MEDIA-OCRITY OF THE WEEK
Pierre Poilievre’s Dominant Win Is the Death Knell of Moderate Conservatism In Canada: Jen Gerson, Globe and Mail, Sept. 11, 2022
“With Pierre Poilievre’s decisive victory in the federal Conservatives’ leadership race, the party now has a generational opportunity to radically reimagine what Conservative policies could be palatable to the Canadian public. A strong mandate at his back, the man nicknamed Skippy need only to win the trust of a plurality of the electorate to implement reforms that would have been dismissed as untouchable by Stephen Harper. And if this Conservative leadership race was a fight for the soul of the party, … the results are in. Reform is back, baby. Moderate conservatism is dead, and the harder-right, angrier, rougher edge will live the life everlasting. In the end, it wasn’t even close. … This vision of centrism isn’t guided by principle or ideology; it is a creation of social positioning. Centrism isn’t a label adopted by people who believe in anything specific; rather, it is preferred by those who want others to believe something about them.… The centrists may yet prove to be Cassandras. Mr. Poilievre’s campaign may indeed foreshadow a far darker track: a destructive populism that plays on World Economic Forum conspiracy theories and undermines trust in long-standing institutions like the Bank of Canada in favour of a politics rooted in narcissism and grievance. I offer no predictions.” [Former PM Stephen Harper personally endorsed Mr. Poilievre – Ed.]
Israeli President Isaac Herzog blasted “the biased and politicized resolutions … singling out Israel at the World Health Assembly. Such resolutions, based on falsehoods and ulterior motives, damage the work and reputation of this distinguished body, while negatively impacting health cooperation in the region. Health must be above politics” at the opening of the first-ever European Regional Conference of the World Health Organization (WHO) to be held in Israel. (Jerusalem Post, Sept. 12, 2022)
“… the story of the Jews is a miraculous one, one that therefore never ceases to surprise. “The number of Jews in the world is smaller than a small statistical error in the Chinese census. Yet we remain bigger than our numbers,” the essayist Milton Himmelfarb reflected after Israel’s Six Day War. “Big things seem to happen around us and to us.” The Jewish state’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, touched a deep truth when he supposedly quipped that “in Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.” And one can certainly see a miracle in the life of Herzl, who emerged out of Jewish assimilation in Austria, brought the Zionist Congress into being, and died soon after.” – Rabbi Meir Soloveitchik director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. (WSJ, Sept. 8, 2022)
“Wokeness”, he [billionaire investor Peter Thiel] posited, plays the same role as Wahabbism in the similarly afflicted Saudi Arabia. There is, of course, a minority — “maybe 20%” of true believers — but mostly it is a sort of lip service that Machiavellian elites pay to a system of values that allows them to keep the whole corrupt machine running. The problem with the Democratic Party, Thiel argued, is that it is effectively trapped in the California model — a fabulously wealthy and productive oligarchy on top, public-sector bureaucrats in the middle, and a feral underclass dependent on government transfers on the bottom. But that model can’t go national — there isn’t enough money in the tech sector to go around. Thiel also issued a word of warning to Republicans. The current GOP, he said, is stuck in a pure “nihilistic negation” of the Democrats’ California model — railing against wokeness, urban crime, and feces on the streets of San Francisco, without even attempting to offer a positive model to counter it.” – Park MacDougald. (Unherd, Sept. 12, 2022)
“[Newly elected Conservative leader Pierre] Poilievre’s liberal critics are all red-faced with the idea he cozies up to dangerous extremists, that he is a Canadian avatar of Donald Trump-style politics. What is in their cereal? Do they think A Handmaid’s Tale is a blueprint? They confuse a childish paranoid fiction with a serious reality. These fantasies do not explain his massive win, nor the unprecedented crowds that gathered for him coast to coast during the campaign. A whole lot of Canadians, and not just Conservatives, have grown exceedingly irritated, beyond mere annoyance, at the perpetual, smug self-righteousness and cloying preachiness of the ultra-woke “we always know best” Liberal leadership. … Poilievre won the Conservative leadership with such a vast majority because he is sensible, has some clue about life for most Canadians, because he is not a woke preacher disguised as a Prime Minister, and because he defied the opinions of much of the media.” – columnist Rex Murphy. (National Post, Sept. 12, 2022)
SHORT TAKES
ISRAEL’S DEFENSE MINISTER DISCLOSES 10 IRANIAN MISSILE PRODUCTION BASES IN SYRIA (Jerusalem) — At the Jerusalem Post annual conference in New York, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz disclosed a map showing over 10 different bases including an underground facility in the Syrian city of Masyaf, through which Iran distributes weapons, including long-range missiles, cruise missiles and UAVs to its proxies in the region. (Algemeiner, Sept. 12, 2022)
