Zeraati and his colleagues have faced escalating threats, particularly after critiquing anti-Israel marches in Britain

Posted on April 13, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Iranian TV dissident survives stabbing by fake ‘Jerusalem Post’ reporter
Zivka Klein
April 11, 2024

Pouria Zeraati, a prominent dissident Iranian TV presenter who recently survived a stabbing attack outside his home, revealed a deceitful attempt to compromise his security through a bogus interview request – according to a report by The Jewish Chronicle (JC). The attacker, posing as a journalist from The Jerusalem Post, aimed to lure Zeraati into a trap, highlighting the lengths to which adversaries will go to target vocal critics of the Iranian regime. A key figure on the anti-regime channel Iran International, Zeraati recounted his harrowing experience and the subsequent psychological battle he faced in the aftermath of the assault. READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Highland Park residents tell Mayor Rotering to change archaic law that limits voter rights and participation in elected government

Posted on April 12, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

WBBM 780
Highland Park residents push for amending ordinance that bars city council members from having liquor licenses
April 11, 2024

Highland Park residents Wednesday night urged the City Council to reconsider a decision not to amend a prohibition-era ordinance that prohibits council members from having liquor licenses, which impacts a newly-elected member. Supporters of Jeff Hoobler, council member and co-owner of Ravinia Brewing Company, said its not about him, it’s about the ordinance. Resident Linda Feinstein said it tells some members of the community they can’t participate in elected government and citizens can’t vote for them. “This ordinance takes that decision out of my hands and it’s fundamentally undemocratic and for that reason I think this ordinance is terrible public policy.” Another resident said the law is “ridiculous.”READ MORE

CHICAGO HOODLINE Highland Park battle over liquor license law pits business against City Council regulations  Councilmember Lidawer is determined to keep the momentum going until a change is made. “In addition to hurting our community on a daily basis, our business-friendly image to the outside world, we are also hurting the councilmember who is not sitting next to me today,” she expressed fervently at the meeting.

MOVING HIGHLAND PARK FORWARD
Join us at the next Highland Park City Council meeting
When: April 24th at 7:30 pm
Where: City Hall, 1707 St Johns Ave, Highland Park
This is the last regular meeting before elected Council member Jeff Hoobler is effectively pushed out of office, after pledging to bring an independent and fresh perspective to the Council and garnering more votes than any other candidate in the last election. Mr. Hoobler’s resignation will go into effect on April 30th UNLESS the Mayor and Council vote to change a newly-discovered Prohibition-era law that prohibits Council members from having a liquor license. This is our last chance to convince Mayor Nancy Rotering, Councilmember Kim Stone, and Councilmember Tony Blumberg to do the right thing – listen to the voters – and change the current law. The fix is easy and these members of the council have the power to make the change at this meeting. LEARN MORE: www.HPForward.org

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

NPR veteran says network lost its way when it started telling listeners how to think

Posted on April 12, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

FREE PRESS
I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.
Uri Berliner
April 9, 2024

.. More recently, we have approached the Israel-Hamas war and its spillover onto streets and campuses through the “intersectional” lens that has jumped from the faculty lounge to newsrooms. Oppressor versus oppressed. That’s meant highlighting the suffering of Palestinians at almost every turn while downplaying the atrocities of October 7, overlooking how Hamas intentionally puts Palestinian civilians in peril, and giving little weight to the explosion of antisemitic hate around the world. READ MORE

JPOST Jewish NPR editor resigns after criticizing network for bias on Israel coverage A Jewish NPR editor resigned on Wednesday after the network suspended him for criticizing NPR for becoming narrow-minded and suppressing other viewpoints, including in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Uri Berliner, a veteran editor at NPR, published a critique of the network in the Free Press last week, writing that while when he started at NPR there was an “open-minded, curious culture,” that changed in recent years. READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“Iran is vowing to retaliate against Israel after a strike last week on a building adjacent to the Iranian Embassy in Damascus killed 12 people, including two top commanders”

Posted on April 11, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

THE HILL
Top US military officer visits Israel amid fears of Iranian attack
Ellen Mitchell
April 11, 2024

U.S. Central Command head Gen. Erik Kurilla is in Israel to speak with officials as fear grows about a possible attack on Israel by Iran and the militant groups it backs, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.  “Gen. Kurilla is in Israel. He’s, as I understand it, traveling throughout the region,” press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. READ MORE

AXIOS Scoop: Senior U.S. general to visit Israel to coordinate on Iran attack threat Israeli officials say they are preparing for a possible unprecedented direct attack from Iranian soil using ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles against Israeli targets. In such a scenario, Israel will retaliate with a direct attack against Iran, the officials said…Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel made a mistake by attacking the Iranian Consulate in Damascus and killing the general. “Israel must be punished, and they will pay for their mistakes,” he said. READ MORE

I24NEWS Blinken urges diplomatic intervention to prevent Iran-Israel escalation Blinken engaged in telephone conversations with counterparts from China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and European nations to emphasize the importance of de-escalation in the region

JNS Netanyahu: ‘Whoever harms us, we will harm them’ “We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” said the Israeli premier.

