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Ruth King

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Emma Lazarus and Donald Trump: Solving the Border Crisis By Stephen B. Presser

By on April 17th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/04/16/emma-lazarus-and-donald-trump-solving-the-border-crisis/

On the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor are the famous lines from poet Emma Lazarus: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me . . .” The United States is a signatory to the United Nations 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Article 33 of the Convention provides: “No Contracting State shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”

Article 33 appears to implement a bit of Emma Lazarus’s poem, but it’s also clear from the U.S. Constitution that the sovereign people have delegated to their representatives the power of determining who can gain entry to this country. Article I, Section 8 provides that Congress is given the power “To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization.” Congress has also passed legislation seeking to implement asylum for the kind of refugees contemplated by Article 33.

But in a recent statement about the deluge of undocumented foreign nationals from Central America now seeking admission at our southern border, President Trump observed:, “They come up. In many cases, they are rough gang members. In many cases, they are people with crime records. And they are given a statement to read by lawyers standing there waiting. It says, ‘I have great fear for my life. I have great fear for being in my country.’ Even though in some cases, some of these people are holding their country’s flags and waving their country’s flags . . .”

Similarly, former Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, in a December 20 press release, announced a new administration policy to prevent aliens “trying to game the system” by asserting groundless asylum claims and then “disappear[ing] into the United States, where many skip their court dates . . .”

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Hamas’s Honesty and the Deal of the Century by Khaled Abu Toameh

By on April 17th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14081/hamas-honesty-peace-deal

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s threats serve as a reminder that Hamas and other Palestinian terror group consider Israel one big settlement that needs to be annihilated. Above all, Hamas has never accepted the “two-state solution” or changed its charter, which explicitly states: “When our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, Jihad [holy war] becomes a duty binding on all Muslims…. We must spread the spirit of Jihad among the [Islamic] Umma, clash with the enemies and join the ranks of the Jihad fighters.”

Hamas cannot reach any political deal with Israel because it does not agree to Israel’s right to exist. This is the message that Sinwar and leaders of all Palestinian terror groups want the world to hear. For the terrorist leaders, the only peace they will accept is one that results in the elimination of Israel and the evacuation of all Jews from their homes.

The Hamas Charter is a straightforward, unambiguous message that says: “[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas]….There is no solution to the Palestinian problem expect by Jihad.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has undoubtedly read the Hamas charter. He knows that if he accepts any peace plan that does not include the expulsion of all Jews from their homes, he will be denounced by his rivals in Hamas as a traitor. Abbas is also aware of Hamas’s threats to shower Israel with rockets. He knows that at the same time as Hamas attacks Israel, it will seek to flatten him for “betraying” Arabs and Muslims in “allowing” Jews to continue living in “their” state. This is the Palestinian reality that the “Deal of the Century” is about to be dealt.

April 15 marked the 18th anniversary of the firing of the first Hamas rocket toward Israel. On this day, 18 years ago, Hamas’s military wing, Izaddin al-Qassam, launched its first rocket attack at Israeli population centers near their border with the Gaza Strip.On the eve of this occasion, Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader of the Gaza Strip, threatened that his movement will continue to fire rockets at Israel. The rockets, he said, will be fired at Israeli “settlements” not only near the border with the Gaza Strip, but also at supposed “settlements” in the Israeli cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Tel Aviv.

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German Government: Anti-Israel, Pro-Iran by Stefan Frank

By on April 17th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14064/germany-government-israel-iran

Supporting one-sided resolutions against Israel is not Germany’s only unfriendly act against the Jewish state. Chancellor Angela Merkel has put pressure on other European Union states so that they do not transfer their embassies to Israel’s capital. Stopping the murder of Israelis is also not on the German government’s agenda.

Last year the Palestinian Authority (PA) allocated $330 million to pay terrorists, and Germany paid $100 million to the PA. So it is fair to say that Germany pays the PA to reward the murder of Jews.

While Chancellor Angela Merkel talks about “Germany’s special historical responsibility for Israel’s security”, her government channels German taxpayer money to murderers of Jews, and President Steinmeier sends congratulatory telegrams to those who plan the annihilation of the Jewish state.

“We must no longer let Israel down at the UN. It is madness that we are constantly on the side of countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran or Yemen against Israel” — Frank Müller-Rosentritt, member of the German parliament’s committee on foreign relations for the opposition Free Democratic Party (FDP).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel likes to think of herself as a friend of Israel. In a speech she gave in the Knesset in Jerusalem in Mach 2008, she said:

“Here of all places I want to explicitly stress that every German government and every German chancellor before me has shouldered Germany’s special historical responsibility for Israel’s security. This historical responsibility is part of my country’s raison d’être. For me as German chancellor, therefore, Israel’s security will never be open to negotiation. And that being the case, we must do more than pay lip-service to this commitment …”

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Holy Smoke Reflections on a fire. (And Sir Roger Scruton) Bruce Bawer

By on April 17th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273504/holy-smoke-bruce-bawer

One thing that jumped out at me, as I watched Notre Dame burn in real time on BBC and Sky News, was the statement of some reporter or commentator or architectural expert that the cathedral could and would be rebuilt, although perhaps the new structure would be “more modern” than the old one. Later that evening, in his speech to the nation, President Macron vowed: “We will make the Cathedral of Notre Dame even more beautiful.”

