MEDIA-OCRITY OF THE WEEK
White House Walks Back Comments Joe Biden Made During CNN Town Hall: Callie Patteson and Samuel Chamberlain, NY Post, October 22, 2021“‘When I was first elected, there were only 2 million people who had COVID shots in the United States of America—had the vaccine. Now we got 190 million, because I went out and bought everything I could do—and buy in sight, and it worked.’ [Joe Biden at a CNN live town hall program, October 22]’ In fact, the vaccines had not yet been approved when Biden was elected President in November 2020. By the time he was sworn in on Jan.20, nearly 16 million Americans had received one vaccine dose—not 2 million…In December, just weeks before Biden was inaugurated, his predecessor purchased 300 million vaccine doses from Moderna and Pfizer.”
WEEKLY QUOTES
“FDR, Churchill, and Lincoln statues have already been attacked; will the George Washington Bridge, or the White House, now be renamed? The medieval Nominalists attacked “names” as artificial constructs–nos imus ad rem, they said, we are concerned only with real things. But truth, beauty, justice, and freedom are not ‘just’ names, they are universal signifiers, hard-won values embodying experience, hopes, and dreams. Shattering a statue destroys not just a thing of plaster or bronze, but the civilizational world it represents. Burning books is not just a material, but a symbolic, act, an effacing of their authors. Who destroys statues, who burns books, will sooner or later wind up burning men.” —
Frederick Krantz, (CIJR Director), on reading of the pulling down of a Thomas Jefferson statue in New York City.
“… while some members of the Security Council remain stuck in the mud of their anti-Israel obsession, the real threat to global security is quickly advancing. Iran continues to progress towards its goal of becoming a nuclear threshold state. The murderous Ayatollah regime continues to openly violate its international commitments in the fields of enrichment, stockpiling, uranium metal, and advanced R&D while obstructing the IAEA. It is using the diplomatic talks to buy time so that it can enrich uranium to near weapons-grade levels while gaining nuclear know-how that can never be reversed…Let me be clear: Israel favors a diplomatic solution… Yet seeing as Iran poses an existential threat to Israel, the State of Israel … will never allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold state.” — Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan to the U.N. Security Council. (JNS, October 19, 2021)
“The professional echelon at the Foreign Ministry has described the expected American measures as an “introduction to the division of Jerusalem.” They stress that the effect of such a measure, which is backed by President Joe Biden and his Secretary of State Antony Blinken, will be to undermine, if not to completely withdraw from the measures taken by President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.” – Author and journalist Nadav Shragai. He comments on the White House’s threat to unilaterally impose the opening of a U.S. consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem and allow a PLO office to again operate in Washington. (Israel Hayom, October 22, 2021)
“Officials in the American administration were updated in advance of the intention to make this declaration, and they received intelligence information about the matter.” — An Israeli defense official. He disputes American claims that Israel did not inform the U.S. in advance of its decision to label six Palestinian rights organizations as terror groups. “Those organizations were active under the cover of civil society organizations, but in practice belong and constitute an arm of the [PFLP] leadership, the main activity of which is the liberation of Palestine and destruction of Israel.” – Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s office in a statement. (Times of Israel, October 23, 2021)
“They [the press] get to ask you all kinds of questions, and you try to figure out how you’re gonna avoid answering them sometimes.” – U.S. President Joe Biden in remarks to school children in New Jersey’s East End Elementary. (Fox News, October 25, 2021)
“The university is the place where young people should be challenged every day, where everything they know should be put into question so that they can think and learn and grow up. And the idea that they should be protected from ideas that they might not like is the opposite of what a university should be.” British novelist Salman Rushdie, receiving the Chicago Tribune’s Literary Award in 2015.” — quoted by Michael J. Distefano from Jamestown, R.I. in “Letters.” (NYTimes, October 22, 2021)
