ZOA horrified

A taste of what congregants of Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor view outside their synagogue every Sabbath, which is permissible according to the new federal court ruling.

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) expresses its disappointment and horror about a federal district court ruling last week, which determined that weekly antisemitic and anti-Israel protests outside of Beth Israel Congregation, a Michigan synagogue, are protected under the First Amendment and can continue. The protests, ongoing every Saturday since 2003, coincide with the synagogue’s Shabbat services. Every week, the protestors place 18-20 signs outside the synagogue with messages such as “Resist Jewish Power,” “Jewish Power Corrupts,” “End the Palestinian Holocaust,” and “Zionism is Racism.”
Read more…

Pompeo’s historic flight from Israel to Sudan, reminds us of the historic flights carrying Ethiopian Jews from Sudan to Israel

By Moshe Phillips, HERUT

While many critics of the Trump administration were laser-focused on the second day of the Republican National Convention in their criticism of Secretary Mike Pompeo for speaking to the convention from Jerusalem, part of his own focus seemed to be on a different historical aspect of the day.

The secretary tweeted on August 25th that he was “Happy to announce that we are on the FIRST official NONSTOP flight from Israel to Sudan!”

The word that may have stood out to some readers of the tweet was “official.” When were there any “unofficial.” flights? Were there any illegal flights?
Read more…

T. Belman. Oman has indicated it too wants to sign a peace treaty with Israel as soon as Israel is ready. Bahrain, on the other hand., stands by the Arab Peace Initiative as does Saudi Arabia..

By Simon Martelli, INTERNATIONAL OIL DAILY

The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize relations is just the third of its kind that the Jewish state has struck with an Arab country.

It could yield important benefits for Israel, which currently has no official ties to the oil-rich Gulf states, and for which energy supplies have traditionally been seen as its Achilles’ heel.

The proposed accord — announced by US President Donald Trump — would formalize bilateral cooperation, particularly on intelligence and security, which has strengthened in recent years.
Read more…

By YISHAI FLEISHER

What is the counter-word to “occupation”? What word can bridge the Arab-Jewish divide? The answer, which the UAE has found, is “Abraham.”

(August 26, 2020 / JNS) One of the greatest successes of the “Abraham Accords”—the nascent diplomatic relations deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel—is just the name itself.The name implicitly indicates that the agreement is between descendants of the children of Abraham—Arabs and Jews—and for Israel, this is a crucial identification in its quest for normalization in the Middle East.

Occupation or ancient nation?

Having lost hope of military victory, anti-Israel forces are conducting a narrative war against Israel. They seek to erase the intellectual foundations of Zionism, which assert that Israel is the ancient home of the Jewish nation, who have had two commonwealths on this same land, and to which Jews have an unbroken historical and spiritual connection.
Read more…

Northeastern Syria’s volatile mix of players is proving to be a tough test for Russia.

By Kirill Semenov, AL-MONITOR    Aug 25, 2020

A US military facility in northeastern Syria, in the eastern part of the Deir ez-Zor region, came under rocket fire Aug. 19, with several shells falling in the vicinity of a US base near the Conoco oil field. On Aug. 17, an armed incident occurred between an American patrol and Syrian military personnel near the city of Qamishli in adjoining Hasakah province. After the sides exchanged fire at a checkpoint, a Syrian solider was killed; while the Syrian state news agency SANA said the soldier was killed by fire from US helicopter gunships, the US command said there was only an exchange of ground fire.

These incidents should serve as another signal for the Russian command, which has found itself in a very risky position in the so-called trans-Euphrates region. Moscow does not have the necessary leverage on the Syrian regime to prevent Syrian provocations against the Americans, nor does it have sufficient forces to carry out effective military operations. The region in question is the left bank of the Euphrates river, which Russian and Syrian troops entered last fall on the basis of an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in order to prevent the advance of Turkish troops during Operation Peace Spring.

Read more…

Blacklist the 14 Iranian banks that are still allowed to do business with foreign customers.

By Mark Dubowitz and Richard Goldberg, WSJ

The Islamic Republic of Iran is entering the late rounds of an increasingly desperate fight to stave off economic collapse amid President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign. To land a 12th-round economic knockout, it’s time for Mr. Trump to throw one more punch: Blacklist the entire Iranian financial industry.

While the U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran and many other Iranian financial institutions—and forced their disconnection from the Swift financial messaging network—at least 14 Iranian banks remain open for business with foreign customers. These banks are Tehran’s financial lifeline.

Read more…

Ronni Gamzu also reiterates opposition to Hasidic pilgrimage to Ukrainian city

By TOI STAFF 25 August 2020,

Coronavirus czar Professor Roni Gamzu during a meeting with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion at the Jerusalem city hall on August 12, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Prof. Ronni Gamzu, the top official directing Israel’s coronavirus response, warned Tuesday that rising infection rates in the Arab community were a “catastrophe” and that a similar scenario could play out among the ultra-Orthodox if a mass annual pilgrimage to a rabbi’s grave in Ukraine is allowed to go ahead.

