting illegal goods from the enormous number of containers that pass through the Port of Hamburg every day.”
Last year, the Hamburg police seized drugs with a total street value of 520 million euros ($592 million), reported DW News. Hamburg Customs Commissioner Stephan Meyns told the DPA News Agency that, the drugs busted by the police were only a tiny portion of the estimated 30 tons of cocaine that are smuggled into Germany from South America year round.
Fox News
August 2, 2019
German customs announced Friday they have confiscated a record 4.5 tons of cocaine in a container shipped from Uruguay — a haul worth an estimated 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).
Hamburg customs agency said the drugs were discovered two weeks ago when officers were completing a routine shipment check, which resulted in the country's largest single drug bust to date.
More than 4,200 packets of pressed cocaine in 211 bags were hidden inside the container, which paperwork claimed to be full of soybeans, according to authorities. The shipment from Montevideo, Uruguay, was expected to be transported to Antwerp, Belgium, but plans were thwarted when officials opened the shipment in northern Germany to only find black sports bags.
“This enormous amount represents the largest individual security of cocaine in Germany and builds on the successes of the Hamburg customs in the last two years. In 2017, around 3.8 tonnes of cocaine were withdrawn from service through three individual seizures,” Hamburg Custom Agency said in a released statement.
According to the customs agency, the cocaine has already been destroyed “amid strict secrecy and extensive security precautions.”
“This outstanding success proves once again how powerfully German customs fight crime. With its sophisticated risk analysis, customs succeed in opening the right containers and extracting illegal goods from the enormous number of containers that pass through the Port of Hamburg every day.”
Last year, the Hamburg police seized drugs with a total street value of 520 million euros ($592 million), reported DW News. Hamburg Customs Commissioner Stephan Meyns told the DPA News Agency that, the drugs busted by the police were only a tiny portion of the estimated 30 tons of cocaine that are smuggled into Germany from South America year round.
FIRST HATRED OF ISRAEL WAS ESTABLISHED AT UC-BERKELEY, NOW IT MAY BE INSERTED INTO CALIFORNIA’S HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM
Proposed anti-Israel ethnic-studies high school curriculum in California has Jewish community on alert
By Jackson Richman and Sean Savage
JNS
August 2, 2019
Hostility towards Israel and its supporters across college campuses throughout the United States and beyond—well-documented for years—has been the focus of pro-Israel groups. Now the anti-Israel movement may be officially trickling down into the high school system of the largest state in America.
A new ethnic-studies curriculum under proposal by the California Department of Education is being widely condemned by pro-Israel and Jewish groups, California lawmakers and activists for its “blatant bias against Israel.”
“The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum is deeply troubling—not only for its shocking omission of any mention of Jewish Americans or anti-Semitism or its blatant anti-Israel bias and praise of BDS, but for its clear attempt to politically indoctrinate students to adopt the view that Israel and its Jewish supporters are part of ‘interlocking systems of oppression and privilege’ that must be fought with ‘direct action’ and ‘resistance,’ ” Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, co-founder and director of the California-based AMCHA Initiative, told JNS.
California lawmakers have begun to raise alarms over the proposed curriculum, the result of a 2016 law calling for the creation of a model ethnic-studies curriculum by the state’s board of education.
The proposed curriculum is currently going through public comment and is expected to go through revisions, followed by being approved next year by the board.
Members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, all Democrats, wrote a letter, dated July 29, 2019, to Soomin Chao, chair of the Instructional Quality Commission at the California Department of Education.
“As elected representatives and members of California’s diverse Jewish community, we have consistently prioritized efforts to promote inclusion and have strongly supported efforts to ensure that California students understand our state’s complicated history and rich diversity,” they wrote. “However, we cannot support a curriculum that erases the American Jewish experience, fails to discuss anti-Semitism, reinforces negative stereotypes about Jews, singles out Israel for criticism and would institutionalize the teaching of anti-Semitic stereotypes in our public schools.”
The Jewish caucus has been seeking support from the LGBT, Black and Hispanic caucuses, among other affected parties, to call for changes to the curriculum that would include removing the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example of an ethnic-studies curriculum.
The caucus, which was alerted to the proposed curriculum by members of the Jewish community, is trying to be strategic in its approach, while respecting the reality of politics in California. It has also been having what members describe as productive conversations with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and state legislators.
Jewish groups, including in California, have also been monitoring the curriculum proposal with concern.
“We have concerns that include the curriculum’s omission both of Jews as an ethnic group and of anti-Semitism as a concept. The curriculum should reflect the true diversity of California’s population,” Jeremy Russell, director of marketing and communications at the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, told JNS.
“We are also concerned by the curriculum’s inclusion of the divisive BDS movement, which is inconsistent with the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Guidelines to ‘create space for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality or citizenship, to learn different perspectives.’ ”
Russell said that the JCRC, as part of a coalition headed by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, has “communicated these and other serious concerns to the Instructional Quality Commission of the Department of Education of California.”