“We were able to nip terms like Patriot Party in the bud before mass adoption.” — from an internal Facebook memo, re excluding reference to an emerging right-wing political party. —Journalists Jeff Horwitz and Justin Scheck quoting from an internal Facebook memo. (WSJ, October 22, 2021)
IAF TO START TRAINING FOR STRIKE ON IRAN NUKE PROGRAM IN COMING MONTHS (Jerusalem) — At the beginning of this year, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi announced he had instructed the military to begin drawing up fresh attack plans against Tehran’s nuclear facilities. Last week, the government reportedly allocated billions of shekels toward making those plans viable. (Times of Israel, Oct.25, 2021)
IRAN SENDING ADVANCED ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERIES TO CHALLENGE ISRAEL (Tehran) — Iran began deploying advanced anti-aircraft missile batteries to the region, including in Syria. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes to thwart Iranian entrenchment and the smuggling of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon, and in countries like Iraq and even further as part of its war-between-wars campaign against Iran. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 25, 2021)
ISRAELI FM, SHIN BET REPS HEAD TO WASHINGTON TO PROVE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY NGO LINKS TO TERROR (Washington) — Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the Shin Bet (General Security Service) are sending special envoys to Washington DC. They will share evidence with the Biden Administration proving that six Palestinian Authority NGOs are linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. The designed groups are the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), ADDAMEER Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Al-Haq, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), and Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC). (Jewish Press, Oct. 25, 2021)
RASHIDA TLAIB DEFENDS TERRORIST NGOS, CALLS ISRAEL ‘APARTHEID REGIME’ (Washington) — U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) accused the Jewish State of “violence” and “human rights abuse,” shortly after Defense Minister Benny Gantz designated six Palestinian Authority NGOs as branches of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. (Jewish Press, Oct. 23, 2021)
DOUBT CAST ON REOPENING OF U.S. PALESTINIAN MISSION (Washington) — Israel’s deputy foreign minister said that the Biden administration might shelve its plan to reopen a U.S diplomatic mission for Palestinians in Jerusalem after Israel voiced opposition to such a move. The Jerusalem consulate was subsumed into the U.S. Embassy that was moved to the contested city from Tel Aviv in 2018 by the administration of former President Donald Trump. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Washington’s plan to reopen the consulate as part of efforts to repair U.S.-Palestinian ties. (Vancouver Sun, Oct. 25, 2021)
TENDERS ISSUED FOR 1,000 HOUSING UNITS IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA (Jerusalem) — At the direction of Israeli Housing and Construction Minister Ze’ev Elkin and contrary to calls from Washington, the Israel Land Authority issued a tender to market some 1,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria. Among the tenders are 346 housing units in Beit El, 42 units in Elkana, and 50 units at a reduced price. In Beitar Illit, 252 housing units will be built. The construction of 3,144 housing units in Judea and Samaria will also be approved on Wednesday. The Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration will also support the outline plan of Mitzpe Dani in the area of Ma’ale Mikhmas in the Benjamin region. (JNS, Oct. 25, 2021)
BUILDING COMMENCES ON JEWISH HOUSING IN HEZEKIAH QUARTER OF HEBRON (Hebron) – The construction has started on 31 new housing units for Jewish residents in the city of Hebron, which represents the first new significant building in the “H2” section of that town in the past 21 years. H2 is under Israeli military administration. It includes Jewish and Arab neighborhoods and houses the Tomb of the Patriarchs (Cave of Machpelah), a religious site holy to Jews and Muslims. Jews are only permitted to travel within the Jewish neighborhoods in H2 except on special occasions. (Cleveland News, Oct. 25, 2021)
15 ARAB, PALESTINIAN MOSSAD SPIES ARRESTED IN TURKEY, ADMIT TO COLLABORATION – REPORT (Ankara) — A Mossad network of 15 Arabs was caught by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT). One of the members admitted to collaborating with the Mossad. The announcement comes just weeks after Hamas-affiliated media claimed that Palestinian spies worked for the Mossad in Turkey. The suspects were split into five cells of three people each and were arrested in a covert operation on October 7. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 22, 2021)
