ANTI-SEMITISM, MOVIES AND TELEVISION Comments turned off

Back to Berlin “Just remember, for remembering, we honor the dead and save them from dying again in oblivion.” by Mark Tapson

Posted By on July 16th, 2024

https://www.frontpagemag.com/back-to-berlin/

Since the October 7 terror attacks in Israel, anti-Zionism has surged on both the Left and the Right. While decent people of the world reeled in horror at the atrocities committed by Hamas, left-wing Jew haters throughout the Western world took to the streets to celebrate the terrorist group’s savagery and to call for the eradication of Israel. This has given right-wing antisemites the cover to came out of the woodwork and cluster around online influencers like slimy Nick Fuentes and grifter Candace Owens.

Speaking of Owens: her latest antisemitic inanity is her defense of Nazi “Angel of Death” Josef Mengele’s medical experiments on Birkenau prisoners, claiming that the reports of his sick experiments on twins, for which there is abundant documentation, are so “completely absurd” that they sound suspiciously like “bizarre propaganda.” “Why would you do that?” she wondered conspiratorially. “Literally, even if you were the most evil person in the world, that’s a tremendous waste of time and supplies.” It’s truly depressing to realize that Owens, who fancies herself to be such a free-thinking individual that she is neither a “flat-earther” nor a “round-earther,” has over five million followers on X (formerly Twitter), a significant number of whom are loud-and-proud anti-Zionists.

The point is, Jew-hatred and Holocaust denial have gone shockingly, unapologetically mainstream. So forgive the belated review of a six-year-old film, but now seems an especially urgent and relevant time to bring attention to an underappreciated Holocaust-related documentary of unexpected emotional power called Back to Berlin, which cuts through the usually overwhelming statistics of the victims of Hitler’s Final Solution, by highlighting the personal stories of a small number of Holocaust survivors and their families.

In this 75-minute film from 2018, cameras follow eleven Israeli Jews on an epic 2015 motorcycle trek from Tel Aviv to Berlin – nearly 3000 miles across nine countries. Their mission is to follow in the footsteps – or the tire tracks, if you will – of an original batch of eleven Jewish bikers who traveled that route to participate in the infamous 1936 Olympic Games, where Hitler himself was in attendance.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Isn’t This What The Left Wanted?

Posted By on July 16th, 2024

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/07/16/isnt-this-what-the-left-wanted/

Like Robert Redford’s character in “The Candidate” — who unexpectedly won a U.S. Senate race and then bewilderedly asked “What do we do now?” — the Democrats, the media, the Hollywood-celebrity industrial complex, and the leftist-dominated professoriate are in a similar position. They have to wonder what to do next after their wish that someone would take out Donald Trump was attempted and failed.

In the hours after Trump was shot in a botched, but only by millimeters, assassination bid, the media scolds began to insist that we must “take down the temperature.” President Joe Biden followed that with a national address Sunday in which he said “we must stand together” as Americans. Trump is reportedly revising his convention speech to focus on unity, believing that he has now been given “a chance to bring the country together,” rather than Biden’s failings.

While Biden struck the right tone in his Oval Office speech, let’s not pretend that the political left hadn’t been looking for any way possible to “stop Trump,” even if that meant in the minds of some on that side that he had to die. And they almost got what they wanted.

Trump is still alive, though, leaving the Democrats in a thorny “now what?” situation.

We don’t doubt that many of the left who fantasized about Trump taking a fatal bullet, such as John McWhorter, are now feeling some remorse. But for every one of those there are too many who were frustrated that the would-be assassin missed his shot by the smallest of margins.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Is Trump’s Pick Of J.D. Vance A Political Masterstroke? The Answer Is Yes

Posted By on July 16th, 2024

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/07/16/is-trumps-pick-of-j-d-vance-as-his-running-mate-a-political-masterstroke-the-answer-is-yes/

Former President Donald Trump’s selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance might surprise you, but it shouldn’t. The 39-year-old first-term senator is a solid, smart pick who will not only bring youth, energy and vigor to the ticket, but also a wealth of hard life experience, highly unusual for someone so young.

Trump’s announcement gave the bare bones of why he selected Vance over the many others who vied to be his running mate:

After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio. J.D. honorably served our country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was editor of The Yale Law Journal, and president of the Yale Law Veterans Association.

All excellent qualifications.

But there is a lot more to Vance, whose life story would fill a book. Indeed, it already has: His memoir of his hardscrabble, troubled childhood in a single-parent household headed by a drug-addicted mother, “Hillbilly Elegy,” became a surprise best-seller in 2016, the same year Trump first won election.