From anti-Israel rhetoric to provocative songs to troubling legislation
The proposed curriculum section on “Arab American Studies Course Outline” contains a number of passages concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as “Direct Action Front for Palestine and Black Lives Matter,” “Call to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Israel” and “Comparative Border Studies: Palestine and Mexico.” It also includes studying national figures such as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the late Columbia University professor Edward Said, Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour, the late radio personality Casey Kasem, actress Alia Shawkat and the late White House correspondent Helen Thomas—all of whom are associated with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric, and in the case of the congresswomen, a push to enact legislation punishing Israel.
According to the sample course models, students also are introduced to concepts like the nakba, defined from Arabic as “the catastrophe,” which is used to describe the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in May 1948 and the displacement of Arabs that occurred.
The curriculum also includes songs and poems containing questionable lyrics in relation to the Middle East.
One is a rap son by Iraqi-Canadian rapper Narcy: “The Real Arab Money.” Lyrics include, “In Palestine, kids can’t shop at these malls. … My nation on my back, look how proud we are. … America bustin’ nuts on Saudi Riyals.”
Another song, by Shadia Mansour, reads: “Get out Yankees from Latin America, French, English and Dutch, I love you Free Palestine.”
The course goes over Arab stereotypes, including one that views Palestinians as “terrorists” who “blow up airlines,” try to “destroy Israel” and attempt to “drive the Jews into the sea.” It also has a song with the lyrics, “I love you, Free Palestine,” and “As the saying goes, ‘The situation must be threatened, but in reality, the situation must stop’; For every free political prisoner, an Israeli colony is expanded.”
The song also implicitly refers to Jews in saying that Israelis, most of whom are Jews, “use the press so they can manufacture,” a classic anti-Semitic trope that Jews control the media.
Currently, the curriculum is in a public comment period until Aug. 15, where residents can voice concerns.
At the same time, California is set to enact resolution AB-331, which will require all California high school students to take at least a one-semester course in an ethnic-studies-based model curriculum, which consists of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel content, in order to graduate, effective from the 2024-25 academic year.
“If AB 331 is approved by the California state legislature in the coming days, every high school student in California will be required to take an ethnic-studies course based on such a model curriculum before graduating,” said Rossman-Benjamin. “It’s not hard to see how California college and university campuses, already reeling from the alarming number of anti-Zionist-motivated acts of aggression perpetrated against Jewish and pro-Israel students, could begin to see even more dramatic increases in these anti-Semitic acts.”
The resolution was introduced in January by Assembly Member Jose Medina, a Democrat who chairs the Assembly Higher Education Committee. It passed the Senate Education Committee in June.
Medina signed the July 29 Jewish caucus letter.
A history of anti-Israel views
Three of the 18 members on the advisory committee in developing the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum include Gaye Theresa Johnson, Theresa Montano and Samia Shoman; are all academics documented for their anti-Israel sentiments and outright bias.
Johnson, who teaches Chicano and African-American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, co-authored an article that included an interview with former Black Panther Party member Angela Davis that was sympathetic to Davis’s views on Israel and BDS.
Montano, vice president of the California Teachers Association and a professor of Latino studies at California State University, Northridge, signed the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel petition supporting the academic boycott of Israel.
Shoman, a manager of English Learner & Compliance programs in the San Mateo Union High School District, taught in the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) program at San Francisco State University and talks widely on how to teach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the high school level.
She has further signed a petition accusing Israel of being a “racist,” “apartheid” state, engaging in “ethnic cleansing,” and treating Palestinians in “a savagely racist way,” in addition to calling on a local food store to boycott all Israeli goods.”
Johnson, Montano and Shoman did not respond to a request for comment.
‘A disaster for all Jews in California’
“This is nothing more than an attempt by fringe activists to highjack the model ethnic-studies curriculum for California high schools in the service of radical political goals,” Seth Brysk, the Anti-Defamation League’s central pacific regional director. “Educators and students should not be denied the opportunity to learn about the distinct culture of the Jewish community and its experience as an ethnic group in America.”
Brysk noted that while the ADL supported the initiative in principle, the organization “will vigorously push back against pedagogically unsound attempts to distort the purpose of the bill and erase core aspects of Jewish identity and the American Jewish experience.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center told JNS that if this curriculum is left unchallenged, it would “be a disaster for all Jews in California.”
“BDS is the tipping point of a global campaign to demonize, weaken and ultimately do away with the Jewish state. Its fundamental anti-Semitism has been called out by the German Bundestag. It is opposed by the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans,” he said.
While Cooper said his organization is not opposed to a curriculum about ethnic groups, he is concerned about the imbalance with the specific Palestinian narrative in this case.