More modern? More beautiful? My alarm bells went off, and they weren’t fire alarms.

—-

In November, Sir Roger Scruton was named to a government commission in Britain that, after at least a half century of ugly architecture, is tasked with ensuring that new public housing will be beautiful. Throughout his long and varied career, Sir Roger has had a lot to say about beauty. He has spoken wisely about the connection among the good, the true, and the beautiful, and has strongly opposed those who place beauty on a lower level of importance than goodness and truth. He is one of a relatively small and brave band of cultural critics who have linked the contemporary decline of beauty as a criterion, not just in architecture but also in art, music, and literature, and the accompanying ascent of what can only be called a cult of ugliness, to a broader rise in social and cultural decadence throughout the Western world. Emblematic of that cult of ugliness are such buildings as La Défense and the Pompidou Center. As one after another of these hideous creations went up in recent decades, blighting the skyline of the City of Light, the eight-centuries-old Cathedral of Notre Dame, in the very heart of the French capital, stood as an enduring rebuke to them and everything they represented.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

California.Gov.Con Clinton cronies are surging in the Golden State. Lloyd Billingsley

By on April 17th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273474/californiagovcon-lloyd-billingsley

Four months after taking over from Jerry Brown, Gavin Newson headed south some 3,000 miles to El Salvador. The California governor left little doubt that the trip was to challenge the immigration policies of President Donald Trump.

Newsom claimed he would address the basic reasons Salvadorans flee to California, and he set out to boost the tourist industry in El Salvador, where the beaches boast “some of the best waves in the world.” That got plenty of publicity but another reason for the trip was overlooked.

When Gavin Newsom is out of state, the lieutenant governor becomes governor of California. So Newsom was giving some love to Eleni Kounalakis, who boasts a back story of considerable interest.

Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis is the daughter of Angelo Tsakopoulos, a real-estate tycoon with a net worth of $600 million. According to Greek USA Reporter, Angelo is a “top political donor to the Clintons as well as the Democratic Party,” and Angelo’s “donations to former President Bill Clinton were rewarded with a night in the prestigious Lincoln Bedroom.” In 2013 Tsakopoulos, “confirmed that Hillary Clinton will seek the Democratic nomination in the next Presidential election.”

Angelo’s daughter Eleni, a protégé of Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer, raised more than $1 million for Hillary Clinton in 2008 and that money found its reward. On January 7, 2010, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swore in Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary. This was pay-for-play in the best Clinton style.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

25 Years After Oslo: The Elephant in the Room Is it possible for Muslim Palestinians to make peace with Israel? Robert L. Meyer

By on April 17th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273479/25-years-after-oslo-elephant-room-robert-l-meyer

Author’s note: I have been a student of Islam for five+ years because I wanted to know what motivates so called “Islamist” or “Radical” Muslims against Jews, Israel and the West. I now understand. The short article below sets out the argument why “Land For Peace” is simply impossible under Islam, owing to Koran Sura 2, Verse 191 — and it is for this reason (and Western and Israeli diplomats and negotiators’ ignorance of it) that it has been, is, and will be impossible for Muslim Palestinians to make peace with Israel. This Palestinian position has been confirmed by the top Palestinian religious figures, who have corroborated that ALL of Palestine is a holy, Islamic waqf (Arabic: an inalienable religious endowment under Islamic Shariah law), and therefore it is prohibited to give up “even a millimeter” of it. The article has been vetted and approved for accuracy by a number of Islamic experts.

*

It is now more than 25 years since the Oslo Accords were signed in October 1993. Yet in the many published opinion pieces and reporting on this anniversary and the failure of the parties to agree on a final two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, nowhere is found any Israeli politician or journalist who has the slightest inkling of the massive effect of Islam in influencing and motivating the Palestinian supposed peacemakers.

Islam is indeed “The Elephant in the Room.”

The Koran, chapter 2, verse 191 states: “Drive them out from where they drove you out.”

Islamic scholars universally have interpreted this verse to mean that once land becomes Islamic, by conquest or otherwise, it stays Islamic forever and that Muslims must drive out any non-Muslim government that takes power in a land once ruled under Islamic law.

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MEDIA, POLITICS Comments turned off

Dem Visits Cuba to Learn about “Economic Development” and “Quality of Life” Another Democrat parrots communist-scripted lies. Humberto Fontova

By on April 17th, 2019

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273490/dem-visits-cuba-learn-about-economic-development-humberto-fontova

“Forget the peripheral ignorance; let’s look at the central stupidity: –….. it’s inescapable: The editorial staff of one of the world’s most prestigious newspaper (one owned by Rupert Murdoch, no less!) was unaware that Castro and Che Guevara’s regime killed people.”

