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September 2019

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Why Arabs Hate Palestinians by Khaled Abu Toameh

By on September 9th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14845/why-arabs-hate-palestinians

You simply cannot burn pictures of the Saudi crown prince one day and rush to Riyadh to seek money the next. You cannot shout slogans against the Egyptian president one day and go to Cairo to seek political backing the next.

Remarkably, Turki al-Hamad, a Saudi writer, did what even some Western countries refuse to do: he dared to condemn Hamas and other Gaza-based groups for firing rockets at Israel.

“Palestinians bring disaster to anyone who hosts them. Jordan hosted them, and there was Black September; Lebanon hosted them, and there was a civil war there; Kuwait hosted them, and they turned into Saddam Hussein’s soldiers. Now they are using their podiums to curse us.” — Mohammed al-Shaikh, Saudi author, RT Arabic, August 13, 2019.

Many people in the Arab countries are now saying that it is high time for the Palestinians to start looking after their own interests and thinking of a better future for their children…. The Arabs seem to be saying to the Palestinians: “We want to march forward; you can continue to march backward for as long as you wish.”

“We should not be ashamed to establish relations with Israel.” — Ahmad al-Jaralah, a leading Kuwaiti newspaper editor, arabi21.com, July 1, 2019.

Is it true? If so, why? Sadly, the Palestinians are known for betraying their Arab brothers, even effectively stabbing them in the back. The Palestinians, for example, supported Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait – a Gulf state that, together with its neighbors, used to give the Palestinians tens of millions of dollars in aid each year.

This disloyalty is precisely how a growing number of Arabs, particularly those living in the Gulf states, have been describing the Palestinians for the past few years.

In recent months, however, Arab criticism of the Palestinians, mostly aired through traditional and social media, has further escalated, and sometimes turned ugly.

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ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Iran Ready to “Wipe the Zionist Regime off the Map” by Majid Rafizadeh

By on September 9th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14837/iran-zionist-regime

If, for any reason, the Israeli government ever issued a declaration, about destroying Iran “in half an hour,” as Iran recently said about Israel, we would probably never hear the end of the criticism from all parts of the world. The European Union would likely take even more measures to counter Israel. There would doubtless be an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to hurl slanders against Israel, followed by countries pledging solidarity and support for Iran.

Amazingly, Israel has been bullied and criticized by the same international community for merely taking precautionary measures to defend its citizens and territorial integrity, as any country would.

For some reason, the Islamic Republic is getting a free pass for constantly threatening to wipe out Israel off the map. This lopsided injustice is either a case of selective amnesia or outrageous double standards by the international community…. The international community… needs to stop its double standards by taking measures against Iran’s vows to annihilate Israel.

Fortunately, since President Donald J. Trump took office, America’s Iran policy has been heading in the right direction. Steadily escalating economic sanctions have inflicted serious damage on Iran’s economy. Maximum pressure is the right policy to adopt to bridle this predatory regime.

Malign behavior in the world today seems largely to be the result of people who have the power to correct what is wrong willfully looking the other way: hypocrisy. Currently, one of the biggest beneficiaries — along with China, North Korea, Venezuela, Russia, Turkey and Cuba — is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Among other lawlessness, Iran, since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, has continued non-stop to threaten the existence of Israel in contravention of Chapter 1 the United Nations Charter — without any reproof or rebuke from the international community.

Amazingly, Israel has been bullied and criticized by the same international community for merely taking precautionary measures to defend its citizens and territorial integrity, as any country would.

If, for any reason, the Israeli government ever issued a declaration about destroying Iran “in half an hour,” as Iran recently said about Israel, we would probably never hear the end of the criticism from all parts of the world. The European Union would likely take even more measures to counter Israel. There would doubtless be an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to hurl slanders against Israel, followed by countries pledging solidarity and support for Iran.

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The Downside Of Prosperity: Madness Made Affordable

By on September 9th, 2019

https://issuesinsights.com/2019/09/09/the-downside-of-prosperity-madness-made-affordable/

No other system on Earth has created greater wealth for more people, and lifted more out of poverty than free market capitalism. But it has also brought a drawback we have to live with: plenty of idle time and available resources to feed foolish and too-often destructive activities.

When overcoming economic struggles is a family’s and an individual’s primary, and sometimes sole, focus of life, there’s not enough time and money left over to engage in ill-natured behavior, such as ignorantly and maliciously protesting, and harassing customers, at a Chick-fil-A grand opening in Toronto. All energy is directed toward daily survival. Putting food on the table and maintaining a roof above don’t leave many hours to participate in futile and stupid gestures, to borrow a phrase from one of Hollywood’s greatest movies. Productive adults, especially those who are depended upon by others, and even responsible teens, have far better things to do than to act like spoiled children, and worse.

But today, most in the West live in a society whose members are not only the richest in history, they have a bounty of leisure time that no other has even been able to comprehend.

William Ayers was among the first to exploit these conditions. His father Thomas G. Ayers was a president, chairman, and CEO of Commonwealth Edison in the 1960s and 1970s. The elder Ayers also served on a number of corporate and nonprofit boards, was a Northwest University trustee, and was known for his civic leadership and generosity.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

BIDEN OR BUST? VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

By on September 9th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/09/08/biden-or-bust/

For better or worse, the Democratic establishment apparently has decided it has no choice but to embrace the former vice president. Can he be propped up and pampered for the next 14 months?

Pundits and politicos play the current parlor game of counting Joe Biden’s daily bloopers, signs of debility, or embarrassments.

Unlike former “Apprentice” host Donald Trump’s exaggerations and narcissisms, Biden’s fantasies are not baked into an outsider candidacy that by intent offers as a radical change of policy, a tough presidential tone, and unconventional political tactics. Trump is a renegade. Biden remains what he always was—a deep state fixture. And his brand is mainstream Democrat left-liberal orthodoxy, which supposedly does not include weird and wild La La Land pronouncements.

Also, Trump is hated by a media that is 90 percent negative in its coverage of his every word, deed, and sneeze. In contrast, the media is in the Biden tank.

So the reaction to the respective boilerplate gaffes and untruths of each is quite different: when Trump is caught mythologizing, his supporters blame the “fake news” media for taking things out of context—confusing his jest with seriousness, or conflating normal exaggeration and bombast with mortal-sin lying.

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ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

If “You Believe in Science” You Must Believe This Scientist Who Talks to Plants Daniel Greenfield

By on September 9th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/274884/if-you-believe-science-you-must-believe-scientist-daniel-greenfield

When George III talked to plants, he was mad. But in our post-religious society, pseudoscience is king and reigns surrounded by any pagan lunacy that would have embarrassed an actual madman. Lefties insist that they are rational because they believe in science. But science isn’t a belief system. That’s scientism. When you believe in things, well you can start believing in talking trees.

Monica Gagliano says that she has received Yoda-like advice from trees and shrubbery. She recalls being rocked like a baby by the spirit of a fern. She has ridden on the back of an invisible bear conjured by an osha root. She once accidentally bent space and time while playing the ocarina, an ancient wind instrument, in a redwood forest. “Oryngham,” she says, means “thank you” in plant language. These interactions have taken place in dreams, visions, songs and telekinetic interactions, sometimes with the help of shamans or ayahuasca.

This has all gone on around the same time as Dr. Gagliano’s scientific research, which has broken boundaries in the field of plant behavior and signaling

Why don’t you believe in science?

That comes to us from fringe lefty nutter outlet, the New York Times.

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HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

Muslim Migrant American Airlines Mechanic Charged with Sabotaging Plane in Miami But don’t be concerned; as always it has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism. Robert Spencer

By on September 9th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274872/muslim-migrant-american-airlines-mechanic-charged-robert-spencer

On Thursday, according to the Miami Herald, a Muslim airplane mechanic named Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani was arrested “on a sabotage charge accusing him of disabling a navigation system on a flight with 150 people aboard before it was scheduled to take off from Miami International Airport earlier this summer.” But calm down, you ignorant and unrepentant Islamophobe: as always, this has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism. How do we know that? Why, because Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani tells us so.

A criminal complaint affidavit filed in Miami federal court states that Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani told federal air marshals that “his intention was not to cause harm to the aircraft or its passengers.”

Well, that’s a relief. The poor lamb was just “upset” over the ongoing impasse between his mechanics’ union and American Airlines. This unresolved conflict has, he said, “affected him financially.”

Acting out on his frustration and rage, Alani, according to the Herald, tampered with “the so-called air data module,” which “caused an error alert as the pilots powered up the plane’s engines on the runway.” This led to the flight being “aborted and taken out of service for routine maintenance at America’s hangar at MIA, which is when the tampering with the ADM system was discovered during an inspection. An AA mechanic found a loosely connected tube in front of the nose gear underneath the cockpit that had been deliberately obstructed with some sort of hard foam material…. According to the complaint filed Thursday, Alani glued the foam inside the tube leading from outside the plane to its air data module, a system that reports aircraft speed, pitch and other critical flight data. As a result, if the plane had taken off that day from MIA, the pilots would have had to operate the aircraft manually because the ADM system would not have received any computer data.”

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

Video: ‘Students for Justice in Palestine’ Targets Dr. Jason Hill at Depaul A philosophy professor pays the high price for his thought crimes about Israel.

By on September 9th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274878/video-students-justice-palestine-targets-dr-jason-frontpagemagcom

This new edition of The Glazov Gang features Dr. Jason D. Hill, a professor of philosophy at DePaul University in Chicago, and a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is the author of several books, including We Have Overcome: An Immigrant’s Letter to the American People. Follow him on Twitter: @JasonDhill6.

Dr. Hill shares how he has been targeted by ‘Students for Justice in Palestine’ at Depaul, unveiling how he is paying the high price for his thought crimes about Israel.

Don’t miss it!

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ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Save California, Ban Environmentalists Hold the straws, legalize the rats. Daniel Greenfield

By on September 9th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274841/save-california-ban-environmentalists-daniel-greenfield

The 6-foot-tall man dressed as a giant receipt stood on a stool next to the emblem of the State Capitol in Sacramento. He was there because Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Fran wanted to ban receipts.

California had a great ban streak going. It had already banned plastic bags, straws and dog breeders. Assemblyman Ting, who had only been known for wearing bow ties, had declared war on receipts.

And Ting had his aide wear a giant receipt to show how bad receipts were for the environment. And how better to crusade for the environment than by printing up a receipt 100,000 times normal size?

According to Ting’s people, receipts not only wasted trees and water, but were actually toxic. The San Francisco Democrat explained that receipts were coated in chemicals that weren’t allowed in baby bottles. It’s probably a good thing then that receipts don’t go inside baby bottles. Or inside babies.

There was even a hashtag, #SkiptheSlip.

In an extraordinary setback for stupid bans, Ting’s receipt ban bill never made it to the floor. But Ting tweeted that he was “glad to have raised awareness about the health & environmental harm receipts can cause. Change often takes time.” Next time around, the receipt bill ban will succeed.

Perhaps Ting ought to consider raising awareness about the 16,000 complaints of filth and waste in his own city. The human waste spread by his constituents is a lot more toxic than paper receipts.

The same Democrats who shrug at a hepatitis outbreak gasp at the toxicity of store receipts.

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FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

Let’s Not Make a Deal with the Taliban A minefield is ahead if we do. September 9, 2019 Bruce Thornton

By on September 9th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274857/lets-not-make-deal-taliban-bruce-thornton

The election of Donald Trump in 2016 began a needed reassessment of our ossified foreign policy doctrines. Trump has rejected in part the shibboleths of “multilateralism,” “transnational institutions,” “democracy promotion,” and “diplomatic engagement” as the most important elements of foreign relations. He’s returned the focus to America’s national interests and security, and to America’s military strength as the guarantor of both. Allies now are valued insofar as they complement our interests, and honor reciprocal obligations. Matching action to words, he’s withdrawn from the Paris Climate Accords and the multinational agreement with Iran on limiting its program to develop nuclear warheads and the missiles to deliver them, and scolded NATO allies over their meager spending on defense.

These moves have all been a welcome corrective to the Obama-era globalist prejudices and received ideas that reduced the U.S. to just one of many international players, one “mindful of its own imperfections,” as Obama put it, and morally obligated to cede sovereignty to supranational institutions and multinational treaties. The subsequent howling of the decrepit internationalist establishment about Trump’s “disrespecting” allies and violating the “rules-based, liberal international order” is the sound of feckless, moribund institutional oxen being gored.

Yet it is testimony to the staying power of such globalist institutions that even Trump seemingly ascribes to some of their dogma. Foremost is the idea that diplomatic negotiation, what Trump would call “the art of the deal,” can resolve differences and settle conflicts without a credible threat of overwhelming force to punish violations of the agreement. Hence the ongoing negotiations with the Taliban, the jihadist movement that nurtured al Qaeda in the years before 9/11, and continues to shelter and support other jihadist outfits like ISIS bent on attacking our interests and security.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Macron’s Bad Bargain With Iran Tehran shows what it thinks of France’s latest bribe to stay in the nuclear deal

By on September 9th, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/macrons-bad-bargain-with-iran-11567973948

Iran on Saturday took another giant step toward gaining nuclear weapons by admitting it is now using arrays of advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium. This is its latest violation of the 2015 nuclear deal and puts more pressure on Europe to decide whether it wants to keep subsidizing this nuclear breakout.

First the European signatories tried to evade U.S. sanctions by creating a new trade and finance system. That failed, so now French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed giving Tehran a roughly $15 billion credit line, guaranteed by Iranian oil, if the regime renews compliance with the nuclear deal.

Mr. Macron would do better to save the money and help Mr. Trump ’s Iran efforts. Sanctions the U.S. has imposed since last year are designed to coax Tehran to renegotiate a better deal. This has included designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization and sanctions that have reduced Iranian crude oil exports some 80%. U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook announced fresh measures against the IRGC and Iranian oil last Wednesday.

This appears to be working. Iranian leaders such as Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have gone from refusing talks with Washington to probing ways to get back to the negotiating table. That’s important context for Iran’s provocations that are supposed to scare Washington into offering a new deal, such as attacks on oil infrastructure in the Middle East, threats against a Washington think tank, and news that Tehran is now openly violating the 2015 deal by stockpiling highly enriched uranium.

The mystery is why, in light of all this, Mr. Macron is eager to send Iran more money—especially since Mr. Trump can block the transfer by refusing to waive U.S. sanctions. Perhaps Mr. Macron and the Europeans hope to buy off Iran in the short term as they wait to see if Mr. Trump wins re-election. But in the meantime they are advancing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

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