“There much more than Palestinian talking points, whose leaders have institutionalized victimhood as their core identity. All this comes at a time when many Arabs from the Gulf are beginning to normalize their interaction with the Jewish world, including Israelis. Any curriculum should focus on all Arab nations and celebrate those that have religious tolerance as a norm, like Bahrain—not, unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority.”
“I hope,” said Cooper, “that the very diverse Jewish community here in California will oppose any state-mandated curriculum that validates or promotes anti-Semitism.”
Similarly, StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein said that the Jewish people should also be included in any ethnic-studies curriculum as a historically oppressed people.
“It is outrageous that an effort to teach students about marginalized communities is being used to promote a campaign of hate against Israel,” she told JNS. “Furthermore, Jews should be included as a historically oppressed people who have a right to self-determination in their ancestral home. The State of California must modify this curriculum to remove anti-Israel bias and include education about the Jewish community.”
SWU sent out an action alert on Friday morning.
In a statement, the American Jewish Committee remarked that the curriculum excludes Jews and others, in addition to being historically inaccurate.
“The proposed mandatory ethnic-studies curriculum inexplicably snubs Jews and other ethnic groups as it falls woefully short on inclusiveness of California’s diverse population,” AJC Los Angeles chief of staff Dganit Abramoff and AJC Northern California Rabbi Serena Eisenberg told JNS. “It mischaracterizes Jewish history and identity, especially Mizrahi Jews, who comprise a significant portion of the state’s Jewish population; neglects the history and scope of anti-Semitism; and demonizes the State of Israel.”
“We urge the State Senate to revise the legislation establishing this curriculum to include safeguards against biased and inaccurate educational guidelines,” they continued. “The State’s Department of Education should carefully review the full contents of the draft curriculum, which will require significant revisions for accuracy. Finally, the current draft adopts politically tendentious views on race and identity which should not be taught as unchallenged truths in our state’s public schools.”
“California needs to offer its students an opportunity to understand fully the role of ethnicity, race and religion in the life of all its citizens, especially those previously ignored,” added Abramoff and Eisenberg. “But this proposed curriculum is not even close to that.”
Club Z executive director Masha Merkulova told JNS, “The proposed California curriculum intentionally excludes Jews as an ethnic group that has faced oppression; presents a one-sided narrative of the only Jewish state; and provides a mouthpiece for the bigoted BDS movement.”
“We are now witnessing the result of decades of complacency and passiveness in our society when it comes to discrimination against the Jewish community,” she continued. “This is not a Jewish issue; this should be a concern for every American. We must act before anti-Semitism becomes institutionalized in our public schools.”
Club Z launched a Change.org petition think week, calling on the California state legislature and Newsom to not adopt the proposed curriculum. At press time, it had 182 signatures.
‘There is a rot that has taken firm root’ in university classrooms
Observers see the situation in the ethnic-studies curriculum as a result of anti-Israel bias that is “trickling down” from college campuses to high schools.
The Endowment for Middle East Truth has been studying the problem and trying to utilize the legislative process to make changes in the teaching of Middle Eastern Studies at the college level for a decade, its founder and president, Sarah Stern, told JNS.
“This one-sided, rigid dogma has trickled down from the university classroom to teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade in many ways—some subtle and some not quite so subtle,” she said. “Unfortunately, there is a rot that has taken firm root, heavily biased against Israel in most university classrooms.”
Indeed, other communities across the North America have been dealing with anti-Israel bias found in its curriculum.
Syracuse University political-science professor Miriam Elman described this phenomenon as a “negative feedback loop.”
“Not only does anti-Israel hostility on college campuses influence the next generation of high school teachers, but these high school teachers are in turn sending kids up to college with a misinformed view of Israel,” she said at a talk earlier this year, discussing the biased curriculum and textbook use in Newton, Mass., hosted by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).
“Exposure of this radical educational initiative is vital so that it does not spread to other states,” Steve Stotsky, senior research analyst with CAMERA, told JNS. “The curriculum politicizes the education of America’s children. Particularly insidious are efforts to inject anti-Israel indoctrination, including support for the anti-Semitic BDS movement. The material is prejudicial, devoid of factual content and has no place in public-school education.”
Similarly, Asaf Romirowsky, executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, said the proposed study represents a “one-sided politicized curriculum, especially as it relates to Israel and the Middle East.”
Romirowsky said that ethnic studies at universities, in particular, have a “long history of supporting the fallacious, ahistorical BDS movement—something we have witnessed in California.”
For example, when an anti-Israel student-taught course at the University of California at Berkeley called “Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis” was re-approved by dean of social sciences Carla Hesse following a recommendation by the Department of Ethnic Studies.
As such, Romirowsky said that this, too, is an example of the “trickle-down” effect of anti-Israel bias going from college campuses to high schools.
