Published by an old curmudgeon who came to America in 1936 as a refugee from Nazi Germany and proudly served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He is a former law enforcement officer and a retired professor of criminal justice who, in 1970, founded the Texas Narcotic Officers Association. BarkGrowlBite refuses to be politically correct.
(Copyrighted articles are reproduced in accordance with the copyright laws of the U.S. Code, Title 17, Section 107.)
It was supposed to be a “New Middle East,” one in which the voices of
the people override those of belligerent governments, resulting in
regional reconciliation based on mutual benefit.
But Israelis are
starting to realize that was wishful thinking. They made a similar
mistake in their near-euphoric approach to the “Oslo Accords” in the
mid-1990s.
This time around Israelis have the World Cup in Qatar to thank for sobering them up.
Israel
does not have official diplomatic ties with Qatar, but Israelis were
granted permission to attend the world’s biggest sporting event. And the
atmosphere presumably created by the Abraham Accords led many to
believe they’d be welcomed, or at least treated with newfound respect.
Celtic fans waved Palestinian flags during thee games.
The many Israeli journalists who traveled to Doha were of course
unable to do so, and a steady stream of reports reveal they have met
with widespread hostility, and some have even hastily returned to Israel for fear of bodily harm.
This
has resulted in those journalists, and hopefully their many Israeli
viewers, waking up to the fact that genuine peace is not on the horizon,
and likely won’t be in this or the next generation.
A prime example of this came from Raz Shechnik, a correspondent for Yediot Ahronot, Israel’s largest paid newspaper.
After being repeatedly dismissed and abused by not only Palestinian, but nearly all Arab fans, Shechnik wrote on Twitter:
“I
became sober-minded here, for the first time. I was always a centrist,
liberal and open minded, with a great desire for peace first and
foremost. I always thought the problem [between Arabs and Jews] was the
governments, the leaders—including ours. But in Qatar I learned just how
pervasive the [Arab] hatred is among the people on the street, how much
they wish to wipe us off the face of the earth. To what degree
everything connected to Israel stirs up harsh hatred.”
What
Shechnik and others like him have long ignored, but are now belatedly
understanding, is that while the modern problems might have started with
leaders and governments, they have since moved far beyond politics.
Those
leaders and governments have for decades been educating and
indoctrinating their peoples to view Israel as entirely illegitimate, to
loathe it with all their being. And the lesson has taken root.
You’ll notice in the above video clip that the Arabs Shechnik tries
to engage don’t express frustration with Israel, they insist there is no Israel.
They
don’t want a negotiated settlement to the conflict. They want Israel to
disappear, thus fulfilling their belief that a Jewish state does not
and cannot exist.
They think this way because they have been
educated to think this way. And signing even 100 peace agreements isn’t
suddenly going to change that.
And I’m not talking here about
classroom education, though this is of course happening also in schools
across the Arab Middle East. More importantly, Islam teaches its
adherents that Jewish sovereignty in lands once ruled by Muslims is
illegitimate and must be rejected.
The long refusal of liberal
Western peacemakers, including Israelis like Shechnik, to accept that
this is ultimately a religious conflict is why all their efforts to date
have borne little, if any fruit.
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, dubbed “Let-em-Go” Creuzot, is one of dozens of progressive district attorneys in the U.S. who have received financial backing from far-left billionaire George Soros.
As stories about rampant crime enabled by activist district attorneys
dominate headlines in Texas and across the country, a recent study
commissioned by Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia is drawing attention
for revealing some alarming statistics associated with leniency-focused
reform efforts, specifically in the area of bail reform.
As reported by The Dallas Express and Fox 4 DFW,
a study conducted by criminologist Michael Smith of the University of
Texas at San Antonio shows that 56 percent of individuals charged with
violent crimes or weapons law violations in Dallas are released on bail
or their own recognizance. That figure includes about 75 percent of
offenders charged with weapons law violations, about two-thirds of those
arrested for aggravated assault, and 34 percent of those arrested for
murder.
Smith examined
464 arrests from 2021 and followed the cases through May 15 of this
year. The dataset included all (109) arrests for murder, 25 percent (73)
of arrests for robbery, 25 percent (154) of arrests for aggravated
assault involving a family member, 10 percent (67) of arrests for
aggravated assault not involving a family member, and 10 percent (61) of
arrests for weapons law violations.
Almost a quarter of those released were arrested again within the
course of the study. The average length of time between release and the
second arrest was 148 days.
DPD Chief Garcia has expressed frustration with the soft-on-crime policies of Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot (D), dubbed “Let-em-Go” Creuzot by critics. Creuzot is one of dozens of progressive district attorneys in the U.S. who have received financial backing from far-left billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations in recent years, including hundreds of thousands in paid advertising ahead of this year’s election. Soros and his sprawling network of organizations
have funded countless left-wing movements and candidates for elected
office in a purported effort to “address profound racial, economic, and
political inequalities,” particularly through what they label as
“criminal justice reform.”
Garcia, however, believes bail reform harms the minority communities it is intended to benefit. In a November 2 press conferencecovered by The Dallas Express, he cited statistics showing that at least 85 percent of victims of violent crimes in Dallas are either black or Latino.
“What’s been going on with the irresponsible decisions that I have
been seeing here since I took this position nearly two years ago, is the
fact that bail reform [is letting] violent criminals back into our
neighborhoods is not helping our communities of color,” he said. “It has
emboldened violent criminals. It has reduced the trust that our
community has in the system.”
Creuzot was elected as district attorney in 2018, the same year
the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups
brought a class-action lawsuit against the county on behalf of detainees
who were unable to post bail. Following a federal court ruling
that judges in Dallas County should consider a defendant’s financial
situation when setting bond amounts in misdemeanor and felony cases,
Creuzot directed
prosecutors working for him to factor this consideration into their
pretrial detainment recommendations. Despite the criticism he’s
received, Creuzot has defended
his policies, arguing that the “bail system should [not] ensure that …
poor defendants are kept in jail because of their economic
disadvantages.”
The 2018 ruling was appealed, and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned it earlier this year.
