Highland Park City Hall Shakespeare

Posted on May 18, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

With a comprehensive total of 1,491 pages of FOIA documents spanning from January 1 to April 30, the day of Jeff Hoobler’s resignation, the latter half displayed in this video reveals merely two sources of opposition. Calling out Mayor Nancy Rotering and City Councilmen Kim Stone and Tony Blumberg for their supporting roles in this embarrassing affair.

Discord in Highland Park: The Battle of Ravinia and the Politics of Power

Highland Park, once a beacon of beauty and prosperity, was highly coveted for its vibrant community and picturesque charm. However, it has recently encountered a phase of stagnation, a result of actions and policies reminiscent of much larger political landscapes such as Chicago, implemented by local governance. Click here for more information.

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Without leverage and punitive action, this UN Security Council meeting will sadly accomplish zero

Posted on May 18, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
In first, UN Security Council holds meeting solely focused on hostages held by Hamas
May 16, 2024

…The US centered the meeting — the first held at the UN solely focused on the hostages captured by Hamas — on “condemning hostage-taking in Israel on October 7 as a psychological tool of terrorism.” Ayelet Samerano, whose son was killed on October 7 and his body taken by Hamas, and Gili Roman, whose sister was taken hostage and released in November as part of a week-long truce deal, also addressed the gathering…In three resolutions, the UN Security Council has called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the meeting in a UN conference room that the demand of the United States, its 25 co-sponsors, all Israelis, and many others is simple: bring the hostages who come from 20 countries home. READ MORE

Watch the video: South Korea’s deputy ambassador Sangjin Kim choked up and was unable to continue while speaking of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who appeared in a video recently released by Hamas.

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Five Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire in Jabalia, northern Gaza on Wednesday

Posted on May 16, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Diverse backgrounds give way to shared fate as Gaza friendly-fire victims eulogized
Canaan Lidor
May 16, 2024

The deaths of five soldiers in a Gaza friendly fire incident affected diverse communities from Tel Aviv to a Haredi community in Tiberias to two West Bank settlements and the Jewish community of Argentina. Four of the five fatalities – all men in their twenties who were killed in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday when an Israel Defense Forces tank mistook them for terrorists – were buried Thursday afternoon. The funeral of the fifth fatality, Sgt. Ilan Cohen, is scheduled to take place in the coming days, once his parents arrive in Israel from his native Argentina, the Ynet site said. Seven additional soldiers were hurt in the friendly fire incident in Jabaliya Wednesday, three of them seriously. READ MORE

JNS Five IDF soldiers mistakenly killed by tank fire in Jabalia  The casualties were identified by the IDF on Thursday morning as Capt. Roy Beit Ya’akov, 22, from Eli; Staff Sgt. Gilad Arye Boim, 22, from Karnei Shomron in Samaria; Sgt. Daniel Chemu, 20, from Tiberias; Sgt. Ilan Cohen, 20, from Carmiel; and Staff Sgt. Betzalel David Shashuah, 21, from Tel Aviv. The incident brings the Gaza death toll since the start of the ground invasion on Oct. 27 to 273 and to 621 on all fronts since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

JPOST Yonah Jeremy Bob: Israel is winning the war if you ignore original unrealistic goals set by the gov’t Israel is indeed winning the war – just not the way you might think. In October, the government set unrealistic goals. It would have been wiser to be more modest with those military objectives. But the fact remains that if the government had set more reasonable goals, and if one were to ask if these goals were desirable and achievable, Jerusalem would have quite a few triumphs to date. With or without Rafah, the IDF has taken apart 19 out of the 24 existing Hamas battalions, killed around 14,000 terrorists, wounded potentially close to a similar number, and arrested thousands more.

JNS Yaakov Lappin: IDF gradually tightens grip on Hamas’s last bastion in Gaza Developments in Rafah signify that the Israeli military is implementing a gradual expansion of its operation in Hamas’s last fortress.The Israel Defense Forces is engaged in intensive operations in central and northern Gaza as well, where on Thursday, a tragic friendly-fire incident involving the Paratroopers’ 202 Battalion led to five IDF casualties.

