MEDIA-OCRITY
The Ideal of Democracy in a Jewish State Is in Jeopardy: Editorial Board, NY Times, Dec. 17, 2022
“… Mr. Netanyahu’s government, however, is a significant threat to the future of Israel — its direction, its security and even the idea of a Jewish homeland. For one, the government’s posture could make it militarily and politically impossible for a two-state solution to ever emerge. Rather than accept this outcome, the Biden administration should do everything it can to express its support for a society governed by equal rights and the rule of law in Israel, as it does in countries all over the world. That would be an act of friendship, consistent with the deep bond between the two nations.
“Mr. Netanyahu’s comeback as prime minister, a year and a half after he was ousted from office, can’t be divorced from the corruption allegations that have followed him. He is now doing everything he can to stay in power, by catering to the demands of the most extreme elements of Israeli politics. … Right-wing parties have an absolute majority in the Knesset, and Mr. Netanyahu, hoping that the new government will save him from prosecution and potential prison time, is in their power.” – [There’s much to criticize about this article, including the editors’ insistence that its editorial board has “been a strong supporter of Israel and a two-state solution for many years,” and they “remain committed to that support.” Mr. Netanyahu succinctly responded to the editor’s “analysis” and advice, which undermines Israeli democracy, misreads political realities, and exposes its hatred of Netanyahu. See: Netanyahu shreds New York Times for ‘demonizing Israel for decades’ after scathing editorial. – Ed.]
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WEEKLY QUOTES
WEEKLY QUOTES
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“Just as NATO acts in a coordinated manner when it comes to Ukraine, we must push our partners in the international community to deal with Iran in a coordinated manner before it brings itself to act with nuclear power.” — Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at the annual Jewish Media Summit hosted by the Government Press Office. He said that now is the time to push Iran towards an improved nuclear deal, but if efforts fail, this is the time to show and exercise force. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 19, 2022)
“The European Union, a disengaged bureaucratic institution, can widely agree only when it comes to one single issue- to ram Israel – the only Jewish state. Countries from the continent that brought colonization, indiscriminate exploitation of other’s resources and slavery into the world think we are in 1640. They do not run the world or us. We’re far past the fact that the EU have a Pavlovian empathy and have adopted the Palestinian narrative, but now they have gone too far. We are dealing with an actual red line being crossed. We will not allow countries, friendly as they may be, to intervene in such a blunt and biased way in favor of our enemies. We will not accept the EU’s two-faced behavior towards us.” — MK Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism party) tweeted. He responded to the publication of a European Union document showing how the EU plans to help the Palestinian Authority seize control of Area C, which is supposed to be under full Israeli control under the Oslo Accords. (Israel National News, Dec. 20, 2022)
“Today, we must all say clearly and forcefully that antisemitism and all forms of hate and violence in this country have no safe harbor in America. Period … silence is complicity.” – US President Joe Biden at a WH Hanukkah reception. The reception also included adding the first-ever official White House menorah, the first Jewish artifact to be added to the White House archives. “The White House has never had its own menorah, until now. It is now a cherished piece of this home, your home, tonight.” — First Lady Jill Biden to the crowd. (Israel National News, Dec. 20, 2022)
“Imagine what they would do to someone who did this and was not ideologically aligned with them? I’ll give them the same benefit of the doubt they would give those people… exactly zero.” — Donald Trump Jr. “Today’s Crossword Puzzle from the New York Times for Chanukah. Pretty much sums up the @nytimes for the past few years in regard to Jews and Israel.” – Pro-Israel group S.A.F.E. CUNY. The New York Times has come under fire for publishing a crossword puzzle with an eerie resemblance to a Nazi swastika, with outraged readers noting its release coincided with the first night of Chanukah. (WIN, Dec. 19, 2022)
