Lawsuit against Cuomo & De Blasio: “It is time to end New York’s experiment in absolute monarchy”

Posted on June 11, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL REVIEW
Catholic Priests, Orthodox Jews Sue Cuomo & De Blasio over Coronavirus Restrictions
by Mairead McCardle
June 12, 2020

Two Catholic priests and three Orthodox Jewish congregants have filed a lawsuit against New York governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio in federal court, alleging that the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic violated the constitutional rights of religious New Yorkers. Catholic priests Steven Soos and Nicholas Stamos, from upstate New York, and Orthodox Jewish congregants Elchanan Perr, Daniel Schonborn, and Mayer Mayerfeld, from Brooklyn, filed the suit alleging civil-rights violations in the Northern District of New York. In addition to Cuomo and de Blasio, it also names state attorney general Letitia James as a defendant. READ MORE

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How can Hamas and its supporters around the world continue to complain about poverty and misery when new shopping malls and supermarkets filled with clothes, and various types of luxury goods are being opened every few weeks in the Gaza Strip?

Posted on June 11, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
The Gaza They Do Not Want You to See
by Bassam Tawil
June 10, 2020

The Palestinian terror group Hamas has warned Palestinians in the Gaza Strip not to publish photos from the Gaza Strip on social media platforms. In a June 9 statement, the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior claimed that “Israeli intelligence agencies have been asking residents of the Gaza Strip — through social media — to use their mobile phones to take pictures of various places in the Gaza Strip.” Hamas warned Palestinians against complying with the alleged Israeli request and claimed that Israel was using social media accounts to “recruit collaborators and obtain information.” READ MORE

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“The left’s effort to take down New York Dem Rep. Eliot Engel will be a test case for the ability of the party establishment to keep a pro-Israel veteran in a majority minority district”

Posted on June 11, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Can Pro-Israel Democrats hold off an AOC clone?
by Jonathan Tobin
June 10, 2020

…Right now, [Eliot] Engel, who has held his seat since 1988, is in serious trouble. After 32 years in Washington, he is a bit complacent and out of touch with his district. Though the 16th district has a significant Jewish population with an estimate of 11.7 percent of voters there, it is a majority minority district with 34 percent of its eligible voters being African-American and 24 percent Hispanic. The district’s minority voters have gone along with the choice of the party establishment for years. But as was the case with AOC’s upset of Crowley, whose district’s makeup was roughly similar, that acquiescence may crumble once an energetic minority candidate is ready to challenge a white incumbent. READ MORE

JERUSALEM POST Bernie Sanders endorses Eliot Engel’s opponent Jamaal Bowman for Congress Engel is a moderate Democrat and a leading pro-Israel voice in Congress who voted against the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.

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An inconvenient truth: “Cops save lives and keep New York City safe for all residents—especially the most vulnerable”

Posted on June 11, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

CITY JOURNAL
Why We Need the Police
by Heather MacDonald
June 8, 2020

“How lovely when we see the police! They are my friends.” So said an elderly lady attending a police-community meeting in the Bronx several years ago. Her voice is representative of the thousands of senior citizens, middle-aged workers, and small-business owners who fervently support the New York Police Department. These vulnerable New Yorkers want more police presence, not less; they view officers as their only protection against predation. What will the activists seeking to defund the NYPD tell these law-abiding residents—that they are now on their own? The people who live in high-crime neighborhoods understand more about policing than the anti-cop agitators. READ MORE

FORBES Minneapolis City Council Unanimously Votes To Replace Police With Community-Led Model The Minneapolis City Council on Friday, 18 days after the death of George Floyd, unanimously passed a resolution to replace the police department with a community-led public safety system.

Ami Horowitz Video: All Stats Matter I went to a New York protest to give them the good news! There is no evidence that police target black people! SPOILER ALERT….It didn’t go well.

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“AIPAC privately telling officials it’s OK to condemn planned controversial West Bank move as long as they don’t push to limit US aid to Jewish state”

Posted on June 7, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
In first, AIPAC gives US lawmakers green light to criticize Israel on annexation
by Ron Kampeas
June 10, 2020

The leading pro-Israel lobby in the United States is telling US lawmakers that they are free to criticize Israel’s looming annexation plans — just as long as the criticism stops there…With anxiety pervading the US Jewish community ahead of that deadline, AIPAC faces a thorny question: Does it support Israel’s leadership at all costs, or does it draw a line on actions it believes endangers the Jewish state’s future? So far, the group has remained publicly silent. But in private, AIPAC is telling lawmakers that as long as they don’t push to limit the United States’ aid to Israel, they can criticize the annexation plan without risking future support from the lobby group.  READ MORE

JNS AIPAC cancels 2021 policy conference due to concerns about coronavirus “AIPAC will continue to find new and creative ways over the coming year for us to connect online and in person to advance the U.S.-Israel relationship,” said AIPAC president Betsy Berns Korn.