In response to bail leniency in Dallas County and other jurisdictions
in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott designated restrictions to bail as a
legislative priority at the beginning of last year’s regular legislative
session. When this and other agenda items did not pass during the
regular session, Abbott called three special sessions forcing the
Legislature to address them, and he signed Senate Bill 6 during the second special session. Among other things, this measure
requires defendants accused of violent crimes to pay cash to get out of
jail before trial, ending the practice of judges allowing their release
on personal recognizance bonds.
During a November 14 Dallas City Council meeting, Garcia presented
Smith’s findings, which led to a discussion among council members about
asking state lawmakers to improve the transparency of judicial
proceedings so people can become more aware of how crime is being
addressed in their communities.
After Smith’s study received widespread attention, Abbott announced
more needs to be done to address lax bail policies.
Following the public scrutiny his office has received in recent weeks, Creuzot reversed a controversial policy of not prosecuting thefts of less than $750 this past weekend.
“I want the people of Dallas County and our partner police agencies
to know that I have heard their concerns,” he explained in a press
release. “I will change when change is needed, so to that end, I am
rescinding the policy.”
The practices of other district attorney offices in Texas could soon receive the same scrutiny, as Smith is planning do a similar study examining 10,000 arrests in San Antonio.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of the Biden Santa Claus
cash giveaway in the Student Debt Forgiveness Program. The case will be
heard next year, shortly before the current moratorium in student debt
repayment (which is costing taxpayers a ton of money by itself) runs
out.
Chief
James Fry speaks during a press conference about a quadruple homicide
investigation involving four University of Idaho students at the Moscow
Police Department on Nov. 16.
Authorities investigating the brutal quadruple murder
of four University of Idaho students are shaking the public’s
confidence in their investigation — and even confusing former FBI
investigators.
Police in Moscow, Idaho have been joined by state and federal agents
to find the killer, but so far revealed little information other than
the murder weapon was a knife and the attack was “targeted.”
However, on Wednesday night at a press conference authorities walked even that information back — only to re-clarify they were sticking by the original statement the next day.
“The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office stated the suspect(s)
specifically looked at this residence, and that one or more of the
occupants were undoubtedly targeted,” Moscow police said Wednesday. “We
have spoken with the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office and identified
this was a miscommunication. Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted.”
On Thursday, Moscow police, changed their mind, saying: “We remain
consistent in our belief that this was indeed a targeted attack but have
not conduced if the target was the residence or its occupants.”
Pete Yachmetz, a security consultant and former FBI agent, said the
confusing messages aren’t helping give the public a positive perception
of the case.
The final photo of the victims, pictured just hours before their untimely deaths.
He told The Post: “What is also happening now is the police by
providing imprecise comments are creating an erosion of public
confidence in them.
“That’s unfortunate because in the end public confidence is needed to
solve this crime. The public is very concerned there is or maybe a
killer in their midst and they see no progress in the investigation.”
The department also did not specify what the residence being “targeted” could mean, adding further confusion to the situation.
“I don’t understand how the residence would be targeted,” said Yachmetz.
People gather during a campus vigil for the four University of Idaho students that were fatally stabbed.
“I could understand targeting one or more of the kids for a number of
different reasons, but targeting the residence, I just don’t know,” he
added.
Ethan Chapin, 20 Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were all found stabbed to death inside the off-campus college home Nov. 13 — and no suspects have been identified almost three weeks later.
People watching the case have sharply criticized the way police have communicated.
Weighing in with their opinion on Twitter, user D. G. Allen wrote:
“They are screwing themselves with this investigation. Obviously they
don’t have a clue. Their [sic] dealing with a psycho who might very well
be serial- and I’m sure he’s watching all of this.”
Vehicles
belonging to the slain University of Idaho students were towed from
their off-campus home on Nov. 29, 2022 in Moscow, Idaho.
Another user, Anisha Wilson added their thoughts, saying: “The Idaho
police department is LITERALLY BOTCHING this whole investigation. How
are you going to release the most minuscule amount of info and then
backtrack on ALL of the info you have given.”
Students at Idaho have returned to campus but described how they are
in fear the mysterious killer could strike again, despite increased
police presence at the University.
Throughout the 19-day investigation, police have been unclear in much of their communication.
Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson didn’t help the cause when he told NewsNation Tuesday that “targeted” might not have been the best word choice to describe the attack.
Chief James Fry speaks during a press conference about the quadruple homicide.
Kaylee’s father Steve Goncalves has previously complained that although he has faith in the police, they have not given him regular updates, saying on Nov. 26 he had not heard from police in almost three days.
“They’re kind of just telling me that they can’t tell me much, which
is frustrating to me because I’ve been very trustworthy,” he told Fox
News.
Slain University of Idaho student Ethan Chapin was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
He also described how his family has contributed to aiding the investigation.
“We’re the same family that found the original timeline. We’re the
same family that broke into the phones, we tried everything in our
ability,” he said.
If they were to release an initial profile of the killer, “It will
potentially put more fear, more suspicion on a wide variety of people,”
Idaho State Police communications director Aaron Snell told Fox News.
The "brazen thief" had so much loot he had to drag it out behind him.
Cops called him a "brazen thief" in appeals.
What a drag!
Wild surveillance footage caught a brazen bag bandit casually
strolling out of a Florida store unchallenged despite having so much
loot he had to drag it behind him.
Security footage at a Miami-area Burlington shows the crook walking
out unchallenged despite pulling seemingly dozens of handbags and purses
either tangled up together or stuffed in other makeshift bags.
The astonishing scene came on Black Friday — but somehow appeared to
get missed until Tuesday, when Hialeah police said the $5,000 raid was
finally reported.
Detectives then found further shocking footage of the thief at work
inside the store, again going unchallenged and seemingly unseen as he
snatches up as many items as possible.
It showed him stuffing purses into what looked like blankets he tied
up around it — as well as down his pants, which repeatedly sag from the
weight of his hefty haul.
Hialeah Police Sgt. Jose Torres told WPLG on
Wednesday that the force has “a saturation of officers out there”
looking for the “very brazen thief” who was able to drive off with his
hide-to-hide haul
The man’s raid accounted for $5,00 worth of goods.
Gavin
Rush (top right) was arrested after his attempt to shoot his
ex-girlfriend (lower left) was caught on camera at a bar in Austin.