“You can’t really grasp what antisemitism is, even if you care tremendously about it,” [unless you understand the element that makes Jew-hatred unique.] “If it’s someone you loathe, you just want to keep them down and keep them out of your life and keep them in their box. But if it’s someone who is controlling things, you have to stop them by any means necessary, because they’re harming your own welfare. Whether it’s ‘death con 3’ or ‘any means necessary,’ stop them for my own survival. And that’s what we’re seeing in a lot of the antisemitic rhetoric that we’re seeing, with antisemitic attacks and efforts. This is going to sound a little strange as someone who has made her whole life [as an educator,] education is crucially important, but education can only go so far. You can be well educated and still be an antisemite.” — Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, in a conversation with Shelley Greenspan, White House liaison to the Jewish community. (WIN, Dec. 18, 2022)
“Democrats run the House until January, so Mr. McCarthy [the Republican leader] can’t stop [their] omnibus bill. But the lack of coordination between the House and Senate GOP bodes ill for any coherent agenda over the next two years. Senate Democrats and the White House will have a united front and could roll over a divided GOP. The GOP dysfunction since Election Day won’t matter if it teaches Republicans that their only chance of influencing policy is to stay united. On the evidence so far, however, Republicans are the gang that couldn’t shoot straight—except at one another.” – Editorial. (WSJ, Dec. 17, 2022)
“What Americans should know is that the president has done the work to deal with what we’re seeing at the border since day one. . .” — White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, responding to a question about the southern border disaster: The editorial, which went on to characterize Jean-Pierre’s statement as “a complete and total lie”. (NY Post, Dec. 18, 2022)
“The European Union, a disengaged bureaucratic institution, can widely agree only when it comes to one single issue- to ram Israel – the only Jewish state. Countries from the continent that brought colonization, indiscriminate exploitation of other’s resources and slavery into the world think we are in 1640. They do not run the world or us. We’re far past the fact that the EU have a Pavlovian empathy and have adopted the Palestinian narrative, but now they have gone too far. We are dealing with an actual red line being crossed. We will not allow countries, friendly as they may be, to intervene in such a blunt and biased way in favor of our enemies. We will not accept the EU’s two-faced behavior towards us.” — MK Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism party) tweeted. He responded to the publication of a European Union document showing how the EU plans to help the Palestinian Authority seize control of Area C, which is supposed to be under full Israeli control under the Oslo Accords. (Israel National News, Dec. 20, 2022)
“Today, we must all say clearly and forcefully that antisemitism and all forms of hate and violence in this country have no safe harbor in America. Period … silence is complicity.” – US President Joe Biden at a WH Hanukkah reception. The reception also included adding the first-ever official White House menorah, the first Jewish artifact to be added to the White House archives. “The White House has never had its own menorah, until now. It is now a cherished piece of this home, your home, tonight.” — First Lady Jill Biden to the crowd. (Israel National News, Dec. 20, 2022)
“Imagine what they would do to someone who did this and was not ideologically aligned with them? I’ll give them the same benefit of the doubt they would give those people… exactly zero.” — Donald Trump Jr. “Today’s Crossword Puzzle from the New York Times for Chanukah. Pretty much sums up the @nytimes for the past few years in regard to Jews and Israel.” – Pro-Israel group S.A.F.E. CUNY. The New York Times has come under fire for publishing a crossword puzzle with an eerie resemblance to a Nazi swastika, with outraged readers noting its release coincided with the first night of Chanukah. (WIN, Dec. 19, 2022)
“You can’t really grasp what antisemitism is, even if you care tremendously about it,” [unless you understand the element that makes Jew-hatred unique.] “If it’s someone you loathe, you just want to keep them down and keep them out of your life and keep them in their box. But if it’s someone who is controlling things, you have to stop them by any means necessary, because they’re harming your own welfare. Whether it’s ‘death con 3’ or ‘any means necessary,’ stop them for my own survival. And that’s what we’re seeing in a lot of the antisemitic rhetoric that we’re seeing, with antisemitic attacks and efforts. This is going to sound a little strange as someone who has made her whole life [as an educator,] education is crucially important, but education can only go so far. You can be well educated and still be an antisemite.” — Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, in a conversation with Shelley Greenspan, White House liaison to the Jewish community. (WIN, Dec. 18, 2022)
“Democrats run the House until January, so Mr. McCarthy [the Republican leader] can’t stop [their] omnibus bill. But the lack of coordination between the House and Senate GOP bodes ill for any coherent agenda over the next two years. Senate Democrats and the White House will have a united front and could roll over a divided GOP. The GOP dysfunction since Election Day won’t matter if it teaches Republicans that their only chance of influencing policy is to stay united. On the evidence so far, however, Republicans are the gang that couldn’t shoot straight—except at one another.” – Editorial. (WSJ, Dec. 17, 2022)
