BY HUGH FITZGERALD, JIHAD WATCH

While the soccer matches in Doha were exciting, especially the final with Argentinian Lionel Messi rising to the occasion — his last — in other ways Qatar’s big moment on the world stage was a devastating failure. Both Qatar’s attempts at proselytizing for Islam, and its failure to provide, as promised, world-class facilities for visitors, were distinctly off-putting. More on this can be found here: “Qatari Islamization of the World Cup Backfires,” by Hany Ghoraba, Algemeiner, December 22, 2022:

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By Daniel Greenfield, FPM         24 Dec

Elvis Ming Chan, the FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the center of the TwitterFiles scandal, had started out as an engineer at NEC: a Japanese computer company. The son of Chinese immigrants who was raised in Seattle, near the hub of Big Tech, Chan describes a tech industry where going into national security was always a backdoor option.

“One of my buddies who I worked with at the company I was at, his game plan was always to join The Bureau,” Chan revealed in an interview. “And he got in and he’s calling me from the FBI academy in Quantico, which you were able to visit with me. Maybe we’ll talk about that later. But he said, ‘Elvis,’ he’s calling me on the phone, he’s like, ‘you would love this. We’re shooting guns. We’re kicking down doors. I’m learning about the constitution. This is awesome.’”
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By TAL SCHNEIDER, ToI    

Zohar Palti speaks with Channel 13 news in an interview aired on March 25, 2022. (Screenshot/Channel 13)

Zohar Palti, the former head of the Defense Ministry’s political-military bureau and former intelligence director in the Mossad, says that Iran is days to weeks away from enriching uranium to the 90% military-grade level.

Iran, he says “is at a more advanced level than I can ever remember when it comes to uranium enrichment,” Palti says. “They are days or weeks away from enriching uranium to 90%, which is military-grade.” Such a level “does not mean they can immediately build a nuclear weapon… but it’s very bad, and we’ve never been closer to it.”

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VGNI In this latest positive newsletter, cancer and cystic fibrosis patients on trials of the latest Israeli treatments will hope for a brighter future. A breakthrough Israeli therapy uses UV light to release medication into the body. And two Israeli AI systems will provide virtual “warning lights” to alert doctors and patients to life-threatening conditions.

The light is certainly shining on Israeli relations with Arab countries. Israel attended the Arab cybersecurity conference, played Israel’s National Anthem in Abu Dhabi, and even lit Hanukkah candles in Qatar.

Israeli technology news includes a super-efficient heat engine from the aptly named Luminescent Solar Power; solar panels inside greenhouses to help grow food crops; and even drones with flashing lights to save bats from flying into wind turbines. Europe has certainly seen the light, purchasing Israeli systems for wastewater treatment in France, reducing food waste in the Netherlands, and saving lives on roads in Germany.

Finally Israeli children unearthed a 2000-year-old lamp; archeologists have shed light on the reign of the Jewish King Hezekiah in the Land of Judah 2,700 years ago; 100 rescued Ukrainians alighted at Ben Gurion International airport; and the Jewish Festival of Lights has brought more Hanukkah miracles to our times.

In the 25th Dec 22 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

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By Harry G. Hutchison, AM THINKER

Francis Fukuyama claimed, dubiously, that we are witnessing the end of history, with the universalization of liberal democracy as the final form of human government.  Yet we live in a world of worrisome pendulum shifts.  Republican congressional leaders disprove Fukuyama’s claim as they celebrate their stunning betrayal of the American people by supporting the passage of the $1.7-trillion McConnell-Schumer omnibus bill.

Rather than protect America’s southern border and comply with Congress’s constitutional duty, this bill moves the country farther to the left by explicitly funding a “woke” identity group supporting LGBT indoctrination in elementary schools, abolishing ICE, and defunding the police.  At the same time, this bill hands more power to a federal government dedicated to the preposterous claim that America is systemically racist.

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T. Belman. I saw this coming. The Judge held that Lake “failed to provide evidence of intentional misconduct”. But her expert witness was emphatic in saying it was intentional. Expert evidence is evidence.

