Days After Ouster, Imran Khan Is Back on the Trail in Pakistan: Christina Goldbaum, Salman Masood and Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, NY Times, Apr. 15, 2022“Do we want to be slaves of the United States, or do we want real freedom?” Mr. Khan asked at a large rally on Wednesday in Peshawar, where tens of thousands of his supporters waved his party’s flags. “My youth, get ready, I will be out on the streets with you in every city until we force them to hold elections.” Deposed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan’s repeated assertion that a United States-backed conspiracy pushed him from office has become a centerpiece of his new campaign, which he hopes will force the new government to announce early elections this fall. [Clashes between his supporters and those the new prime minister, Sheba Sharif, spread across Pakistan. Sharif won election in large part because Khan lost Army support because of his increasingly anti-American, and pro-Russian, policies — Ed.]
America’s Pandemic PTSD: Charles M. Blow, NY Times, Apr. 13, 2022
“Recent research shows that during the pandemic, marginalized communities bore the brunt of the increase in such violence . . . For many Americans, particularly those with privileges and means, the pandemic has been inconvenient, a problematic pause. They will be able to bounce back in some way, returning to vacations and parties. But for many people whose lives were already held together by the thinnest of strings, those strings may have snapped. We as a society have more of a lust for punishment than an urge toward empathy, so we are likely to meet this moment with force—more policing, more jailing, more cracking down—when in fact we need to understand that the soul of society, a most vulnerable part of society, is bruised and bleeding.”
On Homelessness, Mayor Eric Adams Needs a Little Religion: Mara Gay, NY Times, Apr. 15, 2022
“Outside Redeemer Church last Sunday, Ivan Cabrera Jr.—a 28-year-old with golden skin, a shock of black hair and a disarmingly bright smile who uses “they” pronouns—said they had been living on the street and in shelters sine the age of 17, when their parents kicked them out because they were gay. They said they didn’t trust the shelter system . . . Last week someone threw a cup of hot coffee at them on the subway. Despite more than a decade on the street, Mx. Cabrera, who identifies as nonbinary, said it still hurt when passers-by make anti-gay comments . . . or make cruel remarks calling them dirty. … ‘I am a part of the community. I am from here. I was born at Mount Sinai.’ Mx. Cabrera said they were seeking help for crystal methamphetamine addiction. …”
WEEKLY QUOTES
“… if Iran wants sanctions-lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, they’ll need to address concerns of ours that go beyond the JCPOA. If they do not want to use these talks to resolve other bilateral issues, then we are confident we can very quickly reach an understanding on the JCPOA and begin to reimplement the deal itself. It is Iran that needs to make this decision. … everyone who has been directly engaged in these talks knows which side has put constructive proposals on the table, knows which side has negotiated and engaged in good faith, and knows which side has not.” — Ned Price, U.S. State Department Spokesperson. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 19, 2022)
“I am very sensitive to any manifestation of terror, and I quickly expressed my solidarity with the Israeli people, victims of a wave of terror attacks.” This “reminds us French people, unfortunately, of the fears that we are all sharing, even though I understand of course that Israel lives with this fear in their stomachs practically daily. … I reiterate my support for the Israelis facing Islamist terror, and say again that terror is a redline…. “ — French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. She reiterated that she supports the two-state solution, with a viable Palestinian state existing in security side by side with Israel, within the 1967 lines, and with Jerusalem as the capital of both state with the qualification that “… the 1967 line is not carved in stone, if the sides chose to negotiate a different agreement.”. France’s presidential runoff is on Apr. 24th. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 13, 2022)
“Joe Biden is falling down on his promise to bring normality back to the presidency for a basic reason — he’s not normal.… a funny thing happened on the way to renewed normality — President Biden has engaged in one bizarre escapade after another as he’s crashed his presidency into the rocks of incompetence, tone-deafness, and stubbornly misplaced priorities. … “– Conservative columnist and editor Rich Lowry. (National Review, Apr. 15, 2022)
