Daily Briefing: WEDNESDAYS NEWS OF THE WEEK IN REVIEW (July 1,2020)

WE Charity Co-founder said PMO ‘Called’ to Award $900M Student-grant Program, Contradicting Trudeau:  Christopher Nardi, National Post, June 30, 2020— A co-founder of WE Charity claimed in a June 12 conference call that the Prime Minister’s Office contacted the organization directly in April to help implement a federal student volunteer grant program worth over $900 million.

Rex Murphy: There’s Nothing Charitable About Circumventing Parliament:  Rex Murphy, National Post, June 29, 2020 — “This generation, generation WE, is the one that will disrupt the status quo and shake the foundations of patriarchy”: Keynote speaker at 2017 WE Day UN. We haven’t got a House of Commons.

                                       WEEKLY QUOTES

“The resistance considers the decision to annex the West Bank and the Jordan Valley a declaration of war on our people, and we will make the enemy bite the fingers of remorse for this sinful decision,” — Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said in a speech broadcast on Palestinian television. Hamas timed the announcement to coincide with the date marking the anniversary of the kidnapping in 2006 of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas terrorists who used a cross-border tunnel in a raid that killed two other IDF soldiers. Hamas held Shalit hostage for five years before releasing him in a controversial 2011 prisoner exchange in which Israel freed 1,027 Hamas and Palestinian prisoners, most of them convicted terrorists. (WIN, June 25, 2020)

“The United States’s sensitivity to its own historic shortcomings is indicative of a well-developed national conscience forged in the crucible of the civil-rights movement, and should be looked upon as a strength that neither Communists nor kleptocrats can avail themselves of. But when the contemplation of one’s own sins leads to masochism instead of reform, conscience has become destructive of the ends of true religion and human flourishing,” — writes journalist Cameron Hilditch. He comments on the destruction of memorial statutes by left-wing protestors who maintain that America is intrinsically evil, and warns that “if their cult of national masochism continues to gather momentum, they will eventually make their presence felt on the international stage, to the world’s detriment.”  (WSJ, June 26, 2020)

“If Google is allowed to get away with censoring political speech in this manner and Facebookdoes the same, then no one, including liberals, Jewish organizations and those that speak up for minorities, is safe from being treated in the same manner. Black Lives Matter represents both an anodyne idea that is an unchallenged truth since, of course, black lives do matter, but also a raft of radical views about America being an incorrigibly racist nation and the lie that Israel is an apartheid state. But if it or its members can’t be questioned, then everyone’s freedom of speech is in peril,” — writes JNS editor Jonathan Tobin.  He decried two alarming developments that bode badly for freedom of speech: Google’s willing to be pushed by NBC to shut down two conservative websites for false accusations of promoting hate, and a push by liberal organizations, including the ADL to force Facebook to censor political ads these organisations find offensive. (JNS, June 30, 2020)

“I saw a stark contrast between Republican versus Democrats in that queue, I saw upwards of 75% to 80% of the posts in that queue were from Republican pages, politicians, journalists, and pages that supported the president or supported conservatives,” — said former content moderator Zach McElroy of Cognizant, a third-party firm used by Facebook to police the platform, who said that about three-quarters of the posts flagged for “civic harassment” tilted to the right.  Mr. McElroy was interviewed by Project Veritas in a sting operation.  (The Washington Times, June 23, 2020)

MOSSAD CHIEF VISITS JORDAN’S KING ABDULLAH TO DISCUSS ISRAELI ANNEXATION (Amman) — Mossad chief Yossi Cohen visited King Abdullah of Jordan to discuss Israel’s plan, starting in July, to annex parts of the West Bank. He went there to deliver a message from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though the specific details were not revealed. Along with most of the international community, except for the United States, Jordan has threatened to cut off diplomatic and economic agreements with Jerusalem if the latter goes ahead with even partial annexation. It has also warned of making null the 1994 peace treaty between the two Middle Eastern countries. (JNS, June 30, 2020)

IRAN’S URANIUM ENRICHMENT PROGRAM: APPROACHING BREAKOUT (Tehran) — Iran continues to insist that its nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes despite all evidence of its military nature. This evidence includes the IAEA’s recent findings regarding Tehran’s progress in the field of uranium enrichment. Given Iran’s current uranium holdings and enrichment capabilities, it can theoretically break out from its NPT commitment and develop its first nuclear bomb within four months. (BESA, June 24, 2020)

‘WE CAN’T AFFORD TO WAIT’: ISRAEL’S NETANYAHU URGES IMMEDIATE ‘SNAPBACK’ SANCTIONS ON IRAN (Jerusalem) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for “snapback” sanctions to be implemented immediately on the Tehran regime due to its “provocations and violations. Netanyahu told visiting US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook at a meeting in Jerusalem, “We should not wait for Iran to start its breakout to a nuclear weapon, because when that happens it will be too late for sanctions.” (Algemeiner, June 30, 2020)

