“After Iran demonstrated willingness to negotiate, Trump decided not to support military action – for now”

Posted on April 17, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

i24 NEWS
Israel planned to strike Iran, but was held back by Trump
April 17, 2025

As Israel geared up for possible military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the plan was thwarted in recent weeks by US President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported early Thursday. The obstruction came against the backdrop of contacts between Washington and Tehran on reaching a nuclear agreement, with a new round of talks expected for Saturday in Oman. According to the report, Trump made a decision on whether to support the offensive Israeli approach or to pursue diplomacy after long months of discussions. Among senior US officials, there was a significant debate as to whether military action would destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities and prevent a larger war. READ MORE

JEWISH INSIDER Netanyahu: ‘Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons’ Israel will ensure Iran does not attain a nuclear weapon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday, following a report that President Donald Trump blocked an Israeli plan to strike the Islamic Republic in May.

JNS Yaakov Lappin:‘Israel must put its own military option on the table’ vis à vis Iran Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman, vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told JNS in recent days that in his assessment, “at least in Trump’s mind and in [special United States Middle Envoy Steve] Witkoff’s mandate, it is clear that the move [negotiations] must block Iran’s path to nuclear weapons so that the North Korean nightmare is not repeated.”

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Terror group near bankruptcy, anti-Hamas protests erupt again, call for end to war

Posted on April 17, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

YNET
Hamas nears bankruptcy in Gaza: Halts salaries and has difficulty recruiting new fighters
April 17, 2025

Hamas is facing a severe financial crisis in the Gaza Strip, unable to pay salaries to its fighters and government workers as targeted Israeli strikes and a halt in humanitarian aid have drained its resources, according to officials and analysts. The terror group has been left nearly bankrupt following a series of Israeli assassinations of key political, military and administrative figures, as well as the suspension of aid deliveries that officials say Hamas had diverted and resold for profit. The crisis has disrupted the group’s operations and exposed growing dysfunction, with intelligence officials telling The Wall Street Journal that salary payments to many government employees have stopped. Even senior Hamas officials began receiving only half of their salaries during the holy month of Ramadan.  READ MORE

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“Harvard refuses Trump admin demands to curtail antisemitism on campus — and loses over $2B in federal grants, contracts”

Posted on April 16, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

NEW YORK POST
Harvard may be free to target Jews — but not on the taxpayers’ dime
Post Editorial Board
April 14, 2025

Harvard University is thumbing its nose at Team Trump and refusing to take steps to stamp out Jew-hatred and discrimination on its campus. Fine. Then, let it say good-bye to federal bucks — possibly as much as $9 billion a year’s worth — and start spending its own money instead. The school, which in 2023 also saw the Supreme Court slap down its discriminatory admissions policies, huffs that it won’t let government “dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.” In truth, Trumpies essentially just want Harvard to comply with civil-rights laws and the top court’s 2023 ruling. READ MORE

THE HILL Obama touts Harvard’s rejection of Trump’s ‘ham-handed’ demands. Former President Obama on Monday touted Harvard University’s rejection of what he called “ham-handed” demands from President Trump’s administration. “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom…”

HARVARD CRIMSON IRS Making Plans To Revoke Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status, CNN Reports The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status after the University rejected federal demands on Monday, CNN reported Wednesday afternoon…If Harvard lost its tax-exempt status, it would be required to pay federal income taxes, including on its endowment income and contributions from donors.

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“Douglas Murray points out that “apartheid” better describes the living conditions of the remaining Jews in Arab countries than it does those of Israeli Arabs”

Posted on April 15, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

HUDSON INSTITUTE
Douglas Murray on a Matter of Life vs. Death
Mike Watson
April 11, 2025

Russian Jewish novelist Vasily Grosman, who was the first journalist to see the Nazi death camp Treblinka, once wrote, “Anti-Semitism is … a mirror for the failings of individuals, social structures and State systems. Tell me what you accuse the Jews of — I’ll tell you what you’re guilty of.” In On Democracies and Death Cults, Douglas Murray’s new book on the stakes and strategy of the conflict that began with the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Murray notes that this applies neatly to the terrorists, whose leaders accuse Israel of targeting Palestinian children in one breath and in the next say, “Children are tools to be used against Israel. We will sacrifice them for the political support of the world.” READ MORE

YOUTUBE Hudson Institute: On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization Douglas Murray examines the historical and ideological motivations that underpin the latest global wave of antisemitic violence. Using accounts of both survivors and perpetrators of the October 7 massacre, he pieces together the true story of those atrocities and their aftermath. He draws a clear distinction between Israel’s commitment to individual rights and democracy and Hamas’s glorification of death over life. In doing so, Murray demonstrates how misplaced Western sympathy for terror groups could undermine the liberal values these activists claim to support.