“I think it’s gone too far. For a while we were all happy that society was becoming more accepting and more families than ever were embracing children that were gender variant. Now it’s gotten to the point where there are kids presenting at clinics whose parents say, ‘This just doesn’t make sense … I think it’s going to get worse. I don’t want any part of it.” — Eric Anderson, 71-year-old transgender psychologist now horrified by 13-year-olds getting hormone treatments without psychological evaluation. She believes peer pressure is driving the “trans” phenomenon. (NY Post, Apr. 15, 2022)
“[Those who surrender are] guaranteed to keep their lives”, said Moscow to Ukrainian fighters holed up in the Azovstahl steel works in surrounded and almost totally destroyed Mariupol. “We will fight absolutely to the end, to win, in this war”, replied Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an Easter message, spoke of “the victory of life over death, good over evil”. An estimated 100,000 of a pre-war population of 450,000, remain in the city, which has suffered ca.21,000 deaths since Feb. 24th. (The Philadelphia Inquirer, Apr. 18, 2022)
“It didn’t come up because it’s a sore point for both sides. The XL pipeline is something we should have never abandoned. Now, we wish we had it.” — U.S. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, speaking at an energy conference in Calgary, Alberta, after touring two oilsands sites. (Financial Post, Apr. 18, 2022)
“I think you should shut up and stop being a bigot.” — Kurt Schlichter, attorney and columnist, one of many infuriated Twitter users who tweeted their response to US Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) tweet over Easter weekend in which she included a video of Christians singing music during a flight. She had tweeted, “I think my family and I should have a prayer session next time I am on a plane. How do you think it will end?” (Twitter, Apr. 17, 2022)
MORE THAN 300 PALESTINIAN RIOTERS ARRESTED IN TEMPLE MOUNT CLASHES AHEAD OF PASSOVER (Jerusalem) –Security tensions in Israel hit a new high on April 15, the second Friday of Ramadan and the eve of Passover. By mid-morning Friday, some 300 Palestinian rioters on the Temple Mount were arrested. Israeli security forces entered the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem before dawn as thousands of Palestinians were gathered for prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, setting off clashes that medics said wounded at least 67 Palestinians. Several dozen Palestinians had barricaded themselves in the mosque, and security forces removed them. Hundreds of Palestinians were arrested. (JNS, Apr. 15, 2022)
2 PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS KILLED IN FIREFIGHT WITH IDF NEAR JENIN (Jenin) — Two armed Palestinian terrorists were killed in a firefight with Israeli security forces in Kafr Dan, near Jenin. One of the gunmen was named as Sha’as Kamamji, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member and the brother of Iham Kamamji, one of six Palestinian security prisoners who escaped Gilboa prison in September 2021 and was recaptured in Jenin shortly afterward. According to the Israel Defense Forces, violent disturbances broke out during Israeli counter-terror operations in the village, with Palestinian rioters hurling explosives and shooting at the Israeli troops, who responded with live fire. No Israeli casualties were reported. (Columbus Jewish News, Apr. 14, 2022)
IDF ARRESTS 20 SECURITY SUSPECTS IN OVERNIGHT JUDEA AND SAMARIA RAIDS (Jerusalem) — Israeli security forces arrested 20 terror suspects in a series of raids in Judea and Samaria. One of the suspects was allegedly involved in the attack on Joseph’s Tomb near Nablus/Shechem. In addition to the arrests, Israeli forces confiscated illegal weapons in Zeita, near the city of Tulkarem. (Jewish Link, Apr. 13, 2022)
ISRAEL TAKES HOME FOUR MEDALS IN MATHEMATICS COMPETITION (Hungary) — Each member of the Israeli delegation competing in the 2022 European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO) in Hungary took home a medal while overall, the team came in ninth place in the competition. The Olympiad, open to female high school students, took place from April 6-12. It concluded on Tuesday with Israel’s team captain Nogah Friedman winning the gold medal and ranking third in the world. The team’s other members—Noga Labin, Ya’ara Shulman and Tamar Pe’er—all won bronze medals. (Algemeiner, Apr. 18, 2022)
ISRAEL TAKES GOLD AT WORLD JUNIOR FENCING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN DUBAI (Dubai) — Israel’s national girl’s team took gold at the Junior World Fencing Championship in Dubai. Fencers Nicole Feigin, Adele Bogdanov, Sohpia Vainberg, and Eva Galper were ranked 11th when they entered the epee fencing competition, but defeated Brazil 45-30 and then Switzerland 45-44 to make it into the semifinals. Poland took the silver medal at the competition, and the United States took bronze. (Times of Israel, Apr. 11, 2022)