“What Americans should know is that the president has done the work to deal with what we’re seeing at the border since day one. . .” — White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, responding to a question about the southern border disaster: The editorial, which went on to characterize Jean-Pierre’s statement as “a complete and total lie”. (NY Post, Dec. 18, 2022)
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SHORT TAKES
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NETANYAHU EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE GOVERNMENT THIS WEEK (Jerusalem) — Likud chairman MK Benjamin Netanyahu is widely expected to announce to President Isaac Herzog this week that he has formed a government, following a long and arduous negotiation process that lasted over six weeks. Although none of the official coalition deals between the Likud and its partners have been signed yet, most are reportedly final, with the Likud is hashing out the final details of its deal with United Torah Judaism. The other partners are Shas, the Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit and Noam. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 17, 2022)
PA BLAMES ‘OCCUPATION’ FOR DEATH OF CANCER-RIDDEN TERRORIST PRISONER, CALLS FOR VIOLENCE (Ramallah) — The Palestinian Authority (PA) blamed Israel for the death of Abu Hamid, one of its military wing’s most senior terrorists, who died in hospital after protracted treatment for lung cancer. The Commission also accused Israel of having a “deliberate policy” of killing Palestinian prisoners. Abu Hamid was “treated closely and regularly by the medical staff and external parties,” the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) said in the announcement of the 51-year-old terrorist’s death. This included hospital stays in recent months for his condition, culminating in his death at the Shamir Medical Center in Tel Aviv. (WIN, Dec. 20, 2022)
US ‘CONCERNED’ ABOUT ISRAEL DEPORTING TERRORIST WHO TRIED TO ASSASSINATE CHIEF RABBI (Washington) – US State Department spokesman Ned Price voiced “concerns” regarding the deportation from Israel to France of Salah Hamouri, a dual Palestinian-French citizen who worked for a group linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. Hamouri, currently a lawyer and field researcher for the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, served seven years in an Israeli prison for his role in a terror plot to assassinate former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. (WIN, Dec. 20, 2022)
SECOND TEMPLE-ERA TOMB IS BEING UNCOVERED IN LACHISH FOREST (Lachish Forest) — A 2,000-year-old Second Temple-Period burial cave designated the Salome Cave—one of the most impressive burial caves discovered in the Israel—is being uncovered in the Lachish Forest. The excavation was carried out as part of the Judean Kings’ Trail Project led by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Ministry for Jerusalem and Heritage, and the Jewish National Fund. Judging by the crosses and the dozens of inscriptions engraved on the cave walls in the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, the chapel appears to have been dedicated to the sacred Salome. (Israel National News, Dec. 20, 2022)
NAZI ‘SECRETARY OF EVIL,’ 97, SENTENCED FOR ROLE IN MORE THAN 10K DEATHS (Northern Germany) –A former Nazi concentration camp typist known as the “Secretary of Evil” has been convicted by a German court for her role in more than 10,000 murders during the Holocaust. Irmgard Furchner, 97, was found guilty of complicity in the deaths of 10,505 people at Stutthof, the internment camp near Gdansk, Poland, where she served as a typist and stenographer from 1943 through 1945. Furchner, who was tried as a juvenile because she was under 21 when she worked at the camp, was sentenced to a two-year suspended prison term. (NY Post, Dec. 20, 2022)
UK RELEASES NEW ANTISEMITISM REPORT AMID NEW SPATE OF ATTACKS ON LONDON JEWS (London) — The UK’s Lord John Mann, HM Government’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism, released a report detailing recommendations to combat antisemitism amid rising antisemitism throughout the UK and a new spate of attacks against London’s Jewish community. The report, titled Anti-Jewish Hatred: Tackling Antisemitism in the UK 2023 – Renewing the Commitment, includes ten recommendations for the UK government to address antisemitism throughout British society, including on school and university campuses and politically on both the right and left. The report also includes harrowing statistics about the scale of the problem. (Algemeiner, Dec. 19, 2022)
