Hat tip Gates of Vienna
Friday evening in Mannheim. A anti-political Islam rally is attacked by an Afghan male who stabs 6 people including a policeman who is in critical condition. also wounded was Michael Stuerzenberger, a noted anti- Islam activist in Germany. The attacker is in custody.
I am cross-posting a report from Gates of Vienna. The below link has a graphic video of the attack (Viewer warning).
https://gatesofvienna.net/2024/05/knife-attack-on-michael-sturzenberger-in-mannheim/
Congratulations, America. We now have our first political prisoner. This case cries out for a reversal, which sadly, will not come before the election. I hope if elected, he will not pardon himself rather await the reversal that is sure to come.
I am not a lawyer, just a veteran of almost 30 years of law enforcement experience with all the courtroom experience that goes with it. This is not the justice system that I used to know. This is sad day, not just for Trump, but even more so for American justice.
Correction: Trump cannot pardon himself for this conviction as it is a state case as opposed to a federal case.
A lot is being said about the trial in New York, and I will await the verdict before writing something extensive. In all the coverage of Robert DeNiro’s rant outside the courthouse, one aspect seems to be overlooked. For DeNiro and members of the DNC to hold a press conference outside the courthouse while the trial was still in progress and talk about how dangerous Trump is if he becomes president again, while legally protected, is unconscionable. Was this an attempt to influence the jury? Will it influence the jury, which is not sequestered? Who knows?
DeNiro and the DNC leaders were flanked by what looked like beefy security heavies. Actually, it was reported that two of them were Capitol police officers who had been injured during the January 6 incident. I have no axe to grind against them, and I didn’t like it when one of the hecklers called them “traitors”.
All in all, the spectacle only added to the impression on the part of so many, including myself, that this entire process is a blot on the American justice system,
The New York Post is reporting that yesterday a 58-year-old man identified as Asghar Ali, a Pakistani national, drove his car aiming at Jewish pedestrians in the sidewalk outside a yeshiva school in New York City before driving off. During the rampage, the man reportedly screamed that he was going to kill Jews. He was arrested a short time later.
As I do every year on Memorial Day, I am reposting my first 2007 Two Names on the Wall posting to commemorate two of my childhood friends who died in Vietnam, as well as all the other 58,000+ heroes who died in that war. I am posting it a bit early as we enter the Memorial Day weekend since I will not have access to my computer on Monday.
Dorian Jan Houser and Michael Gene Venassa, may you rest in peace. May they all rest in peace.
How did we miss this? Our old friend, Amir Abdel Malik Ali, the radical imam from Oakland, after an absence of so many years, returned to the scene of all his previous transgressions at UC Irvine last Friday, May 17 to speak to the little rascals after their encampment had been cleared out by the gendarmes. It looks like he's back on the lecture circuit, also appearing recently at Stanford before a handful of little rascals.
I was wondering whatever happened to Ali. But he's back and, apparently, has not lost any of his venom. This time, Ali has discovered another "Zionist Jew" to rage at. That would be UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. In previous visits to UCI over the years, he has referred to former UC President, Mark Yudoff, Rupert Murdoch, and countless others as "Zionist Jews", spitting the words out just like the Nazis used to refer to Jews in Germany.
And just as he has insisted for years, "the days of the Zionists and Israel are numbered". I guess he hasn't seen the images of Gaza in the last few months since his Hamas heroes committed their atrocities on October 7, 2023. Doesn't he know that Yahya Sinwar and his lieutenants are hiding in a tunnel under the streets of Rafah? Those are the people whose days are numbered.
Here are clips of Ali's latest screed courtesy of Memri TV.
Just where has he been all these years?
Hat tip Campus Reform (and Mad Magazine)
The Washington Free Beacon has an alarming report on the UCLA Medical School and its admittance policies under Dean of Admissions, Jennifer Lucero. Once upon a time, the UCLA Medical School was considered one of the most prestigious in the nation, but apparently, that was then.
By the way, this should not be considered as a slap against minority doctors. People like Dr Ben Carson have put that stereotype to rest. That does not let UCLA off the hook for using admittance criteria other than the best-qualified candidates for admission. In my view, they can have their diversity without lowering their standards. Simply lowering standards is the lazy way out. This is especially unacceptable in a medical school. The stakes are too high.
Hat tip Campus Reform
On Thursday, once again, a group of university presidents and chancellors were called to testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). One of those was the president of Northwestern University, Michael Schill. Both he and his university have come under sharp criticism in recent days due to the school's apparent capitulation to the demands of pro-Palestinian protesters, who had set up an encampment. In exchange for ending the encampment, Northwestern made a series of concessions to the students, agreeing to bring in Palestinian students and faculty to Northwestern. In addition, Northwestern seemingly made their agreement with the protesters without any consultation with Jewish students. Nor was the (Northwestern) President's Advisory Committee on Preventing Anti-Semitism and Hate consulted. Of all the university officials present at this hearing (4- Northwestern, Rutgers, UCLA, and the former president of Brandeis University), it was Schill who came under the most intense criticism from Republicans on the committee. At one point, Schill vehemently denied having asked the campus chapter of Hillel to appoint a new leader who would be anti-Zionist, as had been claimed by several who complained to the committee.