A crazed attorney from Austin, Texas, was caught on camera allegedly
trying to shoot his ex-girlfriend at the bar she worked at on Saturday,
police said.
Gavin Rush, 41, is out on bond after he allegedly stormed into the
Anderson Mill Pub with a gun around 11:30 a.m. Saturday and approached
his ex, who was behind the bar, according to arrest records obtained by KVUE.
He put a small leather satchel on the table and asked if he could
speak with her. When she said no, he drew the gun and pointed it at her,
with the laser sight aimed at her chest, according to the affidavit and
dramatic surveillance footage of the incident shared by Austin City Councilwoman Mackenzie Kelly.
Video of the incident shows two customers at the bar leap into action
and tackle Rush, who reportedly fired off multiple shots in the
struggle, and held him until police arrived. Fortunately, nobody was
struck.
The woman told police that he had just learned that she was in a new
relationship, and had recently stopped answering his text messages after
he threatened to harm himself and her new partner.
One of the customers who tackled Rush, who wished to remain
anonymous, told KVUE that rewatching the footage of the incident makes
him “just want to throw up.”
“I don’t remember doing this, but I pushed his hand up and the gun
went off,” he told KVUE. “Then we started flying backwards. I turned and
grabbed him around the neck and another shot went off.”
Rush points the gun in the direction of his ex-girlfriend, who is standing behind the bar.
One of the customers said Rush tried to shoot himself in the head as
they took him to the floor, but the man said he was able to keep Rush’s
finger off the trigger.
He said three shots were fired in total, including one that shattered the mirror behind Rush’s ex-girlfriend.
“I’m completely deaf in my left ear right now,” the rescuer said.
An order of protection was issued against the Texas attorney.
They were both familiar with the former couple’s backstory, according to Fox 7 Austin.
Rush was charged with a second-degree felony, aggravated assault with
a deadly weapon family violence. An emergency protection order was
issued against him, and he was soon back on the streets after making a
$40,000 bond, KVUE reported.
“For $4,000, you can get out, go home, watch Netflix after trying to
murder your ex-girlfriend — are you kidding me?” one of the customers
said.
Local leaders have also spoken out against how quickly and easily Rush was released from custody.
“This particular case seems to be one where the courts have failed
this victim,” Thomas Villarreal, head of the Austin Police Association,
told Fox 7.
Gavin Rush was fired from his position following the incident, his law firm confirmed.
Kelly, whose district encompasses the pub, tweeted: “This attorney
belongs behind bars, pending a lengthy jury of his peers. I’m deeply
disturbed watching this video and committed to a safe city.”
Rush has since been fired from the law firm where he had previously worked, the firm confirmed.
He was previously charged in a domestic violence case in which he
allegedly choked out a woman in Williamson County in 2017, KVUE
reported. The case was ultimately dismissed after he completed anger
management counseling.
Liberal media say we should stop covering crime, because it’s hurting Dems
Post Editorial Board
New York Post
November 30, 2022
Liberals media accuses the Post of covering crime, like the funeral of 1-year-old Davell Gardner after the tot was killed in a gang shooting, to hurt the Democrats.
The liberal media suddenly cares about crime. Oh, not the staggering toll on businesses and quality of life, or even the loss of life. No, they’re upset that “fear-mongering” hurt Democrats in the midterm elections.
Fact is, it was New York Democrats who cost Democrats the
House, by pushing a flagrantly illegal gerrymandered election map,
which, after being overturned by a judge, led to a more level
congressional playing field. Add in an accidental governor more
interested in raising money than debating ideas, and a spirited campaign
by Republican challenger Lee Zeldin and, well, here we are.
NYPD at the scene of a shooting in the Bronx on Nov. 28, 2022.
Liberal media has accused The Post of covering the city's crime surge to
help Republican candidates.
But setting that aside, let’s consider their arguments — seven myths they push to claim that voters were “fooled”:
1. SURE, CRIME IS UP, BUT IT’S NOT AS BAD AS IT USED TO BE!
“Incidents of major crimes are higher in New York City and Nassau
County than before the pandemic, though they remain well below levels
seen in recent decades,” the Times notes.
“Decades” is a pretty vague term. Crime rates for 2021-22 have
reversed a consistent decline in shootings and homicides since the
mid-1990s, as well as drops in other index crimes.
Newsweek had to go back 32 yearsto
try to make a point about comparative safety — juxtaposing 2022 with
1990. And yes, in 1990 there were 2,245 homicides. In 2021, there were
485. So far this year, 391. But are we really comparing the worst year
for crime in modern New York City history as a way to make people feel
better? Overall crime is up 30% from last year. The average New Yorker
doesn’t want to see how bad things can get.
2. NEW YORK HAS ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY
After education activist Yiatin Chu tweeted that she “Paid $2.75 to
be in a subway car with a loud and aggressive man threatening to hit his
female partner. Switched cars at next stop to be in a public toilet /
urine-odor, crowded car for the rest of my ride,” the Times’ Nikole Hannah-Jones replied, “Yes, yes. This was absolutely unheard on subways until two years ago.”
Maybe not unheard of, but certainly more rare. There was a tremendous
focus on improving the streets and subways under Rudy Giuliani, Michael
Bloomberg … and yes, even Bill de Blasio. Because despite his absentee
mayoralty, he understood that none of his socialist pipe dreams were
possible if people didn’t feel safe. So he kept the proactive policing
of Bill Bratton and his acolytes.
To the same point, the Times claimed that The Post “Splash[ed]
violent crimes across its front page, however rare they may still be.”
But we don’t run stories about random pickpockets on the front page;
there have been a number of recent crimes that have shocked the
conscience. Here are some of the incidents that we covered in the past
few months:
A 61-year-old FDNY lieutenant, a 24-year veteran of the force on her way to lunch, was randomly stabbed to death in a frenzy by a madman.
Eight innocent bystanders were shot in one month, including a 16-year-old girl and a 70-year-old grandma. All of them are black, many of them women.
A Hispanic woman was brutally beaten, randomly, in a subway station by a homeless ex-con to the point where she might lose an eye. “I don’t give a s–t,” said Waheed Foster, the man who did it, and who also beat his foster grandmother to death. “So what?”
