By Tabitha Korol

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Board of Directors issued a comprehensive statement in 2006, whose combined language included helping students to connect their education to societal issues, change inequities, and to promote cultural empathy, pluralism, and diversity in a liberal education.  The key words for determining the value of today’s education, which are severely undermining western civilization, however, are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Diversity used to define the variety of learning experiences, opinions, and opportunities for a well-rounded education, but the term now applies to the students themselves – their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, and disability – and how they are to be divided and classified for acceptance into the institute of higher indoctrination.   Meritocracy, then, has been set aside for a quota system based on superficialities, which is passionately supported by the University of Michigan (U-M), among others.  Its spending for the promotion of diversity and inclusivity, reported on October 10, 2016, was $40 million per year with an additional $85 million proposed over the next five years.

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Government to invest $756,000,000 into building housing units, public spaces and educational institutions in effort to develop Jerusalem suburb • Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Gallant says Judea and Samaria is a non-negotiable security asset.

By Yehuda Shlezinger, ISRAELK HAYOM

After a long delay fueled by diplomatic concerns, the State of Israel approved the construction of thousands of new housing units in the settlement of Maaleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, on Thursday.

The comprehensive agreement, signed by the Construction and Housing Ministry and the Maaleh Adumin Municipality, permits construction to begin on 470 units that have already been given government approval and adds an additional 20,000 units, to be built under the agreement pending government approval.
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By Victor Rosenthal

I lived in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood for a few months when I was in grad school. It was a nice, safe, relatively friendly neighborhood.

Now it will be known as the site of the worst mass murder of Jews in US history.

Eleven are dead and numerous others wounded, including four responding police officers. The terrorist, Robert Bowers, as shown by this archive of social media posts, is apparently an obsessed Jew-hater, a Holocaust denier and a Nazi admirer. He appears to have become inflamed by the idea that liberal Jews were supporting uncontrolled immigration into the US (he mentions both Hispanics and Muslims), in particular the “migrant caravan” that is presently making its way through Mexico. Interestingly, Bowers criticized Donald Trump for being “a globalist, not a nationalist,” said that Trump was surrounded by Jews, and that he did not vote for him.
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By Marc A. Thiessen, WaPo

WASHINGTON — In announcing his decision to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, President Trump cited Russia’s repeated violations and the fact that the treaty does not bind China, which is engaged in the world’s most ambitious ballistic missile development program.

But Trump’s withdrawal may also be designed for another purpose. It sends a subtle but unmistakable message to North Korea: If you refuse to denuclearize, we can now surround your country with short- and medium-range missiles that will allow us to strike your regime without warning.

At the moment, the Trump administration appears to be making little progress in nuclear talks with Pyongyang. The threat of deployment of intermediate-range missiles in Asia could change the dynamics of those negotiations.
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The Prime Minister’s Office said, “Netanyahu’s visit is a significant step in implementing the policy outlined by Prime Minister Netanyahu to strengthen ties with the countries of the region.”

BY Tova Lazaroff, JPOST

Oman publicly called on Middle East countries to accept Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday made a historic visit to the Arab Muslim state, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel.

In a speech he delivered at the IISS Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain, Omani Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi said, “Israel is a state present in the region, and we all understand this. The world is also aware of this and maybe it is time for Israel to be treated the same [as other states] and to also bear the same obligations.”
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The bill amends a 2015 law that sanctions financial institutions that facilitate transactions on Hezbollah’s behalf.

By Michael Wilner, JPOST

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump signed into law on Thursday a bipartisan bill that will impose harsh sanctions on those aiding and abetting Hezbollah.

The law, titled the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act, “will further isolate Hezbollah from the international financial system and reduce its funding,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “These sanctions will target foreign persons and government agencies that knowingly assist or support Hezbollah and Hezbollah-affiliated networks that engage in drug trafficking or other transnational crime.”
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A gunman opened fire in a Pittsburgh synagogue on Oct. 27. 

By Campbell Robertson, Christopher Mele and Sabrina Tavernise, NYT

PITTSBURGH — Armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and at least three handguns, a man shouting anti-Semitic slurs opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday morning, killing at least 11 congregants and wounding four police officers and two others, the authorities said.

In a rampage described as among the deadliest against the Jewish community in the United States, the assailant stormed into the Tree of Life Congregation, where worshipers had gathered in separate rooms to celebrate their faith, and shot indiscriminately into the crowd, shattering what had otherwise been a peaceful morning.