Here is how the campus newspaper, Daily Northwestern, described the hearing and Schill's testimony.
I have watched several clips of Schill's testimony, and I thought his performance was pathetic. He was defensive, almost cringing under harsh questioning from Republicans. It was eerily similar to the performance of the former presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, both of whom have subsequently resigned. Schill should follow their example.
https://www.friatider.se/mohammed-mohammed-haktas-mordet-pa-mikael-i-skarholmen
Caption: Mohammed Mohammed and Mikael Janicki
Mohammed Mohammed arrested for murder of Mikael in Skärrholmen
Posted 22 May 2024 at 14:01
Domestic. Mohammed Mohammed, 18, was arrested Wednesday afternoon, suspected of the high-profile murder of Mikael, who was murdered in front of his son in Skärrholmen. Mohammed turned 18 just weeks after the murder and thus, can count on a substantial sentence reduction if he is convicted.
It was on 10 April that Mikael Janicki, 39, was shot to death in an underpass in Skärrholmen after he said something to a gang.
Now the court in Södertörn has decided to (charge) 18-year-old Mohammed Mohammed for murder.
Mohammed Mohammed was arrested just one week after the murder of Mikael in another case, suspected of kidnapping and attempted murder in connection with a boy under 18 (who was) shot in Skärrholmen in December 2023.
He turned 18 in May-that is, just after the murder- and can therefore count on a very generous sentence reduction. Since Mohammed, who comes from Iraq, has obtained Swedish citizenship, he cannot be deported under current law.
Two other teenagers from the gang are already in custody, charged in the case regarding the murder of Mikael, suspected of (felony) protection of a criminal. A third is under arrest, suspected of a (felony) weapons offense.
Charges must be filed no later than 19 June 2024.
*Update: Multiple news sources in Sweden and other countries are identifying the suspect more fully as Mohammed Khalid Mohammed Mohammed. (Hap tip Gates of Vienna)
According to the article, the Hamas terror attack on October 7 sparked a dramatic surge in incidents, especially in Berlin, with the highest number of Muslims and Palestinians in Germany. In addition, there have been reports of anti-Semitic remarks by visitors to the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial site (outside Weimar) and its satellite camp, Mittelbau-Dora. These incidents generally involve indigenous Germans.
Comment: I genuinely feel in my heart that Germany wants to protect its Jewish citizens. Yes, they have a small minority of disaffected neo-Nazi, German youth. Yet, the major problem, as everyone knows, is imported. Germany and the rest of the civilized world (including the US) must step up its efforts to protect its Jewish citizens from these violent thugs.
https://www.dw.com/de/gewalt-und-angst-berlins-juden-in-sorge/a-69150259
Violence and fear-Berlin's Jews are worried
Christoph Strack
One hour ago (5-22.2024)
Jewish experts in Berlin again sound the alarm: Anti-Semitism is increasing rapidly, and the fear of the Jewish population is growing. And they warn of worse developments.
Caption: Constantly guarded by police. Jewish community in Berlin
Anna Chernyak Segal reports matter-of-factly, yet full of concern: She tells of the attempted arson attempts with two Molotov cocktails at her synagogue in mid-October last year and the attack on a young member of the community a few weeks ago at the Berlin Gesundbrunnen. The young man was "physically attacked and (subjected to) anti-Semitic insults," and he suffered "broken bones and massive emotional and mental damage".
Those are two of the anti-Semitic attacks against the Orthodox Jewish community "Kahal Adass Jisroel" on the Brunnenstrasse (street) in Berlin, which has made it into the news nationwide.
Insults on the Metro
And community manager, Segal describes many other incidents. From her reports, she speaks of fearful concerns for safety. There are verbal attacks on the streets or on public transport, such as the insults of "child killer", hostility on the Internet, anti-Semitic markings on residences and house doors, torn down mezuzahs, the small containers that religious Jews decorate the doors of their homes with. "We are experiencing a greatly heightened threat situation for Jewish life," she says. "We never could have imagined that."
Segal is one of those affected who spoke at the presentation of the annual report for 2023 from the "Anti-Semitism Research and Information Center" in Berlin (RIAS-Berlin). What the statistics list, in sober and yet so terrifying numbers, brings it to life. In 2023, RIAS-Berlin recorded 1270 Anti-Semitic incidents in the German capital city. That is the highest number since the founding of the establishment in 2015 and signifies an increase, compared to the previous year, 2022, of almost 50%.
"October 7, 2023 represents a turning point," says the project manager of RIAS-Berlin, Julia Kopp. Since then, anti-Semitism is "clearly more present" than before in Berlin. From October 7, the first day of the murderous attack by the terror organization, Hamas, to the end of the year, there was an average of about 10 anti-Semitic incidents per day. This included both criminal and non-criminal incidents.
Kopp explains how Jewish life in the city has long since changed. Jews would take care not to be recognized by Jewish symbols. Some would even flee from an especially threatened location to move to another part of the city.