“This is not some big push from California,” Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel told JNS. “This is about a small group of people who drafted this curriculum, and we’re going to get it fixed.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Nowadays California’s HS graduates can barely read, write or do simple math, but they will learn to hate Israel and the Jewish people if the proposed curriculum is adopted.
By Jackson Richman and Sean Savage
JNS
August 2, 2019
Hostility towards Israel and its supporters across college campuses throughout the United States and beyond—well-documented for years—has been the focus of pro-Israel groups. Now the anti-Israel movement may be officially trickling down into the high school system of the largest state in America.
A new ethnic-studies curriculum under proposal by the California Department of Education is being widely condemned by pro-Israel and Jewish groups, California lawmakers and activists for its “blatant bias against Israel.”
“The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum is deeply troubling—not only for its shocking omission of any mention of Jewish Americans or anti-Semitism or its blatant anti-Israel bias and praise of BDS, but for its clear attempt to politically indoctrinate students to adopt the view that Israel and its Jewish supporters are part of ‘interlocking systems of oppression and privilege’ that must be fought with ‘direct action’ and ‘resistance,’ ” Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, co-founder and director of the California-based AMCHA Initiative, told JNS.
California lawmakers have begun to raise alarms over the proposed curriculum, the result of a 2016 law calling for the creation of a model ethnic-studies curriculum by the state’s board of education.
The proposed curriculum is currently going through public comment and is expected to go through revisions, followed by being approved next year by the board.
Members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, all Democrats, wrote a letter, dated July 29, 2019, to Soomin Chao, chair of the Instructional Quality Commission at the California Department of Education.
“As elected representatives and members of California’s diverse Jewish community, we have consistently prioritized efforts to promote inclusion and have strongly supported efforts to ensure that California students understand our state’s complicated history and rich diversity,” they wrote. “However, we cannot support a curriculum that erases the American Jewish experience, fails to discuss anti-Semitism, reinforces negative stereotypes about Jews, singles out Israel for criticism and would institutionalize the teaching of anti-Semitic stereotypes in our public schools.”
The Jewish caucus has been seeking support from the LGBT, Black and Hispanic caucuses, among other affected parties, to call for changes to the curriculum that would include removing the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example of an ethnic-studies curriculum.
The caucus, which was alerted to the proposed curriculum by members of the Jewish community, is trying to be strategic in its approach, while respecting the reality of politics in California. It has also been having what members describe as productive conversations with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and state legislators.
Jewish groups, including in California, have also been monitoring the curriculum proposal with concern.
“We have concerns that include the curriculum’s omission both of Jews as an ethnic group and of anti-Semitism as a concept. The curriculum should reflect the true diversity of California’s population,” Jeremy Russell, director of marketing and communications at the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, told JNS.
“We are also concerned by the curriculum’s inclusion of the divisive BDS movement, which is inconsistent with the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Guidelines to ‘create space for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality or citizenship, to learn different perspectives.’ ”
Russell said that the JCRC, as part of a coalition headed by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, has “communicated these and other serious concerns to the Instructional Quality Commission of the Department of Education of California.”
From anti-Israel rhetoric to provocative songs to troubling legislation
The proposed curriculum section on “Arab American Studies Course Outline” contains a number of passages concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as “Direct Action Front for Palestine and Black Lives Matter,” “Call to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Israel” and “Comparative Border Studies: Palestine and Mexico.” It also includes studying national figures such as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the late Columbia University professor Edward Said, Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour, the late radio personality Casey Kasem, actress Alia Shawkat and the late White House correspondent Helen Thomas—all of whom are associated with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric, and in the case of the congresswomen, a push to enact legislation punishing Israel.
According to the sample course models, students also are introduced to concepts like the nakba, defined from Arabic as “the catastrophe,” which is used to describe the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in May 1948 and the displacement of Arabs that occurred.
The curriculum also includes songs and poems containing questionable lyrics in relation to the Middle East.
One is a rap son by Iraqi-Canadian rapper Narcy: “The Real Arab Money.” Lyrics include, “In Palestine, kids can’t shop at these malls. … My nation on my back, look how proud we are. … America bustin’ nuts on Saudi Riyals.”
Another song, by Shadia Mansour, reads: “Get out Yankees from Latin America, French, English and Dutch, I love you Free Palestine.”
The course goes over Arab stereotypes, including one that views Palestinians as “terrorists” who “blow up airlines,” try to “destroy Israel” and attempt to “drive the Jews into the sea.” It also has a song with the lyrics, “I love you, Free Palestine,” and “As the saying goes, ‘The situation must be threatened, but in reality, the situation must stop’; For every free political prisoner, an Israeli colony is expanded.”
The song also implicitly refers to Jews in saying that Israelis, most of whom are Jews, “use the press so they can manufacture,” a classic anti-Semitic trope that Jews control the media.
Currently, the curriculum is in a public comment period until Aug. 15, where residents can voice concerns.