BEVERLY HILLS RESIDENTS WAKE UP TO ANTISEMITIC FLYERS ON PASSOVER (LA) — On Saturday morning, some residents in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles woke up to find yet another antisemitic flier on their front door. The fliers, which appear connected to similar fliers that were distributed across the region in November and December, begin with the statement, “Every Single Aspect of The Ukraine-Russia War is Jewish,” followed by a list of government officials. Previous leaflets espoused similar propaganda-style hate speech, such as: “Every Single Aspect of the COVID Agenda Is Jewish.” (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 19, 2022)
SJP AT NYU LAW SCHOOL DEFENDS TERROR, ACCUSES ISRAEL OF ‘ZIONIST GRIP ON MEDIA’ (NYC) — Eleven student groups signed a statement by the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at New York University School of Law that voiced support for Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israelis and touted anti-Israel conspiracy theories. “The Zionist grip on the media is omnipresent,” said the statement, dated Monday. SJP claimed in the statement that “embedded in the Zionist supremacy narrative is the orientalist, Islamophobic idea that Azkenazi [sic] Jewish whiteness is fundamentally superior to Palestinian lives, culture and identity.” The statement additionally compares Palestinian terrorists to Ukrainian soldiers. (JNS, Apr. 15, 2022)
CANADIAN MUSLIM GROUP BLAMES ISRAEL FOR VIOLENT PALESTINIAN RIOTING (Toronto) — In an eblast and social media campaign, the NCCM (National Council of Canadian Muslims) wrote: “Earlier this morning, as hundreds were completing fajr prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque, Israeli soldiers attacked with rubber bullets, stun grenades and beatings with police batons. 150 worshippers were injured.” NCCM’s campaign claimed that “Israeli forces violated the internationally recognized sanctity of the Al Aqsa Mosque,… attacked Palestinian worshippers as they prayed peacefully during Ramadan. This pattern of attacks during Ramadan every year in the recent past are an egregious violation of international law and must be condemned.” (Honest Reporting Canada, Apr. 18, 2022)
TENNESSEE LAWMAKERS PASS BILL PROHIBITING SCHOOLS FROM TEACHING ANTI-SEMITIC IDEAS (Nashville) — Tennessee passed a bill that bans local schools from teaching students anti-Semitic rhetoric. HB2573 passed the House of Representatives on Monday with 95 votes in favor and none against after the House agreed on certain amendments. It then passed the Senate on Thursday with a vote of 29-0. Proposed by Rep. Jerry Sexton, it requires each local education agency (LEA) to adopt a written policy that prohibits teachers and administrative staff from exposing students to anti-Semitic concepts. The policy must be distributed “or made available” to teachers and staff members at the beginning of each school year. (Cleveland Jewish News, Apr. 15, 2022)
CHINA CONDUCTS MAJOR MILITARY DRILLS AS US LAWMAKERS VISIT TAIWAN (Taiwan) — The Chinese military conducted a large multi-force exercise around Taiwan, just hours after U.S. lawmakers arrived for a visit to show support for the self-ruling island and meet President Tsai Ing-wen. (Global Security, Apr. 15, 2022)
A LOOK INTO THE MOSKVA, THE RUSSIAN FLAGSHIP SANK BY UKRAINIAN MISSILE (Moscow) — Ukrainian missiles caused the explosion that ultimately sank the Russian Black Sea flagship Moskova. The guided-missile cruiser — the largest craft deployed against Ukraine so far — was struck by at least one Neptune anti-ship missile fired by Ukrainian forces. (NY Post, Apr. 15, 2022)
CANADIAN VETERANS GROUP GIVES UP AFGHAN RESCUE EFFORTS, CITING BURNOUT AND OTTAWA’S BUREAUCRATIC ROADBLOCKS (Ottawa) — A Canadian veterans group is giving up its efforts to evacuate Afghans who supported Ottawa’s military and diplomatic mission in the country, citing staff burnout and a federal immigration system that is overburdened with red tape. The Veterans Transition Network raised $3.6-million and helped rescue 2,061 Afghans since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. (Globe and Mail, Apr. 18, 2022)
PAKISTAN WARNS AFGHANISTAN NOT TO SHELTER MILITANTS, AS DEATH TOLL FROM STRIKES RISES TO AT LEAST 47 (Islamabad) — The death toll from Pakistani military air strikes in the eastern Afghanistan provinces of Khost and Kunar jumped to at least 47, as Islamabad urged Kabul to act against militants launching attacks from Afghan soil. Border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan rose since the Taliban seized power last year, with Islamabad claiming militant groups are carrying out regular attacks from Afghan soil. (South China Morning Post, Apr. 17, 2022)
WATCH: Israeli Laser Weapon Zaps Threats Out of the Sky!: United With Israel, Apr. 17, 2022 — Israel has developed a laser defense system that intercepts drones.
Mobileye’s Self-Driving Taxi Service Set to Start This Year: JNS, Apr. 12, 2022 — Mobileye announced that its autonomous vehicles are on track to launch in Israel and Germany later this year.