"Traumatized and injured"
Kopp points out the Jewish restaurant, DoDa's Deli, long-based with a clientele in Berlin-Friedrichshain. Soon after the start of the Hamas terror, the shop sign was destroyed, and then there were more and more threats and warnings not to frequent the deli. "The operators feel themselves forced to leave the district," she explains. Soon, DoDa's Deli hopes to try a new start in West Berlin's Wilmersdorf (district). For Sigmount Koenigsberg, the anti-Semitism officer of the Berlin Jewish Community, the report shows, "how a large part of the Jewish community in Berlin is traumatized and injured".
Caption: A pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin mid-May
The situation in Berlin, the city with the biggest Muslim and also the biggest Palestinian community in Germany, is no exception. That was made clear the same day by the 2023 annual report of the RIAS Center in Hesse State. There also, since October 7, the numbers exploded. More than 60% of the 528 documented incidents occurred in the last three months of the year.
And the previous day, experts from the "Association of Counseling Centers for (those ) Affected by Right-wing, Racist, and Anti-Semitic Violence" (VBRG) reported to journalists in Berlin. There, historian Jens-Christian Wagner, leader of the Institute for Memorials of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora in Thuringia, referred to incidents or anti-Israel remarks, even intimidation of memorial employees. As to the question of whether the perpetrators in such cases are also from pro-Palestinian, Muslim circles, he says as a rule, they are "native German"-Germans without any migration background. Jews and Israeli citizens are concerned for their safety and physical integrity in all parts of Germany. Especially in Berlin.
Doubt and frustration
At any rate, most feel protected and looked after by the police. In addition, there is no criticism of the conduct of security forces at anti-Israel demonstrations. And yet, the doubts and frustration as described by Segal, come through, how rocks shattered the window panes of a Jewish family from her community. The rocks were reportedly thrown by children from a Muslim family in the neighborhood.
Caption: Samuel Salzkorn, Anna Chernyak Segal, Julia Kopp, Sigmount Königsberg (from left to right).
The advice from police officials is reportedly: "Get out of this area. We cannot do a thing." According to the managing director, such news would have a devastating effect on members of the community. Those responsible would "ask and beg" that those affected would be prepared to report such incidents. But not everyone does this.
Thus far, there have been many individual incidents, including "chance encounters in everyday life'", as Julia Kopp says. Because they happen by chance, for those affected, it is "so hard to protect themselves from them." But given the great militancy of the words and actors, the experts fear an increase in attacks and an escalation of violence. The contact person for the State of Berlin State on anti-Semitism, Samuel Salzborn, points to the vehemence of individual protest events and fears further aggression. He even speaks of a "development that potentially takes on pre-terrorist structures."
Equally ludicrous today was the UN Security Council holding a moment of silence for Raisi. US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, dutifully stood in silence. Funny, I don't recall the UN holding a moment of silence for Saddam Hussein, the "Butcher of Baghdad" when he was hanged.
Hat tip Campus Reform
Thank God, I no longer live in Los Angeles County, where I was born and raised. Now the leftist LA County Board of Supervisors has voted to offer taxpayer-funded legal aid to the protesters who were arrested at UCLA during the encampment raid by law enforcement earlier this month. Only one member, a Republican, voted against it.
Here is how the Daily Bruin campus newspaper is reporting it.
In my own comment in the Daily Bruin reader thread, I suggested that the National Lawyers Guild, the Marxist organization that was present at UCLA during the encampment acting as "legal observers" in their lime green caps, represent the students. As I previously pointed out, they may have one of their own among the defendants. I don't know that for sure, but you can read more about that matter here.
On Sunday morning at about 2:45 am, Hague police responded to a call that a man needed medical assistance outside the central train station. As the police and ambulance personnel were attending to the victim, they were set upon by a mob who were in the vicinity. Reinforcements and police dogs were called in and 4 persons were arrested.
The below article from today's De Telegraaf is translated by Fousesquawk. English subtitles for the video in the article are pending.
Officers attacked while offering medical help to victim in the Hague
Posted today at 13:01. Today at 09:50 in Domestic
The Hague. On the night of Friday to Saturday, Hague police made 4 arrests after officers were attacked as they were offering help during a medical emergency situation.
Around 2:45 am, police received a report that someone (needed medical assistance) on Rijnstraat (street) right by the Hague Central Station. Originally, it appeared to be a case of resuscitation, but once at the scene, it turned out not to be necessary. While officers and ambulance personnel were treating the victim, they were attacked by various groups of cafe-goers who sought confrontation.
Among other things, the officers had to use batons and police dogs so that their colleagues could do their work safely. The crowd was eventually driven back toward the station. At that time, an officer was struck by someone from the mob. The police arrested a suspect for this assault. Three others were handcuffed. Two of the four were still in jail Saturday morning.
The victim who had taken ill was able to be taken safely to the hospital in an ambulance thanks to the actions of the police. A second person was reportedly taken to the hospital according to a photographer who was present. On Saturday morning, the police here were unable to give further information.
*Update: Here is the subtitled video (Hat tip Gates of Vienna and Vlad Tepes for subtitling. Translation by Fousesquawk.)
On Friday, a 64-year-old Jewish man and his 29-year-old daughter (Israeli tourists) were attacked by a group of youths at the Brugges (Belgium) train station after they were seen removing an anti-Israel poster. The man reportedly received a broken jaw from being kicked in the head.
The below article from the Belgian Dutch-language daily, De Morgen, is translated by Fousesquawk. It is only a partial translation due to the subscriber block. This incident occurred Friday in Brugges.