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President Herzog declares ‘a year of national mourning’

Posted on May 16, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

ALL ISRAEL NEWS
Israel salutes its fallen on first Memorial Day since Oct. 7 tragedy
May 12, 2024

Israel’s Memorial Day, commemorating the soldiers who fell in the nation’s wars and victims of terrorist attacks, began at 8 p.m. on Sunday with a nationwide siren for a minute of silence. On this year’s particularly mournful Memorial Day, the people of Israel remembered 1,600 soldiers and civilians who perished – either in combat or due to an act of terrorism – over the past year, the deadliest year for the Jewish state in over 50 years. As in every year, the siren marked the start of ceremonies being held in towns and communities across the country, at cemeteries, community centers and schools. On Monday, a second siren will sound at 11 a.m. Israeli media outlets displayed images of IDF soldiers in Rafah and the northern Gaza Strip, with some standing at attention on their tanks while marking Memorial Day in the shadow of ongoing fighting. The start of the central state ceremony at Jerusalem’s Western Wall Plaza was accompanied by red alert rocket alarms in the Gaza Envelope, including Sderot, Nahal Oz, and Shaar HaNegev. READ MORE

JNS Jewish Voice for Peace mocked widely for claim Israeli holidays meant to overshadow ‘Nakba Day’ Jewish Voice for Peace is being criticized and ridiculed widely on social media after the anti-Israel, far-left group claimed that Israel scheduled the holidays Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut to eclipse “Nakba Day.”

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The UN, in reports released on May 6 and 8, seemingly halved its previous estimates based on info provided by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health

Posted on May 15, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

I24NEWS
UN data suggests large revision in Gaza war casualty figures
May 12, 2024

Recent data published by the United Nations indicates a significant revision in the estimated number of women and children killed during the conflict in Gaza. The UN, in reports released on May 6 and 8, seemingly halved its previous estimates based on information provided by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, the Government Media Office in Gaza, and Israeli authorities. On May 6, the UN disclosed that 34,735 individuals had reportedly lost their lives in Gaza, with over 9,500 women and over 14,500 children among the reported casualties. However, just two days later, on May 8, revised figures showed a total of 34,844 fatalities, including 4,959 women and 7,797 children. READ MORE

JPOST 40% of total Gazan deaths based on unverified data After a drastic reduction in the reported death toll of in Gaza, scrutiny regarding method used to calculate the victims reveals that 10% are reported via Google Forms and and 30% via reliable media.

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“Biden apparently decided on his new Israel-bashing approach well in advance of his Holocaust Remembrance Day remarks, but held off on any public steps until he’d given that speech”

Posted on May 15, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

NEW YORK POST
Biden’s bribery of our ally Israel over intelligence on Hamas honchos is beyond despicable
Editorial Board
May 13, 2024

It’s official: President Biden’s policy on Israel makes no sense except as a sudden, all-out drive to stop the war completely, leaving Hamas able to recover. The Washington Post reports, citing four sources, that the White House has offered Jerusalem “sensitive intelligence to help the Israeli military pinpoint the location of Hamas leaders and find the group’s hidden tunnels” if the IDF doesn’t go full-scale into Rafah. Huh? Why not just hand the info over ASAP? It’d help the IDF target those leaders now, and make the precision strikes the White House says it wants more likely — it’s not like Israel wants to take the casualties of a full-on assault if doesn’t have to. READ MORE

COMMENTARY John Podhoretz: Why Joe Biden Has Gone from Friend to Enemy It is true that Biden is in trouble with his base. And it is also true that there are young people and Arabs who are disgusted by him and the support he had shown for Israel. But there are plenty of young people—the absolutely overwhelming majority of young people, in fact—for whom the war in Gaza is not even a minor concern. In the Harvard Youth Poll conducted by the Institute of Politics in April, it ranked 15th—fifteenth—on a list of 16 issues people between the ages of 18 and 29 said they cared about. A grand total of 2 percent said Israel/Palestine was the issue that concerned them most.

TIMES OF ISRAEL US House passes bill requiring delivery of bombs to Israel in GOP-led rebuke of Biden 16 Democrats join nearly all Republicans to approve measure, which Schumer has pledged isn’t ‘going anywhere’ in the Senate and the president has vowed to veto. The US House of Representatives delivered a rebuke to President Joe Biden Thursday for pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel, passing legislation that seeks to force the weapons transfer as Republicans worked to highlight Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. Seeking to discourage Israel from its offensive against Hamas in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Biden administration this month put on hold a weapons shipment of 3,500 bombs.

