ANNE FRANK – A HISTORY FOR TODAY:  MARCH 4 TO APRIL 25, 2021, Canadian War Museum

 Join us here at 7 p.m. on March 3 to watch the virtual opening of Anne Frank – A History for Today.

MEDIA OCRITIES OF THE WEEK

Thirteen die in collision of truck, crowded SUV near U.S.-Mexico border:  Bing Guan and Sharon Bernstein, National Post (Reuters), Mar. 2, 2021

“At least 13 people, 10 of them Mexican nationals, were killed on Tuesday when a tractor-trailer slammed into a Ford Expedition crammed with 25 adults and children in the dusty farming community of Holtville near the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.”

Like the major media television newscasts,  the article fails to note that the “Mexican nationals”   involved in this tragedy were illegal Mexican immigrants.  Many of them were children, lying atop one another crammed into the emptied-out SUV by smugglers, part of the growing illegal immigrant wave inundating the southern US border after only four weeks of the Biden  Administration’s hurried dismantling of the former Trump Administration’s immigration policy.

Here are the ‘wrong’ illustrations that got six Dr. Seuss books cancelled:  Tristan Hopper, National Post, Mar. 3, 2021

Choosing the late Dr.Seuss’s (Theodore S. Geisel) birthday to make the announcement, “Dr.Seuss Enterprises”, manager  of his estate,  declared it will cease publication of six of the most famous children’s story writer’s titles [6 of the 10 most popular childrens’ books of all time]. Famous for his liberal values and rejection of racism, “experts” have, nevertheless, determined that his books (recommended by Michelle Obama and Melanie Trump) “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong”. (National Post and The Globe and Mail, Mar. 3,  2021). These books include:

So you will not, will not see
Cat in the Hat or Me in the Tree
We’re too effete for Mulberry Street
Our Woke Grinch heads with idiocy replete
Green scrambled brains repeat–“Delete!  Delete!

WEEKLY QUOTES

“Biden and I are close friends, we talked a lot about Iran, for a whole hour.  I do not leave the security of Israel in the hands of anyone … I told him – with or without an agreement, my duty as Prime Minister of Israel is to prevent the recurrence of atrocities committed against our people,” – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview on Channel 13 on his hour-long phone discussion with US President Joe Biden, which was spent discussing Iran. (WIN, Feb. 26, 2021)

“There is a total double standard when it comes to enforcement of this in Washington.  I think we’ve got to look at the details because if these meetings were happening and he was undermining U.S. policy by offering a different alternative, a different set of carrots if you will, we really need to get to the bottom of this.” – Former acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell said of the Logan Act, which criminalizes negotiations by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. “We should not look the other way,” he added referring to John Kerry’s reported secret meetings with Iranian leaders after then-President Donald Trump removed the United States from the Iran nuclear deal. (Newsmax, Mar. 2, 2021)

“The blood of many Americans is on the hands of Quasem Soleimani. He was as close to an indispensable man as you could find inside Iran. Where he went violence and death followed. [During the American occupation of Iraq, Soleimani had orchestrated attacks which killed more than 600 U.S. troops and according to McKenzie, he was planning to do it again.]  We saw intelligence reports where Qasem Soleimani was moving various attack streams forward against our forces in Iraq, against our embassy and against other bases there. [Were they imminent?] Perhaps in hours, perhaps in days, probably not weeks. … I never take killing anyone as, as an easy decision, but I think the risk of not acting in this case outweighed the risks of acting, so, yes, I was good with the decision.” — Marine General Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East in an interview with correspondent David Martin on 60 Minutes.  Martin interviewed US troops who were there as an Iranian ballistic missile attack rained down on Al Asad Airbase in Iraq, which was in retaliation for the US’s assassination of Quasem Soleimani.  (CBS News, Feb. 28, 2021)

“… From a principled perspective, the notion of divesting from one nation in the name of helping an entirely separate nation strikes me as odd. – Julia Leb equating the BDS movement on university campuses with antisemitism.  (Daily Trojan, Feb. 18, 2021)

“One wonders what this Court waits for,” understates [Supreme Court Justice Clarence] Thomas in his dissent, adding “we failed to settle this dispute before the election, and thus provide clear rules. Now we again fail to provide clear rules for future elections. The decision to leave election law hidden beneath a shroud of doubt is baffling. By doing nothing, we invite further confusion and erosion of voter confidence. Our fellow citizens deserve better and expect more of us.”