FBI NABS NAZI-INSPIRED SUSPECT AMASSING AN ARSENAL (St. Paul) — Authorities arrested River William Smith, 20, a Minnesota man who idolized a mass shooter in Colorado Springs and was allegedly building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police after a retired police officer reported his behavior to law enforcement officials. Smith, who also expressed interest in joining neo-Nazi paramilitary groups and fired an AK-47-style rifle in his home in 2019, was charged with federal weapons counts this week. FBI agents arrested him after he purchased three hand grenades and four auto sears from an FBI informant. An auto sear is a device that turns a firearm into an automatic weapon. (United With Israel, Dec. 19, 2022)
MURAL HONORING HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN RESPONSIBLE FOR SAVING 3,000 JEWS DEBUTS IN NEW YORK CITY (NYC) — As part of a series conceptualized by Artists 4 Israel to honor Righteous Among The Nations and bring attention to their bravery, New York artist Fernando “Ski” Romero unveiled his mural dedicated to Tibor Baranski, a Hungarian-American who saved more than 3,000 Hungarian Jews from the Nazis in 1944. The mural debut came on Sunday night, which was, not without coincidence, the first night of Hanukkah. (VIN News, Dec. 19, 2022)
CHRISTIAN CHURCHES ARE URGED TO ACT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM, INCLUDING BY SCRUTINIZING THEIR OWN PRACTICES (London) – A group of educators dedicated to solidarity between Christians and Jews is urging churches to act against the growing prevalence of antisemitism in the United States — and to reflect on how their own practices may be fueling hatred against Jews. “We implore all churches to redouble their efforts to denounce antisemitism publicly as antithetical to the very essence of Christianity itself,” the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations, which represents about 30 institutions working on interreligious understanding, said in a public statement issued last week. (JTA, Dec. 18, 2022)
SEEKING LATITUDE TO PRESS LIBERAL CAUSES, THE JEWISH COUNCIL FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS DISTANCES ITSELF FROM FEDERATIONS (NYC) — The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the onetime standard-bearer for outreach to the non-Jewish world whose influence has waned, is loosening its financial and organizational ties to the Jewish Federations of North America in a bid to reassert its traditional role. The decision to go it alone, announced Monday in a press release and a two-page brochure that will go out to Jewish organizations, will free the JCPA to pursue liberal agenda items that are favored by American Jews but can alienate or unsettle donors to the federation system who are more conservative or at least more cautious about maintaining an appearance of being nonpartisan. (JTA, Dec. 19, 2022)
CANADIANS’ VIEWS SHIFTING ON USE OF EMERGENCIES ACT, WITH MORE NOW OPPOSED: POLL (Ottawa) — Most Canadians now oppose the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in February to counteract the Freedom Convoy protests, according to a recent poll. Mainstreet Research polled over 1,260 Canadians over the age of 18 between Dec. 6 and Dec. 8 on their political views. One question asked, “Has your mind changed on whether the prime minister was right/wrong to invoke the Act?” Of those who participated in the poll, which was conducted for iPolitics, 39 percent said they opposed Ottawa’s invocation of the Emergencies Act in February and still do now, while 16 percent said they supported the act at the time and are now against its use. (Epoch Times, Dec. 15, 2022)
QATAR WARNS EUROPE OVER BRIBERY PROBE (Qatar) — Qatar reacted negatively to Belgian police detaining two European Union Parliamentary lawmakers and several others, for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of euros in bribes from Qatari officials to influence the legislature’s decisions. Qatar, which has become an important exporter of liquified natural gas, warned that an investigation focused on its role in the bribery scandal (which it denies) could affect its provision of LNG to Europe. (WSJ, Dec.18, 2022)
PA BLAMES ‘OCCUPATION’ FOR DEATH OF CANCER-RIDDEN TERRORIST PRISONER, CALLS FOR VIOLENCE (Ramallah) — The Palestinian Authority (PA) blamed Israel for the death of Abu Hamid, one of its military wing’s most senior terrorists, who died in hospital after protracted treatment for lung cancer. The Commission also accused Israel of having a “deliberate policy” of killing Palestinian prisoners. Abu Hamid was “treated closely and regularly by the medical staff and external parties,” the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) said in the announcement of the 51-year-old terrorist’s death. This included hospital stays in recent months for his condition, culminating in his death at the Shamir Medical Center in Tel Aviv. (WIN, Dec. 20, 2022)