At the same time, California is set to enact resolution AB-331, which will require all California high school students to take at least a one-semester course in an ethnic-studies-based model curriculum, which consists of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel content, in order to graduate, effective from the 2024-25 academic year.
“If AB 331 is approved by the California state legislature in the coming days, every high school student in California will be required to take an ethnic-studies course based on such a model curriculum before graduating,” said Rossman-Benjamin. “It’s not hard to see how California college and university campuses, already reeling from the alarming number of anti-Zionist-motivated acts of aggression perpetrated against Jewish and pro-Israel students, could begin to see even more dramatic increases in these anti-Semitic acts.”
The resolution was introduced in January by Assembly Member Jose Medina, a Democrat who chairs the Assembly Higher Education Committee. It passed the Senate Education Committee in June.
Medina signed the July 29 Jewish caucus letter.
A history of anti-Israel views
Three of the 18 members on the advisory committee in developing the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum include Gaye Theresa Johnson, Theresa Montano and Samia Shoman; are all academics documented for their anti-Israel sentiments and outright bias.
Johnson, who teaches Chicano and African-American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, co-authored an article that included an interview with former Black Panther Party member Angela Davis that was sympathetic to Davis’s views on Israel and BDS.
Montano, vice president of the California Teachers Association and a professor of Latino studies at California State University, Northridge, signed the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel petition supporting the academic boycott of Israel.
Shoman, a manager of English Learner & Compliance programs in the San Mateo Union High School District, taught in the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) program at San Francisco State University and talks widely on how to teach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the high school level.
She has further signed a petition accusing Israel of being a “racist,” “apartheid” state, engaging in “ethnic cleansing,” and treating Palestinians in “a savagely racist way,” in addition to calling on a local food store to boycott all Israeli goods.”
Johnson, Montano and Shoman did not respond to a request for comment.
‘A disaster for all Jews in California’
“This is nothing more than an attempt by fringe activists to highjack the model ethnic-studies curriculum for California high schools in the service of radical political goals,” Seth Brysk, the Anti-Defamation League’s central pacific regional director. “Educators and students should not be denied the opportunity to learn about the distinct culture of the Jewish community and its experience as an ethnic group in America.”
Brysk noted that while the ADL supported the initiative in principle, the organization “will vigorously push back against pedagogically unsound attempts to distort the purpose of the bill and erase core aspects of Jewish identity and the American Jewish experience.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center told JNS that if this curriculum is left unchallenged, it would “be a disaster for all Jews in California.”
“BDS is the tipping point of a global campaign to demonize, weaken and ultimately do away with the Jewish state. Its fundamental anti-Semitism has been called out by the German Bundestag. It is opposed by the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans,” he said.
While Cooper said his organization is not opposed to a curriculum about ethnic groups, he is concerned about the imbalance with the specific Palestinian narrative in this case.
“There much more than Palestinian talking points, whose leaders have institutionalized victimhood as their core identity. All this comes at a time when many Arabs from the Gulf are beginning to normalize their interaction with the Jewish world, including Israelis. Any curriculum should focus on all Arab nations and celebrate those that have religious tolerance as a norm, like Bahrain—not, unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority.”
“I hope,” said Cooper, “that the very diverse Jewish community here in California will oppose any state-mandated curriculum that validates or promotes anti-Semitism.”
Similarly, StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein said that the Jewish people should also be included in any ethnic-studies curriculum as a historically oppressed people.
“It is outrageous that an effort to teach students about marginalized communities is being used to promote a campaign of hate against Israel,” she told JNS. “Furthermore, Jews should be included as a historically oppressed people who have a right to self-determination in their ancestral home. The State of California must modify this curriculum to remove anti-Israel bias and include education about the Jewish community.”
SWU sent out an action alert on Friday morning.
In a statement, the American Jewish Committee remarked that the curriculum excludes Jews and others, in addition to being historically inaccurate.
“The proposed mandatory ethnic-studies curriculum inexplicably snubs Jews and other ethnic groups as it falls woefully short on inclusiveness of California’s diverse population,” AJC Los Angeles chief of staff Dganit Abramoff and AJC Northern California Rabbi Serena Eisenberg told JNS. “It mischaracterizes Jewish history and identity, especially Mizrahi Jews, who comprise a significant portion of the state’s Jewish population; neglects the history and scope of anti-Semitism; and demonizes the State of Israel.”
“We urge the State Senate to revise the legislation establishing this curriculum to include safeguards against biased and inaccurate educational guidelines,” they continued. “The State’s Department of Education should carefully review the full contents of the draft curriculum, which will require significant revisions for accuracy. Finally, the current draft adopts politically tendentious views on race and identity which should not be taught as unchallenged truths in our state’s public schools.”
“California needs to offer its students an opportunity to understand fully the role of ethnicity, race and religion in the life of all its citizens, especially those previously ignored,” added Abramoff and Eisenberg. “But this proposed curriculum is not even close to that.”