A shoplifter was arrested 101 times — and let go almost every time because of bail “reforms.”
We covered other news during these months. The Queen died. We’re sure
the Kardashians did something. But according to Democratic activists
and their media handmaidens, the fact that we decided these
soul-crushing incidents were news was, to quote New York magazine,
“hyp[ing] rising crime to an unreasonable degree.”
We believe that others have abdicated their responsibility to the public.
3. THE VOTERS DON’T EVEN LIVE IN HIGH-CRIME AREAS!
“The homicide spike did not reach into affluent enclaves of
Westchester or Long Island; but the New York Post did,” says New York
magazine’s report.
This ignores a few issues. First, a good percentage of those voters
commute into the city, avoiding the seriously mentally ill camped out in
Penn Station or Grand Central. Or they may want to come into the city,
to see a Broadway show, eat in a nice restaurant. At least they used to.
But most importantly, does that mean that they shouldn’t worry for
the condition of their state overall? It is black and Hispanic New York
City residents who bear the brunt of the majority of crimes.
Progressives say white suburbanites are racist to worry about crime, but
wouldn’t it be racist not to care about the victims?
4. CRIME ISN’T THAT BAD, CHECK OUT THIS STATISTIC
Returning again to the “Well, it ain’t Mogadishu” argument, New York
magazine writes, “New York’s murder rate remains less than one-fifth as
high as it was in the early 1990s. By contrast, Philadelphia’s homicide
rate is at an all-time high.”
Michelle Go was killed after being pushed onto the subway tracks at Times Square by a homeless man earlier this year.
Well, thank goodness we don’t live in Philly.
But what so many of these reports ignore is that this isn’t about pure statistics.
Michelle Go was a 40-year-old woman standing on the platform at Times Square in early 2022 when a deranged homeless man shoved her in front of a subway train,
killing her. On paper, that’s one homicide. In reality, it’s a
terrifying message to the subway riders of the city. Not to mention
Asian Americans, who witnessed a 100% increase in hate crimes in the past two years.
In Newsweek’s comparison of 1990 and 2022, it quotes former Gov.
David Paterson, a Democrat, who throws cold water on reporting crime by
pure numbers. “For the first time in my life, even in the late ’80s and
’90s when the crime rate was killing 2,000 people a year, I never felt
as unsafe as I do now just walking around,” Paterson told the WABC radio
show “The Cats Roundtable.”
5. YOU’RE JUST DOING THIS BECAUSE OF THE ELECTION
Liberal pundits claim The Post only started highlighting crime in an
“alarmist” fashion to help Republicans. Sadly, these sorts of incidents
have been making news for more than two years — since the pandemic and
the passage of the no-bail laws.
Nothing has changed. Including the indifference of Albany legislators
6. YOU’RE BEING CRUEL
This week, The Post featured a man who was arrested 33 times for shoplifting,
many of them at the same Duane Reade. Chronic shoplifting has exploded
in the past two years, and the bail “reforms” mean they’re usually freed
to rob again — and face little or no time in jail.
Wilfredio Ocasio has been busted for shoplifting 33 times since August.
Progressives frame this as “a crime of poverty” and are dismissive of corporate chains, telling them to just take the loss
But small businesses, family-owned businesses, immigrant-owned
businesses — these are enterprises that can’t just absorb the costs.
We’ve seen it in Portland, where clothier Rains PDX shut down after 15 break-ins.
And even if you are a large corporate retailer like Duane Reade or
Starbucks, how long before the danger to your employees or the losses to
theft become too great to bear? Branches already have closed in the
city. When there are no consequences, shoplifters will become more
brazen. And three guesses what neighborhoods these companies pull out of
first, a vicious cycle that leads to even more decay.
These aren’t crimes of poverty. These are career criminals fencing
beauty products, likely to feed a drug habit. By coddling them, you’re
destroying neighborhoods.
7. ERIC ADAMS IS TO BLAME
When Democrats and the media aren’t blaming The Post, they are
pointing the finger at Mayor Eric Adams, who “put crime at the center of
his campaign last year, thereby establishing a bipartisan consensus
that New York was experiencing a crisis of public safety,” New York
magazine said.
“Establishing.” You mean recognizing exactly what was happening?
Adams won the race because he understood the moment. And we’re heartened
that this week he announced a plan to treat the homeless mentally ill,
even if they must be forced into psychiatric beds to get better. Because
letting a person who isn’t in their right mind just live on the streets
or in the subway is the opposite of compassion.
New
York magazine blamed Mayor Eric Adams’ tough stance on crime during his
campaign for “establishing a bipartisan consensus” that NYC is going
through a public safety crisis.
Democrats had a better-than-expected midterms nationally, holding onto the Senate and flipping some state legislatures.
They are sore because they lost the House by a slim margin, thanks largely to GOP gains in New York state.
But any analysis as to why must go beyond slogans and look at the substance. It wasn’t the coverage of crime that lost the midterms, it was crime itself.
Irving,
West, the Black Israelites, the Nation of Islam and their ilk have no
choice but to demonize the Jews, because Jewish endurance and legitimacy
expose the fraud at the heart of their invented identity.
By Caroline Glick
JNS
Deceember 1, 2022
Black Israelites insist that the Jews are the “spawn of Satan.”
On Monday night, an Egyptian television
reporter covering the World Cup tournament in Doha, Qatar was assaulted
by an angry mob and forced to leave the games to avoid being lynched.
The mob assaulted him because they mistook him for an Israeli reporter.
Qatari officials were reportedly
embarrassed by the incident. They weren’t embarrassed about the crowd’s
violent anti-Semitism, though. The Qataris were embarrassed because
their officials hadn’t believed the poor Egyptian when he insisted he
was one of them. And so, they stood by as the mob gave him the “Israeli
treatment.”
From the moment they touched down in Doha
to cover the World Cup, Israeli reporters have been showered with
hatred. Jeering fans scream “Palestine” at them and block them from
broadcasting. They are cursed, threatened and hounded as they walk down
the thoroughfares. Israeli reporters are thrown out of taxicabs, denied
service at restaurants and assaulted. The main assailants are Arabs from
Qatar, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi
Arabia and beyond, but European fans have invariably been just as
hostile.