"It is not just verbal abuse or spitting, but now there are also physical attacks, which can end in disaster," says Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA) told the Times of Israel.
The images of a man who was kicked and beaten in the Brugges station have been commented on in the Israeli press and widely circulated on social media.
"Anti-Semitism!" says Antwerp City Council member Andre Gantman (N-VA) on X. "The result of continuous, rabid Israel-bashing!"
"Free Palestine".
The images spread predominantly on Friday, but the incident turned out to have happened on Monday. The 64-year-old Amnon Ohanah had been living in Belgium for 7 years and was having his 29-year-old daughter for a visit. He was eager to show her our country. On Monday, he took her to Brugges for a tourist visit.
It went well until on the way back in the station, Ohanah reportedly took down a "Boycott Israel" poster.
"A group of people began to shout, "Free Palestine", he says. "I paid them no attention and wanted to leave. And then someone came up to me and broke my jaw. I was able to grab him so that he couldn't escape. Then the rest of the group came and were kicking me."
Video was recording
The police arrived, interviewed the man, and took a statement for intentional assault and battery. The police advised Ohanah to get examined in a hospital.
The next train was delayed, and while Ohanah and his daughter were waiting, they were again attacked by youths. At that moment, his daughter decided to film the violence.
A medical report shows that his jaw is, indeed, broken, his ribs bruised, and he has abrasions to his legs and arms. Ohanah is unable to work for a week.
Anti-Semitism
Ohanah is hesitant to tell his story. He has German-Israeli citizenship and feels it is his right to defend Israeli policy. He himself has served in the army, and his son is fighting in Gaza. But he is not pleased that the images have gone viral and fears another attack.
"I am afraid to be an Israeli in Belgium," says Ohanah. "My message to Israelis is: It is dangerous to come here, to walk the street with a kippah (yarmulke), BST) or openly speak Hebrew. I thought that this was a country of democrats, that it was safe on the streets, but those days are over."
Though it seems that the violence in this case is mostly over Israel and the war in Gaza, since the war, there has been an upsurge in anti-Semitism in our country. Rabbi Margolin, from EJA, is asking the Belgian authorities to catch the perpetrators as soon as possible. "Don't wait to act until they start killing us," he says through the Jewish press agency, European Jewish Press.
The Brugges police could not be reached Friday evening. The prosecutor's office could provide no additional information.
UAW’s five demands are amnesty for all students and faculty, the right to free speech on campus, and allowing researchers to opt from funding sources “tied to the military or oppression of Palestinians.” They also demand the disclosure of UC investments and divestment from weapons manufacturing.
-New University
The University of California Irvine campus newspaper, New University, is reporting that the University is "filing charges" against International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) 4811 for an unauthorized strike, apparently, in partial support of the pro-Hamas (my words) protesters at UC campuses.
So how does the union more commonly known as the United Auto Workers tie in with the University of California?
You don't wanna know.
Anyway, here is further on the action from UC itself. They are filing an unfair labor charge against the union with the California Public Employment Relations Board asking them to cease and desist with their strike.
Well, all I can say is that you learn something new every day: Vinnie and Sluggo are now aerospace engineers. Who knew?
On Friday morning, police in Rouen*, France, about 50 kilometers north of Paris, confronted a man who was trying to set fire to the city's synagogue. As he charged police with a large knife, he was shot dead.
The man is described only as an Algerian male who was in the country illegally.
Interior Minister Gerald Dramanin traveled to Rouen and praised the actions of police and firefighters.
*Rouen is the city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.
Attempt to set fire to the Rouen synagogue: "A particularly serious anti-Semitic act, " denounced (by) Gerald Darmanin.
For the Interior Minister, the attempted setting of a fire to the Rouen synagogue by a man shot dead by police Friday morning is, "Evidently, an anti-Semitic act". Gerald Darmanin announced that he was going to decorate the police officer who fired the shot.
Rouen
Friday, May 17, 2024 at 14:42
Caption: Gerald Darmanin at Rouen after the attempted setting of a fire at the city synagogue by a man shot to death by police.
A few hours after the attempt to set fire to the Rouen synagogue by a man shot dead by police, the Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin, traveled to the Norman city to address his "support to the city of Rouen, to the Jews of Rouen and of France". For him, it is "evidently, an act of anti-Semitism, which took place at a sacred place for the Republic, a place of worship".
Gerald Darmanin declared that "this act touches all of us deeply," expressing regret for the disgraceful, unacceptable violence against France's Jews. He stated that Rouen was not the object of any particular threats."
The officer who fired the shots will be decorated
The minister wished to salute the work of the firefighters and police who intervened Friday morning and who faced "an individual who was particularly dangerous and violent."
"This individual, with a large knife, rushed at a young deputy police officer, age 25, who was extremely courageous and professional," Gerald Dramanin emphasized, who stated that he (the officer) had reason to use his weapon. For that, the officer, (placed on limited duty) within the framework of an investigation being carried out by IGPN (National Police General Inspection Service), will "be decorated by the Republic for his support to the protection of places of worship".
"Personally, I am fed with this criticism of the police. I have decided to decorate this officer because I believe he did his job," said the minister.