US ‘CONCERNED’ ABOUT ISRAEL DEPORTING TERRORIST WHO TRIED TO ASSASSINATE CHIEF RABBI (Washington) – US State Department spokesman Ned Price voiced “concerns” regarding the deportation from Israel to France of Salah Hamouri, a dual Palestinian-French citizen who worked for a group linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. Hamouri, currently a lawyer and field researcher for the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, served seven years in an Israeli prison for his role in a terror plot to assassinate former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. (WIN, Dec. 20, 2022)
SECOND TEMPLE-ERA TOMB IS BEING UNCOVERED IN LACHISH FOREST (Lachish Forest) — A 2,000-year-old Second Temple-Period burial cave designated the Salome Cave—one of the most impressive burial caves discovered in the Israel—is being uncovered in the Lachish Forest. The excavation was carried out as part of the Judean Kings’ Trail Project led by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Ministry for Jerusalem and Heritage, and the Jewish National Fund. Judging by the crosses and the dozens of inscriptions engraved on the cave walls in the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, the chapel appears to have been dedicated to the sacred Salome. (Israel National News, Dec. 20, 2022)
NAZI ‘SECRETARY OF EVIL,’ 97, SENTENCED FOR ROLE IN MORE THAN 10K DEATHS (Northern Germany) –A former Nazi concentration camp typist known as the “Secretary of Evil” has been convicted by a German court for her role in more than 10,000 murders during the Holocaust. Irmgard Furchner, 97, was found guilty of complicity in the deaths of 10,505 people at Stutthof, the internment camp near Gdansk, Poland, where she served as a typist and stenographer from 1943 through 1945. Furchner, who was tried as a juvenile because she was under 21 when she worked at the camp, was sentenced to a two-year suspended prison term. (NY Post, Dec. 20, 2022)
UK RELEASES NEW ANTISEMITISM REPORT AMID NEW SPATE OF ATTACKS ON LONDON JEWS (London) — The UK’s Lord John Mann, HM Government’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism, released a report detailing recommendations to combat antisemitism amid rising antisemitism throughout the UK and a new spate of attacks against London’s Jewish community. The report, titled Anti-Jewish Hatred: Tackling Antisemitism in the UK 2023 – Renewing the Commitment, includes ten recommendations for the UK government to address antisemitism throughout British society, including on school and university campuses and politically on both the right and left. The report also includes harrowing statistics about the scale of the problem. (Algemeiner, Dec. 19, 2022)
FBI NABS NAZI-INSPIRED SUSPECT AMASSING AN ARSENAL (St. Paul) — Authorities arrested River William Smith, 20, a Minnesota man who idolized a mass shooter in Colorado Springs and was allegedly building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police after a retired police officer reported his behavior to law enforcement officials. Smith, who also expressed interest in joining neo-Nazi paramilitary groups and fired an AK-47-style rifle in his home in 2019, was charged with federal weapons counts this week. FBI agents arrested him after he purchased three hand grenades and four auto sears from an FBI informant. An auto sear is a device that turns a firearm into an automatic weapon. (United With Israel, Dec. 19, 2022)
MURAL HONORING HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN RESPONSIBLE FOR SAVING 3,000 JEWS DEBUTS IN NEW YORK CITY (NYC) — As part of a series conceptualized by Artists 4 Israel to honor Righteous Among The Nations and bring attention to their bravery, New York artist Fernando “Ski” Romero unveiled his mural dedicated to Tibor Baranski, a Hungarian-American who saved more than 3,000 Hungarian Jews from the Nazis in 1944. The mural debut came on Sunday night, which was, not without coincidence, the first night of Hanukkah. (VIN News, Dec. 19, 2022)
CHRISTIAN CHURCHES ARE URGED TO ACT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM, INCLUDING BY SCRUTINIZING THEIR OWN PRACTICES (London) – A group of educators dedicated to solidarity between Christians and Jews is urging churches to act against the growing prevalence of antisemitism in the United States — and to reflect on how their own practices may be fueling hatred against Jews. “We implore all churches to redouble their efforts to denounce antisemitism publicly as antithetical to the very essence of Christianity itself,” the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations, which represents about 30 institutions working on interreligious understanding, said in a public statement issued last week. (JTA, Dec. 18, 2022)
SEEKING LATITUDE TO PRESS LIBERAL CAUSES, THE JEWISH COUNCIL FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS DISTANCES ITSELF FROM FEDERATIONS (NYC) — The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the onetime standard-bearer for outreach to the non-Jewish world whose influence has waned, is loosening its financial and organizational ties to the Jewish Federations of North America in a bid to reassert its traditional role. The decision to go it alone, announced Monday in a press release and a two-page brochure that will go out to Jewish organizations, will free the JCPA to pursue liberal agenda items that are favored by American Jews but can alienate or unsettle donors to the federation system who are more conservative or at least more cautious about maintaining an appearance of being nonpartisan. (JTA, Dec. 19, 2022)