The assailant, identified by law enforcement officials as Robert D. Bowers, fired for several minutes and was leaving the synagogue when officers, dressed in tactical gear and armed with rifles, met him at the door. According to the police, Mr. Bowers exchanged gunfire with officers before retreating back inside and barricading himself inside a third-floor room. He eventually surrendered.

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Gunman said to be barricaded inside the Tree of Life synagogue in the city, firing at police

TOI

Eight people were killed in a shooting on Saturday at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, and several more were injured, according to local reports. The death toll is expected to rise as police say the scene is still active.

The gunman is said to be barricaded inside the Tree of Life Synagogue in the city, according to KDKA news, and was firing at responding police officers.

The synagogue is located at the corner of Wilkins and Shady Avenues in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, about 10 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. The neighborhood is heavily Jewish.

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Army says 30 projectiles fired at Israel Friday night; sirens blare once more on Saturday morning; Iron Dome intercepts 10 rockets, the rest cause no damage

By TOI STAFF and JACOB MAGID

An image released by the Israeli military on October 27, 2018, shows the aftermath of an airstrike on a Hamas facility in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)

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  Smoke rises from an explosion caused by an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City, on October 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
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T. Belman. Block says the old source of antisemitism comes from the right and that Charlottesgville was an example of that. I disagree on two counts. Nazism was a movement on the left, not right. Furthermore, the media spun Charlotesville to attack the right. But that was a distortion of reality. The real story was the violence of Anifa which is funded and defended by the left. In my opinion the left is a much bigger threat to Jews than the right. Just look at the Democratic Party.

by Joshua S. Block, ALGEMEINER

Linda Sarsour (right). Photo: Screenshot.

For most of us, there is a reflexive tendency to think of antisemitism as something that is propagated by the alt-right — white supremacists, the KKK, or neo-Nazi groups. That version of antisemitism was on full display during the violent protests that rocked Charlottesville last year. For us, Charlottesville was like muscle memory. We’ve seen it before, and we know exactly what it means.

But what happens when the hate comes from somewhere unexpected, somewhere much closer to home? What happens when it comes from your friends and allies, and is disguised as something else?
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Move expands list of parties facing sanctions for dealing with Iran-backed Lebanese terror group • Marking 35th anniversary of Hezbollah attack that killed 241 U.S. Marines, Trump says he aims to “starve Hezbollah of their funds, and they are starving.”

Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House event marking the 35th anniversary of the Hezbollah attack that killed 241 U.S. Marines, Thursday 

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed new sanctions targeting Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

T. Belman. This is a lousy deal.

The agreement doesn’t include a halt to the processions along the border but does call for an end to any violent acts by protesters, including the sailing of incendiary balloons

By Jack Khoury, HAARETZ

Egypt reached a short-term agreement between Israel and Hamas to ease violence along their common border, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Friday.

A delegation from the Egyptian intelligence service that has been shuttling between Gaza and Ramallah and which has also been meeting with Israeli officials achieved an understanding regarding a halt to the violence by Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza along the border fence with Israel, in exchange for an easing of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, according to the report.
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Jonathan 

Last week Bristol University Socialist Workers Students Society hosted Rob Ferguson of Jewish Voice for Labour to speak about ‘Corbyn, Antisemitism and Justice for Palestine’. Ferguson is a retired sociology lecturer. He says he is Jewish but he had no qualms about speaking in Bristol on Kol Nidre.

The meeting was part of a series of similar meetings arranged by hard Left Corbyn supporters, designed to deny Labour’s antisemitism problem, challenge the IHRA definition of antisemitism and vilify Israel. On the same day this was happening in London.
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By Yochanan Visser, ISRAEL TODAY

On Sunday, King Abdullah II dropped a bombshell when he announced that Jordan would not renew parts of the 24-year-old peace agreement with Israel.

In a first statement the King said he had informed Israel “that we are putting an end to the application of the peace treaty annexes regarding Baqura and Ghumar.”

He was referring to two parcels of Jordanian land in north and south Israel which were leased for a period of 25 years by Jerusalem under the peace treaty signed in November 1994 by Abdullah’s father, King Hussein, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, whose assassination was commemorated the same day Abdullah made his announcement.
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