At a press conference, Gamzu noted that Arab-majority areas have been seeing a large spike in coronavirus infections.

“Weddings and events are being held in Arab society. Local authorities see it and feel very very unsettled, because this is creating infection cycles,” he said. “I call on Arab society and leaders to act. This is a catastrophe.”
Read more…

By Thomas Lifson, AM THINKER

The evidence now is overwhelming that the Democrats are planning to throw the nation into a deep crisis following Election Day, in a cynical plot to steal a presidential election, and with it, control of Congress.  The plan isn’t even hiding in plain sight; it is trumpeted almost daily:

• Send out tens of millions of unsolicited mail ballots to everyone on voter rolls (that in most jurisdictions haven’t been purged of those who died or moved).  We already know from the experience of Clark County, Nevada that 17% of the 1.3 million ballots sent to registered voters were “undeliverable,” meaning available for harvesting and being voted by unscrupulous political operatives.
• When ballots start being counted, fiercely dispute and litigate any invalidation of suspicious or faulty ballots under the slogan of “count all votes” and complaints of “voter suppression.”
• If Trump is going to carry the election, delay certification of enough states’ results that Electoral College is unable to name a victor and hand the presidency to the speaker of the House, who they assume will be Nancy Pelosi.

Read more…

pHILLIPS

SHE UNDERTOOK TO STUDY WHY BLACKS WITH DIVERSE OPINIONS VOTE MONOLITHICALLY FOR DEMOCRATS AND WAS FAILED FOR STUDYING THE QUESTION.

Teaming with the Palestinian Authority and NGOs, the European Union and additional countries support the filing of thousands of lawsuits against the state in Israeli courts.

By  Liora Henig-Cohen, ISRAEL HAYOM

Last month, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee discussed the issue of Palestinian takeovers of land in Area C through building in strategic places and agricultural takeovers, which are directed and funded by European governments. Europe is also funding the legal battle in support of the illegal building. In cooperation with the Palestinian Authority and NGOs, the European Union and additional countries support the filing of thousands of cases in Israeli courts.

The body coordinating the legal campaign in Israel is the “Norwegian Refugee Council” an international NGO listed in Israel under an “international humanitarian visa” approved by the Labor, Welfare, and Social Services Ministry. The organization is responsible for filing 600-800 cases a year to Israeli courts through Israeli and Palestinian political organizations and private lawyers. The group claims that between 2009-2014 it provided “legal representation in court on 4,069 cases,” and its goals for 2018 are “1,162 new cases in the West Bank”.
Read more…

By Grant Baker, AM THINKER

On August 20th, President Trump’s former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was arrested on fraud charges relating to the “We Build the Wall” construction project on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The news made for splashy headlines, but story behind the charges was more mundane. Brian Kolfage, a triple amputee veteran and Purple Heart recipient, used a crowdfunding website as part of a political gag aimed at raising $1 billion dollars to construct a U.S.-Mexico border wall. After unexpectedly raising $17 million dollars within the first week, Kolfage decided to hand off the suddenly real and ambitious initiative to someone with more experience, connections, and resources. Steve Bannon stepped up to help the fledgling project navigate the labyrinth of red tape and regulations designed to stop the project.

Read more…

By Pamela Geller

The Muslim Who Plotted to Behead Me Has Been Freed. But I’m Not Going to Stop Fighting for Justice. Nicholas Rovinski, who plotted to behead me, is free.

In 2015, Rovinski and his two coreligionists, Usaamah Abdullah Rahim and Daoud Wright, plotted to behead me for violating the speech laws under Islam. En route to this jihad slaughter, Rahim was killed after he was stopped for questioning in Boston and threatened officers with a large knife. Rovinski and Wright were arrested and imprisoned.

But now Rovinski is free. The grounds? A “compassionate release” because of coronavirus, of course.

Read more…

The Mind-Bendingly Insane, Completely Craven, Utterly Unconscionable Redemption of Al Sharpton You’re not confused. The ADL Is Becoming as Bad as You Think.

BY Liel Leibovitz, TABLET

This past weekend, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella group uniting 125 local Jewish communities and 17 national Jewish organizations, sent an email to its followers proudly announcing that it has signed on as a partner in the Virtual March on Washington this week, an event organized by Al Sharpton.

Because last week also marked the 29th anniversary of the Crown Heights riots, it’s worth it to stop and recall that among his many distinctions—MSNBC pundit, and an adviser who reportedly regularly speaks to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, collector of innumerable sateen suits—Al Sharpton is also currently America’s only living pogrom leader.

Read more…