CANADIANS’ VIEWS SHIFTING ON USE OF EMERGENCIES ACT, WITH MORE NOW OPPOSED: POLL (Ottawa) — Most Canadians now oppose the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in February to counteract the Freedom Convoy protests, according to a recent poll. Mainstreet Research polled over 1,260 Canadians over the age of 18 between Dec. 6 and Dec. 8 on their political views. One question asked, “Has your mind changed on whether the prime minister was right/wrong to invoke the Act?” Of those who participated in the poll, which was conducted for iPolitics, 39 percent said they opposed Ottawa’s invocation of the Emergencies Act in February and still do now, while 16 percent said they supported the act at the time and are now against its use. (Epoch Times, Dec. 15, 2022)
QATAR WARNS EUROPE OVER BRIBERY PROBE (Qatar) — Qatar reacted negatively to Belgian police detaining two European Union Parliamentary lawmakers and several others, for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of euros in bribes from Qatari officials to influence the legislature’s decisions. Qatar, which has become an important exporter of liquified natural gas, warned that an investigation focused on its role in the bribery scandal (which it denies) could affect its provision of LNG to Europe. (WSJ, Dec.18, 2022)
PHILADELPHIAN RESERVE BANK: JOBS NUMBERS OFF BY 1 MILLION (Philadelphia) — The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia–using quarterly rather than monthly statistics–indicates that second-quarter job growth was not 1,047,000, as claimed by the Biden Administration, but 10,500, or “essentially flat’. Republicans are accusing Biden of lying about job-creation in the heat of the mid-term election campaign. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) said Biden was “lying to the American people. . .to prop up his failed agenda, & I won’t stand for it. . . WE NEED ANSWERS NOW!” (Washington Times, Dec.16, 2022)
TUNISIAN PRESIDENT URGED TO RESIGN AFTER ELECTION DEBACLE (Tunis) — -Tunisian opposition leaders called for President Kais Saied’s resignation, following disastrous elections in which voter turnout in the nation of nine million was under 9%. The voters’ disavowal registered protest against last year’s dissolution of the legislature by the authoritarian Saied. (Tunisia initiated the Arab Spring uprisings a decade ago and was the only state to emerge from those upheavals with a democratic framework largely intact.). (AP, Dec. 18, 2022)
EL PASO DECLARES EMERGENCY AS MIGRANT INFLUX RAISES SAFETY CONCERNS (El Paso) — The Texas city of El Paso, declared a state of emergency after more than 36,000 illegal migrants (many from Nicaragua) were taken into custody since. Dec.1, with ca.20,000 released directly into the community. The impending end of Title 42, a law enabling some migrants to be returned to Mexico, could see 2022’s estimated 5 million migrants (including “gotaways”) double next year. Alicia A. Caldwell (WSJ, Dec.19, 2022)
TUNISIAN PRESIDENT URGED TO RESIGN AFTER ELECTION DEBACLE (Tunis) — -Tunisian opposition leaders called for President Kais Saied’s resignation, following disastrous elections in which voter turnout in the nation of nine million was under 9%. The voters’ disavowal registered protest against last year’s dissolution of the legislature by the authoritarian Saied. (Tunisia initiated the Arab Spring uprisings a decade ago and was the only state to emerge from those upheavals with a democratic framework largely intact.). (AP, Dec. 18, 2022)
EL PASO DECLARES EMERGENCY AS MIGRANT INFLUX RAISES SAFETY CONCERNS (El Paso) — The Texas city of El Paso, declared a state of emergency after more than 36,000 illegal migrants (many from Nicaragua) were taken into custody since. Dec.1, with ca.20,000 released directly into the community. The impending end of Title 42, a law enabling some migrants to be returned to Mexico, could see 2022’s estimated 5 million migrants (including “gotaways”) double next year. Alicia A. Caldwell (WSJ, Dec.19, 2022)
FOR FURTHER REFERENCE
Once-in-10,000-Births: Israeli Doctors Perform Incredible Brain Surgery: Pesach Benson, United With Israel, Dec. 19, 2022 — From the day she was born, the little girl identified as A. had a prominent blue mark on the bridge of the nose. For two years, one doctor after another in her hometown of Kiryat Malachi looked at the mark and said it was nothing to worry about.
WATCH: Learn About the Chanukah Miracles Right Where They Happened – in Jerusalem!: United With Israel, Dec. 2, 2022 — Holidays are always so much more special when you understand the story and significance behind the celebrations.
WATCH: Learn About the Chanukah Miracles Right Where They Happened – in Jerusalem!: United With Israel, Dec. 2, 2022 — Holidays are always so much more special when you understand the story and significance behind the celebrations.