While much of America didn’t know who Vance was, Trump did. Vance’s book, better than any other, explained why Trump had such a fanatic following in America’s rural and industrially ravaged heartland.

It was that book, and Vance’s own experience, that won him the backing of Trump for a 2022 run for an open U.S. Senate seat in Ohio. Vance won.

Now, with Trump’s announcement, Vance (born during the Reagan administration) becomes the first millennial to have a spot on a major-party presidential ticket. He’s part of a shift from the current political gerontocracy that rules Washington to a new generation of leaders who will inherit America’s most serious problems. Vance is in the vanguard.

MY SAY: Comments turned off

No room at the inn? By Ruth King

Posted By on July 15th, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/07/no_room_at_the_inn.html

Recently a friend arrived in New York with reservations at a “boutique” midtown hotel in Manhattan. Reservations were hard to obtain for a five-day visit as tourist season has recovered from pandemic-driven downturns. Early next morning he checked out, describing all-night noise in the halls with garbage and bottles strewn about. Getting reasonable priced hotel rooms was impossible and he left the city earlier than scheduled.

Since 2022, under “The Sanctuary Hotel Program,” hotels that agreed to shelter illegals received $139 and $185 a night per room, occupied or not, under a $980 million contract with the city. When thousands of illegals began to arrive in New York City, many hotels, from swanky to just passable, began sheltering illegals and dramatically cut rooms available to tourists.

Under its Right to Shelter policy, New York City guarantees housing and social services for illegals and in May 2023, the once stately and elegant Roosevelt Hotel, which was closed during the COVID pandemic, reopened as a registering service for immigrants providing health evaluations and supplies and aid in registering minors in public schools. 175 rooms for children and families grew to approximately 850 with maximum capacity causing overcrowding and straining all essential facilities. The hotel was totally trashed and closed. Mayor Eric Adams demanded temporary suspension of the Right to Shelter policy, but extended a city contract with more hotels for immigrants which was enthusiastically backed by the hotel unions and industry.

This was supposed to finish this year but will now end in August 2026 and cost a total $1.365 billion — almost five times the original price tag of $237 million.

Since 2022, approximately 90 thousand immigrants have come to New York City, which expects to welcome an estimated 64.5 million tourists in 2024.

What could go wrong? Everything did, and the New York Times noted: 

Two years in, as the city’s peak tourism season is about to begin, the migrant crisis has helped dramatically shift the hotel landscape in New York. The conversion of hotels to shelters has sharply decreased the supply of rooms just as tourist demand has risen, nearly to prepandemic levels, and is projected to match a record high.”

By June 2024, one of every five New York City Hotels is now a illegal shelter. The cost to the city is $10 billion for three years billed to taxpayers, and illegals continue to pour into New York city boroughs and suburbs. The city government now pays about $385 a night per migrant family that needs housing and feeding.

The average daily rate for a hotel stay in New York City climbed to $301.61 per person in 2023. At the same time, in 2024 uncontrolled immigration and the alleged right to shelter have caused a paucity of rooms available to tourists who are vital to New York’s economy including restaurants, theaters, shops, and transportation.

The spillover is also straining health services, public schools, social services, and housing.

Occupancy in hotel rooms for illegals causes a loss of 16,532 hotel rooms, leaving only 121,677 hotel rooms for visitors.

At present in New York City, the planned 47 hotels in various stages of plans, permits, and construction, will add 7,655 rooms, but who knows how many illegals will arrive through our porous and uncontrolled borders, and how many hotels will yield to the pressure and guaranteed income and become shelters.

If you are lucky enough to get a hotel room, while walking there you will encounter homeless Americans, including veterans who are neglected and abandoned without funding and succor. No room at the inn for them and no American plan.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Hamas’s ‘Popularity’: Attempt To Deceive The American Public? by Bassam Tawil

Posted By on July 15th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20786/hamas-popularity-attempt-to-deceive-the-american

“If you notice, there is a growing dissatisfaction in the West Bank, from the Palestinians, about Hamas,” Biden said during a press conference. “Hamas is not popular now.”

It seems that Biden does not want the American people to be aware that most Palestinians in the West Bank are enthusiastic supporters of Hamas, as that would discourage them from endorsing his idea of creating a Palestinian state there.

The broad support Hamas enjoys among the Palestinians, including those who live in the West Bank, means that a Palestinian state would be ruled by the same terrorists who masterminded and carried out the October 7 atrocities against Israelis.

