“JLens, which represents a network of Jewish investors, put Morningstar on its “do not invest list” due to its alleged support of the anti-Israel BDS campaign”

Posted on July 13, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Questions linger after state board closes investigation into Morningstar for anti-Israel bias
Mike Wagenheim
July 14, 2022

An Illinois state board tasked with ensuring that public money is not invested in entities that promote boycotts, divestment or sanctions against the State of Israel has faced criticism in recent weeks over its response to a company found to have anti-Israel bias. In May the law firm White & Case released a report that investigated Morningstar—a Chicago-based financial services firm that provides investment overviews to governments, businesses, and individuals—for potential anti-Israel bias. The report was prompted by the seven-member Illinois Investment Policy Board (IIPB) claiming that one of Morningstar’s acquisitions, Sustainalytics…routinely used problematic criteria and sources that singled-out Israel over human rights abuses, while neglecting serious abuses in other countries. READ MORE

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

“Saudi Crown Prince overrides objections to pick Sheikh Mohammad al-Issa, who made waves two years ago when he visited Auschwitz”

Posted on July 8, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

WORLD ISRAEL NEWS
‘Zionist imam’ who condemns antisemitism gives main Hajj address in Mecca
Batya Jerenberg
July 10, 2022

An imam known for his conciliatory views of Judaism and Christianity aroused fierce controversy in Saudi Arabia when he was chosen to deliver the main address during the hajj Friday in one of Mecca’s most important mosques. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known by his initials MBS, personally chose Sheikh Dr. Mohammad al-Issa, overcoming the objections of senior clerics who did not want to honor a man whom they feel is too friendly to Jews. Hundreds of others reacted angrily to the choice, including Muslim clerics in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some said al-Issa shouldn’t be allowed to enter the Namirah Mosque because his contact with Jews made him “impure.” READ MORE

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

Dershowitz: “The Palestinians could have had a state in 1948, 1967, 2000-2001, 2005 and 2008. They still preferred no Jewish state to a Palestinian state living in peace with Israel”

Posted on July 8, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
Why is the Flawed Palestinian Cause So Prominent on the Hard Left?
Alan M. Dershowitz
July 10, 2022

The anti-Israel claims of the Palestinians, though deeply flawed, have become a central part of hard left ideology, especially among those who adhere to so-called intersectionality. Why does the Palestinian cause get so much attention, when there are much more compelling causes around the world such as those of the Kurds, Uyghurs, and other stateless and oppressed people? There are more demonstrations on university campuses against Israel than against Russia, China, Belarus and Iran. Why? The answer has little to do with the Palestinians, and everything to do with Israel, as the nation state of the Jewish people. It is a political manifestation of international antisemitism. It is only because the nation accused of oppressing Palestinians is Israel. READ MORE

GATESTONE Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Arabs Are Fed up With the Palestinians The Palestinians can only blame themselves for antagonizing their Arab brothers and consequently losing the Arab money. The Palestinians have been spitting in the face of the Arab countries, while at the same time expecting these countries to continue funding them.

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

Jewish social justice organization Avodah dismisses Anna Rajagopal, known online for scathing criticism of Israel

Posted on July 8, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

FORWARD
Avodah denies pressure caused it to fire anti-Zionist activist
Arno Rosenfeld
June 30, 2022

Avodah, a Jewish social justice organization, fired a prominent anti-Zionist activist following an online campaign targeting the group over its decision to hire her. Anna Rajagopal, a Houston college student, announced Wednesday that Avodah had fired her and blamed StopAntisemitism.org, which published a blog post last week calling Rajagopal, who uses both they and she pronouns, a “rabid antisemite” and encouraging readers to demand Avodah “cut ties” with them. Avodah confirmed on Twitter that it had “parted ways with a new temp-hire this week” but said it could not elaborate on personnel decisions. READ MORE

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

“The powerful Gur Hasidim sect in Israel has been rocked by internal violence, scandal and more”

Posted on July 8, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

MOMENT
Inside a Hasidic Schism
Naomi Ragen
Summer Issue 2022

On two evenings in late May, the streets of Jerusalem were once again the scene of violent riots. Incensed mobs threw stones, glass bottles and punches, upending cars, vandalizing property and littering the streets with debris. Victims, including a police officer, were hospitalized, and police were forced to use water cannons and to rescue elderly Rabbi Shaul Alter, head of the Hasidic breakaway group that was the target of the violence. Instead of the usual political or ethnic opponents, both sides of this conflict were black-garbed, fur-hatted Gur Hasidim. Far from being a fringe group whose battles affect only themselves, Gur Hasidim are the largest and wealthiest Hasidic group in Israel, well acquainted with Israel’s halls of power. READ MORE

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

Anne Frank had #WhitePrivilege ?!?! Twitter debates.