Every time an Israeli reporter identifies
as Israeli, their interlocutor shoots back, “Palestine, Palestine, there
is no Israel! Only Palestine!” Palestinian flags may be the most
popular ones at the games.
Yediot Ahronot reporter Raz
Shechnik described the treatment he and his colleagues have suffered in
posts on his Twitter feed over the weekend, and reflected on how it has
changed the way he views the nature of the Arab world’s conflict with
Israel.
As he put it, “I became sober-minded here,
for the first time. I was always a centrist, liberal and open minded,
with a great desire for peace first and foremost. I always thought the
problem [between Arabs and Jews] was the governments, the
leaders—including ours. But in Qatar I learned just how pervasive the
[Arab] hatred is among the people on the street, how much they wish to
wipe us off the face of the earth. To what degree everything connected
to Israel stirs up harsh hatred.”
Shechnik’s testimony, as well as videos
showing the harassment he and his colleagues are suffering, raise the
issue of the connection between support for Palestinians on the one
hand, and mob violence and harassment of Jews, on the other. Why do
people who attack Jews use “Palestine” to justify their behavior? And
why do people who support “Palestine,” think that mob violence against
Jews is justified?
The reason, while hard to accept, is
nonetheless obvious. Mob violence against Jews is related to
pro-Palestinian positions because they are manifestations of the same
thing: antisemitism. This is the reason that pro-Palestinian activists
from Paris to New York, London to Los Angeles assault Jews. This is the
reason that Palestinian-supporting politicians and prosecutors tend to
avoid prosecuting these assaults and Palestinian supporting media
outlets tend to downplay their significance.
At its core, the Palestinian narrative is
nothing but the appropriation of Jewish nationhood, culture, history,
heritage and faith. Among progressives, a person is considered guilty of
cultural appropriation if he belittles or otherwise ignores the
cultural roots of a phenomenon. For instance, if someone mentions an
ethnic food without noting its origins, they can expect to be vilified
as a bigot.
The Palestinian cultural appropriation of
Judaism and Jewish peoplehood takes cultural appropriation to a
completely different level.
For the past 3,500 years, Jewish heritage,
faith, nationhood and history—in their entirety—have been wound up with
the Jewish people’s connection with the Land of Israel. Jews simply
cannot explain, or even understand themselves in the absence of the Land
of Israel. Dig a few inches below the surface in any place in the Land
of Israel and you will find archeological evidence of the Jewish
people’s millennial ties to the land. Go into any synagogue or Jewish
school in the world and you will find evidence of this basic reality.
The Palestinian national narrative is based
both on a blanket denial of Jewish history, heritage, nationhood and
faith and the appropriation of all of them by the Palestinians. PLO
chief and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas insists that the
Palestinians are the biblical Canaanites. His predecessor Yasser Arafat
said the Palestinians are the Jebusites. Never mind that neither group
has existed for 3,000 years.
At the same time, they insist there is no
connection between the Jews of the Bible and the Jews of today.
Palestinians systematically destroy archaeological sites throughout the
land of Israel to wipe out the historical record. History is then
rewritten based on the political and propaganda requirements of the
revised, entirely fabricated history of today’s Palestinians.
This is the reason that the Palestinians
refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist, at all costs. Their fake
history will be indefensible if they acknowledge that Jews are
indigenous to the land of Israel, that Israel isn’t a colonialist
outpost but the only homeland the Jews have ever known, one to which
they retained their attachment over 2,000 of exile and dispossession by
the imperial powers across history. The Palestinian cause only makes
sense if Jewish history, nationhood, heritage and faith are denied and
Jews are demonized for refusing to accept their erasure.
This total cultural appropriation of Jewish
existence by the Palestinians is a supreme act of Jew hatred. And those
who support the Palestinians support the erasure of Jewish existence
across time. Since the Palestinian narrative has been so ingrained in
the cultural life of Western elites and progressives, it is often
difficult to recognize the annihilationist Jew hatred at its core. To
make this clear, we can turn to another form of antisemitism predicated
on the cultural appropriation of Jewish existence.
As they marched through the Jewish part of Brooklyn, the Black Israelites showed
their hostility toward Jews by chanting, “Hey Jacob, it’s time to wake up. I’ve got good news for you. We are the Real Jews!”
The Jew hatred of Black Israelites, the
Nation of Islam and their supporters is similarly based on the theft of
Jewish identity. Both the Nation of Islam and Black Israelites insist
that the Jews are the “spawn of Satan.” The true Jews, they insist, are
American blacks. Last week, more than a thousand uniformed Black
Israelite men marched through Brooklyn from Grand Army Plaza to Nets
Stadium chanting, “Hey Jacob, it’s time to wake up. I’ve got good news
for you. We are the Real Jews!”
The march took the crowd of Jew haters through the largest Jewish communities outside of Israel.
The Black Israelites were marching in
support for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who was suspended from the
NBA for spewing Black Israelite-based anti-Semitic propaganda, in the
course of which Irving recommended an anti-Semitic film that, among
other things, denies the Holocaust.
The storm that arose among black
anti-Semites in response to Irving’s suspension makes clear just how
central antisemitism is not only in the narrative of the Black
Israelites, but in the lives of those who either identify as Black
Israelites or ascribe to their fabrication of black history in America.
Not only did throngs march in support of
Irving and his antisemitic world view, but also rapper Kanye West. Once
considered courageous for his public opposition to abortion and support
for then president Donald Trump, in recent weeks he has replaced his
conservatism with antisemitism based in the Nation of Islam/Black
Israelite theft of Jewish heritage, history and faith and appropriation
of that heritage, history and faith to black Americans.
The notable aspect of West’s behavior is
that whereas Irving issued a groveling apology for his antisemitic
outburst, West doubled down. In every public appearance since he openly
defended Irving’s anti-Semitism, West has not only restated his
antisemitic positions, he has expanded on them, and escalated his
attacks on Jews as a people, a community in America, and as individuals.
