Pro-Palestinian Protests: Insulting, Annoying

Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

https://garyfouse.blogspot.com 

Hat tip PJ Media 

-Yahoo News

For years, our college campuses have been subjected to pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests that all-too-often cross the line into pure anti-Semitism. One would have thought that after the October 7 atrocities visited upon Israeli civilians-even children and infants-by the monsters of Hamas these protests would go away in shame. Not so. They have become more insulting and more annoying. Just in the past week or so, we have seen access roads to major airports in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles shut down by these mopes with their black and white keffiyehs and Palestinian flags. Christmas shoppers have had to put up with these reprobates. And in what is the most outrageous display of all, they shut down the World Trade Center site in New York, site of the 9-11 attacks. Some were even shouting, "Allahu akhbar".

Meanwhile, in Europe, police have had to drastically increase security at those Christmas markets that are at risk every December because they are so offensive to certain immigrants.

This is not how you win friends and influence people. Quite the contrary.

Here is what needs to be done:

Protests that block traffic and shut down public access should be met with arrests. Stiff fines and 30 days in jail would also be appropriate assuming no other violence or destruction was involved. Attacks on Jews should be charged as hate crimes and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

If the offenders are not US citizens, they should be deported when the justice system is done with them. After all, they are what we used to refer to as "undesirable aliens". 

This also applies to campus protests that go beyond the point of being lawful and peaceful. Offenders should be promptly expelled. If they are foreign students, their student visas should be canceled and they should be deported.

Of course, given the state of cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and others as "sanctuary cities" and given the state of our universities, I recognize I am engaging in wishful thinking. 

But as the quality of life is rapidly disappearing from large cities and universities are now starting to see donors turning away in disgust, there is hope for some sort of gradual change. A handful of universities have acted to suspend the odious Students for Justice in Palestine from their campuses. Hopefully, one day all universities will follow suit. The forced resignation of the president of the University of Pennsylvania is a hopeful sign. The pressure on Harvard and M.I.T. to follow suit should be kept on. Finally, the nation's attention is focused on campus anti-Semitism, albeit about 20 years too late but better late than never.

Ultimately, however, it is up to us the citizens, the voters to bring about change. As long as we keep electing politicians who allow this rot to continue-beginning at our borders- who turn their cities into sanctuary cities and who keep funding universities that teach their students to engage in these asinine activities, nothing will change.

On September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers screamed "Allahu akhbar" as they flew planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the ground in Pennsylvania. These are hollowed sites, and it is intolerable that people would repeat that phrase at the site of the Twin Towers. It is an insult to the memories of the 3,000 people who died that day.

France's March Against Anti-Semitism: Who Marched, Who Didn't

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

-Agence France Presse

Yesterday, an estimated 180,000 French people took to the streets all over the country to march against anti-Semitism, an estimated 100,000 just in Paris. The march drew some controversy over who chose to attend and who did not. French President Emmanuel Macron, while he issued numerous statements against Jew-hatred, chose not to march, for which he is drawing criticism. Far-left politician  Jean-Luc Melenchon also refused to march since, well, he is pro-Palestinian. Conservative leader Marine Le Pen did march, and that drew comment since some have accused her party, Rassemblement National, of having some anti-Semitic influences. Much of that comes from Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has a long history of anti-Semitic statements.

According to the below article by Clemence de Longraye in the conservative outlet, Boulevard Voltaire, another group was noticeable by its absence. The Muslim community in France.

While it is impossible to gauge how many individual Muslims marched on their own initiative (a couple of dissident imams did, in fact, participate), it appears that community leaders discouraged their faithful from attending. Of course, today, France is remembering the 8th anniversary of the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks (Bataclan nightclub, etc) carried out by Muslim fanatics. It should also be pointed out that there are very logical reasons why few Muslims would join yesterday's march. One reason is the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, in which almost all Muslims support Hamas. Another reason is that anti-Semitism is deeply embedded in Islamic teaching. How could any Muslim religious leader urge their followers to march against what is in the Koran and the hadith?

The below article is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.bvoltaire.fr/edito-marche-contre-lantisemitisme-les-musulmans-grands-absents/

Editorial: March against anti-Semitism-Largely absent, the Muslims

Clemence de Longraye  13 November, society, anti-Semitism 

"France marches against anti-Semitism". Seen from abroad, the fight against anti-Jewish hate seems unanimous in France. Really? This Sunday, 12 November, as 180,000 French (all religions combined) hit the streets to say "no" to anti-Semitism, one community was absent: the Muslims. 

The day after the demonstration, several participants were moved by this absence. On CNews, Meyer Habib, deputy of the Republicans for Overseas French, notes that "there was a large absence in this march, the Muslim community". An observation shared by the Jewish authorities in France. At the microphone of RMC, Elie Korchia, president of the Central Israeli Consistory of France, though he welcomes the success of this demonstration, laments this absence. "It's too bad. When you have the world on the streets, that all religions are there, and the one missing is the Muslim religion, it's a glaring absence," he laments. And his colleague, Joel Mergui, president of the Israeli Consistory of Paris, adds on France Info: " We did not see Muslims massively appealing to come and demonstrate."  

The silence of Muslim authorities

As Joel Mergui points out, the absence of Muslims in France in the march against anti-Semitism is notably due to the silence of the Muslim authorities. With the exception of some dissident imams like Hassen Chalgouni (Drancy) or Tareq Oubrou (Bordeaux), who publicly announced their participation in the November 12 march, the majority of Muslim authorities preferred to keep their silence. The organization, Muslims in France (UOIF), accused of proximity to the Muslim Brotherhood, though they claimed "to condemn all forms of hate or violence against our Jewish compatriots without reserve and with the greatest firmness,"  did not wish to respond to the appeal of Gerard Larcher, president of the Senate, and Yael Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, to march against anti-Semitism. 

The French Council of the Muslim Worship (CFCM), for its part, made clear its refusal to participate in this demonstration. On November 8, on X ( formerly Twitter), the (group) hid behind the participation of the Rassemblement National in this march to justify its non-participation. In a press release, the CFCM explained that they "understand the reticence of Muslims in France to march alongside anti-Muslim racists". And it continued, "This march, which has the exclusive objective of denouncing anti-Semitism, should have made it a fight against racism. And there, we would have attended this march with all our hearts".