Club Z executive director Masha Merkulova told JNS, “The proposed California curriculum intentionally excludes Jews as an ethnic group that has faced oppression; presents a one-sided narrative of the only Jewish state; and provides a mouthpiece for the bigoted BDS movement.”
“We are now witnessing the result of decades of complacency and passiveness in our society when it comes to discrimination against the Jewish community,” she continued. “This is not a Jewish issue; this should be a concern for every American. We must act before anti-Semitism becomes institutionalized in our public schools.”
Club Z launched a Change.org petition think week, calling on the California state legislature and Newsom to not adopt the proposed curriculum. At press time, it had 182 signatures.
‘There is a rot that has taken firm root’ in university classrooms
Observers see the situation in the ethnic-studies curriculum as a result of anti-Israel bias that is “trickling down” from college campuses to high schools.
The Endowment for Middle East Truth has been studying the problem and trying to utilize the legislative process to make changes in the teaching of Middle Eastern Studies at the college level for a decade, its founder and president, Sarah Stern, told JNS.
“This one-sided, rigid dogma has trickled down from the university classroom to teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade in many ways—some subtle and some not quite so subtle,” she said. “Unfortunately, there is a rot that has taken firm root, heavily biased against Israel in most university classrooms.”
Indeed, other communities across the North America have been dealing with anti-Israel bias found in its curriculum.
Syracuse University political-science professor Miriam Elman described this phenomenon as a “negative feedback loop.”
“Not only does anti-Israel hostility on college campuses influence the next generation of high school teachers, but these high school teachers are in turn sending kids up to college with a misinformed view of Israel,” she said at a talk earlier this year, discussing the biased curriculum and textbook use in Newton, Mass., hosted by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).
“Exposure of this radical educational initiative is vital so that it does not spread to other states,” Steve Stotsky, senior research analyst with CAMERA, told JNS. “The curriculum politicizes the education of America’s children. Particularly insidious are efforts to inject anti-Israel indoctrination, including support for the anti-Semitic BDS movement. The material is prejudicial, devoid of factual content and has no place in public-school education.”
Similarly, Asaf Romirowsky, executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, said the proposed study represents a “one-sided politicized curriculum, especially as it relates to Israel and the Middle East.”
Romirowsky said that ethnic studies at universities, in particular, have a “long history of supporting the fallacious, ahistorical BDS movement—something we have witnessed in California.”
For example, when an anti-Israel student-taught course at the University of California at Berkeley called “Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis” was re-approved by dean of social sciences Carla Hesse following a recommendation by the Department of Ethnic Studies.
As such, Romirowsky said that this, too, is an example of the “trickle-down” effect of anti-Israel bias going from college campuses to high schools.
“This is not some big push from California,” Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel told JNS. “This is about a small group of people who drafted this curriculum, and we’re going to get it fixed.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Nowadays California’s HS graduates can barely read, write or do simple math, but they will learn to hate Israel and the Jewish people if the proposed curriculum is adopted.
Sunday, August 04, 2019
IS BANNING BDS INFRINGING ON THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH?
Those who support the BDS movement claim that banning the boycott of Israel infringes on the First Amendment right of free speech
Ilhan Omar’s House resolution supporting BDS got the support of Rashida Tlaib, John Lewis, AOC and a number of Congressional Black Caucus members but was defeated by an overwhelming vote. Part of Omar’s resolution read, “affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.” What Omar meant was that BDS is protected by the right of free speech.
BDS is not a matter of speech. It is an action that calls for businesses to boycott Israel and is designed to destroy the Jewish state.
27 states have passed anti-BDS laws that generally prohibit those states from using taxpayers’ money to contract with or invest in businesses that engage in commercial discrimination against Israel. Under the leadership of Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas passed one of the strongest anti-BDS laws. Makes me Texas proud!
Anti-BDS laws do not prohibit businesses from boycotting Israel.
Those who support the BDS movement claim that banning the boycott of Israel infringes on the First Amendment right of free speech. But in a challenge to Arkansas’ anti-BDS law, a federal judge ruled that it is constitutional and not a violation of free speech. And there are many Supreme Court decisions that allow states to choose whom they do business with and to exclude discriminatory actions from First Amendment protection.
Banning BDS does not prevent individuals or groups from advocating it. Banning BDS only prohibits local, state and federal government agencies from doing business with businesses that are participating in BDS by boycotting Israel.
Which brings me to the young Jews who support the BDS movement. They have been indoctrinated by far-left, Palestinian-loving professors or they want to cover up their Jewishness by joining in with the Palestinians.
And then there is the George Soros funded J Street, a liberal Jewish anti-Israel lobbying group, which opposes anti-BDS laws.
Count those young pro-BDS Jews and Soros’ J Street as among Israel's most dangerous enemies.