TO MY MIND, THE JUDGE JUST DIDN’T WANT TO OVERTURN THE ELECTION.

Kari Lake, a Republican who was defeated by Katie Hobbs in the Arizona governor’s race, had made false election claims the centerpiece of her campaign.”

By Alexandra Berzon and Charles Homans,NYT

A state judge on Saturday rejected Kari Lake’s last-ditch effort to overturn her defeat in the Arizona governor’s race, dismissing for lack of evidence her last two claims of misconduct by Maricopa County election officials.

The ruling, after a two-day trial in Phoenix that ended Thursday, follows more than six weeks of claims by Ms. Lake, a Republican, that she was robbed of victory last month — assertions that echoed the false contention that was at the heart of her campaign: that an even larger theft had stolen the 2020 presidential election from Donald J. Trump.

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T. Belman. The Saudi terms make Biden and Congress the deal maker. Without their cooperation, it can not happen. According to the tentative terms, Israel doesn’t have to pursue a deal with the Palestinians.  It just has to refrain from annexing (extending sovereignty) Area C.  The Saudis also want to replace Jordan on the Temple Mount. My guess is the Saudi demands are not written in stone.

When Mudar Zahran becomes the leader of Jordan, his freedom of action will be limited by Saudi and US pressure. They will be financing Jordan.

Since his victory in the last elections, designated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in under-the-radar contact with Riyad.

By Ido Ben Porat,INN, Dec 24, 2022,

MBS and NetanyahuYonatan Sindel/Flash90, Reuters

Since his victory in the last elections, designated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in under-the-radar contact with Riyad, through Washington, with the goal of laying the groundwork for a historic agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, an agreement which will complete the process which began with the Abraham Accords.

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By Andrea Widburg, AMER THINKER

A few days ago, the unconstitutionally conducted January 6 committee referred Donald Trump for criminal prosecution. Yesterday, it published its final, detailed report. In true Trumpian fashion, Trump came out swinging, calling out the lies and omissions that fueled the committee’s ludicrous referral. No wonder Trump’s supporters still stand by him.

The 845-page report looks comprehensive, but it’s not, and that’s one of the main points Trump makes in his statement. The report is honest about one thing, though. It insists that Congress must ban Trump from ever holding office again. And there you have the whole point of this exercise: Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans will do anything, no matter how corrupt, to keep Trump from returning to the White House.
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Report says sides agreed that PM’s approval will only be needed at an initial stage in planning process and not at every step of the way, as is currently the case

By TOI STAFF     23 December 2022, 10:33 pm  

Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Religious Zionist party head Bezalel Smotrich and other party leaders in a group photo after the swearing-in of the 25th Knesset, November 15, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)<
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Incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to relinquish significant control over the approval process for West Bank settlement construction to far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party.

As part of the coalition agreement reached between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Religious Zionism, the prime minister’s approval will only be required at an initial stage of the planning process, when the government decides the scope and location of projects to be placed on the docket of the Civil Administration’s High Planning Subcommittee — the Defense Ministry body that authorizes settlement construction, the Kan public broadcaster reported Friday.

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According to the midrash, Hannah, daughter of Matityahu, sister of the Maccabees, was a key figure in the Hanukkah story. What does the midrash tell us of the woman who stood up to protect her Jewish sisters? How did she use her wedding day to spark the fire of rebellion in her brothers?

By Ayala Deckel

Elizabeth Richman holding a jug, 1926. Courtesy of Archive Network Israel in collaboration with the Yad Ben-Zvi Institute, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage and the National Library of Israel

According to the midrash, the entire Hanukkah miracle is based on the act of one brave (and today largely forgotten) woman who dared to speak aloud what everyone else knew but would not say. Her declaration led her brothers to start a rebellion. She was the true heroine and instigator of the festival of Hanukkah.

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T. Belman. In my opinion, being only 13% more likely than whites is not a big difference. Am I wrong?

World Israel News: A newly released FBI report on antisemitic hate crimes in the U.S. has angered major American Jewish organizations, as the report failed to include statistics from New York City, Los Angeles and Miami – the three cities with the largest Jewish populations in the U.S.

