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Ruth King

BOOKS, ISRAEL Comments turned off

What Justice Demands Elan Journo’s new book clarifies the Arab-Israeli conflict. Mark Tapson

By on June 15th, 2018

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270434/what-justice-demands-mark-tapson

On Wednesday a United States amendment to a draft resolution that would have condemned the terrorist group Hamas was blocked at the U.N. General Assembly even before getting to a vote. U.S. Ambassador and future POTUS Nikki Haley called the move “shameful” and declared, “It is no wonder that no one takes the U.N. seriously as a force for Middle East peace.” This is just the latest example of the sort of anti-Israel resistance that the tiny Middle East democracy and its ally the United States confront daily in the Arab-Israeli forever war. What will it take to resolve this conflict? What is the solution?

Elan Journo offers one in his new book, What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The book is not a comprehensive history of this complex conflict, but a clarification of its essential nature and moral significance. Its central point is that America must reexamine and change its two-state approach, which Journo argues has not only come to nothing, it has made matters worse. While ostensibly supporting Israel, we actually have sold her out and empowered jihadists in the process.

Born in Israel and raised in the United Kingdom, Journo is a Fellow and Director of Policy Research at the Ayn Rand Institute whose articles have appeared in a such publications as Foreign Policy, Middle East Quarterly, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the co-author of Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism, a contributor to Defending Free Speech, and editor of Winning the Unwinnable War.

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IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Trump Administration Opens Office To Find Naturalization Fraudsters A great first step — but much more needs to be done. Michael Cutler

By on June 15th, 2018

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270462/trump-administration-opens-office-find-michael-cutler

On June 11, 2018 the Washington Times published an article, U.S. launching office to identify citizenship cheaters, reporting that the Trump administration is opening an office to identify aliens who defrauded the naturalization process by concealing material facts in filing for U.S. citizenship and seek their denaturalization.

This is an important measure and one that enhances the enforcement of immigration laws from within the interior of the United States that will plug yet another gap in the highly porous immigration system.

This, as you will see, also has serious implication for national security.

However, generally most aliens who commit naturalization fraud also committed fraud in their applications for various immigration benefits that subsequently enabled the to apply for U.S. citizenship.

Because of the huge number of applications for various immigration benefits, more than six million applications for various benefits are processed each year by the beleaguered adjudication officers employed by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), many applications are adjudicated without so much as an in-person interview, let alone a field investigation conducted to verify the information contained in the applications.

This creates an invitation for fraud on a massive scale.

The Wasington Times article draws the parallel with this new effort to uncover aliens who lie on application for U.S. citizenship to previous efforts to identify Nazi war criminals who also gamed the naturalization process in order to secure U.S. citizenship to evade prosecution for their heinous crimes against humanity.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israel Moves To Thwart Growing Hamas Maritime Threat A series of offensive and defensive Israeli actions are keeping Hamas off balance. Ari Lieberman

By on June 15th, 2018

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270470/israel-moves-thwart-growing-hamas-maritime-threat-ari-lieberman

When it comes to military firsts, Israel can probably take credit for the lion’s share. Israel was the first nation to capture an intact Soviet MiG-21, the first to capture a complete intact Soviet P-12 radar station, the first to employ militarized drones in the context of a large-scale, Wild Weasel, anti-SAM operation, and the first to destroy not one but two atom bomb facilities.

On June 2, 2018 the Israel Defense Forces executed another operational first. The Israeli Air Force bombed and destroyed a Hamas underwater terror tunnel. The tunnel, which was located approximately three kilometers from the Israeli border, was constructed for the purpose of concealing Hamas movements and allowing Hamas frogmen to enter the sea from an adjacent Hamas naval base undetected.

Hamas has been trying to improve its militarized maritime program and has invested substantial resources into improving and expanding its sea assault capabilities. On July 8, 2014 a cell of five heavily armed Hamas frogmen infiltrated Israel from the sea at Zikim Beach, which is located just north of the Gaza Strip. They were quickly detected and Israeli ground and naval units were dispatched to confront them. After a running battle, all five were liquidated. An IDF soldier was lightly wounded in the exchange.