Biden appears to be convinced that hiding the fact that most Palestinian people support Hamas from the American people will make it easier for him to promote the delusional idea of pressuring Israel to accept a state that is controlled by Hamas and other Iran proxies, including Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Hamas is not only deeply committed to refusing Israel’s right to exist, it has also openly announced that it will use a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem as a springboard to eliminate Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.

Biden’s claim that Hamas is “unpopular” among the Palestinians in the West Bank, in fact, actually contradicts analysis by US intelligence agencies showing that Hamas’s popularity has significantly grown after the terrorist group’s attack on Israel….

The latest poll, released on July 10, 2024, showed that since the October 7 attack, satisfaction among the Palestinians in the West Bank with the “performance” of Hamas murderers and rapists has risen to 82% .

When asked who the public would prefer to control the Gaza Strip after the current war, 71% of Palestinians in the West Bank chose Hamas compared to 46% in the Gaza Strip.

The reason Hamas has such high popularity among the Palestinians is because it seeks to destroy Israel though jihad (holy war).

With respect, President Biden, it was after its members murdered, sexually assaulted, tortured, and abducted hundreds of Israelis on October 7, that Hamas became even more popular among the Palestinians.

It is time for Biden and his administration to come clean with the American people about the Palestinians: the majority of them favor destroying Israel and killing Jews.

Where does US President Joe Biden obtain his knowledge on the Palestinians is a question that has to be asked, especially in light of his recent statement regarding the popularity of the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

An Indomitable Spirit Rich Lowry

Posted By on July 15th, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/07/an-indomitable-spirit/

Donald Trump never blinks.

There’s nothing that’s happened to Donald Trump since his rise to political prominence that has made him blink, and now we can add to the list an assassination attempt.

Trump displayed remarkable sangfroid in the immediate aftermath of an effort to murder him? Yes, of course, he did. He insisted on not leaving the stage before he’d made a gesture of strength and resilience? Well, what would you expect? He took a nightmarish attack against him and turned it into an iconic image that will cement his status as a populist legend? Are you surprised?

Trump’s extraordinary reaction in Butler, Pa., was entirely in character.

This is a man with an indomitable spirit that has seen him through business reverses, tabloid scandals, and innumerable battles with all comers over the decades. Like most anything else, this quality has its downsides — it can lead him to persist in error, or insist on his own reality — but he wouldn’t be on the cusp of the presidency again without it.

If Trump has never shown any sign of cracking under pressure, it’s because he simply doesn’t feel pressure like a normal person. A fatalism combined with a faith that he’ll find a way out of any fix means that he doesn’t lose sleep over anything.

Although there were any number of controversies during his presidency that would have cracked or worn down a more conventional politician, he carried on as usual. Over the last two years, his partisan opponents have thrown criminal charges at him that carry the risk of him spending the rest of his life in prison; sure, he’s fought the charges like a caged animal, yet he’s never seemed down or frazzled. And now this.

After spending so much time displaying coolness under metaphorical fire, he displayed coolness under actual fire.

A cliché in sports about particularly assured players is that they “slow the game down.” Trump, at his best, does the same thing, and we saw it on the stage in Butler. Whereas he could be forgiven for being confused and in shock after the shooting, he didn’t lose sight of the need to show that he was unbowed, to reassure his supporters, and to project strength.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Assassination Porn and the Sickness on the Left When you send out the message that a mass murderer is about to take power, unless . . . by Victor Davis Hanson

Posted By on July 15th, 2024

https://www.frontpagemag.com/assassination-porn-and-the-sickness-on-the-left/

If we were leftists and we were to use leftist tropes to editorialize the recent attempt on Trump’s life, then we would frame the assassination attempt in the following way:

We have witnessed for years blatant exceptions to the once common custom that we don’t normalize the imagined killing of any president or presidential candidate and thus lower the bar of violence.

But the Left constantly makes Trump an exception. Now, it as if the imagined killing of Trump had been mainstreamed and become acceptable in a way inconceivable of other presidents.

(Do we remember the rodeo clown who merely wore an Obama mask during a bull riding contest and was punished by being permanently banned by the Missouri State Fair authorities?)