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Yishai Fleisher destroys Israel-hater Norman Finkelstein on Piers Morgan Uncensored

Posted on May 15, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

Yishai debates Norman Finkelstein on Piers Morgan’s “Uncensored” program on the subject of the Gaza War and Israel’s response to Hamas’ October 7th terror massacre of Israeli civilians. Yishai lays out a vision for winning the war in Gaza, stabilizing the region, and achieving prosperity for Jews and Arabs in the Abrahamic Region.

The Norman Finkelstein-Yishai Fleisher debate begins at the 15:30 mark.

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Donors who once worried more about Donald Trump now see the president’s bid for a second term as the greater threat to America

Posted on May 15, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

THE FREE PRESS
The Rise of the ‘Never Bidens’
Eli Lake
May 14, 2024

Joe Biden’s threat last week to freeze arms shipments to Israel along with reports that his administration is withholding intelligence about Hamas leaders’ whereabouts has reverberated throughout U.S. politics. Now, some Never Trump donors say the Biden administration’s policy toward the Jewish state is such a betrayal they’re considering jumping on board the Trump train. Call it the rise of the Never Bidens, donors who once were more worried about Trump but now see Joe Biden’s bid for a second term the greater threat to America. The Free Press spoke with four donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars in the last election cycle. They say they are reconsidering their political giving in light of the president’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war. READ MORE

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“It is time to stop treating Turkey as an indispensable nation deserving endless accommodation for its rogue foreign policy”

Posted on May 14, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

FDD
Why President Erdogan’s DC Visit Was Canceled
Sinan Ciddi
May 13, 2024

…In March, Erdogan stunned observers after declaring, “Turkey is a country that stands firmly behind Hamas,” just days after Congress approved a $23 billion deal to sell fighter jets to Ankara. In late April, he damaged Turkey’s reputation even further by hosting senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul and professed his support. Then came an announcement that Turkey intends to launch an “aid” flotilla to Gaza-a move that could result in a military altercation with the Israeli Navy. Finally, Ankara announced on May 2 that it was suspending all trade with Israel—a move that is likely to be deemed illegal by the courts for breaking existing contracts. READ MORE

GATESTONE Egypt’s Duplicity, the World’s Silence This is just another example of how, when Palestinians become victims of oppressive measures taken against them by their Arab brothers, the world does not care a bit. About a decade ago, when Egypt demolished dozens of houses and buildings in Rafah as part of a campaign to combat terrorism, no one said a word against the Egyptians — or even bothered to look…If the Egyptians actually cared about the Palestinians, instead of blocking the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, they could easily coordinate with Israel through alternative border crossings such as the nearby Kerem Shalom terminal.

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Biden top adviser Maher Bitar is former executive board member of SJP, ex-UNRWA employee

Posted on May 12, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

OC REGISTER
Biden’s misguided abandonment of Israel
Douglas Schoen and Saul Mangel
May 11, 2024

…In fact, virtually every decision Biden has made has prolonged the war and enabled Hamas to survive. This shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise, given the presence of Maher Bitar, a holdover from the Obama administration. Bitar now serves as Biden’s coordinator for intelligence and defense policy within the National Security Council. He is also a former Executive Board member for Students for Justice in Palestine, the extremist anti-Israel group which has been banned on dozens of college campuses due to their promotion of antisemitism and violent tactics. The administration’s incessant and hypocritical focus on preventing civilian casualties in Rafah – despite the fact that by virtually every metric, Israel has set the standard in terms of fighting a war against a terrorist group embedded in urban civilian areas – is the only reason the war hasn’t ended yet. READ MORE

CANARY MISSION has a profile on Maher Bitar

WASHINGTON EXAMINER Jewish Biden appointee resigns over president’s stance on war in Gaza: ‘Blood of innocent people on his hands’ Lily Greenberg Call, special assistant to the chief of staff in the Interior Department, cited her Jewish heritage as the reason for her resignation. In her letter, she related her deep ties to the United States and Israel but expressed deep opposition to Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza, calling it a “genocide.”

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