ISRAEL REJECTS U.S. CALL FOR REVIEW OF IDF RULES OF ENGAGEMENT IN WEST BANK (Jerusalem) — Israel rejected the U.S. call for it to review the Israel Defense Forces’ rules of engagement in the West Bank as part of accountability steps for the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The Biden administration will, however, continue to press Israel “to closely review its policies and practices on rules of engagement” of the IDF in the occupied West Bank. (Axios, Sept. 7, 2022)
SENIOR ISRAELI OFFICIAL: IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL IS DEAD (Jerusalem) — The Iran nuclear deal is dead, a senior Israeli official said, adding that Israel had revealed intelligence to the accord’s American and U.S. partners that exposed Iranian lies throughout the recent talks to revive it. According to the official, Jerusalem phased U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley out of discussions on Iran. However, a U.S. State Dept. official shot down these claims and said that the Biden administration is “continuing to seek a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] because President Biden is convinced that this is the best way to deliver on his commitment not to allow Iran to possess a nuclear weapon,” (WIN, Sept. 12, 2022; WIN, Sept. 13, 2022)
IN BERLIN, LAPID SHARES ‘SENSITIVE’ INTELLIGENCE ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM (Berlin) — PM Yair Lapid presented German Chancellor Olaf Scholz with “sensitive” intelligence information about Iran’s nuclear program as Israel demands an end to talks with Tehran. The information Israel shared was “granted full attention” adding that he welcomed the recent statement by the E3 countries – Germany, France and the UK – which raised serious doubts on Iran’s sincerity to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). (Algemeiner, Sept. 12, 2022)
IRAN SAYS IT HAS DEVELOPED DRONE ‘DESIGNED TO HIT ISRAEL’S TEL AVIV, HAIFA’ – MEHR NEWS (Tehran) — Iran has developed an advanced long-range suicide drone “designed to hit Israel’s Tel Aviv, Haifa”, the semi-official Mehr News wrote. The drone, named Arash-2, is a newer version of Arash-1. (US News, Sept. 12, 2022)
IAEA CHIEF: DIFFICULT TO RESTORE KNOWLEDGE OF IRAN’S NUCLEAR STATUS (Vienna) — As long as the IAEA’s around 27 cameras are still shut off by Tehran, as they have been since June, “the information gap is getting bigger and bigger and bigger.” International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said. (Jerusalem Post, Sept. 12, 2022)
IRAN’S REGIME CAUGHT SEEKING NUCLEAR WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY IN SWEDEN (Tehran) — A damning new Swedish intelligence report accuses Iran of illegal attempts to secure nuclear weapons technology in the Scandinavian nation during 2021. The Swedish document places new question marks over the efficacy of the controversial Iran nuclear deal that rewards the clerical regime with up to $275 billion in economic benefits during the first year of an agreement and as much as $1 trillion by 2030, according to one estimate. (Fox News, Sept. 5, 2022)
PRESIDENT HERZOG TO ATTEND QUEEN ELIZABETH’S FUNERAL (Jerusalem) — President Isaac Herzog will attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral next Monday, September 19, to formally represent Israel among dozens of other heads of state. Prime Minister Yair Lapid will not attend, flying instead on the 19th to New York. He, along with over a hundred other heads of state and government will participate in the opening of the UN General Assembly where leaders address the world. (WIN, Sept. 11, 2022)
LIZ TRUSS TO CONTINUE UK SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL (London) — Liz Truss, who replaced Boris Johnson as prime minister of the United Kingdom, confirmed her commitment to the fight against antisemitism and support for Israel. In an interview with the London-based Jewish Chronicle earlier in August, the new prime minister stressed that there is no greater friend of the UK than Israel, even suggesting during the campaign within her party that she would be open to the transfer of the British embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as the United States did under former president Donald Trump. (i24, Sept. 7, 2022)
ISRAELI, US RESEARCHERS FIND WAY TO DIAGNOSE ALZHEIMER’S THROUGH RETINA – STUDY (Ashdod) — Doctors in the Samson Assuta-Ashdod University Hospital ophthalmology department suggest that they can diagnose Alzheimer’s by looking for beta-amyloid plaques and abnormal tau proteins in the retina of the eye. The advantage is the accessibility of the retina for direct visualization by non-invasive means. Alzheimer’s disease – the progressive neurological disorder that causes the brain to shrink and brain cells to die – is the most common cause of dementia. (Jerusalem Post, Sept. 11, 2022)