Move over AOC! Just when you thought AOC (or her scriptwriter) was unbeatable. Just when you thought blather from public servants could not possibly become more daft. Just when you thought AOC’s throne atop the pinnacle was unreachable and her crown secure—New Orleans’ Democrat mayor LaToya Cantrell (or her scriptwriter) lunges for the royal scepter.

You see, amigos: The Democrat mayor and a retinue of associated New Orleans city officials spent all of last week in Havana, Cuba to, in the mayors office’s own words:

“see firsthand how (Cuba’s) history has produced unique opportunities and challenges in the areas of economic development, trade, health care, education and other quality of life issues.”

I realize this sounds like shameless AOC idiocy one-upsmanship. I realize that learning about “quality of life” from a place that saw multiple times as many desperate people die trying to escape it, as died trying to escape over the Berlin Wall, sounds like shameless click-bait, or even a Saturday Night Live or Monty Python skit. So here’s the proof.

In a way, however, the visit seems appropriate. After all, the rulers of one place drove out practically all productive residents with punitive socialist policies that converted a once charming and prosperous place into a huge slum except for a few tourism enclaves. The other place is named Cuba.

From Stalinist Cuba Democrat Cantrell dutifully performed all the traditional Democrat rituals mandatory for such visits, primarily hailing Cuba’s glorious “healthcare and education!”

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

Our Expensive, Manipulated Public High SchoolsBy E. Jeffrey Ludwig

By on April 17th, 2019

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/04/our_expensive_manipulated_public_high_schools.html

The idea of spending one’s way out of educational problems did not begin with New York’s recently appointed chancellor, Richard Carranza. It can be traced to Jonathan Kozol, whose first bestseller on education came out in the 1960s. Kozol was an educational reformer who emerged as a critic of education after he spent less than a painful year teaching 4th grade in the Boston public schools. As Kozol matured as an educational reformer, he shifted away from harping on the racism of the white teachers, as he did in his first book, Death at an Early Age.

A later book, Savage Inequalities, advanced a different view. Under this view, the new reformers propose to make teachers and principals accountable by ending tenure (tenure has been weakened but is still in place in New York City) and inspired reforms such as implementing new ways of rating teachers (Danielson rating system) and implementing the small high school movement. The last initiative was undertaken by Deborah Meier and then driven by the Coalition for Essential Schools and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Teacher unions got on board with the idea that inner-city schools fail not because of the racism of the teachers, the premise of Kozol’s first book, but because they have less money to spend than more successful suburban schools.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

A LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP FROM AMERICAN JEWISH LEADERS….SEE NOTE

By on April 16th, 2019

One of the sponsors of this letter is Americans for a Safe Israel, an organization that I am proud to belong to since 1973.rsk

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you for your friendship towards the Jewish community in the United States and around the world, especially in Israel. Your unprecedented affinity for the Jewish People is all the more commendable, given the inexcusable and deplorable false accusations of Antisemitism which have dogged your presidency since its earliest days. We encourage the continuation of a warm relationship with the Jewish community built upon mutual respect.

We were distressed to read an open letter publicized by several American Jewish organizations, many of whom “boycotted” some of your previous overtures to the Jewish community, encouraging you to pressure Israel to compromise her rights as an independent democracy. One of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledges, made while campaigning for his recent re-election, was to extend Israeli sovereignty over Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
Throughout your presidency, you have done everything possible to keep your own campaign promises — with the move of the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, pledged by every President since Bill Clinton, being a prime example.

For decades, Israel has attempted to nurture coexistence with Arab communities which desire to live outside Israeli governance, while retaining control over its borders and national security in that very hostile part of the world. Both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama recognized that Israeli sovereignty would extend to Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria in any final peace agreement. It is unfair and unreasonable to hold these Jewish communities hostage to the continuing intransigence of the Palestinian Authority. And it is outrageous to suggest setting policy to kowtow to the Antisemitic, terrorist-financed effort to boycott the world’s only Jewish state.

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ISRAEL, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Coalition of Pro-Israel Organizations asks President to Let Israel Decide on Sovereignty

By on April 16th, 2019

https://coalitionforjewishvalues.org/2019/04/coalition-of-pro-israel-organizations-asks-president-to-let-israel-decide-on-sovereignty/

Twenty-one diverse pro-Israel organizations sent a joint letter to President Trump today, urging him to permit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a free hand to extend Israeli sovereignty over Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The letter comes in response to one from left-wing groups, dominated by arms of the American Reform and Conservative Jewish movements, calling upon the President to indicate that he will “not support any Israeli proposals to annex the West Bank, in whole or in part.”

The new letter was organized by Rabbi Pesach Lerner and Rabbi Yaakov Menken of the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) and Rabbi Yechezkel Moskowitz of the Jewish Heritage Preservation Society. “It is important for those who believe in traditional values, who believe in a strong and safe State of Israel, who appreciate the actions of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, to speak up,” said Rabbi Lerner, President of the CJV. “We cannot allow the liberal left to be the only voice.”

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