So since at least 2016 there has been a parlor game among Leftist celebrities and entertainers joking (one hopes), dreaming, imagining, and just talking about the various and graphic ways they would like to assassinate or seriously injure Trump:

By slugging his face (Robert De Niro), by decapitation (Kathy Griffin, Marilyn Manson), by stabbing (Shakespeare in the Park), by clubbing (Mickey Rourke), by shooting ( Snoop Dogg), by poisoning (Anthony Bourdain), by bounty killing (George Lopez), by carrion eating his corpse (Pearl Jam), by suffocating (Larry Whilmore), by blowing him up (Madonna, Moby), by throwing him over a cliff (Rosie O’Donnell), just by generic “killing” him (Johnny Depp, Big Sean), or by martyring him (Reid Hoffman: “Yeah, I wish I had made him an actual martyr.”).

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

N.Y. Times Columnist Wants Trump Dead — Seriously Martin Kaufmann

Posted By on July 15th, 2024

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/07/13/n-y-times-columnist-wants-trump-dead-seriously-2/

Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on I&I on July 3. It has been excerpted with permission from the author. To read the entire article, click here.

John McWhorter, the prominent academic, author and New York Times columnist, wants everyone to know that he’s sorry that he recently suggested it would be a good thing if someone were to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

Except he’s not, really. But at least he owns it.

“I have taken a great deal of heat for saying, for implying, that I wish somebody would kill Donald Trump,” McWhorter said on the new episode of “The Glenn Show” with Brown University economics professor Glenn Loury. “That is exactly what I was implying. It was irresponsible of me to say that in a public space. I really shouldn’t have said it here.”

But then McWhorter acknowledges that it wasn’t a one-off. “I have said it often,” he admitted. (The podcast can be found here; the conversation on Trump starts at 4:04, and McWhorter’s non-apology apology begins at 17:49.)

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Iran’s “Moderate” President Is a Just Another Hardliner-in-Disguise to Glide in Its Nuclear Weapons Programme by Con Coughlin

Posted By on July 15th, 2024

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20784/iran-president-moderate-hardliner

[Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN-sponsored body that is responsible for monitoring the mullahs’ nuclear programme] also warned that it could take Iran just a month or so for the Iranians to assemble a nuclear warhead, given the progress they have made in recent months in their enrichment programme.

The acknowledgement by an internationally respected body such as the IAEA that Iran has now acquired sufficient material to build several nuclear warheads, which could be assembled within the space of a month, is a devastating indictment of the Biden administration’s policy of appeasement towards Iran since US President Joe Biden took office.

Biden’s refusal to hold Iran accountable for its actions has resulted in the Iranian regime receiving billions of dollars in added revenue because of Washington’s decision not to enforce oil sanctions against Iran. As a result, the extra funds received by Iran have been used to fund the regime’s terrorist networks across the globe, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

As a senior official with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps admitted to The Telegraph, in the wake of the election, that Pezeshkian had only been allowed to compete in the election to “legitimise the vote”.

It is vital, therefore, that the Biden administration fully understands the cynicism shown by Iran’s hardliners in seeking to legitimise their brutal regime before making any further overtures to the country’s so-called moderate president.

In the uncompromising world of Iran’s autocratic Islamic republic, there is no such thing as a moderate Iranian president — a fact that Iran’s long-suffering people know only too well.

Before the Biden administration gets too carried away celebrating the election of Iran’s so-called moderate president, it should understand that Masoud Pezeshkian’s victory is nothing more than a ploy to distract world attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

POSITIVE NEWS FROM ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on July 14th, 2024

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

 

Even during a war, Israelis deliver innovations and perform activities that are bearing fruit for the rest of humanity.  In this week’s newsletter, note the positive impact Israeli startups have made on tackling international criminal activity and the misery of human trafficking. See the effects of Israeli medical innovations detecting urgent problems; preventing adverse medicine interactions; and saving limbs from amputation.  Meanwhile, many Israeli war wounded are reaping the benefits of Israeli rehabilitation therapy. Michael Ordman

What makes Israel special even beyond its outsize contributions is the fact that inside the researchers, the technicians, the accountants, the plumbers, the landscapers, the lawyers, the actors, and citizens on the beaches, cafes, and theaters, there is a soldier prepared to mobilize at a moment’s notice to defend the only Jewish state in the world. That citizen army guarantees the continuity and survival of the Jewish people. rsk

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
 
Wounded paramedic has a strong spirit. Tal, an IDF paramedic was wounded when he went to the aid of a soldier shot by Hezbollah, who subsequently fired an anti-tank missile at him. He is in rehabilitation but has returned to manage the Golani distillery that he and his family own. He is literally keeping up everyone’s spirit!
https://davebender.substack.com/p/heroic-idf-medics-dad-shares-emotional
https://www.golanispirit.com/collections
 