SECURITY EXPERT SAYS MASSIVE EXPLOSION NEAR TEHRAN WAS RESULT OF ISRAELI CYBERATTACK (Tehran) — A huge explosion that struck just outside Tehran last week was the result of an Israeli cyberattack, Theodore Karasik, a senior adviser at US-based Gulf State Analytics, said. The explosion occurred at the Khojir military site east of Tehran, which was used for weapons manufacturing. According to Reuters, it was also a nuclear weapons research facility in the past. (Algemeiner, June 28, 2020)

IRAN ANNOUNCES SUCCESSFUL INDIAN OCEAN MISSILE TEST (Tehran) — Iran announced that it had completed a successful test of domestically made missiles in a military exercise in the Indian Ocean. The exercise, named “Ramadan Martyrs,” was held to test new short- and long-range cruise missiles. The missiles hit their targets at 280 kilometers (174 miles), according to the report.  (JNS, June 30, 2020)

TOP US JEWISH ORGANIZATION PRAISES CONGRESSIONAL LETTER CALLING ON EU TO PROSCRIBE HEZBOLLAH (NY) – The Conference of Presidents of Major American Organizations expressed praise and support for a bipartisan Congressional letter urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group in its entirety. The Congressional letter, sponsored by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Jackie Rosen (D-NV), and in the House by Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY), pointed out that “Hezbollah has increasingly used Europe as a launching pad for its criminal and terrorist activities.” (Algemeiner,June 29, 2020)

ANTI-SEMITISM GETS YOU FIRED AT LABOUR, BUT HIRED BY THE ‘TIMES’ (London/ NYC) — Tweeting an anti-Semitic blood libel about Israel being responsible for teaching American cops the tactics that led to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer led to the firing of Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey a member of parliament from the opposition party’s leadership. Yet tweeting a similar lie about Israel training American cops to commit human-rights abuses was no bar to Charlotte Greensit being hired this month as the New York Times’ new managing editor of its Opinion section.  Long-Bailey got into hot water this week when she retweeted an article by Maxine Peake, a British actress who is also a fervent opponent of Israel and Corbyn supporter about Israel being responsible for teaching American cops the tactics that led to Floyd’s killing. Meanwhile Greensit, whose previous post was at The Intercept, the radical left-wing outlet that is known, among other things, for its promotion of conspiracy theories aimed at the Jewish state, has personally tweeted defenses of the anti-Semitic statements by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and argued that Hamas was justified in seeking to invade Israel. But in 2017, she also specifically tweeted that “Israeli security forces are training American cops despite history of rights abuses,” while promoting a conspiracy theory libel of Israel published by The Intercept. (JNS, June 30, 2020)

NEW YORK FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS COVID RESTRICTIONS ON PRAYER, RELIGIOUS GATHERINGS (NYC) — Judge Gary L. Sharpe of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York issued a preliminary injunction against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, preventing them from enforcing any limitations on outside gatherings for religious services, even in the midst of COVID-19, which ran rampant in the state and especially affected Jewish communities early on.  In terms of indoor assembly, the judge said that houses of worship can have the same number people as imposed on other industries in Phase 2 of New York’s reopening plan, which means that in the five boroughs, houses of worship can now have up to 50 percent capacity. Previously, they were limited to 25 percent capacity. The judge made clear, however, that parishioners will still need to observe social-distancing regulations set out by both the city and the state. (JNS, June 26, 2020)

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SEEKS TO INVESTIGATE ‘SYSTEMIC RACISM, POLICE BRUTALITY’ IN US (Geneva) — The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), many of whose members have a less-than-stellar record on human rights, has seen fit to hold an emergency meeting to investigate racism and police violence in the U.S. The a draft resolution by 54 African countries in response to the death of George Floyd calls on the UNHRC to turn its attention to America’s “systemic racism, police brutality, and violence against peaceful protests” with the aim of “bringing perpetrators to justice.” (WIN, June 17, 2020)

EU PULLS PALESTINIAN GROUP’S FUNDING OVER REFUSAL TO RENOUNCE TERROR TIES(Brussels) — The E.U. informed the pro-BDS BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Refugee Rights,  in an official letter that it was canceling €1.7 million ($1.9 million) in funding for a three-year joint project titled, “Mobilizing for Justice in Jerusalem,” over the group’s objection to an anti-terrorism clause in the grant agreement. (JNS, June 18, 2020)