In redefining himself as an antisemite first and a rapper and public
figure second, West has chosen to associate himself most closely with
other antisemites, particularly white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
West’s decision to act as a bridge between
black antisemitism, which is generally associated with the progressive
political camp, and white supremacist antisemitism, which is generally
associated with the political far right, exposes a much-ignored but
fundamental fact about antisemitism: it isn’t a political position. It
is a cultural outlook; a way of understanding the world. Antisemites
hail from the political left, center and right. They come from all
religions. Their antisemitism directs their politics. Consequently,
antisemitic policies have advocates in all political camps.
This brings us back to the Israeli reporters in Doha.
Black Israelites and the Nation of Islam,
which base their identity on the appropriation of Jewish identity,
comprise a small but powerful minority of the black community in
America. They impact the Congressional Black Caucus and other key black
power centers, which in turn impact the Democratic Party. And while
their cultural and political power are growing, they are still limited.
In contrast, embrace of the Palestinian
narrative is all but universal across the Arab world, across the wider
Muslim world and across large sections of the Western world. It is
nearly universally accepted in Europe and by progressives in America.
All of the people who accept and champion the Palestinian narrative
accept the validity of a political cause that is entirely based on the
appropriation of Jewish peoplehood.
Shechnik and his fellow reporters were
stunned to discover the truth about the war against them as Jews, and
against their state. The antisemitism that animates their antagonists in
Doha has nothing to do with who leads Israel’s government or what the
Israeli military does in any given war or operation. Support of the
Palestinians, and their goal of wiping Israel off the map, is rooted in
Jew hatred, shared by billions of people across the world.
The Palestinians are popular because they
provide a vehicle for expressing and advancing that hatred, including in
the halls of power across the world. Israel’s endurance is
unacceptable, because simply by surviving, simply by having reporters to
send to cover the World Cup in Doha, the Jewish state proves that the
Palestinian narrative is untrue, and based on a rejection of observable
reality and the historical record, not on justice or truth.
Likewise, American Jews are stunned to
discover that black antisemitism, like Palestinian-predicated assaults
on Jews from Peoria to Miami, has nothing to do with who is in power in
Israel or whether American Jews identify with progressive or
conservative politicians and causes. It has nothing to do with whether
or not American Jews are willing to accept “white guilt.”
Irving, West, the Black Israelites, the
Nation of Islam and their ilk don’t hate Jews because of anything any
particular Jew may or may not think, say or do. They hate the Jews
because they have stolen Jewish history, heritage, nationhood and
culture and appropriated all of them to themselves. Having done so, they
have no choice but to demonize the Jews, because Jewish endurance and
legitimacy expose the fraud at the heart of their invented identity.
A German mayor is refusing to remove a
decorative SS steel helmet from the tombstone of a Nazi general who was
one of Hitler’s oldest friends.
Hermann Kriebel was Obergruppenführer of the Sturmabteilung
(SA), the brutish, original paramilitary wing of the Nazi party. This
“Storm Detachment” carried out pogroms and other vicious attacks on Jews
in Nazi Germany and Austria in 1938.
Since his death aged 65 in 1941, Kriebel’s large tombstone in Aschau, Bavaria, has been adorned with a Nazi soldier’s helmet.
Kriebel (left) with Hitler, with whom he organised the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch
For
some local residents, this is an outrage. Natascha Mehler, who was born
and bred in Aschau, told the JC: “The facts about Hermann Kriebel are
horrible. I find a steel helmet as a grave decoration neither
appropriate nor contemporary, especially if you consider the biography
of Kriebel and his Nazi past.”
In 2020, historian Sabine Schalm of the Munich Institute for
Urban History and Remembrance Culture contacted the local authority
about the helmet.
She said that as the helmet bore the swastika,
it was a public display of an unconstitutional symbol, which is an
illegal act in Germany.
In response, the local authorities arranged for the swastika to
be filed off earlier this year. But now Aschau’s mayor Simon Frank is
refusing to remove the Nazi helmet from the grave, or even accept that
allowing his grave to be decorated with such a helmet is unacceptable.
When
asked by the JC why it has still not been removed, Mr Frank said he
simply saw “no need”. He added: “The issue was already discussed
privately in the municipal council in 2019 before my term of office. As a
result, there is currently no need for action from the point of view of
the municipality.”
A key problem is that although the municipal cemetery is a public area, the grave is the property of Kriebel’s family.
Now local politicians from Aschau have been joining in a series
of talks where issues including Kriebel’s grave have been discussed.
Kriebel, who was born in 1876, had a lengthy military career
that saw him serve in the Sea Battalion of the Imperial Navy and with
the German Expeditionary Corps in China.
In 1919, he was chief of staff of the Bavarian State Association of
Resident Guards, and met Hitler in 1922. He repeatedly urged him to go
ahead with a putsch and march on Berlin.
Alongside Hitler, Kriebel and fellow-Nazi Erich Ludendorff were
the driving forces in planning the Beer Hall Putsch of 8 November, 1923.
Kriebel with Hitler
The
last secret preparatory talks took place in Kriebel’s flat. Alongside
Hitler, Kriebel led a march directly into the gunfire of the Bavarian
police, who soon quashed the putsch. Hitler, Ludendorff and other
conspirators were then imprisoned. Kriebel fled to the Bavarian forest
but surrendered in January 1924.
He and Hitler were each sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in Landsberg fortress.
Visitors were allowed to come and go as they pleased, and the
prisoners were free to meet up, drink coffee, read and play music
together. The plotters were released after just one year.
Kriebel had some success as a politician in the Nazi party and
in the SA, but it paled in comparison to Hitler’s rise. Eventually, he
returned to China, as military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek and
consul-general in Shanghai.
When he died, Hitler organised a special ceremony to honour him
as a comrade-in-arms. The event was attended by leading SS and Nazi
party figures, and Hitler raised his right arm in a Sieg Heil salute as
Kriebel’s coffin was laid to rest.
Religious
Zionist party head MK Bezalel Smotrich arrives to the Israeli
parliament, for the opening session of the Knesset, the Israeli
parliament in Jerusalem on November 15, 2022.
As negotiations over the formation of the next Israeli government
continue, one of the most talked about parties is the “Religious
Zionist” faction led by Bezalel Smotrich. Given that
this faction, and its two allied parties, Jewish Power and Noam, won a
combined 14 seats in Knesset, Smotrich is demanding a senior cabinet
position.