Miracle survivor leaves hospital after 9 months. Nova victim Sa’ar Ben Sela was almost dead before a Hamas terrorist aimed his gun to finish him off.  But the gun jammed and Sa’ar was eventually brought to Ichilov hospital. After surgery and nine months of recovery, Sa’ar was discharged and walked out of hospital.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-miraculous-israeli-wounded-at-nova-festival-released-after-9-month-recovery/
 
A healing trip to Mexico. A group of 30 orphaned Israelis recently returned from a 13-day healing retreat in Mexico. The trip, arranged by Israeli NGO OneFamily and the Jewish community of Mexico City, brought orphans who lost both parents to terrorism (including on Oct 7) along with their adopted families.
https://www.jns.org/30-israeli-orphans-including-oct-7-victims-heal-in-mexico/
 
Scholarships for Gaza border students. The Russian Jewish Congress and the Center for Jewish Impact have awarded scholarships totaling NIS 430,000 to students at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University residing within 7 km of the Gaza border fence. Many of the students were directly affected by the Oct 7 events.
https://www.bgu.ac.il/en/news-and-articles/scholarships-for-gaza-border-bgu-students/
 
Global support for Gaza border towns. The Jewish Agency for Israel has launched Communities2Gether, to pair 25 Israeli communities with those around the world. The pairings aim to help rebuild infrastructure, mend social bonds and foster long-lasting connections. The priority is to help everyone to return to their homes.
https://www.jns.org/jewish-agency-project-to-strengthen-gaza-border-towns/
 
Released hostage passes IDF training with honors. Noga Weiss, who was released from Hamas captivity in November, has just completed an IDF training course with honors.  She said, “Today I have finished the course and I feel that I have won. I am excited for the future, to feel that I am able to help other soldiers.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/392824
 
The search for Stevie. (TY Yanky) When Rebecca travelled from Tel Aviv to London, she left her dog Stevie with friends in a village 7km from Gaza. On Oct 7, Stevie ran off and went missing for 41 days.  Thanks to two animal charities and posters, Stevie was found and now has a new job comforting human victims of Oct 7.
https://people.com/missing-dog-israel-hamas-war-found-8410773
 
Israel lives. (TY Joan) Kathleen Hayes writes in the Jewish Journal about her first trip to the Jewish State. In her opening sentence she states, “there’s something almost biblical about the Israeli people. Ever-emerging stories about October 7 continue to awe and humble me.” And afterwards, “they are getting on with living”.
https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/372616/israel-lives/ 
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Preventing loss of limbs. Israel’s BioGenCell (see here previously) is conducting Phase 2 trials of its Tissue Regenerative Activated Cell (TRACT) Therapy. It is preventing amputations at Netanya’s Laniado Medical Center, the US (Yale and Johns Hopkins), Belgium, and Georgia. It is now raising funds for Phase 3 trials.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hki11xl2wa
 
Preventing clash of medications. A study by Israel’s FeelBetter (see here previously) at Boston’s Mass General Brigham, of its medicine interaction algorithm shows it could reduce hospitalizations by 24%. It has now signed with New Jersey’s Atlantic Health System, which administers to over half a million Americans.
https://nocamels.com/2024/07/patient-care-platform-makes-taking-multiple-medications-safer/
 
Saving lives in Ohio. (TY Atid-EDI) Cleveland based University Hospitals is deploying the aiOS diagnosis platform from Israel’s Aidoc (see here previously) across 13 of its hospitals and many outpatient locations. All patients undergoing CT scans for injury or pain will be analyzed by aiOS for expected and unusual conditions.
https://news.uhhospitals.org/news-releases/articles/2024/06/uh-transforms-patient-care-with-aidocs-ai-enabled-solutions-across-its-entire-health-system
 
Sealing wounds after heart surgery. EndoRon Medical provides abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients undergoing endovascular aneurysm repair with a long-lasting sealing and fixation solution for their endograft.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h1wabb6w0   https://endoronmedical.com/
 
American Jewish medical professionals see this. (TY Yanky) The American Jewish Medical Association (AJMA) is a non-profit, national organization representing health professionals (doctors, dentists, nurses, and others) who stand strongly with Israel, and promote Jewish values and ethics in medicine. Please join them.
https://www.theajma.org/
 
First Aliyah event for South American medics. The inaugural South American MedEx event took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Over 60 doctors came from all over Argentina and neighboring Uruguay to be assisted with their Aliyah planning and licensing. (see here for previous MedEx events in Europe and USA).
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/392745