TWITTER IS CESSPOOL OF ANTISEMITIC TWEETS, SAYS NEW STUDY (LA) – According to a new study, the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (ISCA) found that between 2019 and 2020, over two million tweets about Jews and Israel were antisemitic, with one being posted every twenty seconds in 2020. ISCA noted that such tweets proliferated “despite claims from Twitter that they were cracking down on antisemitism and Holocaust denial.” (Algemeiner, Sept. 12, 2022)
US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WILL INVESTIGATE AN ALLEGED ANTISEMITIC ENVIRONMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT (Montpelier) –The investigation is the latest in a series opened by the US Department of Education’s civil rights office into allegations of antisemitism on college campuses. The complaint alleges that UVM violated its Jewish students’ civil rights by failing to respond adequately to multiple incidents last year, including individuals throwing rocks at the campus Hillel; exclusion of pro-Israel students from student groups; and social media posts by a teaching assistant about lowering the grades of Zionist students. (JTA, Sept. 13, 2022)
AN ISRAELI COMIC BOOK HERO IS APPEARING IN A MARVEL MOVIE. EXCITEMENT — AND BACKLASH — HAVE COME QUICKLY. (LA) — Marvel Studios announced that an Israeli comic book hero will appear in the next installment of its Captain America movie franchise. Since the details of Marvel projects are kept under tight wraps until their release, it is not known how prominent Haas’ character, the first Israeli to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will be in the film. Between 1980 and 2019, Sabra appeared in 50 issues, according to a Marvel fandom page. (JTA, Sept. 12, 2022)
NEW YORK FINALIZES RULES REQUIRING PRIVATE SCHOOLS, INCLUDING YESHIVAS, TO PROVE THEY MEET STANDARDS (NY) — A key education policy committee signed off on new regulations for private schools. The regulations are proposed amendments to New York State’s “substantial equivalency” regulations meant to clarify how the state determines that private schools offer instruction that is similar to that offered in public schools. New York’s Board of Regents, which sets education policy for the state, has been weighing them since 2018, spurred largely by criticism of the state’s Hasidic Jewish yeshivas. (NY Jewish Week, Sept. 12, 2022)
YESHIVA U CAN BLOCK LGBTQ CLUB FOR TIME BEING, SUPREME COURT SAYS (NYC) — Yeshiva University can block an LGBTQ student club while litigation pends on its right to do so, the U.S. Supreme Court decreed. The decision, handed out late Friday, does not represent a judgment about whether the Modern Orthodox institution can prohibit the YU Pride Alliance permanently, as it is seeking to do. Still, it is a setback for LGBTQ students and advocates who had felt momentum was on their side after a New York court ruled that the university must recognize the club and a state appeals court said the university’s appeal was no cause for delay. (NY Jewish Week, Sept. 11, 2022)
BY 2-TO-1, VOTERS CALL BIDEN MAGA REMARKS DIVISIVE: I&I/TIPP POLL (Washington) — President Biden’s recent comments about Trump supporters espousing “semi-fascism” and accusing the former president’s followers of representing “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic” shocked many Americans. Despite White House denials of ill intent, a majority of voters call Biden’s remarks divisive, September’s I&I/TIPP Poll shows. During his campaign for the presidency and even in his inauguration speech in 2021, President Biden vowed to “unify” the country after years of often-bitter political division, an idea that voters warmed towards, polls showed. (Tipp Insights, Sept. 12, 2022)
CANADA, NOT U.S., TO RESETTLE SOME AFGHAN RELIGIOUS MINORITIE (Ottawa) — Canada is accepting at least some religious minorities who have been languishing for a year in temporary housing in the United Arab Emirates, according to a U.S. government source. It’s unclear how many of the approximately 1,500 Afghan religious minorities in the UAE will ultimately find refuge in Canada. Details on how the relocation and resettlement will work and when flights will leave are even hazier. (Real Clear Politics, Sept. 12, 2022)
IN RESPONSE TO LEITH MAROUF SCANDAL, HUSSEN OUTLINES NEW TRAINING, PROTOCOLS FOR HERITAGE FUNDING (Ottawa) — Heritage Canada will ensure multiple government officials review funding applications — and get better training on how to vet social media posts — following the revelations the Liberal government funded anti-racism training by a consultant with a history of antisemitic tweets. Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen sent a letter to the organization promising changes at Heritage Canada in response to the Laith Marouf scandal. (National Post, Sept. 12, 2022)
The Private Organizations Trying to Get to the Bottom of the Marouf Affair: Barbara Kay, National Post, Sept. 11, 2022 — The Laith Marouf scandal is so egregious, it reads like a storyboard for a satiric film.
WATCH: Lebanese Journalist Blasts Hezbollah, ‘I Want My Son to Live’: WIN,Sept. 12, 2022 — Hezbollah “can feel free to die,” says Lebanese journalist Rami Naim. “Lebanon is a peaceful country. I want to live.”******