A new anti-Semitism

This glaring absence in the march against anti-Semitism also shines the light on the new anti-Semitism that the Jewish community confronts today. In effect, as revealed by "X-ray on anti-Semitism", conducted by the Foundation for Political Innovation (Edition 2022), 15% of Muslims say they "feel antipathy toward Jews, that is a proportion more than 10 points more than that measured in the population as a whole". Moreover, the hostile prejudices toward the Jewish community find a particular echo within the Muslim community. Thus, the idea of Jewish control over the media (54%, that is 30 points more than the French population) or finance (51%, + 27 points), is "shared by ( more than 50% ) of Muslims". This adherence to anti-Semitic prejudices is even stronger when the Muslim regularly frequents the mosque, Fondapol also notes. It is logical that the imams did not mobilize very much for the demonstration. 

Biden in Maui: A Total Disgrace

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

I have been watching videos of President Biden's arrival in Maui and his remarks. I am completely dumbfounded at what I have watched and heard. Flanked by Hawaiian officials, he starts by making inane remarks designed to produce chuckles but totally out of place with the event. Then he later compares a minor house fire he had several years ago that was caused by lightning to what has happened in Maui. A simple kitchen fire that was extinguished in 20 minutes. When talking about the Lahaina fire, the destruction, the dead, and the missing, he had to read from a sheet of paper.

And it appears he's already gone. According to Sean Hannity on his Fox News show tonight, Biden has flown back to Lake Tahoe to resume his vacation. Of course, he just finished his vacation in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. 

It just staggers the imagination.

This man, whose corruption in the Ukrainian Burisma scandal has just worsened today with the disclosure of State Department documents that strongly indicate that his demand to fire the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma and his son, Hunter, was not based on US policy, but his own personal interest. The documents revealed by investigative reporter John Solomon on Hannity's show tonight indicate that State and other agencies had urged the administration to go ahead with the billion-dollar aid package to Ukraine because it was their opinion that the government was making progress on corruption. This story will surely be expanded in the coming days. 

Joe Biden has neither the cognitive ability nor the integrity to serve as president. Everybody knows it whether they will admit it or not. And to make matters worse, his resignation (or impeachment) would only make Kamala Harris our president, another scary thought.

God help this country in such a troubled time.

US Loses to Sweden in Women's World Cup (Soccer)

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

https://garyfouse.blogspot.com

 I hardly follow the sport of soccer at all, let alone, women's soccer, but I have to make a short reference to the elimination of the US women's soccer team by Sweden on Sunday.

As one who considers himself a patriotic American, I confess that I am pleased.

In my mind, this group of young ladies-with a handful of exceptions- has done nothing to merit the support of the American public. For several years now, we have put up with Megan Rapinoe's refusal to stand for our National Anthem before matches, coupled with her condemnation of her own country even before international forums. Then I saw a video clip of their recent match where most of the players stood around looking uninterested as the Anthem was played. A couple of the ladies placed their hands over their hearts, and a couple appeared to be singing, but for the most part, they appeared bored and uninterested.

So I say to myself, "why should I support this team?" If that is the attitude that the majority of this team appears to have about their own country, the country they are representing on the world stage, I have no interest in supporting them. So I am happy they lost. 

Now I can go back to ignoring the whole event.

Are the Walls Closing in on Joe Biden?

Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

https://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review.

(L-R) IRS agents Gary Shapely and Joseph Ziegler

History may record that the Republicans taking back the House of Representatives in 2022 was a landmark event in bringing about the downfall of Joe Biden. At the risk of getting ahead of myself here, the House hearings into the Biden family misdeeds seem to be bearing fruit. At appears about half a dozen FBI and IRS whistle-blowers have come forward to tell House Republicans how their investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings with China, Ukraine, and other questionable entities, coupled with his tax problems, was thwarted by the Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland.

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapely and Joseph Ziegler have now publicly testified under oath that their investigation into Hunter Biden was obstructed by DOJ. They claim that the US Attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, told them that he was not given permission by DOJ to fully investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings. Garland has denied this allegation to Congress. In a letter to the House, Weiss basically supported Garland’s claim. This is a matter that needs to be clarified fully and in detail because somebody is lying to Congress here. As everyone knows, Hunter Biden has been allowed to plead to a sweetheart deal that fails to serve the cause of justice given the huge amounts of money he has reportedly failed to pay taxes on.

In addition, after much wrangling, Congress has finally obtained a copy of an official FBI report (FD-1023) that outlined allegations made by a confidential informant, whom they have described as highly trustworthy, one who has had a long association with the Bureau as a source of information. This informant told agents that he or she had met with Mykola Zlochevsky, the head of the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, in Kiev and was told by him that he had 17 tape-recorded conversations with Joe (2) and Hunter Biden (15), as well as text exchanges discussing payments to the Biden family in exchange with then-Vice President Biden’s (successful) efforts to get the Ukrainian prosecutor fired who was investigating Burisma. This occurred while Hunter Biden was serving on Burisma’s Board of Directors. According to what the source heard from Zlochevsky, ten million dollars was paid to Joe and Hunter Biden, evenly divided. Others were reportedly at this meeting including Oleksandr Ostapenko, who reportedly traveled to Ukraine with the informant. If true, it would mean that Joe Biden had another reason to get the prosecutor fired aside from protecting his son-cold hard cash.

At this point, I should point out that this is an allegation made by the confidential informant. It may be argued that it could all turn out to be another Steele Dossier, which contained unverified and false allegations against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. What is needed here is corroboration by Zlochevsky (and any others present) backed up by his producing and authenticating the recorded telephone conversations and texts. In addition, the payments need to be documented as well. I would assume that the appropriate travel documents for the source and Ostapenko are readily available for purposes of partial corroboration.

I have no idea whether Zlochevsky or the others present would be inclined to furnish this evidence and testimony, and given the huge military support we are giving Ukraine, I would not discount the possibility of international big-power politics getting involved here.

The task at hand for the House Republicans (because DOJ and the FBI cannot be trusted to follow this trail) is to corroborate what is alleged by the FBI informant through direct evidence-both testimony and documents- and to reconcile the contradiction between what the whistleblowers are telling Congress vs what Congress is being told by Garland and Weiss regarding alleged obstruction. If all that can be accomplished, the House Republicans can at least send a very strong referral for indictment to DOJ, not to mention a move toward impeachment. Of course, the difficulty of charging a sitting president also comes into play, added to the fact that DOJ has allowed the statute of limitations to pass on many of these alleged crimes, seemingly by slow-walking the whole investigative process.

Compared to the treatment of former President Donald Trump, it does not speak well for what was once the fairest system of justice in the world. 

A Look at BDS on College Campuses-With a Special Look at UC Riverside

 Hat tip Legal Insurrection

David Lloyd

UC Riverside

Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

https://garyfouse.blogspot.com

I am cross-posting an article in Legal Insurrection, which in turn, cross-posts a report by the National Association of Scholars (NAS) on the BDS campaign on college campuses (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) against Israel and its effect on free speech and academic freedom. The author of the report is Dr. Ian Oxnevad. It can be accessed here.

In the part of the report that deals specifically with UC Riverside, the name of English Professor David Lloyd is mentioned prominently since he is one of the campus leaders when it comes to BDS. In January 2014, per his invitation, Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of BDS, spoke at UCR. I attended and asked a question during the q and a. In describing Barghouti's presentation as one-sided, I asked the school if and when they might invite a pro-Israel speaker to campus to give students an opposing view. (Barghouti's appearance was officially sponsored by the school.) Lloyd personally responded and called my question "preposterous". Lloyd also referenced the 2010 appearance at UC Irvine by then-Israeli ambassador Michael Oren (I was also present for that event) and noted that Oren was never asked to debate pro-Palestinian voices. What Lllyd neglected to mention was that Oren was repeatedly disrupted by members of the Muslim Student Union, eight of whom were UC Irvine students and three of whom were UC Riverside students. All in all, 11 students had to be removed by campus police and were subsequently prosecuted and convicted.

But imagine that: Asking for some degree of balance of opposing opinions for university students is "preposterous". 

Omar Barghouti

I also videotaped the entire 2014 event at UCR which can be viewed here. 

Euthanasia in the Third Reich

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review.

Heil und Pflegeanstalt, Erlangen in 1890

Amid all the horrors of the Third Reich, including World War 2 and the Holocaust, one atrocity that is often overlooked (at least outside of Germany) was the program of euthanasia of mentally and physically handicapped people instituted by Hitler in 1939 when the war broke out. In Hitler's own terminology, these people were classified as "useless eaters". This program was referred to as "T4", named after the address of the office set up to oversee the program nationally (Tiergartenstrasse 4 in Berlin).

Under this program, patients in nursing care facilities around the country (Heil und Pflegenanstalten) were identified and their cases reviewed by doctors indoctrinated in Nazi philosophy. Once approved, these unfortunates (regardless of age) were transported to centers set up for the purpose of killing them by gas. It was sort of a dress rehearsal for the eventual gassing centers such as Auschwitz. This program also included children.

This went on without consultation with relatives of the patients, and these families were eventually notified by mail that their loved one had died in the nursing care facility of various natural causes or illnesses. The remains were generally cremated.

Yet, the public gradually became aware, and curiously enough, as complaints mounted, the Nazi government discontinued the program in 1941, but then reduced the patients' diets to the point that they gradually died of malnutrition.

While researching my book on the history of the German town of Erlangen (Erlangen: An American's History of a German Town), I became aware of the tragic history of their own Heil und Pflegeanstalt   This information was included in the chapter on the years 1933-1945.

With all that as a background, I happened to find a 2019 German YouTube documentary on the topic of the Heil und Pflegenanstalten of Ansbach and Neuendettelsau, two towns near Erlangen in Middle Franconia (Bavaria). In watching the video, I learned that many, if not most of the doomed patients in these two clinics were transferred to the facility at Erlangen before being shipped on to the infamous Hartheim Castle in Austria, which had been transformed into a euthanasia center. It is estimated that over 900 patients from Erlangen were euthanized in killing centers such as Hartheim and another 1,500 were allowed to starve to death.

Hartheim Castle in Austria

In the video, Als hätte es sie nie gegeben (As if they had never existed), there were clips of an interview with medical historian, Hans-Ludwig Siemen, as well as clips from his presentation on the topic, which took place in Erlangen. Siemen and Christine-Ruth Müller are co-authors of a book entitled, "Warum sie sterben mussten: Leidensweg und Vernichtung von Behinderten aus den Neuendettelsauer Pflegeanstalten im "Dritten Reich" (Why they had to die: Suffering and extermination of the disabled in the Neuendettelsau nursing homes in the Third Reich), published in 1991.

While watching the video, I happened to see a good friend of mine in Erlangen in the audience attending Siemen's presentation. I contacted him by email this week, and he quickly replied that indeed, it was him in the audience. With his permission, I am reposting what he emailed me:

Yes, that's me in the audience, Gary! Amazing coincidence! An act of providence really. I was there when Dr. Siemen spoke about the matter in the Volkshochschule Erlangen some years ago (before Corona). The reason is that in my mother's family, there were two physically (deaf and mute by birth) and finally probably mentally handicapped elderly women who died in the Bezirksklinikum Ansbach in the 1940s after they had been transferred from Neuendettelsau (Lutheran homes for the handicapped) to Ansbach where the Nazi physicians had total control. One of them died presumably due to the scanty "Hungerkost" diet, and the other one died in 1946, i.e. after the Nazi regime.

 I have been researching about their case in archives for years and will definitely write something about them because I feel they belong to our family although they have been more or less forgotten over the decades. Thank God both my grandmother and my mother told me frankly about them during their lifetime. I'll watch the video tomorrow in quiet. I'll touch base again with you afterward. Thanks a lot, Gary! Again I needed you to show me this. Wonderful connection!

All the best,

Helmut

The site of the Erlangen Heil und Pflegeanstalt is now part of the University of Erlangen Psychiatric Clinic. Recently, the city of Erlangen tore down some of the old buildings, but some of it has been left standing as part of a memorial to the victims. It is one of many examples of sites related to the Nazi years that have become the subject of debate. Should they be torn down, erased, or preserved in an appropriate context so as to remind future generations of a time that must never be repeated. Just a few miles south of Erlangen, the city of Nuremberg is wrestling with what to do with the surviving (but crumbling) relics of the Nazi Party Rally grounds.

As a side note, when Erlangen fell to the US Army in 1945, a World War 1 memorial to Germany's fallen was partially torn down by the Americans. While they left standing concrete blocks with the names of Erlangen's war dead, a huge statue of a seated soldier, shirtless, with a helmet, was removed as being overly militaristic.

My personal opinion is that in the case of Germany, these sites should be preserved in some manner as a memorial to the victims. In the US, we are having a somewhat similar debate over the preservation of Civil War memorials. History, good or bad, cannot be erased. It is there. All we can try to do is put it in an appropriate context and learn from it.

Biden and Simple Possession of Marijuana

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

https://garyfouse.blogspot.com

President Biden has made his pitch for the pot-smoking vote this week by announcing that he is issuing pardons for anybody who has been convicted on the federal level for simple possession of marijuana. This raises a lot of interesting points.

As a retired DEA agent, I did have occasions to work marijuana cases. Actually, most all of those cases were when I was a US Customs agent prior to joining the newly-created DEA in July 1973. With Customs, I was assigned to a group exclusively investigating the smuggling of large, commercial quantities of marijuana by aircraft, something that was quite prevalent at the time in the Southwest area bordering Mexico.

As my career continued in DEA from 1973-1995 when I retired, marijuana understandably became a lesser priority compared to heroin, cocaine, and later drugs like methamphetamine. The biggest priority now for DEA is fentanyl, of course.

At this point, I would like to introduce the federal drug law dealing with simple possession of controlled substances (drugs requiring a prescription or simply drugs that are illegal on their face, like heroin). The federal laws regarding drugs are under Title 21 of the US Code. These were the laws I enforced as a Customs and DEA agent. The statutes we were most concerned with and most often charged were smuggling, possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to do the same. There is a statute for simple possession. It is 21 USC 844.

It is important to note that no federal prosecutor would accept a case that involved someone arrested for simple possession of a personal quantity of drugs, especially marijuana. I cannot speak for every state and local jurisdiction, but at a federal level, we only cared about commercial quantities. That means that we didn't care about some guy smoking a joint in his home. But if his home contained 500 kilos of marijuana, that was not for his personal use. That was clearly what we called a commercial quantity. He was trafficking.

So now you might ask why is this 21 USC 844 on the books? In practice, it is used for plea bargaining purposes. Pleading to a lesser charge. It is especially handy when a defendant has cooperated with law enforcement to a great degree and deserves a big break. Let me give you an example. Let's say DEA arrests a guy transporting a load of cocaine in his vehicle, let's say 20 kilos. It turns out that he is just a "mule" who is being paid to carry the drugs from one place or one person to another person or place. The driver agrees to cooperate. He names the person who gave him the drugs and the name of the person he is supposed to deliver the drugs to. He also agrees to go through with the delivery to the intended recipient, which he does under the control of the agents. To make a long story short, everybody is arrested on both ends, and the driver testifies in court. In return, he is allowed to plead to a lesser offense (21 USC 844 in many cases).

That's what we are talking about. Nobody at the federal level is chasing pot smokers and throwing them in federal prison for having a personal supply of marijuana or any other drug. The US Attorney's office would never accept such a case. So this is no great act of mercy by President Biden. 

Biden also wants the government to review whether marijuana is properly classified as a Schedule One drug, like heroin. On its face, it seems ludicrous that marijuana and heroin would be in the same classification or schedule. The reasoning is-you can agree or disagree- that like heroin, marijuana is judged to have a high potential for abuse and has no medically recognized use. You can read the list of schedules under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 here. Interestingly, cocaine and fentanyl are listed under Schedule Two because they do have certain legal medical uses.

The bottom line is that virtually all the beneficiaries of this pardon are people who actually committed more serious offenses, but were allowed to plead to the lesser charge of 21 USC 844-simple possession either because they cooperated with law enforcement and/or simply agreed to plead to the lesser charge.

You are not going to see Cheech and Chong walk out of federal prison where they have been serving time because DEA agents found them smoking marijuana on a street corner.

Austrian President Wants All Austrian Women to Wear Headscarves

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

-"Mommy, why are we fleeing Austria?"

-"So I don't have to wear a fricking scarf"!

Notwithstanding recent events in Iran, the president of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, thinks that it is about time to ask all Austrian women to wear headscarves out of solidarity with Muslims. Fortunately, the position of president in Austria is largely ceremonial, and most political power rests with the chancellor.

How about defending the right of Muslim women in Austria not to wear a head scarf if they so choose? How about solidarity with Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian woman who recently died in police custody after being arrested for not "properly" wearing a head scarf? How about solidarity with the people in  Iran who are protesting Amini's death and being killed by Iran police and Revolutionary Guards?

From an American perspective, I would defend the right of Muslim women in the US to wear a headscarf if they feel it is their religious duty. I would also defend their right not to wear it if they don't want to. But the bottom line is that this foolish Austrian president is misdirecting his "solidarity".

Mahsa Amimi

The below article from Unzensuriert (Austria) is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.unzensuriert.at/content/156135-vdb-wir-werden-alle-frauen-bitten-muessen-ein-kopftuch-zu-tragen-aus-solidaritaet/

Caption: Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen asks Austrian women to wear headscarves out of solidarity with Muslims

Federal presidential election  29 September 2022 16:24

Van der Bellen: "Will have to ask all women to wear a head scarf-out of solidarity".

"Beloved Austria", "Austria with all my heart" is written on the ad posters of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, with which he campaigns nationwide for his reelection. But how much credibility are his messages? Can we trust a federal president and really elect him as head of state if he asks women to wear a head scarf out of solidarity with Muslims.

"Not just Muslims, every woman can wear a head scarf"

Many, perhaps, have already forgotten, but when Alexander Van der Bellen was hardly in office, he said verbatim on the ORF-Broadcast, "Report":

"It is the right of a woman to dress however she wishes, that is my opinion on this. Incidentally, not just Muslim women, every woman can wear a head scarf. And if it continues with this Islamophobia actually spreading, the day will come when we will have to ask all women to wear a head scarf. All in solidarity with those who do it for religious reasons."

Why doesn't Van der Bellen wear a head scarf?

When the federal president made this statement, he had been in office almost one hundred days. In social media, there was a lot going around because of the call for solidarity. Die Presse pointed out a few critics.

"Does anyone know if (Van der Bellen wanted to make a joke?" Peter Bussjaeger, Professor of Federalism at the University of Innsbruck, subsequently asked. Manfred Juraczka, former club chairman of the Austrian Peoples' Party in Vienna, likewise used the statement for critique via Kurznachrictendienst (Headline Service). "So much for the election claim that hashtag vdB (Van der Bellen) is a man of the middle." Another user also immediately made another suggestion to the head of state: "Mr Van der Bellen, why don't you set a good example and wear a head scarf?" 

Rocky Mountain High Middle East Studies

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                           

   

Nader Hashemi

Nader Hashemi is the head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver. In the wake of the recent stabbing attack of Salman Rushdie by a Muslim man trying to cash in on the fatwa issued decades ago by the Ayatollah Khomeini, Hashemi has a hare-brained theory as to who is really behind the attempted murder.

It's the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service.

The Jewish News Syndicate has the details.

 https://www.jns.org/university-of-denver-professor-says-mossad-likely-behind-rushdies-stabbing/

To the uninitiated, one might think this guy is smoking his socks or whatever it is they smoke in Colorado. But in reality, this is precisely what I have come to expect from Middle East Studies departments in universities across the nation. This is typical of Middle East Studies scholarship.

These departments are about as academically valid as gender studies, and LGBTQ studies departments. In truth, they are pan-Arab, anti-West, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic hotbeds dedicated to teachings of people like Edward Said and his post-colonial Orientalism, which teaches that anything connected to the West is racist, colonialist, imperialistic, and whatever other negative label you can attach.

Just as "academics" like Hashemi are loathe to admit that any country outside of Israel in that part of the world could be involved in terrorism, any problems in the region are the fault of Israel, the US, and the West. Oh, they'll condemn any dictators in the region who have been friendly to the West, but the real underlying reason they want to see these particular dictators fall is so that they can be replaced by an Islamist regime. But it's never the fault of Arab/Middle Eastern society or Islam. The only reason they hate the West and Israel (according to them) is because of Zionism, injustices to the Palestinians, and colonialism in general.

But it's always somebody else's fault.

It is also worthy of note that in the cash-crazed atmosphere of academia, much of Middle East studies in the US owes its existence to oil money from countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who want to see their brand of history, politics, and Islam promoted to gullible US students. Thus, they contribute money to establish these departments and make sure they are staffed with the "right" kind of professors. Pro-Israel professors need not apply. Why would they want to work in that type of hostile environment?

Final point: Call me naive, but which country do you think is more likely to order the assassination of an innocent man like Rushdie, Israel or the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world? I am not saying that Iran was involved, but the original fatwa came out of that country, and they never rescinded it after Khomeini's death. They are a despicable regime, so Hashemi can defend them all he wants at the cost to his own reputation.

Italy: The Human Cost of Illegal Migration

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article from Il Giornale is rather long. It took me two days to translate it, but it is well worth a read. This is how immigration has gone off the rails in Italy (as well as other Western European countries). No control over who is allowed in and who isn't. The result is hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants, radical Muslims, and various and sundry types of criminals. That has resulted in dead Italians, raped Italians, and Italian police being assaulted by people who should not even be in the country. 

The article mentions San Siro, a  neighborhood where I lived during my years in Milan in the 1980s. How sad to hear how it has been taken over by squatters and riff-raff.  

 https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/immigrazione-criminale-i-reati-compagine-straniera-2041566.html

Rapes, fights, "cultural" crimes: The criminal immigration that frightens Italy

17 June 2022 - 07:23

The violent side of immigration between sexual crimes and attacks on police: " In Italy, a stable presence of the foreign component"

Francesca Bernasconi and Rosa Scognamiglio

Women and girls molested or raped in the middle of the street. Police officers and Carabinieri punched or threatened with knives. And girls mistreated or killed by their own relatives because they rejected the traditions of their own culture and wanted to live Western style. These are the crimes and attacks that appear on the news pages and involve criminal foreigners. And the phenomenon of criminal immigration, born contemporaneously with the arrival in Italy of social and cultural groups from various countries in the world, a phenomenon which, from the 1970s, has transformed the peninsula into an immigration state. But how has this trend transformed the criminal panorama?

The presence of different social, ethnic, and cultural groups inevitably brings about a transformation of criminal-specific points, (as) explained to Il Giornale by the criminologist Francesca Capozza, author of the book, Criminal Immigration, which analyzes the phenomenon, showing the face of foreign crime in Italy. "You see the stable presence of the foreign connection that takes the form of organized crime, within that municipality, of terrorism, as well as culturally-motivated crimes".

The numbers of foreign crime

Immigration is not synonymous with criminality. It's the opposite. Beginning in the 1970s, however, in our country, an increase in the arrival of people from other parts of the world with different customs and habits has been recorded. In addition to people who migrate legally, there are those (who migrate) illegally. This new movement has brought about a change in crime because, in addition to Italian crime, there is added the foreign component, which has gone on to change the general panorama of criminality and security.

The statistics, reported in the XIII Report of the Antigone Association on conditions of detention, tell of a rise in the number of foreigners present in Italian jails, which, beginning in the early 1990s, has undergone an "unstoppable" increase. Now, according to the data from the Justice Ministry, updated on 31 May, 2022, detained foreigners make up 17,136, of a total of 57,067 people in jail: a percentage that slightly surpasses 30%, as also confirmed by Francesca Capozza, who speaks of official data," which do not record, therefore, any unverified, subsequent involvement". In the large cities, however, this percentage goes up so much that, according to what is specified in Il Giornale by counselor Riccardo De Corato, "in Milan, over 70% of the prison population of San Vittore is composed of immigrants."

It is necessary, however, to point out that among the foreign detainees, the percentage of illegal migrants, reported in the Antigone report, is "between 60-80% depending on the type of crime. Not just that.  "Almost all of the migrants who commit crimes have previous arrests," points out Counselor De Corato. "I believe many of the illegals present in Italy are fleeing their own country of origin because they evidently have unfinished business with the justice (system), they probably can't walk around free or they risk heavy sentences. Otherwise, you cannot explain the motive in which they prefer to pay money to the smugglers, risking their lives at sea, rather than reach Italy by other means. I do not believe that they are all fleeing from war."

These percentages refer to criminality in general. But the activity of the foreign component varies according to the type of crimes committed. The XIII Antigone Report of 2017 connected the presence in jail of foreign criminals mostly to property crimes, relative to drugs, and connected to prostitution. "The type of crime mostly committed by them," Dr. Capozza explained to Il Giornale, concerns crimes against property (27%, in particular, thefts and robberies), against persons (31%, particularly deliberate personal injuries), violations of drug laws (about 31%)". On the other hand, the percentage of foreigners detained for Mafia-type crimes is low.

Rapes and  sexual molestations

It was shortly after dawn on August 9, 2021, when a 26-year-old Italian-South American was surprised from the back, dragged by the arm, and raped in an excavation ditch for water pipes in a construction site at Cascina Gobba, just steps from the San Raffaele Hospital, by a 31-year-old Egyptian without a regular residence permit. On the other hand, last December 6, a young (female) commuter was attacked on the Milan-Varese train by two young men in their early 20s. The first, who was reportedly the "lookout", is an Italian with drug addiction problems; the other-the material perpetrator of the attempted rape- is a Moroccan with a prior police record and illegally in Italy. And then the horror of New Years' Eve: nine young girls were molested by a gang of foreigners just steps from the Duomo (Cathedral) of Milan during the festivities for the beginning of the new year.

"I beg you, stop" That desperate cry, then the horror from the illegal (migrant)

"The data from Istat (Italian National Institute of Statistics) speak clearly: Foreigners are 5 times more (often the perpetrators) in respect to crimes of sexual violence than Italians," points out Counselor Riccardo De Corato-notwithstanding the tightening of sentences, the molestations and the rapes are not diminishing. The policies that (protect) women do not seem to have taken effect within part of the foreign population-and the serious episode that took place New Years' Eve in Duomo Square confirms it- that they continue to consider the woman as an object, a property, with which, the man can do as he wants".

On June 2, five adolescents were harassed with shocking molestations on a train to Peschiera returning from a day spent at Lake Garda. The perpetrators, not yet all identified, reportedly directed racist insults at the young victims."You are white, you shouldn't be here (on the train-editor's note) ". A worrisome phenomenon, which signals a negative record in Lombardy (region), relative to sexual crimes. "In our capital (Milan-editor's note), the trend of the past few years has never seen a drop, unfortunately," adds De Corato-"On the contrary, it is rising slightly given that from 273 cases in 2011, it has passed 285 in 2021. In my opinion, the situation is very troubling."

"Culturally motivated" crimes 

No less alarming is the tendency relating to so-called "culturally motivated crimes", i.e. those crimes that ripen in a cultural context in contrast with the systems of rules and values in the host country. "The explanatory theories of foreign crime identify (multiple factors) of delinquent behavior in which the interior conflict between the culture of origin and value systems of the host country," explains Dr. Capozza, "which, within the same person, produces a contrast between  divergent cultural systems and norms (and) can lead to discomfort, insecurity, and confusion with the risk of maladjustment, psychiatric disturbance, and criminality."

Then there are other factors to take into consideration, for example, "the precarious economic conditions in which the immigrants are in," the expert continues. "The social marginalization of which they are often victims with the subsequent risk of "labeling", the absence of social groups and family references can favor the adoption of delinquent behaviors."

Among the culturally oriented crimes, those connected to the phenomenon of forced marriages are notably on the increase. According to the latest data released by the Viminale (Interior Ministry), two out of three victims are foreigners with a strong incidence of Pakistani women. "I believe that there is, at least on the part of some, also a large problem underestimating certain phenomena that are ignored and characterized as habits and customs of a culture (that are) to be respected," adds De Corato. "I am referring, for example, to the niqab (face covering) and female genital mutilation, the latter practice to which many children, daughters, and (non-EU) foreigners in our country are being subjected."

Estimates relative to infibulation (University of Milan, Bicocca 2019), on the other hand, account for 87,600 victims in Italy. Of these, 7000 are (female) children and girls little more than adolescents. "There is evidently still much to do to spread the culture of respect and equality in respect to women," concludes the security counselor for the Lombardy region. "Sometimes, we open our eyes realizing how serious the condition of cultural segregation is in which women are kept, here (Italy) as well, when incidents like that of Saman (Abbas) occur. Then everything falls back into forgetfulness, and we pretend not knowing that many Muslims consider women to be anthropologically inferior and subordinate to men." 

Attacks on police

Not just rapes, thefts, robberies, or "culturally-motivated" crimes. Violent immigration also affects the police. The latest incident goes back a few days when at Pisa, a (non-EU) foreigner, aged 30, attacked a policeman, hitting him with a violent punch. Not just that: During the episode, the young man reportedly destroyed the glass of the patrol car. 

In May of 2021, instead of being attacked, two police officers were working in Milan when a pair of North Africans in the country illegally went into a rage insulting the officers. Then the violence: Kicks and punches directed at the officers, both injured, so much they had to go to emergency care. One of the two police officers was treated for a fractured hand with a (recovery) prognosis of 25 days, while the other was diagnosed with a contusion on his elbow. Earlier, in January 2021, a group of foreigners had surrounded police officers, threatening them with a broken bottle and punching them several times.

According to the report, "Beaten cops" in 2021, furnished by ASAPS. the Association for safety on the streets, in 2021 physical attacks on officers totaled 2,655, more than 7 per day. Of these, 37% were caused by foreign citizens. But why this fury directed at police and Carabinieri, with the risk of being arrested? "On the one hand, the linguistic difficulty and knowledge of the culture and the rules make it difficult for the foreigner to be able to communicate and comprehend the social and judicial system in which he is inserted," explained the criminologist Francesca Capozza. But there is more. In fact, the expert continues, "on the other hand, the police at the time of the crime, represent the limit and the law from which they themselves are fleeing, or that they struggle to understand and accept, thus reactive emotions connected to them pour out."

The risk of radicalization

The data relative to the phenomenon of violent immigration, which clearly concerns only the extremist and radical fringe of the foreigners who reach Italy, outlines scenarios that are not very reassuring for the future. Milan, where the presence of illegal migrants has reached 50,000, is among the Italian cities most at risk. "It is evident that the choice of moving to Milan is not accidental. There is money, well-being, and work.  But there is also the question. The point at which many neighborhoods of the city are now (run by) the foreign element," explains De Corato. The public housing of San Siro, for example, is almost all occupied by Arab squatters. The same can be said for Corvetto, where there is a strong presence of foreigners from Eastern Europe, Roma (Gypsies), and Africans. They are all places where the government has lost contact with reality, and where, in my opinion, the situation is irreversible. And it is obvious then that the risk rising, violent criminality is elevated." 

Though the prospects are not encouraging, and the process of radicalization is a conceivable eventuality, we are not facing an irreversible crisis. "The only solution to guarantee the safety of our citizens is the presence of police on the ground. In Milan, for example, up until some time ago, there were neighborhood watches. Where did they go? The only deterrent is the presence everywhere of men in uniform, on foot, and the social concierge," concludes the Lombardy counselor. "But in the current state, with entire neighborhoods under assault by foreigners, it is practically impossible to apply solutions of this type. The people are afraid." 

Deja Vu all over again?

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

"Anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination have no place in the University.  The Regents call on University leaders actively to challenge anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination when and wherever they emerge within the University community."  

-UC Regents revised Statement of Principles Against Intolerance

March 24, 2016

On May 18-19, the University of California Regents held public meetings in which students, faculty, staff, and other interested parties could address the regents with their UC-related concerns. During those hearings, a number of Jewish students from UCLA urged the Regents to take a stronger stand against campus anti-Semitism as they recounted their own personal experiences. I am cross-posting an article from the Los Angeles-based Jewish Journal.

https://jewishjournal.com/news/california/349080/ucla-students-urge-uc-regents-to-take-a-stronger-stance-against-antisemitism/

Wait a minute: This all sounds very familiar. That's because back in 2015, I participated in two such events where I joined other colleagues in informing the UC Regents about the problem of anti-Semitism on UC campuses. The first event was at UC Irvine, where I was then working as a part-time teacher, and the second event was at UCLA. Subsequently, in March 2016, the Regents passed a revised Statement of Principles Against Intolerance that specifically addressed anti-Semitism.

Predictably, that did not solve the problem because similar, Palestinian-inspired incidents have continued to occur on UC campuses including disruptions of Jewish, pro-Israel events by Students for Justice in Palestine and various chapters of the Muslim Student Association/Union. I should add that 2015 was hardly the only year in which UC Regents have listened to the complaints of anti-Semitism from Jewish students. The result has been, in my view, that the Statement of Principles is nothing more than a piece of paper that the university can proudly exhibit when complaints arise. Anti-Semitism does have a place at the University of California and is alive and well, just as is the case on campuses across North America.

And why is this given that the UC Regents have gone on record with their Statement of Principles? It is largely because university administrators are too cowardly to take action, in some cases, probably because they sympathize with all the efforts to demonize Israel, even if it means that some Jewish students are subject to intimidation and bullying while pro-Israel speakers have their free speech rights violated. No doubt, they are also intimidated by the Muslim students and their supporters in organizations like CAIR-ever ready to file lawsuits against people for perceived discrimination.

I will close this with a quote from one of the UCLA Jewish students to the Regents:

 The UC Regents need “to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and stay committed to creating a safe educational space for all students by upholding the Principles Against Intolerance.” 

Mass Killings and Mental Illness

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk.

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

Recent events around the world, including the US, have caused many of us to consider the question of mental illness when especially heinous crimes are committed, particularly involving mass murder. As I write, the US, just yesterday (May 24), has experienced a horrific elementary school shooting in Texas. Ninteeen children and three adults (including the 18-year-old shooter) are reported dead. Just a couple of weeks ago, we were shocked by a racially motivated shooting in Buffalo when ten people were shot and killed by a young white gunman targeting black people. In addition, the US in the last couple of decades has suffered a number of mass-casualty school attacks that defy explanation.

We are also dealing with the issue of terror attacks at the hands of Islamic terrorists, which often result in mass casualties, but just as often with only one or two casualties, attacks committed either by suicide vest, gun, or simply using a knife or car if that is all that is available.

In Europe, being politically correct, the politicians, police, and media are very quick to describe a Muslim attacker as "mentally ill". Just two days ago (Monday), a man shouting, "Allahu Akhbar" entered the embassy of Qatar in Paris, and beat and strangled a security guard to death as police had to wait outside almost an hour for official written permission to enter the embassy and intervene. As usual, the assailant is being described as having a history of mental illness. It's not just in France, but also in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and other Western European countries dealing with a massive influx of Muslim migrants, mostly, single young males. Aside from periodic terror attacks, the rate of murder, aggravated assault, and rape has skyrocketed. In Europe, the powers that be would prefer to label them as individuals with mental problems (which have nothing to do with Islam, of course). Apparently, they are all crazy. But are they?

It is pretty much a given that we have a mental health crisis in the US. When you consider the amount of violent crime, senseless attacks, homelessness, and drug abuse, I fully agree that we have a mental health crisis, and crime is a component of that.

Recently, one of my anonymous reader/commentators took me to task for, according to him or her, being (among those) ready to assign mental illness to white racist perpetrators but not to Muslim attackers when they murder someone to the cry of "Allahu Akhbar". In other words, killing non-Muslims in the name of Islam. 

While I think my critic was off-base (I don't excuse murder by anybody), the point merits some reflection. 

Mass murderers generally by definition have a few screws loose. That applies both to serial killers and one-timers who explode and take out as many victims as they can in one fell swoop.  (It is also true that serial killers and mass killers tend to be white.)

The issue of Islamic radicalization and acts of violence against non-Muslims (or Muslims of other sects) seems more complex because they are following an ideology. An ideology they interpret as requiring them to wage violent jihad against infidels. Of course, not all Muslims subscribe to that ideology, preferring to live peacefully with their neighbors and make a living to support their families.

But many do feel called upon to join the jihad-the "lesser jihad" as the Prophet Mohammad was quoted as saying as he returned from a battle: The "greater jihad" was the inner struggle to be a better Muslim. It is this latter jihad that you hear about when you talk to Islamic apologists. The fact is that both jihads exist.

So the question begs: Are violent Muslim extremists, the members of al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic State-and those who act independently, such as this week's attacker at the Qatari embassy in Paris-insane? Are they all deranged individuals who are incapable of acting rationally? Were the 19 hijackers of 9-11 all insane? They carried off the biggest terror attack in history. They had a motive. They apparently acted very calmly and methodically. In that case, you had 19 "crazies" who all found each other and coordinated their operation perfectly.

The critics of Islam-those who have either left it or studied it in detail- would tell you that a perfectly sane, rational person can attend certain mosques, listen to certain imams, learn the Koran, the Hadith, and the life and sayings of Mohammed, and come to a perfectly rational conclusion that his or her religion compels him/her to take up arms and kill people in the name of Allah. Again, not all Muslims follow that call, but we need to be on our guard for those who might.

So the question of which murderers are mentally ill and which are simply evil is a bit tricky. We should differentiate according to sound reasoning and not assign labels selectively.

The Supreme Court Leak

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review. 

Since Monday, the number one issue in the US is the apparent leaking of a Supreme Court draft document indicating that the Court is about to overturn Roe v Wade. There are two issues at play here. First is the significance of the decision-if that is indeed the final decision (which Chief JusticeJohn Roberts denies), and second-and more importantly, in my view-the leak itself.

Let us set aside any debate on the issue of abortion itself (I am pro-life). Whether you are for or against abortion, we all should be concerned about how this document-which Roberts concedes is genuine- got turned over to Politico. It is almost certain that it was turned over, if not by one of the justices (which I doubt), by someone employed in the Court, possibly a law clerk.

If so, this is a gross violation of the confidentiality and independence of the court. While it is true that the nomination and confirmation of Supreme Court justices have become highly politicized over the years, the Court was always considered independent, and its processes were considered confidential. To my knowledge, this is the first time in the history of the Court that this has occurred.

While we don't yet know who is responsible for the compromise of this document (We should know soon), the motive would appear to be that some disgruntled person within the Supreme Court building wanted to short-circuit what appears to be a coming decision against Roe v Wade. That would involve provoking nation-wide protests, which have already begun, and a campaign of pressure against one or more justices to change their vote before it is made public. Could threats against certain justices be far behind?

It should be noted that if this is the final decision of the Court, abortion will not be outlawed. The issue will merely be returned to the states, their voters, and their legislators to either allow it, ban it, or allow it with certain restrictions. Women wanting an abortion will still, almost certainly, be able to travel to California, New York, or several other states if their own state bans it.

Since the news broke, I have been watching the reactions on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC (not continuously). Most of the discussion on Fox revolves around the leak and its serious implications for the Court. All I have seen on CNN and MSNBC are discussions about how this decision would be a disaster for women's reproductive rights. Again, I may have missed something on these two networks, but they don't seem to be concerned about the leak per se. I would guess that once the person's identity becomes known, that person will be heralded by the left as a "heroic whistleblower". 

In short, the Court is in dangerous waters, not because of the decision-whatever it is- but because of this leak. If the eventual decision is changed because of this leak and public pressure, the credibility of the Court will be destroyed. If the President and the Democrats decide to pack the Court and succeed in doing so, the Court's credibility will be destroyed. It will mean that aside from the obvious fact that the nomination and confirmation of Supreme Court justices is politicized, their deliberative and decision-making process have also become politicized. We cannot have that.

New York: Pro-Palestinian Group Calls for "Global Intifada"

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

https://garyfouse.blogspot.com

This article first appeared in New English Review.

Palestinians passing out sweets to celebrate a terror attack against Israelis

-New English Review

Never underestimate the gall of the pro-Palestinian lobby in the US. The month of March witnessed three deadly terror attacks against civilians in Israel by Palestinian killers. In these three separate attacks, 11 Israelis were killed, most of them civilians. This was widely hailed in the West Bank and Gaza where people poured out onto the streets and passed out candy. Thus, it appears that Israel may be on the brink of another so-called intifada (uprising). Previous intifadas in the past decades have cost the lives of thousands of people on both sides. The important point is that they were started by Palestinians.

And keep in mind also that intifadas are much more than marches, protests, passive resistance, and people using slingshots against the guns of Israel's military. They include murderous attacks against innocents, using guns, knives, bombs, or cars.

So it strikes me as particularly obnoxious when Palestinian supporters turn out in American cities and college campuses and proclaim their support for intifadas. Especially obnoxious are the actions of these people in their Palestinian scarves with the black and white doo-dads marching in New York City this week and calling for a "global intifada," as the Jewish News Syndicate reports. Keep in mind that New York City has a large Jewish population, and the city has experienced a disturbing number of anti-Jewish attacks in the last few years. This is evidence that the anti-Semitism rampant on university campuses has metastasized into our society at large-at least among certain segments of our population. It is troubling, and I lay most of the blame on the pro-Palestinian lobby in the US.

It is instructive that these people would be calling for a global intifada. They can define it as they want, but history has shown us that intifadas are murderous attacks against innocent civilians, women, and children. Combine that word with chants like, "From the river to the sea; Palestine will be free". The "river" is the Jordan River on Israel's eastern border, while the sea is the Mediterranean on its western coast. That means no more Israel and no more Jews. A global intifada would mean more deadly attacks against Jews on the streets of cities all over the world including here in the US.

That is a concept that the majority of clear-minded, decent Americans will never embrace. In spite of all the efforts of the pro-Palestinian crowd, which include appeals to blatant anti-Semitism, a solid majority of Americans still stand with Israel and reject this Jew-hatred that is deeply embedded in the Middle Eastern mindset.

The pro-Palestinian crowd would do well to remember that this is not the West Bank or Gaza, where acts of terrorism are celebrated. We have laws against violence in this country, and plenty of jail cells to accommodate these folks. We don't want their intifada in our country. It is time we stand up to these bullies. What took place in New York this week does not represent America.

Period Equity at UC Santa Cruz (America's Wackiest University)

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

"Period equity, or menstrual equity, refers to having equal access to free period products regardless of one’s gender, and, in turn, dispelling existing stigmas around menstruation."

-City on a Hill Press (UCSC)

In these dark times, it's time for some laughs, and what better source of humor is there than the University of California at Santa Cruz, America's Wackiest University and home of the Banana Slugs?

UCSC has once again become a trailblazer when it comes to recognizing marginalized groups-like women during that time of month. So now, in the name of period equity, the school has introduced tampon machines in its bathrooms-at least those designated as "all-gender" bathrooms in a particular building on campus. (Don't they mean "both gender"? Just askin'.

 "Earlier this quarter, the first free menstrual supply dispensers were installed in all-gender restrooms on the third floor of the Bay Tree Bookstore and in the Redwood Building."

 But Dear Readers, Let's don't be too harsh on the young lady pushing this idea. After all, she is just a young college student who is having all these ideas planted into her mind by the so-called adults who are responsible for educating her. Where else could a young person get the idea that a (publicly-funded) university should be giving out free condoms when those fortunate enough to attend the University of California at any campus can clearly pay for them? And if you think this is an equity issue, I say men can buy their own condoms as well.

Munich-2022 Version

 Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

  "Good news, mein Fuehrer. Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi are in Munich."

                                             

Well, this has to be reassuring. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and Barbara Lee have joined Kamala Harris in Munich to meet with our allies and reassure them of.....whatever. President Biden has decided to send his A Team to Munich since, after all, he is the B Team.

  "I have here in my hand, a paper signed by Putin........"

                                      

The last farce that took place in Munich was in 1938 when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain "pulled peace out of the fire" with his infamous sell-out of Czechoslovakia. That was the one that saved the world from WW2, if you recall.

This makes Ukrainian President Zelenskiy's decision to leave Ukraine and attend the Munich confab all the more confusing. Maybe this is his way of getting out of town while the getting is good. He certainly doesn't need to be in Munich to hear Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi prattle on about "economic sanctions in our time!" What does he think they are going to do, vote Ukraine into NATO?

It's a sad situation all the way around. Having people like Harris and Pelosi going to Munich of all places is just adding to the humiliation.