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“Applications for aliyah in the spring of the coronavirus are breaking records, as Jews in the Diaspora see Israel as a safe haven”

Posted on June 7, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
In an era of global uncertainty, record numbers of Jews seek to return ‘home’
by Deborah Fineblum
June 8, 2020

In a time of darkness, a time of pandemic, pandemonium and power struggles, a thin ray of light can be seen in the Jewish world. The results are in: In May, the number of North Americans applying to make aliyah was double what it was last year at this time (814 vs. 424). In fact, last month was the biggest ever in the 19-year history of Nefesh B’Nefesh, the nonprofit that with the help of Israel’s government and the Jewish Agency for Israel has already shepherded some 60,000 North American Jews to new homes in Israel. READ MORE

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“With Pompeo’s statement, the U.S. reversed previous policy, declared its support for Israeli life in historic Judea and Samaria and tacitly backed the assertion of Israeli sovereignty at any time”

Posted on June 7, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

NEWSWEEK
Trump is Better Than the Two-State Solution
by Yishai Fleisher
June 9, 2020

…With COVID-19 striking at the U.S. economy and riots breaking out in America’s cities, President Trump needs a win in Israel—not another headache. But the “Deal” is no panacea, it will not bring peace to the Middle East and it will not bring votes in November. Indeed, Trump’s evangelical Christian base was largely disappointed with the plan that called for an Arab state in the Holy Land. But there is another way. In November, prior to the release of the plan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that “the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with international law.” READ MORE

TIMES OF ISRAEL Netanyahu to initially annex 3 settlement blocs, not Jordan Valley — officials Ariel and Ma’ale Adumim don’t require much mapping, though Etzion Bloc is more complex, and Jerusalem thinks drawing out process may help curb friction with Jordan

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Quincy Institute article slams “Zionist influences” at New York Times including Bret Stephens and Bari Weiss

Posted on June 7, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

ALGEMEINER
Republican Senator Writes New York Times Op-Ed. Zionist Jews Get Blamed.
by Ira Stoll
June 7, 2020

Anti-Israel groups are pouncing on a controversy over an opinion piece by a Republican senator in the New York Times, scapegoating two openly Zionist editors there. The article by Senator Tom Cotton, headlined “Send in the Troops,” called for the deployment of the US military to quell what the article called an “orgy of violence,” and “rioters and looters” in American cities following the death in police custody of George Floyd…Anti-Israel groups are seizing on the flap to target the few openly Zionist editors at the Times, including [Adam] Rubenstein and Bari Weiss. READ MORE

REASON James Bennet’s Resignation Proves the Woke Scolds Are Taking Over The New York Times Bennet’s resignation was an instructive show of force from those Times staffers who want the paper to be more transparently progressive. Their successful strategy—describe their opposition to someone else’s speech as a matter of personal safety—is straight out of the woke left’s playbook. Dismayingly, we should expect to see this tactic deployed more frequently in the future.

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“Aaron Klein, former Breitbart journalist, hired by Netanyahu as strategic consultant”

Posted on June 7, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Netanyahu appoints controversial adviser who trashed Obama and Biden
by Gil Hoffman
June 8, 2020

…Aaron Klein, a former journalist for Breitbart, was hired by Netanyahu as a strategic and communications consultant for the Likud Party. “Klein left a full-time successful career as a reporter to help Israel, as it finds itself facing unprecedented challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, amid the international debate on the issue of applying sovereignty and other pressing matters,” a Likud source said. The Jerusalem-based Klein worked on strategy during the Likud’s campaign in the last election…Klein, 41, most recently served as Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter for Breitbart News, reporting last month on Biden’s involvement in what he termed the Russia collusion hoax. READ MORE

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“This “blame it on Israel” or “blame it on the Jews” bigotry is common throughout the world at demonstrations for legitimate causes”

Posted on June 7, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Exploiting the Floyd protests to demonize Israel
by Alan Dershowitz
June 8, 2020

As usual, anti-Israel extremists, especially some on the hard left, are trying to exploit the tragic and inexcusable death of George Floyd to level their typical baseless charges against Israel…The organization “Black Lives Matter,” which does much good, is not immune from this bigotry. Its own platform blames Israel for police violence against African Americans, and compares such violence to what it falsely calls the “genocide” of the Palestinian people. Many good people who support the organization are unaware of its gratuitous demonization of Israel, and would oppose such distractions from its core mission READ MORE

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