The suspect was in the files of wanted persons
The man who was shot dead was not a French citizen, but "of Algerian origin", the Minister of Interior stated. He had filed a request to the Prefecture of Seine-Maritime in 2022 to obtain a residence permit as a "sick foreigner". But also according to Gerald Darmanin, this request was refused after consultation with a doctor. "He was then ordered to be taken to the border," but the man filed an appeal. At the end of January 2024, "this appeal failed- the tribunal agreed with the Minister of Interior".
The man was not classified as S (terrorist or security threat), and was unknown to police or intelligence, Gerald Darmanin noted. On the other hand, he was listed in the files of wanted persons for several weeks.
This article first appeared in New English Review. It was written on May 16, the day after police broke up the encampment and occupation of a building at UC Irvine. As an update, the final arrest toll is 47, including 26 students, 2 employees, and 19 non-UCI affiliated persons.
Having taught at the University of California at Irvine for 18 years and living in the neighborhood, I followed the encampment issue at that campus with interest. On two occasions, I went to the campus, first to observe the goings-on at the encampment, and later to attend a march on campus in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. When I observed the encampment, what I saw was about 50 or so young people in Palestinian scarves, many covering their faces, and the usual assortment of Palestinian flags. The encampment was set up in a quad area surrounded by science classrooms and research buildings. There was the constant blare of the usual chants by people taking turns with a bullhorn, accompanied by the beating of drums. Needless to say, it was not a conducive learning or research atmosphere in the adjacent buildings.
Then, yesterday, on May 15, the situation
changed. Up to then, Chancellor Howard Gillman, while calling the
encampment a violation of campus rules and disruptive to students and staff,
continued to negotiate with the protesters.
Yesterday, however, the little rascals decided they were going to
“liberate the university for Palestine” by occupying one of the adjacent
buildings. At that point, Gillman decided enough was enough. He not only sent
his campus police to the scene, but called for assistance from Orange County
law enforcement, including the Irvine PD, the OC County Sheriffs, the
California Highway Patrol, and various police departments in the county.
Literally hundreds of police arrived on campus. They issued a dispersal order,
which was ignored. They declared it an unlawful assembly. Finally, in a highly
organized manner, they advanced gradually to the encampment, began removing
barriers, and arrested some 50 people, including at least one professor (from
the Global Studies Department, don’t you know?) who was positively hysterical,
shouting, “I am a tenured professor” as she was led away by the gendarmes. By
11 pm, police operations had terminated.
All this time, I had gotten a call from friends who lived
next to the university. One of them was on the scene and was feeding me
reports. I decided not to go to campus myself. Rather I preferred to go home
and post the reports on my own blog. At the same time, I was able to monitor
the campus newspaper, the campus alerts, and other sources. By nightfall, all
the local Southern California news outlets were live on the scene covering the
story. It broke nationally as well as Fox News reported on it. Of course, to my
knowledge, the local news said nothing about the anti-Semitic aspect to this
story.
In today’s New University, the campus newspaper, Chancellor
Gillman says he is heartbroken.
While I applaud Gillman’s decision yesterday and the
professional manner in which it was carried out by police, Chancellor Gillman
should have been heartbroken for the past several years, heartbroken over what
his Jewish students have had to endure for years at the hands of these pro-Palestinian
thugs and thugettes, including outside agitators and faculty. For years, we
have been complaining, sending letters to the university administration, the
president of the University of California system, the UC Regents, petitions,
all for nought.
I should point out that it is a tiny minority of students at
UC Irvine who are guilty. There are about 36,000 students enrolled at UC
Irvine. The overwhelming majority-99.9%- have nothing to do with this. Yet, the
campus climate for Jewish students has been hostile for years, thanks to the
pro-Palestinian activists, the Muslim Student Union, and Students for Justice
in Palestine (SJP).
And it’s not just the Irvine campus. Virtually every UC
campus up and down the state has had similar problems. Look at UCLA since
October 7. Chancellor Gene Block is under pressure from all sides. The
pro-Palestinian side is condemning the attack by outsiders on the encampment
followed by the break-up of the encampment by police. They say Block has made
the campus unsafe for them. Yet, for years, Jewish students have been appealing
to the university to do something about the harassment they been suffering at
the hands of the pro-Palestinian students-and faculty. Block has done nothing.
As I write, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights
Under Law is filing a suit against
UC Santa Barbara on behalf of a Jewish student-the president of the student
government- who has been the target of non-stop abuse and harassment because
she is Jewish and supports Israel.
I could go on and on, and need I mention the insane asylum
at UC Berkeley?
Are we, the public, not fed up with the shenanigans going on
at our universities, many of which are tax-payer funded? Have we not seen
enough of these feckless, sniveling campus chancellors and presidents, who for
years, have turned a blind eye to campus anti-Semitism? I have no illusions
that the situation is going to turn around in California because this is a
one-party state, and that party (Democrats) is on the side of the protesters-not
the Jewish students. It is heartening to see states like Texas and Florida
crack down, but they have sensible government leaders, unlike California. What
we can do, however, is bring financial pressure to bear in terms of asking
donors to send their millions elsewhere. Lawsuits brought against universities
that refuse to protect Jewish students is another avenue I favor, like the
Brandeis action against UC Santa Barbara.