Likud
leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (left) speaks with Religious Zionist party
head MK Bezalel Smotrich at the swearing-in ceremony of the 25th
Knesset in Jerusalem, November 15, 2022.
But who is Bezalel Smotrich? And what about the
background of his party and the religious Zionist movement it
represents? What’s the world to make of those who now hold such an
influential position in Israeli politics?
First, the ideas that led to the establishment of the religious
Zionist movement existed in Europe in the middle of the 19th century.
The notion of a return to the Land of Israel and a religious national
revival appeared in the writings of rabbis such as Eliyahu Gutmacher and Zvi Hirsch Kalisher. Religious Zionism
is a current within the Zionist movement that emphasizes the Jewish
aspect of Zionism. Religious Zionism supported the establishment of a
Jewish state based on writings in the Holy Torah. The values that lead
to religious Zionism are the nation (people) of Israel, the Torah, and
the Land of Israel.
This worldview was contrary to the opinion of
most ultra-Orthodox rabbis, who opposed organized immigration to the
Land of Israel and claimed that instead one should be concerned with
observing mitzvot. Religious Zionism believes that the establishment of the State of Israel is the beginning of redemption and a sign of the coming of the Messiah.
The ultra-Orthodox view, on the other hand, is that the Messiah will
come first, and only then will the redemption of the Jewish people occur
(and in order for the Messiah to come, one must engage in observance of
mitzvot).
To this day, the differences between religious
Zionist and ultra-Orthodox worldviews exist. For instance in relation
to the question of the Temple. Religious Zionism believes that the
Temple must be actively built, while the ultra-Orthodox believe that the Temple will be built by the power of God.
When
the religious Jews in the Zionist movement realized that Zionism
advocates secular education, they were forced to form a separate party
from the “secular” Zionist movement. The name of the first religious
Jewish party was “HaMizrachi,” and it was founded by Rabbi Raines.
The purpose of the party was to instill Jewish religious education and
love for the Land of Israel. Despite the difference in the secular
Zionist worldview, the party supported Theodor Herzl,
and Herzl supported the party. In 1922, a group of religious Zionists
who wanted to emphasize pioneers and working the land in addition to the
usual Zionist values withdrew from the “HaMizrachi” party and founded
the “Hapoel Mizrachi” party.
These parties remained active following the establishment of the
State of Israel, and in 1955 merged into the National Religious Party,
commonly referred to by its Hebrew acronym of “Mafdal.” In 1999,
following the signing by the State of Israel of “Agreement Y” with the
Palestinians, which stated that Israel would withdraw from territories
in Judea and Samaria, Zvi Handel and Hanan Porat resigned from the Mafdal because giving up the territories of Eretz Yisrael
went against their ideology and they did not agree to cooperate with
such an act. After that, Handel and Porat founded the “National Union –
Takuma” party, the party in which Bezalel Smotrich started his political
career.
Bezalel Smotrich has been in Israeli politics for a total
of 13 years. He first ran for Knesset in 2009, when he was still a
soldier in mandatory service (his late enlistment in the army was due to
military service for students of national religious yeshiva, called the
“central arrangement”), but did not enter the Knesset. Before the
elections in 2015, he was placed in the ninth slot on the list of the
Jewish Home party, as a representative of the “National Union – Takuma”
party. He narrowly made it into Knesset that year after another member
of the Jewish Home party died unexpectedly and Smotrich moved up to the
eighth slot.
In the 20th Knesset, after the 2015 elections,
Smotrich was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and a member of the
Finance Committee and the Interior and Environmental Protection
Committee. Ahead of the April 2019 elections, Smotrich was elected
chairman of the “National Union – Takuma” party. In that election, the
party ran together with other right-wing parties, including Jewish
Power, on a list called “Union of Right-Wing Parties”; Smotrich was
number two on the list. But a stable government could not be formed, and
another earlier election was called for September 2019.
Also in that election, the “National Union – Takuma” party ran on a
joint list called “Yamina” with several other parties, this time
including Jewish Home the New Right. But still a stable coalition could
not be formed and Israel entered a trouble period of repeated election
cycles.
As part of the transitional government, Smotrich was
appointed Minister of Transportation and a member of the
political-security cabinet. In the election for the 24th Knesset (the
last one before the current 25th Knesset), Smotrich ran on a joint list
together with the Jewish Power (“Otzma Yehudit”) and Noam parties. Prior
to that election, the name of Smotrich’s party was changed from “The
National Union – Takuma” to “Religious Zionism,” like the name of the
movement. The list of religious Zionist parties won six seats but did
not enter the government. In the last election held on November 1 of
this year, Smotrich ran together with the same parties and, as noted
above, together obtained 14 mandates.
Smotrich is obviously a religious man, wears a kippa
and his views are conservative. He emphasizes the need for the State of
Israel to have a Jewish character, which is why he opposes public
transportation and the opening of businesses on Shabbat. He advocates
the idea of a complete Land of Israel and was even arrested by the
Shin Bet internal security agency in 2005 during a protest against the
separation of the State of Israel from the Gaza Strip. He was detained
for three weeks and spent another three weeks under house arrest, but no
indictment was filed against him. In addition, Smotrich opposes the
state’s recognition of homosexual couples as a family unit, and
accordingly, as a protest against the Jerusalem Pride Parade in 2006, he
was one of the organizers of a procession of 200 people with animals
and dogs. The procession was called the “Courage and Humility Parade,”
but in the media, it was called the “Animal Parade.” Despite his
conservative views, as Minister of Transportation, Smotrich acted
without personal ideology and came up with a plan to reduce traffic jams
on the country’s roads.
The
UN's decision to adopt the 'Nakba' narrative is ironic given that this
is also the anniversary of its own decision to recognize a Jewish state
in the Holy Land.
The United Nations, which both in its current form and in its
previous iteration as the League of Nations helped facilitate Israel’s
national rebirth, has today become a house of lies dedicated to tearing
down the Jewish state.
That was the message delivered on Wednesday by Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the world body.