While the attack was thwarted, it highlighted another danger and underscored the need to address the growing Hamas maritime threat. The frogmen were well trained and demonstrated considerable bravery. Though the cell was wiped out, the confrontation could have just as easily ended in disaster.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

FBI IG Report: A Slap On The Wrist Highly anticipated report lets Hillary’s protectors off easy. Joseph Klein

By on June 15th, 2018

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270466/fbi-ig-report-slap-wrist-joseph-klein

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz has released his 500 plus-page report, which purports to shine a light on the mishandling at top levels of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation of the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server while she served as Secretary of State under former President Obama. Such mishandling included violations of Department of Justice standards and FBI protocols. The report from the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) criticized certain actions and decisions of former FBI Director James Comey, together with those of other senior FBI officials who were involved in the probe, including former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Mr. McCabe is already the subject of an earlier criminal referral from the OIG for his alleged unauthorized leaks to the media and lying to federal investigators about his media contacts. Special FBI agent Peter Stzrok and Lisa Page, an attorney who has since left the FBI, were targeted in this report for their blatantly anti-Trump text messages. Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch was also criticized for exercising bad judgment in connection with her infamous tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton.

Mr. Horowitz’s report focused on process and procedures. The inspector general made clear when he launched his investigation in January 2017 that “his review will not substitute the OIG’s judgment for the judgments made by the FBI or the Department regarding the substantive merits of investigative or prosecutive decisions.” Moreover, this report did not address whether the Department of Justice or FBI abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to obtain a surveillance order against former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, or the government’s reliance on former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele’s salacious and unverified “dossier” in its FISA court application, which the OIG is investigating separately.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Tommy Robinson Receiving Death Threats in New UK Prison – Imam Orders Hit on Tommy Robinson

By on June 15th, 2018

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/06/update-tommy-robinson-receiving-death-threats-in-new-uk-prison-imam-places-hit-on-tommy-robinson-

As TGP’s Cassandra Fairbanks previously reported, UK activist Tommy Robinson was arrested on May 25th for suspicion of breaching the peace while livestreaming to report on the trial of a child grooming gang and will now have to serve a prior 13 month suspended sentence.

Friends and supporters of Robinson, 35, are asserting that his notoriety and stance on Islam places his life in great danger in prison.

Articles about the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of Tommy Robinson were rapidly scrubbed from the internet after the British government put restrictions in place banning any reporting on the matter.
Now this…

Paul Joseph Watson reported earlier today that Tommy Robinson has been moved to a maximum security prison with a 71% Muslim population.

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Dealing With Hamas Terror Kites… by Gerald A. Honigman

By on June 15th, 2018

www.geraldahonigman.com

Imagine for one moment tens of thousands of acres of French, Russian, American, Egyptian, or whoever’s farmland, forests, nature preserves, property, and lives deliberately being destroyed or targeted by neighbors sworn to their destruction by any-and-all means possible. Next, imagine that those neighbors, when not firing rockets, mortars, and missiles across the border, refuse to cease this new type of terror activity using often explosive, flaming terror kites as well. The only solution they will accept is your (and in Israel’s case, yet again) final solution.

Now, what might an acceptable response to such murderous intent be–especially when world bodies such as the United Nations basically ignore it (as happened again in the latest June13, 2018 UN condemnation of Israel for its defensive actions in Gaza) and wind up blaming the victim instead?

Predictably, taking cues from such hypocrisy, Hamas and its allies have next promised to launch thousands of additional incendiary kites into Israel as they attempt to storm the border to mark the end of Ramadan’s Eid al-Fitr’s celebration the following day–June 15th this year.

I wish it had not come to this, but the Hamas zebra does not change its stripes (and not that Fatah’s does).

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

The Ultimate Démarche: France Wants to Oust English From the EU Prompted by Brexit, French President Emmanuel Macron wants to restore his language, the way it was before Britain joined by Valentina Pop

By on June 15th, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ultimate-demarche-france-want-to-oust-english-from-the-eu-1528986165?cx_testId=16&cx_testVariant=cx&cx_artPos=0&cx_tag=pop&cx_navSource=newsReel#cxrecs_s

BRUSSELS—As if the European Union didn’t have enough to worry about, now it’s at odds over what should be its dominant language.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, wants to make French grand again and replace English as the default language in EU institutions, the way it was before Britain joined the bloc in 1973. With the U.K. negotiating to leave the EU next spring, he is eager to restore the linguistic ancien regime.

“English has probably never been so present in Brussels as when we’re talking about Brexit,” Mr. Macron said in March on the Day of Francophonie—a celebration of French language and culture observed in more than 70 countries. “This domination is not inevitable,” he declared.

Dethroning the Queen’s English looks nearly impossible for the soon-to-be 27-country bloc. Its 24 official languages produce 552 translating combinations—an impractically large number that demands a shortcut.