Posted on July 8, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH JOURNAL
Twitter Debate on Anne Frank and White Privilege Condemned
Aaron Bandler
July 12, 2022

A Twitter debate among some users broke out over the weekend on whether Anne Frank had “white privilege.” The debate was widely condemned among Jewish and non-Jewish users alike. The tweets, highlighted by both The Jerusalem Post and TBZ, involved a couple of Twitter users stating that “Anne Frank had white privilege. Bad things happen to people with white privilege also but don’t tell the whites that.”…These tweets were roundly denounced throughout Twitter. “Over the weekend, Anne Frank was trending on social media with users debating whether she had ‘white privilege,’” the American Jewish Committee tweeted. “It is an absurd and deeply offensive claim that this victim of the Holocaust benefited from any privilege, white or otherwise.” READ MORE

Posted in Jewish, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

For the first time, the Nazi war criminal, who claimed that he was nothing more than a ‘little cog’ in the machine, can be heard defending the Holocaust

Posted on July 8, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL POST
‘Why should I deny it?’ Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann confesses in secret tapes
Amarachi Amadike
July 7, 2022

Decades after his execution in Israel for crimes against humanity, newly unearthed audio recordings of Adolf Eichmann reveal how the architect of the Holocaust described his role in organizing the “Final Solution.” For the first time, the Nazi war criminal, who maintained at his trial that he was nothing more than a “little cog” in the machine, can be heard, in his own words, defending the Holocaust that resulted in the death of six million Jews. “If we had killed 10.3 million Jews, I would say with satisfaction, ‘Good, we destroyed an enemy,’” Eichmann says in one of the recordings…READ MORE

Posted in Jewish, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“The White House set the stage for Biden’s trip by sticking it to Israel over the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh”

Posted on July 8, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Biden’s Visit Bodes Ill for Israel
Tony Badran
July 13, 2022

…When President Joe Biden schedules his first official visit to your country, you bend over backwards to accommodate your superpower ally and patron. In pre-visit preparations, you strive mightily to paper over areas of disagreement that cause friction. If your American guest is determined to amp up the friction, you answer with a smile during the joint presser, offer noncommittal statements, and move on. Such is the Israeli playbook for Biden’s visit, and the Saudi playbook, too. It’s worked before. Of course, it is wishful thinking by the leadership of both countries if they imagine the Biden visit to be this kind of run-of-the-mill diplomatic episode. Relations during the three terms of Barack Obama have been chilly if not outright hostile. READ MORE

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

“The first July 4 parade since 2019 promised a return to normalcy. Instead, it began a surreal, traumatizing ordeal”

Posted on July 1, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

FORWARD
I ran for my life from the Highland Park shooting. It will haunt me forever.
Michael L. Millenson
July 6, 2022

Rapid-fire popping noises — a loud burst, then a brief pause, then another sustained staccato, somehow even louder — echoed down Central Street. It had been three years since the last Highland Park, Illinois, Fourth of July parade — a treasured small-town ritual. On a beautiful, clear summer day, the atmosphere was relaxed and festive. Everyone was grateful for the return to normalcy. In the first 15 minutes of the parade, my wife, Susan, and I waved to the mayor and the folks riding in the vintage fire engine, saluted the military honor guard and cheered the Highland Park High School marching band. Then came that loud popping sound, from a little over a block to our left, farther down the parade route, where the teens in the band were just arriving…READ MORE

NBC5 CHICAGO Funeral Services Set For 3 of 7 Victims in Highland Park Parade Shooting Funeral services have been set for three of the seven people killed Monday during the shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park.

WTTW How to Help Highland Park Victims: List of Approved GoFundMe Campaigns

WASHINGTON POST With little outcry, Chicago’s bloody weekend eclipsed Highland Park toll No new counseling resources were announced this week on this city’s impoverished South Side, even after a man was shot to death in broad daylight, feet from a playground, days before July Fourth. There are no crowdsourced charity drives raising millions for victims’ families in Chicago, where the holiday weekend death toll reached at least 10 with 62 injured — numbers that exceed the toll from a July Fourth parade shooting in nearby Highland Park, Ill.

YOUTUBE Father and Son Rescue Toddler From Highland Park Shooting

Posted in Chicago | Tagged | Leave a comment

Renowned physicist and ballistician Nahum Shahaf insists: The bullet that killed Shireen Abu Aqleh was not the IDF’s doing

Posted on July 1, 2022 by ArchitectGuy

ARUTZ SHEVA
Ballistic expert to INN: IDF didn’t kill Al Jazeera journalist
Shimon Cohen
Jul 7, 2022

…The [PA] claimed that Shireen was shot by a Roger rifle, a sniper rifle used by the IDF, a 0.22-LR-type which employs reduced energy and power, and is considered non-lethal at a distance of over 100 meters. In this case, however, the bullet not only penetrated her spine but completely dismantled her lower jaw. I have seen the horrible image of what happened to her. The Roger rifle could not have done that. This is a rifle known to be non-lethal at such distances, and certainly could not have destroyed her face like that. A wound like that requires a very strong bullet moving at a very fast pace.” The obvious conclusion for Shahaf is that: “the bullet was fired from a different and [more] powerful gun. READ MORE

JNS Major media outlets ignored eyewitness testimony on the death of Shireen Abu Akleh
But the analysis found that the bullet was too badly damaged to reach any conclusions as to which side had fired it. As a result, many questions about Abu Akleh’s death still remain unanswered. However, this has not stopped major media outlets from jumping to conclusions.

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