“In other words, we are punting the ball again.  But let’s make no mistake — this is “not doing nothing” with all respect to Justice Thomas. This is proactive, and it absolutely legalizes institutional voter fraud and neuters state legislatures in lieu of state courts. Lawyers gonna lawyer, I reckon.” — C. Edmund Wright on the Supreme Court’s refusal to “grant cert” (i.e., to take the case) in a Pennsylvania case.  “What the Supreme Court codified yesterday, and what it started with the Texas rejection, is that election laws and procedures cannot be challenged beyond a state court, at any time, regardless of how badly those states shred the United States Constitution, and regardless of the major consequences to the other 49 states as a result.”  (American Thinker, Feb. 23, 2021)

SHORT TAKES

ISRAELI-OWNED SHIP HIT BY EXPLOSION IN OMAN GULF (Oman)

A ship owned by a Tel Aviv-based company was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman overnight and a US defense official said the blast left holes in both sides of the vessel’s hull. The vessel and crew are safe.  The ship was en route to Singapore. Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations filed a letter of complaint to the UN Security Council. (Asharq Al-Awsat, Feb. 26, 2021)

1,800 FORMER ISRAELI GENERALS, SERVICE MEMBERS URGE BIDEN NOT TO RETURN TO JCPOA (Jerusalem)

On March 1, a group of 1,800 retired Israeli generals, officers and Mossad operatives wrote a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden urging him not to return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The group, which goes by the name “Habithonistim,” states that it has watched “with great concern” as the Biden administration seeks to return to the “flawed principles” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). (WIN, Mar. 2, 2021)

HIGH COURT RECOGNIZES REFORM, CONSERVATIVE CONVERSIONS CARRIED OUT IN ISRAEL (Jerusalem)

The High Court of Justice ruled Monday that people who convert to Judaism in Israel through the Reform and Conservative movements must be recognized as Jews for the purpose of the Law of Return, and are thus entitled to Israeli citizenship. The bombshell decision, which shatters the longstanding Orthodox monopoly on officially recognized conversions in Israel, was the culmination of an appeal process that began more than 15 years ago, involving 12 people in the country who converted to Judaism through non-Orthodox denominations. The justices specified that they had previously withheld issuing a ruling to allow the state to handle the matter, but the state had failed to do so. (Times of Israel, Mar. 2, 2021)

WE FLIPPED THE SCRIPT’: POMPEO’S FIGHT FOR ISRAEL AND PEACE(Jerusalem)

At a Combat Anti-Semitism Movement (CAM) virtual summit, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described how, as part of the Trump administration, he helped fight anti-Semitism, make peace in the Middle East, and turn conventional wisdom on its head. CAM awarded Pompeo with its first-ever Global Leadership Award for “his exceptional and groundbreaking contributions to the fight against anti-Semitism and religious prejudice of all forms, his deep and steadfast friendship with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and his role in crafting the Abraham Accords.” (World Israel News, Mar. 2, 2021)

REVEALED: OBAMA PUSHED ISRAEL TO SURRENDER STRATEGIC TERRITORY (Washington)

Just a few months before the Syrian civil war erupted in March 2011, the Obama administration offered the Assad regime an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights in return for severing ties with Iran and Hezbollah. According to a report by Asharq Al-Awsat, which was relayed to the newspaper by senior American and Syrian officials who were involved in the negotiations at the time, the talks reached an advanced stage and the sides had even prepared a document for signing. The talks involved then-American envoy Frederic Hof, the paper said, along with former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The report was not confirmed by any official source in the United States or Syria but does somewhat coincide with claims made by another former U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, in his book “Every Day Is Extra.” (United With Israel, Mar. 2, 2021)

MCGILL UNIVERSITY JEWISH GROUPS DECRY ‘MISLEADING’ BDS MOTION TYING ISRAEL TO UIGHUR PERSECUTION (Montreal)

The Jewish community at McGill University spoke out against an “intentionally misleading” divestment motion passed by the Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council, which includes Israeli companies alongside others it charges with “forced labor and genocide” in China. A statement of protest was signed by the groups StandWithUs Canada, Chabad at McGill, Jewish Experience, Downtown Montreal and Challah for Hunger MTL, as well as the McGill Jewish Studies Students’ Association’s Mettannah Jacobson and Georgia Bender. (Algemeiner, Feb. 26, 2021)

LEFT-WING JEWISH GROUPS URGE BIDEN NOT TO ENFORCE TRUMP’S ‘MADE IN ISRAEL’ LABEL POLICY (Washington)

Six left-wing Jewish organizations asked the Biden administration to revoke a policy by the former Trump administration to label goods from the West Bank, as “Made in Israel.” Signees of the letter were J Street, the New Israel Fund, Partners for Progressive Israel, Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now and T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. (JNS, Feb. 24, 2021)

AIRLINE STAFF ALLEGEDLY APPLAUDS AS JEWISH COUPLE IS KICKED OFF AIRPLANE (Florida)

A disturbing video went viral on Sunday night, which depicts a Hasidic Jewish couple getting kicked off a plane, allegedly due to their two-year-old child not wearing a mask. Applauds are heard as the couple is kicked off. Multiple travelers claim to have witnessed the Frontier Airlines staff high fiving each other and saying, “we did it.”  The incident took place on a FlyFrontier flight, which was supposed to leave Miami for New York’s Laguardia airport. Multiple passengers defended the family, which led to the airline staff ordering everyone off the plane. (Post Millennial, Mar. 1, 2021)