English is by far the leading foreign language taught in the EU, according to official statistics. Over 80% of primary-school children and over 95% of secondary-school students across the bloc learn English before any other foreign language.

Still, Brexit means a downgrading for English. Today it’s the official language for 12.8% of the EU’s 511 million people but after Britain leaves it will be just the second official language in just two countries: Ireland and Malta. Combined they represent 1.2% of the EU’s post-Brexit population.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, known for her pithy tweets during EU leaders’ meetings, said any decision regarding the bloc’s linguistic regime “cannot be divorced from reality.” CONTINUE AT SITE

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

U.S. Protectionist Stance Spooks Germany’s Economy Uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs and trade threats contribute to cooling of country’s export-driven growth By Nina Adam

By on June 15th, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-protectionist-stance-spooks-germanys-economy-1528977600

FRANKFURT—President Donald Trump’s trade threats aren’t only hurting feelings in Germany. They are beginning to weigh on the country’s economy.

The European Union’s largest economy, whose export-oriented vigor has kept the continent afloat for more than a decade, is cooling more rapidly than expected in what economists see as the early fallout from protectionist moves by the U.S.

The slowdown comes just as Europe has been gradually emerging from the economic hangover caused by the continent’s debt crisis in 2010.

After years of robust growth fueled by foreign demand for premium cars and engineering goods, Germany saw its annualized growth rate roughly fall by half in the first quarter of 2018. Exports have fallen in three of the first four months of the year, manufacturing orders are down and sentiment indicators are in free fall.

The weakness can’t be blamed on the U.S. president’s “America First” policies alone. A cold winter and a bad flu epidemic appear to have slackened growth earlier this year. But the bad news has been so persistent since then that economists are now looking for other explanations.

“It’s clear that concerns over protectionism and the more assertive foreign-policy stance of the U.S. have begun to have real economic implications,” said Oliver Rakau, a Frankfurt-based economist with Oxford Economics. CONTINUE AT SITE

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

America’s Progressive Slumlord New York City’s mayor presides over a public housing disaster.

By on June 14th, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-progressive-slumlord-1529019608

Affordable housing is a progressive mantra these days, and taxpayers are exhorted to put more money into public housing. But then we learn that America’s great progressive political hope, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, is essentially the nation’s pre-eminent slumlord.

That’s the sorry truth exposed this week in a scathing civil complaint and consent decree released by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman over the New York City Housing Authority (Nycha). The complaint exposes how the authority neglected basic repairs and upkeep while taking active steps to deceive inspectors and cover up its ineptitude and wrongdoing.

This is no small agency. Nycha runs 176,066 public housing apartments in 2,462 buildings in 326 developments across the city. One of every 14 New Yorkers—400,000 people—calls Nycha home. Nycha is the largest public housing agency in America, larger than the next 11 agencies combined.

The federal complaint reads like something out of Upton Sinclair. On lead paint, for example, it finds that “since at least 2011, Nycha senior managers have known that Nycha was violating [federal Housing and Urban Development] lead paint requirements.” Nineteen children have been found to have lead poisoning, and in 2016 alone Nycha logged more than 38,000 complaints related to paint and plaster issues.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Disgrace of Comey’s FBI The damning IG report shows the urgent need to restore public trust.

By on June 14th, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-disgrace-of-comeys-fbi-1529019418

The long-awaited Inspector General’s report on the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton investigation makes for depressing reading for anyone who cares about American democracy. Self-government depends on public trust in its institutions, especially law enforcement. The IG’s 568-page report makes clear that the FBI under former director James Comey betrayed that public trust in a way not seen since J. Edgar Hoover.

We use the Hoover analogy advisedly, realizing that the problem in this case was not rampant illegal spying. Though IG Michael Horowitz’s conclusions are measured, his facts are damning. They show that Mr. Comey abused his authority, broke with long-established Justice Department norms, and deceived his superiors and the public.

While the IG says Mr. Comey’s decisions were not the result of “political bias,” he presided over an investigating team that included agents who clearly were biased against Donald Trump. The damage to the bureau’s reputation—and to thousands of honest agents—will take years to repair.

The issue of political bias is almost beside the point. The IG scores Mr. Comey for “ad hoc decisionmaking based on his personal views.” Like Hoover, Mr. Comey believed that he alone could protect the public trust. And like Hoover, this hubris led him to make egregious mistakes of judgment that the IG says “negatively impacted the perception of the FBI and the department as fair administrators of justice.”

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