The BDS movement is really a cover for hatred of Jews. By seeking to destroy Israel, the movement wants to do harm to the Jewish people. And that makes BDS blatantly anti-Semitic.
Omar, Tlaib, AOC and the Jewish supporters of BDS have every right under the First Amendment to express their anti-Semitism. Oh yes, there are anti-Semitic Jews.
Banning BDS in no way infringes on the First Amendment right of free speech.
Ilhan Omar’s House resolution supporting BDS got the support of Rashida Tlaib, John Lewis, AOC and a number of Congressional Black Caucus members but was defeated by an overwhelming vote. Part of Omar’s resolution read, “affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.” What Omar meant was that BDS is protected by the right of free speech.
BDS is not a matter of speech. It is an action that calls for businesses to boycott Israel and is designed to destroy the Jewish state.
27 states have passed anti-BDS laws that generally prohibit those states from using taxpayers’ money to contract with or invest in businesses that engage in commercial discrimination against Israel. Under the leadership of Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas passed one of the strongest anti-BDS laws. Makes me Texas proud!
Anti-BDS laws do not prohibit businesses from boycotting Israel.
Those who support the BDS movement claim that banning the boycott of Israel infringes on the First Amendment right of free speech. But in a challenge to Arkansas’ anti-BDS law, a federal judge ruled that it is constitutional and not a violation of free speech. And there are many Supreme Court decisions that allow states to choose whom they do business with and to exclude discriminatory actions from First Amendment protection.
Banning BDS does not prevent individuals or groups from advocating it. Banning BDS only prohibits local, state and federal government agencies from doing business with businesses that are participating in BDS by boycotting Israel.
Which brings me to the young Jews who support the BDS movement. They have been indoctrinated by far-left, Palestinian-loving professors or they want to cover up their Jewishness by joining in with the Palestinians.
And then there is the George Soros funded J Street, a liberal Jewish anti-Israel lobbying group, which opposes anti-BDS laws.
Count those young pro-BDS Jews and Soros’ J Street as among Israel's most dangerous enemies.
The BDS movement is really a cover for hatred of Jews. By seeking to destroy Israel, the movement wants to do harm to the Jewish people. And that makes BDS blatantly anti-Semitic.
Omar, Tlaib, AOC and the Jewish supporters of BDS have every right under the First Amendment to express their anti-Semitism. Oh yes, there are anti-Semitic Jews.
Banning BDS in no way infringes on the First Amendment right of free speech.
JLO DEFIES BDS
Jennifer Lopez, A-Rod pray at Western Wall as manager says 'nothing' would have stopped JLo from Israel show
By Sasha Savitsky
Fox News
August 2, 2019
Jennifer Lopez and her fiance Alex Rodriguez made time to stop by one of the world's holiest sites, Jerusalem's Western Wall.
The singer, her baseball playing-beau and their respective children were snapped praying at the holy site after JLo performed the night before in Tel Aviv.
"Reconnecting with faith and family at the Via Dolorosa and the church of the holy sepulcher," Lopez posted on Instagram. "#family #love #itsmypartytour SWIPE to see some beautiful pictures of our family outing."
Rodriguez shared: "Jerusalem, you are unforgettable. What a perfect finale to our first trip to this beautiful land."
Later he added, "What an amazing time we are having on my first trip to Israel! The people have been wonderful and have such energy. I will definitely be back and recommend visiting this incredible country!"
While the famous couple was visiting Israel as a stop on Lopez's "It's My Party" tour, it didn't come without controversy. Like many artists who perform in the Middle Eastern country, Lopez faced pressure to cancel her concert from the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
But Lopez's longtime manager Benny Medina told Israel's Channel 12 that "there was nothing that was going to stop us from being in Israel."
Bon Jovi faced similar pressure recently but made the decision to perform in Tel Aviv on July 25 despite BDS pressure. Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan told the Jerusalem Post, “We don’t get into politics. Rock ‘n’ roll goes everywhere and helps people forget about the world and have a good time. It doesn’t divide, and that’s what we’re talking about – unification, not dividing.”
In September, singer Lana Del Rey canceled her performance in Israel under pressure from an anti-Israeli group two weeks after she publicly defended the concert as a way to "bring us together" with a "thematic emphasis on peace."
Singers who have performed in Israel include Paul McCartney, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan, Justin Bieber, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Leonard Cohen, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and others.
By Sasha Savitsky
Fox News
August 2, 2019
Jennifer Lopez and her fiance Alex Rodriguez made time to stop by one of the world's holiest sites, Jerusalem's Western Wall.
The singer, her baseball playing-beau and their respective children were snapped praying at the holy site after JLo performed the night before in Tel Aviv.
"Reconnecting with faith and family at the Via Dolorosa and the church of the holy sepulcher," Lopez posted on Instagram. "#family #love #itsmypartytour SWIPE to see some beautiful pictures of our family outing."