TOP CANADIAN JEWISH GROUP CALLS FOR ‘CONCRETE ACTIONS’ AGAINST YORK UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR WHO EQUATED ZIONISM WITH WHITE SUPREMACY (Toronto) – Bnai Brith Canada called for action to be taken against a York University professor who defamed Zionism and downplayed Holocaust denial. On June 10, Faisal Bhabha — an associate professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School — said during an online debate, “Zionism isn’t about self-determination, it’s about Jewish supremacy.” Challenged on his statement, Bhabha added, “I’m equating white supremacy with Jewish supremacy.” Going even further, Bhabha commented, “Accusing Israel of exaggerating the Holocaust could be, for some, a plausible argument.” (Algemeiner, June 24, 2020)

FLORIDA UNIVERSITY STUDENT SENATE VOTES TO KEEP PRESIDENT WITH ANTI-SEMITIC HISTORY (Miami) — The student senate at Florida State University voted not to remove its new president, despite his past anti-Semitic posts. Ahmad Daraldik was selected by the Florida State University Student Senate to replace its previous president, Jack Denton, who was accused of racism. Daraldik, a Palestinian Muslim, had posted on Instagram using language like “stupid Jew thinks he is cool,” “#f***Israel” and “#f***theoccupation.” He responded with a recent video in which he defended his statements on Israel, citing an August 2019 trip to the disputed territories where he allegedly had a negative experience at an Israeli checkpoint. (JNS, June 30, 2020)

REP. DOUG LAMBORN ASKS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO INVESTIGATE MIDDLE EAST STUDIES AT UC BERKELEY (California) — Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos concerning the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Middle East Studies (CMES) and its potential misuse of federal funds under Title VI of the Higher Education Act (HEA). Programs supported by Title VI must “reflect diverse perspectives and a wide range of views” for the purpose of aiding U.S. national security. (Middle East Forum, June 18, 2020)

GERMANY BANS ANOTHER NEO-NAZI GROUP IN ONGOING CRACKDOWN ON FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS (Berlin) — The German government’s crackdown on the far right continued with a ban on a group whose followers worship Adolf Hitler and admire the ISIS terrorist group in the Middle East. Police carried out raids in four different states against supporters of the neo-Nazi Nordadler (Northern Eagle) group. (Algemeiner, June 24, 2020)

GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY HELD FOR NEW HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL IN VIENNA(Vienna) — Construction of a new memorial wall to the victims of the Holocaust began with a groundbreaking ceremony in the city park where the wall is being assembled. Speaking at the ceremony, Karoline Edtstadler — the Austrian government’s minister for the European Union — said the wall was intended to pay tribute to the “identity” and “dignity” of the victims. (Algemeiner, June 22, 2020)

ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTRY, AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES DEVELOP FIRST 3D-PRINTED UAV (Jerusalem) — Israel’s first 3D-printed unmanned aerial vehicle has been produced and successfully tested in recent months by the Defense Ministry, together with the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Neta Blum, head of the Flight Technologies Department, which operates under the Defense Ministry’s Directorate for Defense Research and Development, says that the method of 3D printing used in the production process, known as selective laser sintering (SLS), decreases both the time it takes to produce new models and the costs of doing so. (JNS, June 30, 2020)

ISRAELI STARTUP ECOSYSTEM RANKS #6 IN THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO NEW REPORT (Jerusalem) — The annual Startup Genome Ecosystem report has listed the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as the sixth most attractive ecosystem for startups and innovation. The report, which has been published every year since 2012, comes as 40% of the world’s startups report major disruption due to Covid-19. (Algemeiner, June 28, 2020)

JEWISH COMEDIC LEGEND, ‘DICK VAN DYKE SHOW’ CREATOR CARL REINER REMEMBERED BY HOLLYWOOD AS ‘MENSCH’(California) — Tributes poured in on Tuesday for comedic legend and “The Dick Van Dyke Show” creator Carl Reiner after it was announced that he had died the previous night at his home in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 98. The writer, producer, director and actor was surrounded by family when he died of natural causes. His son Rob Reiner, 73, posted Tuesday on Twitter, “Last night my dad passed away. As I write this my heart is hurting. He was my guiding light.” (Algemeiner, June 30, 2020)
 

Pro-Israel Community Reacts to Projected Engel Loss in New York Democratic Primary:  Jackson Richman, Algemeiner, June 25, 2020 — Reactions from the pro-Israel community have poured in as Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) is projected to lose his seat to Jamaal Bowman, a progressive, in New York’s 16th Congressional District as a result of the Tuesday’s primary.

There’s an Effort to Get Me Fired at Cornell for Citicizing the Black Lives Matter Movement:  William A. Jacobson, Legal Insurrection, June 11, 2020 — There is an effort underway to get me fired at Cornell Law School, where I’ve worked since November 2007, or if not fired, at least denounced publicly by the school.

CAIR Sues to Muzzle Arizona Community College Professor: John Rossomando, IPT News, June 16, 2020 — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) wants to censor discussion of links between Islamic doctrine and terrorism at Arizona’s Scottsdale Community College (SCC).