An academic paper explores the character and sources of black anti-Semitism

By Charles Fain Lehman, WASH FREE BEACON • December 21, 2022<
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From Kanye West endorsing Hitler to Kyrie Irving inviting followers to watch a documentary about how blacks are the true Jews, anti-Semitism from prominent black figures has been in the news. A recent study explores the phenomenon of black anti-Semitism more broadly, ruling out popular explanations—and excuses—for its frequency.

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Debunking the suicidal “2 State Solution” in the heartland of Israel.

By Rachel Neuwirth, FPM

People talk of a ‘Middle East Peace Process’ which involves the Palestinians and Israel. They talk about advancing a “two-state solution.” That process is a total illusion which has nothing to do with peace. It has everything to do with accelerating a process begun in ancient times. That process was and remains the effort to finally eradicate the Jewish idea of G-d as the creator of all and the source of the moral law which includes The Ten Commandments.>

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‘These are not normal times’

By Bob Unruh, WND

A lawsuit that actually could challenge American election results, and possibly overturn them, is heading for a conference in the U.S. Supreme Court in just weeks.

The case does not allege the 2020 election was stolen.

Instead, it alleges “that a large majority of Congress, by failing to investigate such serious allegations of election rigging and breaches of national security, violated their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” according to a report in the Gateway Pundit.

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T. Belman. Biden invited Zelensky to address Congress as he thought it would help get the $1.7 T Omnibus Bill passed. Afterwards, Putin said that he had given up all hope of a peaceful settlement.  The $45 B that was approved for 2023, was for economic and security assistance only.  It will do nothing to change the outcome of the war. Watch this Video.

Ukrainian president’s address to Congress highlights splits in GOP over financial support for the country

By Natalie Andrews and Lindsay Wise, WSJ    22.12.22

WASHINGTON—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress in a joint meeting showcased the divide between Republicans who want to support the beleaguered nation’s fight against Russia and those who have become critical of the billions in aid money the U.S. is sending.

Making a direct appeal to lawmakers Wednesday in his first trip outside his country since Russia invaded last February, Mr. Zelensky said that aid to Ukraine wasn’t charity, but “an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

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BY ELLIOT NAZAR, FOREIGN DESK   DEC 23, 2022

Demonstrators march in solidarity with protesters in Iran on October 15, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. | Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Following the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Islamic morality police in September over her hijab wear, young and old Iranians have taken to the streets throughout Iran to protest the Islamic Republic and its radical Sharia laws. As protests surpass 100 days, Iranians continue to march throughout the country in town squares, local neighborhoods, bazaars, and universities, calling for an end to the mullahs’ reign, despite facing brutal repression from the Islamic Republic’s security forces.<

Here are five things to know about 100 days of protests in Iran.

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T. Belman. The learn how intolerant Islam is of Christians and Christian symbols read this:

Christmas Time: When the West Appeases and Islam Slaughters

A literal “War on Christmas.”

December 23, 2022 by Raymond Ibrahim, FPM

By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)

On Dec. 23, hundreds will gather to hear from two dozen “distinguished scholars and presenters” from the Muslim world — who are actually radical Islamists — as part of the 2022 “Reviving the Islamic Spirit” conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The annual Islamic conference has become one of North America’s largest Islamic gatherings and the largest Islamic conference in Canada.

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By David Israel, JEWISH PRESS

According to JTA, more than 330 American clergy from the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist progressive movements––“including some who occupy prominent roles in major cities”––have issued a “Call to Action for Clergy in Protest of Israeli Government Extremists,” pledging to ban members of the Religious Zionist alliance from speaking at their synagogues, and lobby to ban them from speaking anywhere in their communities.

Needless to say, not a single Orthodox rabbi has signed the “call for action.”

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By Olivia Murray, AMER THINKER

February marked the re-animation of the perpetual conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and for the first time since then, Zelensky left his homeland, and yesterday, touched down in the heart of the political Swamp — shocker, he fit right in.

To set the stage, Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday:

Providing assistance for Ukrainians to defeat the Russians is the number one priority for the United States right now….
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