Rodriguez shared: "Jerusalem, you are unforgettable. What a perfect finale to our first trip to this beautiful land."
Later he added, "What an amazing time we are having on my first trip to Israel! The people have been wonderful and have such energy. I will definitely be back and recommend visiting this incredible country!"
While the famous couple was visiting Israel as a stop on Lopez's "It's My Party" tour, it didn't come without controversy. Like many artists who perform in the Middle Eastern country, Lopez faced pressure to cancel her concert from the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
But Lopez's longtime manager Benny Medina told Israel's Channel 12 that "there was nothing that was going to stop us from being in Israel."
Bon Jovi faced similar pressure recently but made the decision to perform in Tel Aviv on July 25 despite BDS pressure. Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan told the Jerusalem Post, “We don’t get into politics. Rock ‘n’ roll goes everywhere and helps people forget about the world and have a good time. It doesn’t divide, and that’s what we’re talking about – unification, not dividing.”
In September, singer Lana Del Rey canceled her performance in Israel under pressure from an anti-Israeli group two weeks after she publicly defended the concert as a way to "bring us together" with a "thematic emphasis on peace."
Singers who have performed in Israel include Paul McCartney, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan, Justin Bieber, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Leonard Cohen, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and others.
WE ALL ALMOST DIED LAST WEEK
by Bob Walsh
OK, that is a slight exaggeration. The asteroid was more of a city killer than a planet killer, but it passed earth WELL INSIDE of the moon's orbit. That is very, very close in astronomical terms. It was spotted only a few days out. (Gee, didn't they make a movie along those lines a few years back?)
Anyway, we cheated death again. First in 2016 when Hillary didn't get elected, and again last week when an asteroid didn't hit us. Of course maybe if it had just hit LA or SF or Seattle it wouldn't have been a huge big deal. It might have just incinerated a huge pile of shit, in more meanings that just the one.
OK, that is a slight exaggeration. The asteroid was more of a city killer than a planet killer, but it passed earth WELL INSIDE of the moon's orbit. That is very, very close in astronomical terms. It was spotted only a few days out. (Gee, didn't they make a movie along those lines a few years back?)
Anyway, we cheated death again. First in 2016 when Hillary didn't get elected, and again last week when an asteroid didn't hit us. Of course maybe if it had just hit LA or SF or Seattle it wouldn't have been a huge big deal. It might have just incinerated a huge pile of shit, in more meanings that just the one.
OUT IN THE WEST TEXAS TOWN OF EL PASO
Some Butthead Shot Up The Walmart At The Cielo Vista Mall
by Bob Walsh
As I write this (1130 a.m. Saturday) the situation is still very fluid and possibly still active. Media reports 18 down, at least one known dead.
Eye witnesses report one shooter with a long gun started shooting people in the parking lot and entered the store, still shooting.
The cops think there MAY be more than one shooter. (They always think that. There usually isn't. They are playing it safe.)
I thought WalMarts were supposed to be gun free zones. Maybe the shooter didn't notice the sign. Damn. Maybe they need bigger signs. Then we would all be safer, right?
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to CNN, as of this writing 20 people were killed and 26 people were injured. The suspect, who is white and in custody, is 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, a suburb of Dallas, about a 650-mile drive from El Paso.
by Bob Walsh
As I write this (1130 a.m. Saturday) the situation is still very fluid and possibly still active. Media reports 18 down, at least one known dead.
Eye witnesses report one shooter with a long gun started shooting people in the parking lot and entered the store, still shooting.
The cops think there MAY be more than one shooter. (They always think that. There usually isn't. They are playing it safe.)
I thought WalMarts were supposed to be gun free zones. Maybe the shooter didn't notice the sign. Damn. Maybe they need bigger signs. Then we would all be safer, right?
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to CNN, as of this writing 20 people were killed and 26 people were injured. The suspect, who is white and in custody, is 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, a suburb of Dallas, about a 650-mile drive from El Paso.
NEW "GUN SAFETY" LAWS IN NEW YORK
by Bob Walsh
If you own a gun in New York state, and you have a rugrat under the age of 16, you now have 60 days to obtain some sort of gun lock or lock box or gun safe to keep the weapon locked up. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor offense. There are already similar local ordinances in the state. The law does NOT exempt police officers. The law also applies when non-resident visiting regrats are present.
Do you feel safer now? (Me neither.) Don't get me wrong, I think the general idea is a good one. I am just dubious about safety compelled in private homes by the government.
If you own a gun in New York state, and you have a rugrat under the age of 16, you now have 60 days to obtain some sort of gun lock or lock box or gun safe to keep the weapon locked up. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor offense. There are already similar local ordinances in the state. The law does NOT exempt police officers. The law also applies when non-resident visiting regrats are present.
Do you feel safer now? (Me neither.) Don't get me wrong, I think the general idea is a good one. I am just dubious about safety compelled in private homes by the government.
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