Pressure must also be brought upon university leaders to be
fired or resign. The example of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania
stand out. UCLA Chancellor Block is stepping down July 1 though there is
mounting pressure from all sides for him to resign now. Well he should.
As I have been claiming for years, with a few exceptions,
most of the major Jewish organizations are not speaking out forcefully enough
on this topic. They must step up to the plate and do better. Working with the
universities through the “system” has not worked. Many of these organizations
spent years denying the problem of anti-Semitism on our campuses. They stood in
the way of all our efforts to shine the light on what was happening on our
campuses. As to UC Irvine, that is something I can personally testify to.
I fervently hope that the arrests at UC Irvine will be
followed, where appropriate, by prosecution. Enough is enough. It is time to
clean house in terms of disruptive students and professors who encourage hate
and disrespect for the law. Expulsions
and firings are in order at UC Irvine and other campuses. Our universities need
to get back to being centers of serious learning in a tranquil atmosphere
rather than training grounds for activists and centers of indoctrination. Just
as importantly, they need to be safe and welcoming to our Jewish students.
May 15, 2024
3:11 p.m.
zotALERT: Protest has escalated near Physical Science Quad. Avoid the area. If you are in the area shelter in place for your safety until further notice.
2:53 p.m.
zotALERT: Violent protest confirmed at or near Physical Science Lecture Hall. Avoid the area
At approximately 2:30 p.m. a group of several hundred protestors entered the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall on the UC Irvine campus and began surrounding the building.
The university put out a call for mutual aid to local law enforcement agencies and has received on-site assistance from the Irvine Police Department and Orange County Sheriff’s department as protestors swarmed the campus joining a group of protestors who had established an encampment on the campus on April 29.
Classes have been cancelled for the remainder of the day and the university has notified anyone in the immediate area on campus to shelter in place. We are continuing to monitor the situation and strongly urge people to stay away from the campus.
Updates will be provided on this website as they are available.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am receiving reports that the pro-Hamas protesters have occupied the Physical Sciences Building at UC Irvine near the quad where they were holding their encampment. I am in touch with people on the scene. According to what I am being told, the UCI Campus police are at the location and have given a dispersal order. The Irvine PD is also reportedly present. Police helicopters are in the air.
A campus-wide "Zot" alert has been sent out to the campus community that a "violent" protest" is occurring and to avoid the area. Some neighbors and/or others connected to the university (protest supporters) say that there is no violence and the university is lying.
I will keep updating this.
Here is what the little rascals are reporting on their Instagram page. They say that the university has called in the Orange County, Sheriff's Office, Irvine PD, and California Highway Patrol. They (UCI Divest) are requesting members of the community to come to the campus and assist them (the protesters).
Here is how the campus newspaper, New University, is reporting this. They report that police have ordered dispersals. Also that classes are canceled for the remainder of the day and campus employees to work from home tomorrow.
4 pm
This is now getting local news coverage. Overhead shots show that the encampment has been enlarged and police from different agencies are out in force.
5 pm.
Police have now positioned themselves directly facing the protesters. Thus far, a handful of protesters have been taken into custody and police are methodically starting to remove the encampment barriers.
5:25 pm
There is an unconfirmed report that protesters have barricaded themselves inside a lecture hall.
*Update 7:55 pm.
I had to go out for a couple of hours, but I was able to watch police clear the encampment on TV and make an undetermined number of arrests. It appears they handled it professionally. Local radio KFI 640 carried an interview with a UCI professor of Global Studies who can only be described as hysterical. As she was led away in handcuffs, she proclaimed for the world to hear that she was "a tenured UCI professor protesting genocide etc.". She described UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman as "a cruel man" for calling in law enforcement.
Meanwhile, KFI also reported that Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan put out a social media tweet on X supporting the protesters and complaining that "peaceful protests were again being met by violence," basically throwing her own police department under the bus. Earlier, she had announced that Irvine police would not be allowed to respond to UCI.
At this point, as darkness falls, some 100 protesters are faced off with police at the adjacent Aldrich Park area of UCI.
At 10:42 pm, the campus advised via Zot alert that police activity had concluded. No word on the number of arrests.
*Update (May 16). The Orange County Register is reporting that 50 people were arrested either for failing to disperse after an order from police or trespassing. Most have been processed and released with citations. Meanwhile, Chancellor Howard Gillman says he is "heartbroken".
Once again, France is reeling. Today, a prisoner named Mohamed Amra was being transported from court to prison in a police van in northern France when the van was attacked at a toll booth by several masked men dressed in black combat fatigues. When it was over, two guards were dead, three wounded, and the prisoner escaped. Now a massive manhunt is underway in the country.
The below article from today's Le Figaro, is translated by Fousesquawk. The entire incident was captured on security cameras and is contained in the same article (with no sound). As is their custom, many French news outlets are identifying the escapee only as Mohamed A. CNN, meanwhile, is consciously omitting his name entirely. I guess even prison escapees are entitled to their privacy. (The link was subsequently updated to include his name.)
In the interest of time, I am posting the first couple of paragraphs of the Le Figaro article, and will complete it later in the day. As this is still breaking news, the article is being updated by Le Figaro.