BBC CORRECTS FALSE REPORT ON ISRAEL AND VACCINES (London)

In a rare move, the British Broadcasting Corporation issued an apology, saying one of its reporters was wrong to insist that it was Israel’s responsibility to provide the Palestinians with coronavirus vaccinations.  During an interview with The Jewish Chronicle ‘s Jonathan Sacerdoti on the BBC program Dateline London, BBC host Shaun Ley insisted that the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority meant that Israel was responsible for vaccinating Palestinians.  Untrue.  Under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinians asked for and were given complete control over their health system, specifically including vaccinations. (WIN, Feb. 20, 2021)

BBC PANEL DEBATE ON WHETHER JEWS ARE AN ‘ETHNIC MINORITY’ DRAWS OUTRAGE FROM BRITISH JEWS (London)

Outrage erupted among British Jews and Jewish organizations after one of the BBC’s top programs, “Politics Live,” held a panel discussion debating whether Jews are an “ethnic minority,” which many deemed offensive. Benjamin Cohen — CEO of the LGBT publication Pink News was the only Jew on the panel. The other panelists were Conservative party MP Lee Rowley, Labour party peer Lord Wood, the New Economics Foundation’s Miatta Fahnbulleh, and a columnist for the Spectator magazine, Kate Andrews. Criticism centred on the panel’s host, Jo Coburn, who mused “many Jews have succeeded in reaching high political office and therefore don’t need to be seen as a group needing recognition in the same way as others.” (Algemeiner, Mar. 2, 2021)

GERMAN COURT CONVICTS FORMER SYRIAN OFFICIAL OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (Koblenz)

A German court convicted Eyad al-Gharib, a former Syrian secret police officer of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity for his role in arresting and transporting protesters to an interrogation center known for torture nearly a decade ago. al-Gharib, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. He is the first former Syrian official to be convicted of crimes against humanity, in a case that rights groups have hailed as a landmark in the effort to ensure justice for violations committed during Syria’s civil war. (NY Times, Feb. 24, 2021)

TRUDEAU LIBERALS WANT ‘VOTE BY TELEPHONE’ OPTION, MORE MAIL-IN BALLOTS IN FEDERAL ELECTION (Ottawa)

Liberal Party MPs declared “that Elections Canada should explore the options for establishing a vote by phone option” in a majority report delivered to Parliament. The majority report also recommended expanding the use of mail-in voting tenfold, suggesting that it would “ensure voters are aware of how they can vote should they miss the mail-in deadline.” Liberals have suggested that up to five million Canadians could vote by mail in the next election, over one quarter of Canadian voters. The NDP, meanwhile, has expressed concern over an existing clause in the Elections Act, arguing that it leaves elections open to abuse by the cabinet. The clause in question allows cabinet to “order the withdrawal of a writ for any electoral district” affected by natural disaster, including a pandemic. (Post Millennial, Mar.1,2021)

POLL: MOST CANADIANS BELIEVE TRUDEAU LIBERALS WILL HAVE VACCINES AVAILABLE FOR ALL BY SEPTEMBER (Ottawa)

– A new poll from Leger shows that 56% of Canadians believe that the government will fulfill its promise to have vaccines available for every Canadian who wants one by September. (Post Millennial, Mar. 2, 2021)

CANADA’S ECONOMY HAD ITS WORST YEAR ON RECORD IN 2020(Ottawa)

Statistics Canada records show that Canada’s economy in 2020 had its worst showing on record. According to StatsCan, “real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020, following record fluctuations in the previous two quarters. In 2020, real GDP shrank 5.4%, the steepest annual decline since quarterly data were first recorded in 1961. Final domestic demand rose 0.9% in the fourth quarter, but was down 4.5% for 2020 overall.” (Post Millennial, Mar. 2, 2021)

GEORGIA HOUSE PASSES OMNIBUS ELECTION REFORM BILL(Georgia)

Georgia’s House of Representatives passed an omnibus bill that would reform a range of election rules, including over absentee voting, voter ID for absentee voting, time limits for voting, and more. (Epoch Times, Mar. 2, 2021)

TEXAS GOVERNOR DECLARES STATE IS REOPENING ‘100 PERCENT’(Dallas)

Texas Governor Greg Abbot announced that the state of Texas will be fully reopening businesses as more and more Texans are being vaccinated against coronavirus. He is also ending the state-wide mask mandate. (Post Millennial, Mar. 2, 2021)

MR. POTATO HEAD GOES GENDER NEUTRAL (Pawtucket, Rhode Island.)

Hasbro created confusion when it announced that it would drop the “Mr.” from the brand’s name in order to be more inclusive and so all could feel “welcome in the Potato Head world.” It also said it would sell a new playset this fall without the Mr. and Mrs. designations that will let kids create their own type of potato families, including two moms or two dads. (WIN, Mar. 2, 2021)

  FOR FURTHER REFERENCE