SURVEY: 4 IN 10 US JEWS CONCEAL IDENTITY, SEE FAR-LEFT AS SERIOUS THREAT (Washington) — According to the American Jewish Committee survey, 60 percent of non-Jews say anti-Semitism is a very serious problem or somewhat of a problem in the U.S. today. By contrast, 90 percent of Jewish respondents said anti-Semitism is a very serious problem or somewhat of a problem. Some 17 percent of Jews say they were the target of an anti-Semitic remark in person over the last 12 months. Of those who were targeted, 23 percent were in the West, 29 percent in the South, 12 percent in the Midwest, and 14 percent in the Northeast. (Jewish Press, Oct. 26, 2021)
ALASKANS RALLY AROUND JEWISH MUSEUM, $5,000 REWARD OFFERED TO FIND PERPETRATOR OF GRAFFITI (Anchorage) — The Alaska Jewish Museum in Anchorage, StandWithUs, and the Mizel Family Foundation are offering a $5,000 reward to help find the person who pasted stickers with an image of a swastika on them onto the exterior of the museum. (JNS, Oct. 25, 2021)
FLORIDA TO CEASE BUYING UNILEVER STOCK OVER BEN & JERRY’S BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL (Miami) –Florida will cease buying shares of Unilever PLC, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. However, it won’t divest from those stocks it already has. The move comes in response to the decision earlier this year by Ben & Jerry’s to terminate the license of a local franchisee who sells the product in Israeli communities located in Judea and Samaria. The local company will no longer sell Ben & Jerry’s after the end of 2022. (Jewish Press, Oct. 26, 2021)
PARIS: TRIAL OPENS INTO MURDER OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR MIREILLE KNOLL (Paris) — On Tuesday, the murder trial into the death of 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll opened in Paris. Knoll was stabbed multiple times in her home, which was then set on fire. Authorities charged her neighbor and another person with her murder. (Israel National News, Oct. 26, 2021)
STATE DEPT. TELLS CONGRESS 368 AMERICANS LEFT IN AFGHANISTAN, 178 WANT OUT (Washington) — The U.S. State Department informed congressional staffers it was in contact with 368 Americans who remain in Afghanistan — 178 of whom want to leave. The number is substantially higher than the Biden administration previously said were left behind in the country following the U.S.’ chaotic exit in August. (NY Post, Oct. 22, 2021)
BIDEN ABANDONED CRITICAL MINERAL RESERVES IN AFGHANISTAN (Washington) — President Biden‘s exit from Afghanistan left massive, untapped reserves of rare-earth metals, lithium, and other vital minerals in the Taliban‘s hands, potentially opening them up to exploitation by China. The Biden administration has simultaneously worked to hinder key mining projects in the United States. (Epoch Times, Oct. 24, 2021)
U.N.: IRAN EXECUTES PEOPLE AT `ALARMING RATE’ — 250 IN 2020 (Tehran) — Iran executed over 250 people, including at least four child offenders, in 2020 and so far this year has carried out 230 executions that included nine women and one child executed in secret, Javaid Rehman, the U.N. independent investigator on human rights in Iran, told the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee that “the absence of official statistics and lack of transparency around executions means that this practice escapes scrutiny resulting in serious abuses preventing accountability.” (A.P., October 26, 2021)
AHEAD OF COP26, SAUDI ARABIA RESISTS CALLS TO CUT OIL INVESTMENT (Riyadh) – Lower investment in new oil and natural gas development will lead to higher prices and widen the gap between rich and developing countries. Thus argue Saudi Arabia and key oil-producing allies, ahead of the United Nations climate summit on October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland. (WSJ, October 22, 2021)
MASS GRAVES STIR ANGER AS LIBYA SEEKS AN ELUSIVE PEACE (Tarhuna) — 228 bodies were unearthed by Libyan authorities from the fields around Tarhuna, a small town in western Libya south of the capital, Tripoli. Mohamed and Abdulrahman al-Kani had built a militia to seize the town during the chaos that followed the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. They later allied themselves with Russian-backed warlord Khalifa Haftar when he began his attempt to take the capital in 2019. Residents and U.N. investigators say their group, known as the Kaniyat, began rounding up residents and carrying out extrajudicial executions as a means of suppressing opposition to their rule. (WSJ, October 22, 2021)
In Era of Social Acrimony, The Rebbe’s Words And Wisdom Provide Insight Into Bridging Divides: Sarah Ogince, JNS, October 25, 2021 — Chabad may be synonymous with Jewish outreach, but once a year, for three days, the movement reaches in.