Prison van attacked in Eure: What we know about the deadly attack
By Esther Paolini
Posted 7 hours ago. Updated 5 minutes ago
The attacked van was transporting Mohamed Amra, nickname, "The Fly", a criminal who was closely guarded, most notably convicted of "attempted homicide". A manhunt is in progress to find him.
A major manhunt is in progress to locate several fugitives including Mohamed Amra, a particularly dangerous prisoner, who escaped in the fatal attack on the prison van which was transporting him near Évreux in Normandy.
At this stage, the attack, carried out with heavy weapons has left at least two dead among the corrections officers, according to a statement from the judicial tribunal in Paris. According to our information, the officers, one born in 1989 and the other in 1972, were working in the court transport center in Caen. "One of them leaves behind a wife and two children who were to celebrate their 21st anniversary in two days," stated (Minister of Justice) Eric Dupond-Moretti. "The other leaves behind a 5-month pregnant wife, relatives and friends". Three other officers are seriously wounded, one of whose condition is critical, and two are hospitalized in relative urgency.
In total, the escort was comprised of 5 officers, divided between a van and a utility vehicle, a prison source informs us. In a video disseminated on social media, we see at least 5 men, dressed entirely in black, firing military weapons at the two vehicles.
Attack on prison van in Eure: Two officers killed, one prisoner escaped
Tuesday, 14 May, the transport van between Evreux and Rouen, the prisoner escaped
The attack took place shortly after 11:00 at the Incarville toll stop.
Not a "particularly notable prisoner"
The attack happened as the prisoner, born in 1994, and sentenced on May 10, 2024 by the Evreux court for burglary, had been removed from his cell at the Evreux Detention Center to appear before an investigating judge at the Rouen Judicial Tribunal in connection with a criminal procedure in which he had been charged for attempted murder. The escape occurred at 10:57 on return from this hearing, at the Incarville toll station. The van was struck from the front by a stolen vehicle, which had passed the same toll station a few minutes earlier, according to a statement by the Paris Prosecutor's office. Several armed persons came out from a second vehicle that was following the convoy, thus blocking all possibility of escape. The thugs then opened fire with several shots at the two prison vehicles, the prosecutor's office states.
The man was not a particularly high-profile prisoner (DPS), but his profile, "necessitated a level 3 escort," stated the Paris national prosecutor.
After having abandoned the vehicle used in the attack, apparently, a Peugeot 5008, they reportedly fled in a white Audi A5 and a series 5 BMW. The two vehicles were subsequently discovered burned, one in the municipality of Vatteville, the other near the hospital of Evreux. One of the attackers was also wounded.
Also according to our information, the fugitive, Mohamed Amra, nickname, "The Fly", is reportedly originally from the La Sabliere quarter of Rouen. He already has several criminal convictions to his credit, notably, for "drug traffic" and "attempted homicide". On the other hand, he had not been classified as a radicalized prisoner.
......................................................................................................................
(Translator's note) The above article has just been updated, and the above link is now dramatically different from what has been translated to this point.
FIA in April 2024
-Panther Now
Hat tip Campus Reform and Israel War Room. (I don't know if the latter site is part of the Israeli government or not. It is obviously pro-Israel.)
”In every single protest that we have, our actions have had counter-protesters, and there is never any backlash and never police protecting us. In fact, our police are directly protecting counter-protesters even at our events,” the woman said. “So I want to ask you all, is Palestinian life not worth mourning? And we as Arabs, Palestinian, Muslim, and anti-Jewish students, are we not worth protecting?”
On February 5, the student government senate at Florida International University was debating a cease-fire resolution over the Israeli war in Gaza (It failed.) One speaker, a young Muslim woman in hijab, spoke and was captured on video making what can only be described as a Freudian slip. She described herself and her cohorts as "anti-Jewish".
How often do we hear the pro-Palestinian protesters insist that they are not anti-Jewish, just anti-Zionist? It is a lie, and in my opinion, the lie was inadvertently exposed at Florida International University on February 5. These protests are supporting Hamas. They describe the October 7 massacres as "justified resistance". Hamas itself is anti-Jewish, as stated in their own charter where they call for other destruction not only of the Jewish state but the Jews as well.
The other lie she spoke was in complaining how police protect counter-protesters and not the 'Arab, Palestinian, Muslim, anti-Jewish" protesters. I am fully aware of the incident at UCLA recently when that encampment was attacked by people from outside the university and there was a long, long delay in an effective police response. I do not condone that incident. That aside, however, it is the counter-protesters who need protection,. It is the Jewish students and Israel supporters who need protection. All too often, they have failed to receive it on campuses across the nation. It is the pro-Israel events that always get disrupted by the friends and colleagues of this woman at FIU. It is her own protests and demonstrations that are all too often disruptive, unruly, or violent. Pro-Israel demonstrators hold their events peacefully and according to rules laid down by the university.
Can we say the same for Students in Justice in Palestine? No. They routinely use tactics of disruption and intimidation. They are pro-Hamas-and they are anti-Jewish. I don't know if the speaker in question is a member of SJP, but they obviously travel in the same circles.
The Eurovision Song Contest being held in Malmo, Sweden is in crisis mode due to the participation of Israel. As the competition holds its final stage tonight, Eden Golan, from Israel, just may turn out to be the winner. They are already going crazy because Israel is in the competition. What will they do if she wins?