JPOST US predicts an Iranian attack, orders employees in Israel stay in cities The United States expects an attack by Iran against Israel but one that would not be big enough to draw Washington into war, a US official said late on Thursday.The White House said it warned Iran to not use that attack as a pretext to escalate further in the region.

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Wall Street Journal: “Some captives believed killed in IDF strikes, some died of health issues, others being ‘used as human shields’ around terrorist leaders in Gaza tunnels”

Posted on April 11, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
US, Israeli officials fear most hostages held by Hamas are dead
April 11, 2024

US and Israeli officials fear that most of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas since October 7 have been killed in captivity, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, as talks to secure a hostage release deal and a temporary truce continued in Cairo. While the IDF has confirmed the deaths of 34 of the 129 remaining hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, citing intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza, the report said that “Israeli and American officials estimate privately that the number of deaths could be much higher.”…It came as some reports say Hamas has indicated it is unable to provide 40 living hostages in the category set for initial release under a potential hostage deal — women, children, the elderly, or those requiring medical attention. The release of other hostages including adult men and captured soldiers is under a separate category. READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

David Makovsky of the Washington Institute: “Expecting Hamas to abandon ideology for economics was a mistake with fatal consequences”

Posted on April 11, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY
Israel Seeks A New Strategic Concept
Ilan Berman
April 11, 2024

…Flawed assumptions: The first element of this approach was an extensive reliance on technology and innovation to provide “domain awareness” over the Palestinian territories. Policymakers in Jerusalem came to believe that the elaborate system of high-tech surveillance and monitoring erected over the past two decades in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip provided them with extensive security. This system, they contended, allowed them to spot key indicators of emerging threats to Israeli society. The second was a conviction that, over time, the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation could be significantly ameliorated, if not solved outright, through economic prosperity….The October 7th attacks underscored the bankruptcy of both of these assumptions. The fact that Israeli officials missed (or ignored) key indicators of preparations for a large-scale incursion from the Gaza Strip highlights what amounts to a multi-domain breakdown in intelligence…READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Politics | Leave a comment

Rachel Goldberg: “I feel like we’re pawns in a game. Or maybe it’s theater”

Posted on April 11, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, is one of many young people taken hostage by Hamas during an incursion into Israel that killed more than 1,300 others. His parents Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, Americans who moved to Israel more than a decade ago, sat down with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday and described their pain since the couple’s only son went missing. Click to watch interview.

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“The IDF confirms that the three operatives are the sons of Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas’s political bureau”

Posted on April 10, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH PRESS
Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Informed 3 Children, 3 Grandchildren Dead in Gaza
Hana Levi Julian
April 10, 2024

Hamas international leader Ismail Haniyeh was informed Wednesday afternoon that three of his children and three of his grandchildren “ascended to martyrdom” in an airstrike targeting terrorist infrastructure west of Gaza City…“The IDF confirms that the three operatives are the sons of Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas’s political bureau,” the statement concluded…[Their father] Ismail Haniyeh himself lives a luxurious lifestyle in the Qatari capital city of Doha, along with other Hamas leaders. “I thank Allah for this honor that He bestowed upon us through the martyrdom of my three sons and grandchildren…” READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dershowitz: “Hamas must be required to surrender and the people of Gaza must be de-radicalized. Any other endgame will only postpone a repetition of October 7. Except this time, with calls this week for “Death to America” from within the United States, just as terrorism came to a theater near Putin, this time it may be coming to a theater near you”

Posted on April 9, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
The Dangerous US Rush to Save the Terrorist Group Hamas
Alan M. Dershowitz
April 9, 2024

The Biden administration’s drift away from full support for Israel will cost more Palestinian and Israeli lives. It will encourage Hamas to keep fighting and to keep rejecting proposals for the return of hostages in exchange for a humanitarian cease-fire. It will persuade Hamas that it can win its war, weaken Israel and create distance between the US and Israel…Had the Biden administration maintained the strong support for the destruction of Hamas that it showed in the immediate aftermath of Oct 7, the fighting might already have subsided and all the hostages been returned. But every time the Biden administration weakens its support for Israel, it strengthens the determination of Hamas to raise its demands and threaten Israel, to the point that Israel cannot possibly agree. READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

But I, as a Canadian “Gentile,” will live and die a friend of the Jewish People

Posted on April 8, 2024 by ArchitectGuy

FUTURE OF JEWISH
Today, in Canada, it is like Nazi Germany in the 1930’s
Paul Finlayson
April 9, 2024

Five months ago, I was happy to be an academic nobody, just a scruffy, hoodie-wearing, never-a-tie, student-friendly professor…On November 27th, 2023, I went in early before my marketing course to help a student review her project. A week ago, a friendly student told me a group of students and parents were stirring, angry at me for responding to an “educator” in South Asia who called for the destruction of Israel. But I was not concerned. My comment was no worse than what you see on the editorial page; Canada believed in free speech. Cancel culture was only in the papers or on X, but they surely would not come for me. READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment