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Ruth King

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Saudi TV series speaks volumes about regional dynamics By Lawrence J. Haas

By on May 13th, 2020

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/497497-saudi-tv-series-speaks-volumes-about-regional-dynamics

During the holy month of Ramadan, now underway, when TV viewership among Muslims traditionally skyrockets, Saudi Arabia’s MBC network is airing a series about Jewish families in a fictional Arab country in the late 1940s – a series that speaks volumes about what’s changing, and what isn’t, across the region.

In the series “Umm Haroun,” which means “mother of Aaron,” Jews, Christians, and Muslims live easily with one another. Jews, for instance, express “mazel tov” (congratulations in Hebrew) to a Muslim man upon his engagement, while families of all three religions cook together before the Jewish Sabbath. Viewers even witness the romantic relationship of a Jewish woman and Muslim man.

Nor is this the only positive depiction of Jews to air on MBC, the Arab world’s largest private broadcaster. Along with “Umm Haroun,” the network is airing “Exit 7,” a comedy in which, in one episode, two characters debate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and one of them professes that he’d be happy to do business with the Jewish state.

Not surprisingly, “Umm Haroun” has stoked controversy across the region. That Saudi Arabia’s monarchy, to which MBC must be sensitive, is letting the series air reflects the potential for hugely consequential changes in Saudi-Israeli relations. That, at the same time, Palestinian officials are criticizing Riyadh in outraged terms reflects the futility of ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

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The abduction of Western freedom By Fiamma Nirenstein

By on May 13th, 2020

https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-abduction-of-western-freedom/

How Silvia Romano, recently released from Al-Shabab captivity, is serving as a vehicle for importing jihadist ideology to Europe.

Silvia Romano, the Italian NGO volunteer who spent 18 months in captivity in Somalia, landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport on Sunday, dressed from head to toe in full Islamic garb. The fact that the 25-year-old woman—who was abducted in November 2018 by Al-Shabab terrorists in Kenya, where she was working on behalf of the Italian charity, Africa Milele, at a local orphanage—returned home in a hijab is cause for alarm, not an expression of freedom of religion.

The radical Islamist world in which the kidnapped Italian girl was indoctrinated during her captivity is antithetical to the Western values on which she was raised. Its mantra boils down to placing death on a higher plane than life, and in subjugating women, non-Muslims and “apostates.”

“I have converted to Islam of my own free will,” Romano said upon disembarking her plane from Mogadishu.

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The long arm of the 1975 UN declaration “Zionism equals Racism” The resolution lost its legal status in 1991, but the hostility it generated toward Israel among UN members continues unabated. Op-ed. Dr. Alex Grobman

By on May 13th, 2020

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/280171

On the 37th anniversary of the Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), the UN General Assembly declared that Zionism is racism and a form of racial discrimination (Z=R) when it adopted Resolution 3379. The resolution, which passed on November 10, 1975, was part of an organized global campaign by the Soviets and the Arab states to delegitimize the State of Israel, after an abortive attempt to expel her from the UN.

On the same day, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3376, creating an Assembly Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Sixteen of the original 20 members on the Assembly committee did not have diplomatic relations with Israel, and some had never acknowledged Israel’s right to exist. [1]

The Z=R resolution attracted worldwide attention to Zionism as “a form of racism and racial discrimination.” guaranteeing Israel would be viewed as a racist state the international community would have to confront. Although the resolution was abrogated in 1991, depriving it of legal status, the hostility it generated toward Israel in most UN member nations, and in the UN’s own institutions continues unabated. [2].

No Longer Just a Common Reprobate

Israel was “no longer among the ordinary evil-doers of this world, all of whom at one time or another attack and harm civilian populations, oppress minorities, and institute exclusive immigration laws and monopolistic religious laws.” wrote Ehud Sprinzak, a Hebrew University political science professor. Israel’s crimes were committed “as part of an entire ideological system” and therefore every Israeli government action was racist and “antihumanistic.”

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Corrupt Judge Sullivan

By on May 13th, 2020

http://minx.cc:1080/?post=387232

Corrupt Judge Sullivan, Who Previously Threatened to Jail Michael Flynn for Treason When He Moved to Withdraw His Guilty Plea, Now Invites Leftwingers Who Want Flynn Jailed To Submit Their Own Motions As To Why Flynn Should Still Be Sentenced. 

Sullivan is saying that there is no actual real court case here because there are not opposing parties in the action — he is claiming that Barr, due to politics, is on Flynn’s side, and you can’t have a court hearing with two parties who agree. You need to bring in other parties — through the amicus curae (“friend of the court”) process. 

And he’s inviting Adam Schiff to file an amicus brief and become, in essence, the actual party opposed to Flynn.

Because Barr is — there is no way around this insinuation — is corrupt and his filings must be ignored by the court as rigged or fraudulent.

 

I suppose a less dramatic reading would be, “Sullivan sees that Flynn and the DOJ both agree that no crime has been committed here, and, for the sake of due diligence, is seeking out a third party who disagrees to give the court a dissenting view.”

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The Politicized Order Inviting Amicus Briefs against the Flynn Case’s Dismissal By Andrew C. McCarthy

By on May 13th, 2020

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/the-politicized-order-inviting-amicus-briefs-against-the-flynn-cases-dismissal/

Judge Sullivan’s blatantly political directive is designed to frame the Justice Department as politicized.

Late Tuesday, federal district judge Emmet Sullivan issued a bizarre order, inviting third-party groups with no legal interests in the case to file amicus briefs addressing the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the false-statements charge against Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national-security adviser.

The cantankerous jurist is stoking opposition to the dismissal. He knows the law calls for him to accede to attorney general Bill Barr’s decision. But Barr can’t stop Sullivan from turning the dismissal into anti-Trump group therapy — and who knows, maybe the grieving Legal Left will figure out some way for the judge to convict Flynn despite DOJ’s retreat.

Flynn’s counsel relates that on 24 prior occasions, Judge Sullivan has summarily refused to entertain input from non-parties to the case. No federal criminal rule authorizes such interventions. Yet Sullivan now encourages them.

There is no complex legal issue to be resolved. DOJ’s dismissal motion may be politically controversial, but legally it is pro forma. The only branch of government constitutionally authorized to proceed with a criminal prosecution is the executive. The Justice Department has declined to prosecute. There is nothing for the judge to do besides the ministerial task of ending the case on the court’s records.

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United States v. Flynn: An Invitation To the Anti-Trumpers

By on May 13th, 2020

tps://www.nysun.com/editorials/united-states-v-flynn-an-invitation-to-the-anti/9112

The decision of a United States judge to stall America’s motion to drop its case against General Michael Flynn appears calculated to delay the matter until after November. That’s how it looks, at least to us, in the wake of the judge’s decision to invite outside parties to file friend-of-the court briefs on what to do next. Could it be that the judge hopes the Democrats will win the election and, come January, drop the motion to drop the case?

In offering that line of speculation — and that’s all it is — we do not intend to question the integrity of the judge, Emmet Sullivan. We see as long-overdue and courageous Attorney General Barr’s decision to move to dismiss the case against General Flynn. The judge, though, has had a long and distinguished career on the bench. He was elevated to his several judgeships by Presidents Reagan, George Bush ’41, and Clinton.

Nor was it was ever, in our view, a foregone conclusion that the judge would grant America’s motion to end the case against the general, even if the betting around the courthouse is that the judge, in the long run, has few options but to grant the motion. After all, there is no longer an actual case or controversy, which is the only thing the Constitution grants the courts the power to decide.

Note, though, our caveat “in the long run.” What Judge Sullivan did today was issue a written order saying the court “anticipates that individuals and organizations will seek leave of the Court to file amicus curiae briefs” in the case. He must have been reading the op-ed pages. His order is practically an engraved invitation to the entire industry devoted to destroying the Trump presidency to pile on against the general.

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International Kangaroo Court to Investigate Israel for War Crimes by Lawrence A. Franklin

By on May 13th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16001/international-kangaroo-court

According to the ICC’s charter, the Court cannot investigate the conduct of non-signatory states of the 1998 Rome Statute that established the Court. Israel, like the U.S., is not a signatory of the statute.

Bensouda, by accepting the Palestinian Authority (PA) as plaintiff, further violates the Rome Statute: the ICC is only permitted to investigate allegations brought by a sovereign state. There is no State of Palestine. There are no established boundaries of any possible future Palestinian state. There is no population of a sovereign state to act as a plaintiff….

Bensouda’s decision appears to undercut the ICC’s already damaged reputation that it is neither independent nor impartial. The ICC’s budget is limited and increasingly hostage to the UNGA. The UN also appoints the ICC’s panel of judges, an intrinsically political process, subject to bloc voting in the UNGA.

The spokesman for the 45-member PA Executive Committee that briefed the ICC is Dr. Ghazi Hamad, deputy foreign minister of the terrorist group Hamas, which is unquestionably dedicated to destroying Israel. The committee also includes representatives of two other terrorist organizations besides Hamas, namely, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF).

A recent Jordanian newspaper article reinforces the claim that Bensouda secretly colluded with the PA to target Israel. This collusion between Bensouda and the PA may explain the optimism of longtime Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat that the ICC’s investigation will ultimately be successful.

Bensouda has already proved her bias by her conduct in a previous investigation of baseless charges of systemic human rights abuses by British military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) appears ready to begin an investigation of alleged war crimes committed by Israeli soldiers against Arab civilian citizens of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Fatou Bensouda, the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor, announced on April 30 that she would proceed with the investigation if the ICC’s pre-trial judges instruct her that she is on solid ground to launch the inquiry.

Even if the judges give Bensouda the go-ahead, it still appears that jurisdictional prohibitions exist, as enumerated in the Hague-based court’s founding document. According to the ICC’s charter, the Court cannot investigate the conduct of non-signatory states of the 1998 Rome Statute that established the Court. Israel, like the U.S., is not a signatory of the statute.

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Turkey: Erdogan’s “Leftovers of the Sword” by Uzay Bulut

By on May 13th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16002/turkey-leftovers-of-the-sword

“Leftover of the sword” (kılıç artığı in Turkish) is a commonly used insult in Turkey that often refers to the survivors of the Christian massacres that mainly targeted Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire and its successor, Turkey.

The use of “leftovers of the sword,” therefore, does not represent a denial of massacres or genocides. On the contrary, it declares the pride of the perpetrators. It means: “Yes, we slaughtered Christians and other non-Muslims because they deserved it!”

During a coronavirus briefing on May 4, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used a most derogatory phrase “the leftovers of the sword”.

“We do not allow terrorist leftovers of the sword in our country,” he said, “to attempt to carry out [terrorist] activities. Their number has decreased a lot but they still exist.”

“Leftover of the sword” (kılıç artığı in Turkish) is a commonly used insult in Turkey that often refers to the survivors of the Christian massacres that mainly targeted Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire and its successor, Turkey.

As the head of state, Erdoğan using the phrase publicly is alarming on many levels. The phrase not only insults the victims and the survivors of the massacres but also endangers the safety of Turkey’s dwindling Christian community, who are often exposed to pressures that include physical attacks.

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Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words

By on May 13th, 2020

The film Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words will be broadcast nationally on PBS on Monday, May 18 at 9 PM ET (check local listings). I was Associate Producer and Consulting Editor on this engrossing, two-hour documentary.
 
Few know much more about Justice Thomas than a few headlines and the recollections of his contentious confirmation battle with Anita Hill. In the film, Justice Thomas tells his entire life’s story, looking directly at the camera, speaking frankly to the audience. Unscripted and without narration, the documentary takes the viewer through this complex and often painful life, dealing with race, faith, power, jurisprudence, and personal resilience.
 
To see the trailer go to my website lisashreve.com and scroll down to the lower right. Lisa Shreve

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Clarence Thomas and the Lost Constitution by Myron Magnet, John McLain, et al.

By on May 13th, 2020

When Clarence Thomas joined the Supreme Court in 1991, he found with dismay that it was interpreting a very different Constitution from the one the framers had written – the one that had established a federal government manned by the people’s own elected representatives, charged with protecting citizens’ inborn rights while leaving them free to work out their individual happiness themselves, in their families, communities, and states.   

Thomas, had deep misgivings about the new governmental order. He shared the framers’ vision of free, self-governing citizens forging their own fate. And from his own experience growing up in segregated Savannah, flirting with and rejecting black radicalism at college, and running an agency that supposedly advanced equality, he doubted that unelected experts and justices really did understand the moral arc of the universe better than the people themselves, or that the rules and rulings they issued made lives better rather than worse. So in the hundreds of opinions he has written in more than a quarter century on the Court, he has questioned the constitutional underpinnings of the new order and tried to restore the limited, self-governing original one, as more legitimate, more just, and more free than the one that grew up in its stead. The Court now seems set to move down the trail he blazed.

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