Meanwhile, another finalist, the appropriately named Bambi Thug, from Ireland, is demanding that Israel be kicked out. The competition organizers have held an "emergency meeting" today.
As for Bambi, if she doesn't win the Eurovision context, surely she can get her mug on Bud Lite cans.
The below article from today's Expressen, is translated by Fousesquawk.
https://www.expressen.se/noje/eurovision/irland-missade-genrepet-i-eurovision/
Ireland missed dress rehearsal in Eurovision
Posted 11 May 2024 ar 14:40
Updated 16:55
Ireland, Switzerland, and Greece were absent from the artist presentation before the dress rehearsal in Eurovision on Saturday afternoon.
Now Irish (performer) Bambi Thug explains that it was a protest and attempt to get EBU's attention.
In an interview with Irish RTE, she says she wants Israel excluded. According to NRK, EBU is holding a crisis meeting about what occurred.
By Johan Bratell
Caption: New demonstration for Palestine during dress rehearsal
Neither Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, nor disqualified Netherlands were seen when the Eurovision artists were presented at the dress rehearsal before the evening's final in Malmo Arena.
Now fan-favorite, Ireland's Bambi Thug, talks about the decision not to show up.
"A situation arose while we were waiting to go onstage before the dress rehearsal, which I felt I needed to bring to the attention of EBU. EBU has taken this seriously, and we have had a discussion on what needs to be done. This means that I am missing the dress rehearsal. I am sorry for all the fans who have come to see me. I hope to see you from the stage tonight," Bambi Thug writes in a statement via social media.
Norwegian NRK writes that EBU is holding a crisis meeting about what occurred.
Demand that Israel be removed
Later in the afternoon, Bambi Thug left the hotel dressed in a Palestinian shawl.
Bambi Thug tells Irish RTE that she wants Israel excluded, and she is critical of what the country's commentator said during a broadcast on Tuesday.
"There will be a lot of spells, black magic, Satanist symbols, and voodoo dolls," the commentator said then, according to RTE.
During the rehearsal before the semi-final, Bambi Thug had written the words, "Cease fire" and "freedom for Palestine" on her body in the late Middle Ages written language, Ogham, Aftonbladet reported.
Caption: Bambi Thug leaves hotel in Palestinian shawl on Saturday
Greece and Switzerland also (absent)
Greece was also not seen during the flag parade, but when it was Marina Sattis' turn to perform, she stood on the stage and did her number. The same was true for Nemo from Switzerland.
Protests against Israel again
Eden Golan, 20, from Israel, with her contribution, "Hurricane", has sailed to one of the big favorites in the evening's Eurovision.
But the protests against her participation continue.
During Saturday afternoon's dress rehearsal, she was once again met with boos from the audience-and with that, two Palestinian flags appeared when she took the stage.
EBU earlier communicated that only flags from competing nations, plus the rainbow flag are permitted.
Yesterday, UC Irvine's campus newspaper, New University, which is reporting regularly on the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus and the university's attempts to negotiate with the protestors, reported that some protesters, including negotiators, were suspended. The paper also reported that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and two other related organizations have been suspended. I don't know how accurate this is, but it can be read here. If true, it would be a positive first step.
SJP has also confirmed via social media that students have been suspended. No word on the status of SJP itself.
By the time this is posted, UC Berkeley professor and (according to many of his critics) anti-Jewish agitator, Hatem Bazian, will be speaking before the little rascals at the UC Irvine encampment. I have heard him speak several times, and I don't need one more to know what this man is all about.
Bazian's bio is quite long and "impressive", so to speak. He washed up on our shores from either Jordan or the West Bank as a student at San Francisco State University. Rather than act as a good representative of his homeland, he became an agitator on campus and earned the reputation as an anti-Semite with his diatribes against Israel, the West, and Jews. Many of his critics refer to him as "Hate'm Bazian".
This is the man who once called for an intifada in the US (San Francisco 2004). After he graduated with all his fancy degrees, he became a professor at-where else- UC Berkeley. Along the way, he racked up a long list of anti-Jewish statements including once reportedly calling for students to note all the Jewish names on school buildings. On one occasion, he reportedly quoted the cute little Hadith ditty about the Day of Judgment when the Muslim will fight the Jew, and the Jew will hide behind the rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will call out, "O Muslim, a Jew is hiding behind me. Come and kill him". (You can't make this up.)
The first time I heard Bazian speak at UC Irvine many years ago (2010), I pointedly asked him about those quotes. I never did get a straight answer. Since then he has been accused of more anti-Semitic remarks over the years.
Bazian is a co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and also a co-founder of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which assists SJP logistically and financially. They are both despicable organizations.
So as I conclude, Bazian will probably already be spouting his venom into a bullhorn, much to the annoyance of teachers, students, and researchers trying to go about the business of education in Rowland Hall and other surrounding buildings where the encampment is set up.
Rowland Hall is named after Frank Sherwood Rowland, a noted chemist, Nobel laureate, and professor at UC Irvine who passed away in 2012. I have no idea if he was Jewish, but if so, maybe Bazian will point it out to his audience.
Has anybody seen Chancellor Howard Gillman?