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“During a visit to Al Jazeera’s Doha headquarters last year, I was told by its executives that Al Jazeera Media Institute has trained some 80,000 foreign journalists from over a dozen countries since 2009”

Posted on April 15, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM STRATEGIC TRIBUNE
The Middle East As Informational Battlefield
Ilan Berman
April 2025

…Russian media has been largely shut out of Western media markets following the invasion of Ukraine, but remains accessible in the Middle East, helping to shift the narrative in favor of Moscow. So pervasive is this outreach that it has been likened to a “disinformation war” by Western scholars. Its objectives are clear: to turn Middle Eastern audiences against the West, and to expand sympathy for Russia’s worldview. China is another. Through the Arabic service of state broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN), Beijing’s official messaging now reaches millions across the Middle East and North Africa. READ MORE

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A woman walked into a Staples in L.A. to print postcards celebrating Jewish joy—and was denied service by staff who claimed the message was “racist”

Posted on April 14, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH JOURNAL
LA Staples Employee Denies Service to Black Jewish Woman Over Her Zionist Postcards
Aaron Bandler
April 9, 2025

An employee at a Los Angeles Staples on Wilshire Boulevard refused to print a Black Jewish woman’s postcards with phrases “Black Jewish Zionist Squad” and “Jewish Joy” on April 7, according to video posted to social media that has gone viral. The video shows an employee, wearing a name badge that says “Ryatt,” saying that “we are not able to print anything that has any racist messages,” specifying that he found the “Zionist” postcard to be racist. The woman, Elisheva Rishon, who recorded and posted video of the April 7 encounter on Instagram in a story titled “staples incident,” countered that Zionism is not racism and that she is Black. READ MORE

WATCH THE VIDEO OF WHAT HAPPENED AT STAPLES

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“Yale University has quietly adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism”

Posted on April 14, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

ALGEMEINER
Yale Adopts IHRA Definition, Brown Launches New Training Program Amid Trump Campus Antisemitism Crackdown
Dion J. Pierre
April 10, 2025

…IHRA — an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries including the US — adopted a “working definition” of antisemitism in 2016. Since then, the definition has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum as a reference tool which helps policymakers determine what constitutes an incident of antisemitism, and it is now used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and United Nations…Yale University apparently enacted the policy change following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, the News said, noting that an archived webpage containing the section of the disciplinary code to which the definition was added shows a revision date of March 28. READ MORE

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“It is appropriate for the government to expel non-Americans who are pro-Hamas, antisemitic agitators”

Posted on April 12, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL REVIEW
Immigration Court Gets It Right on Mahmoud Khalil Deportation Call
Andrew McCarthy
April 12, 2025

An immigration judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration may deport Mahmoud Khalil, the legal alien who became a fixture in the pro-Hamas campus agitation at Columbia University. This is just the first step in the removal process, though an important one. There will now be an appeal in the immigration tribunal, and challenges in the judicial courts…Khalil carried himself as a senior associate of Columbia University Apartheid Divest. As the New York Times reports, CUAD expressly backs “armed resistance” by Hamas and recently rescinded an apology it had offered after one of its members said Columbia should be “grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.” READ MORE

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“What new solutions has Witkoff come up with? The Obama ones. Negotiate with terrorists. Pretend they’re reasonable. Give them what they want. Act confused when it doesn’t work out”

Posted on April 12, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
Witkoff In His Own Words
Daniel Greenfield
April 17, 2025

Steve Witkoff, the real estate tycoon turned international negotiator, has become the subject of controversy with some conservatives attacking him and others rushing out to defend him…What new solutions has Witkoff come up with? The Obama ones. Negotiate with terrorists. Pretend they’re reasonable. Give them what they want. Act confused when it doesn’t work out…Whatever Witkoff’s agendas are, he’s in over his head, and he outsourced his negotiations to everyone from the Biden team to the Islamic terror state of Qatar, with whom he’s done business and whose terrorist leaders he has repeatedly praised. Knowing nothing about the Middle East hasn’t given him a fresh perspective: it just made him an easy dupe for everyone who does. READ MORE

THE HILL Iran hawks warn Trump’s nuclear talks risk ‘Obama 2.0′ Hawkish national security experts are slamming President Trump’s opening bid for nuclear talks with Iran as little more than a rehash of the Obama-era nuclear deal, leading his top negotiator to backtrack on his previous position. Trump’s point person for talks with Iran, Steve Witkoff, said Monday night that the Islamic Republic could maintain a program enriching uranium up to 3.67 percent, the limit included in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration.

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Civil-rights laws have always been a weapon—it’s just that conservatives have finally decided to wield them.

Posted on April 11, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

CITY JOURNAL
The Right Is Winning the Battle over Higher Education
Christopher F. Rufo
April 15, 2025

…Many Ivy League presidents see themselves as heirs to the civil-rights movement. In fact, they are among the most active practitioners of racial discrimination, stereotyping, and segregation in America today. Shielded by a virtuous public image, elite universities have institutionalized discrimination against disfavored racial groups, implemented DEI policies based on racial rewards and penalties, hired and promoted faculty according to skin color rather than merit, and overseen racially segregated student programs, dormitories, and graduation ceremonies. The Trump administration has ruptured this illusion. In a series of letters to Ivy League presidents, it has threatened to withhold billions in federal funding, citing violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other nondiscrimination policies. READ MORE

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