Erdan was arguing against a UN General Assembly vote on whether or
not to hold a ceremony in honor of the 75th “Nakba Day,” when
Palestinians mark the “catastrophe” (that’s what “nakba” means) of
Israel’s establishment.
Needless to say, the vote passed easily
(90 in favor, 30 against, 47 abstentions), the irony being that the
United Nations has now officially chosen to see the very thing it voted
in favor of 75 years ago – namely, recognition of a sovereign Jewish
state in at least part of the Holy Land – as a catastrophe.
And you will note that the Palestinians here aren’t talking about
what the world today calls the “Israeli occupation,” which is confined
to Gaza and the so-called “West Bank.”
Those territories came under Israeli control just 55 years ago.
No,
they are talking about Tel Aviv, Haifa, Netanya, etc. All of it, the
entire State of Israel, is a “catastrophe” in the eyes of our
Palestinian “peace partners.”
Erdan did not mince words: “What
would you say if the international community celebrated the
establishment of your country as a disaster? What a disgrace.”
He
also highlighted the clear double standard in commemorating the
catastrophe experienced by local Arabs, but ignoring what befell the
hundreds of thousands of Jews who at the same time were persecuted,
slaughtered and expelled from surrounding Arab lands.
The Israeli envoy presented a copy of the May 16, 1948 edition of The New York Times, which was headlined: “Jews in grave danger in all Moslem lands.”
In short, the UN has become a den of duplicity and deceit when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Why does this house have to be a house of lies?” asked Erdan.
He
also lambasted the UN for abandoning its primary objective of
facilitating peace in the world by “passing an extreme and baseless
resolution [that only] helps to perpetuate the conflict.”
Israeli F-16s are refueled by a US Air Force tanker during a joint exercise simulating a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Israel and US hold joint military aerial exercise
Iran’s nuclear program is running at full steam and Israel is realizing that the incoming government of Benjamin Netanyahu will most likely have to take military action against Iran.
However,
Israel needs the help of the Americans to take such action because, for
example, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) does not yet have the necessary
tanker planes, converted civilian aircraft that allow for the re-fueling
of fighter jets midair after an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
In
addition to advanced fighter jets, the Americans also brought KC-135
tanker aircraft with them and air defense missile shields.
The
exercise is the result of an agreement between Israel and the USAF that
stipulated that the US Air Force will assist the IAF in the event of a
future Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Israeli army chief of staff Aviv Kochavi
was in Washington last week where he finally signed the new agreement
with the US and met with the top of the US army for five days in a row.
The IAF has a budget of NIS 3.5 billion to conduct these exercises in preparation for military action against Iran.
Iran is preparing attacks on Israeli civilian targets
Iran,
in turn, is not sitting on its hands and is now seriously taking into
account that a military attack on its nuclear facilities, which are
constantly being expanded, is imminent.
The regime in Tehran,
through its other mouthpiece Tasnim News, said it has compiled a list of
sensitive targets in Israel that will be targeted in the event of war
with the Jewish state.
The list includes civilian infrastructure targets such as the Ramon and Ben Gurion airports, as well as the Knesset building.
Concern about Iran’s increased nuclear activity
The Islamic
Republic is now close to producing the highly enriched uranium (90
percent) needed for the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
Iran currently already has enough highly enriched uranium (60 percent) that it can quickly upgrade to 90 percent.
This amount is enough for the production of two nuclear weapons, experts say.
The
same experts say Iran will be able to mount a nuclear warhead on a
ballistic missile within two years, but they are not so sure whether the
Islamic Republic already has this capacity.
After all, it was
repeatedly shown that Iran had undeclared nuclear facilities where, for
example, tests with detonators for nuclear weapons were carried out
(IRGC base Parchin).
Netanyahu, the incoming Prime Minister of
Israel, has now announced that he again wants to mobilize world public
opinion against Iran after his return to office.
This will then be the last Israeli attempt to stop Iran through non-military means.
The
leader of the Likud party has had success with this tactic before, but
will have to focus on strengthening the strategic alliance with the US
army and the relationship with the Biden Administration at the same
time.
Janine Paredes’ 42-year-old husband Officer Michael Paredes was shot dead during a firefight at a motel in June.
Janine Paredes is the widow of El Monte (CA) police
officer Michael Paredes. He was murdered in the line of duty. Janine
Paredes has just filed a claim for $25 million against the D. A. and the
Probation Department over the death. The filing of the claim is a
necessary procedural step. Assuming the claim is denied, which it
almost always is, the claimant can then proceed to a lawsuit.
The
suit asserts that Justin Flores, who shot and killed Officer Paredes,
"should have been in custody at the time of the murders but for the
deliberate indifference" of George Gascon and the Probation
Department.
Justin Flores killed both Officer Michael Paredes and Officer Joseph Santana with shots to the head.
Flores was a
documented gang member with a long history of criminal convictions and
was on probation when he encountered Officer Paredes and Officer Joseph
Santana at the Siesta Inn Motel in June of this year. The officers
responded to the call of a domestic disturbance when Flores emerged from
the bathroom, shot both officers in the head and then ran into the
parking lot where he was turned into a grease spot by responding
officers.
George Gascon
has regularly refused to file for sentence enhancements against gang
defendants in violation of state law. Gascon's policy has been termed
illegal by the L. A. Superior Court and has resulted in legal complaints
by his own deputies against his office. In addition the Probation
Department had received at least one contact about Flores' repeated
instances of violent behavior in the weeks prior to the two officer's
murders.
Generally speaking
suing the D. A. for discretionary decisions and the Probation
Department (which is an arm of the court system) for being incompetent
is a losing proposition. However, seeing as the courts have ruled that
Gascon's actions were in fact illegal and there is evidence that
Probation KNEW Flores was being a bad boy it is barely possible this
claim / lawsuit will get some traction.
The "brazen thief" had so much loot he had to drag it out behind him.
Cops called him a "brazen thief" in appeals. 
NYPD at the scene of a shooting in the Bronx on Nov. 28, 2022.
Liberal media has accused The Post of covering the city's crime surge to
help Republican candidates. 
The helmet on Hermann Kriebel’s grave 
Israeli F-16s are refueled by a US Air Force tanker during a joint exercise simulating a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. 
