Covid and Racial Justice: More Academic Rants from Mark LeVine

 Here's another plum from UC Irvine's professor, social justice warrior, Palestinian-supporter, Al Jazeera op-ed contributor, Campus Watch icon, and international rock legend, Mark LeVine. (I read somewhere that he once jammed with Mick Jagger.) 

At any rate, LeVine has another op-ed running on Qatar's news outlet, Al Jazeera. It's about the latest goings-on at UC Irvine and how they have built a field hospital to deal with Covid and the challenges facing both students and teachers in the wake of this pandemic.

I have no issue with most of this article, and I wish UCI (where I taught part-time for 16 years and made the acquaintance of Professor LeVine), nothing but the best in these hard times. As usual, however, LeVine's writings drift off into social justice commentary.  

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/1/5/covid-19-the-university-and-reimagining-the-common-good

Here is where it gets really "good".

“To do our job in this environment,” as my colleague Doug Haynes, Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at UCI told me, “the university increasingly, by necessity, has to become an instrument of social welfare and justice.”

At the risk of arguing that Mr. Haynes' job at UCI is not really necessary, I would argue that being an instrument of "social welfare and justice" is largely what has gotten academia into so much trouble. The role of the university is to educate, not to indoctrinate. The terms "social welfare" and "social justice" sound innocent and noble enough. The problem is that the universities have come up with their own definitions of these terms and used them to indoctrinate our young people into believing that America is inherently flawed, unjust, and must be radically changed. Yes, we have a troubled history, and, as I have often written, when I was a child growing up in the 1950s, this was a racist country-particularly in the South where racism carried the force of local laws. But we have dramatically changed, mostly due to the Civil Rights Movement, which today's social justice warriors seem to have forgotten, maybe because many of them weren't even born yet.

"So, the stress currently being felt at universities is as much a result of the state’s failure to provide adequate funds to enable its students to get the education they need and deserve as it is a consequence of the pandemic."

Adequate funds? Today's universities are all about money. They are billion-dollar enterprises, not only receiving state funding (in the case of public universities) but donations from alumni, foundation grants, exorbitant tuitions, and let's not forget all those millions pouring into universities from places like China and Saudi Arabia. It is the latter that has pumped billions of oil money into American universities to set up Middle East Studies departments that teach nothing but pan-Arab, anti-West, anti-Israel garbage.

And think how many millions could be saved if universities would scrap all those useless and divisive ethnic, gender, and gay studies departments. Think of the 6-figure salaried positions that could be eliminated in the form of chairs, vice-chairs, deans, etc.

"Racial inequality in the education system is another fault line the pandemic exposed."

"......universities like UC Irvine, which is a federally designated minority-serving university, and has a disproportionately large number of students from historically underrepresented, economically marginalised and immigrant backgrounds.

Hmmm. True, I have not taught at UCI since 2016, but in my experience, I would have estimated that slightly over 50% of the students were Asian-American. There are many students from Middle Eastern backgrounds, immigrants, and foreign students as well. Economically marginalized? I don't think so. Of course, I don't know know how many were attending on economic-need scholarships, and I would have guessed that there were many more students from Asian backgrounds at UCI than black or Hispanic. In this vein, it should also be noted that UCI has a relatively small humanities department as opposed to UC Berkeley or UCLA. There is a strong emphasis on engineering, pre-med, biology, and hard sciences. I have always argued for that reason, you see less insanity at UCI than most other schools-the notable exception being the anti-Israel agitation that comes every May for a week-an issue that has increased campus anti-Semitism on the part of a small percentage of students.

And then we get to Critical Race Theory, which is encroaching on education at a rapid rate-especially in California. What this theory preaches is that America is still a racist country and that white people, no matter how fair and well-intentioned, are privileged and inherently racist. It also includes discussion on-believe it or not- the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, much to the detriment of the pro-Israel narrative. Resultant anti-Semitism is swept under the rug since, after all, Jews are all white and especially privileged, don't you know? In sum, CRT is crap. But LeVine  does not agree.

"Conservatives can rail all they want against “critical race theory” as the latest root of all university evil, but it comes down to mathematics. If you hollow out communities through decades (in fact, centuries) of discrimination, segregation, impoverishment, state violence and incarceration, you make it exceedingly difficult for families from these communities, never mind individual students, to afford higher education.

When minorities are highly over-represented in prison populations and underrepresented in university populations (and the former costs at least twice as much per year as the latter), it’s impossible not to feel that the State of California, and the country as a whole, has for too long been more interested in arresting, trying, convicting and incarcerating minorities than enrolling and helping them complete their educations at the UC – whether there is a pandemic or not."

Let's examine that sentence in more detail. Are minorities over-represented in prison populations and under-represented in university populations? If you are talking about blacks and Hispanics, the answer, sadly, is still yes though progress has been made over the past decades. Is that true of Asian-Americans or Arab-Americans? I would say no since both groups tend, on the average, to be doing OK financially. It must also be noted that there is more crime in black neighborhoods as well as Mexican neighborhoods, which accounts for the over-representation in prison. There are, indeed, social and historic reasons for that since there is more poverty in those neighborhoods, and there has been historic discrimination.  Where I specifically take issue is this part of the above quote:

"..... it’s impossible not to feel that the State of California, and the country as a whole, has for too long been more interested in arresting, trying, convicting and incarcerating minorities than enrolling and helping them complete their educations at the UC – whether there is a pandemic or not."

Let me be clear: The state of California and the country as a whole have no interest in arresting, trying, convicting and incarcerating minorities rather than enrolling them in college and helping them complete their education. I say that based on nearly 30 years in law enforcement, 9 of which were spent working in Los Angeles.

As a retired DEA agent, I know first-hand that drug addicts and drug traffickers come in all colors. Of all the people I arrested, a good share were white. What we do have interest in is arresting and incarcerating criminals-no matter their color or background. As such, I have no apology for anyone that I ever helped put in prison. Similarly, it is in the best interest of the state and the nation-not to mention all the citizens- for minorities to succeed like everyone else.

And then there is this attack on the sheriff of Orange County:

"And when the very forces of order who have long been the spearpoint of racist and coercive state policies, such as Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, declare repeatedly that “compliance with health orders is a matter of personal responsibility and not a matter of law enforcement” as the infection rate surges, while the largely white and wealthy residents of towns like Newport, Laguna and Huntington Beaches walk around, shop and dine as if there’s no pandemic, it can only serve to reinforce just who, in Barnes’ words, gets to “enjoy our most cherished freedoms”.

I don't know what LeVine's point is here other than possibly engaging in some sort of "intersectionality",  as if the Covid plague and the recent surge were all the fault of rich white people who live in certain communities. I guess this is based on Sheriff Barnes' policy of not forcing restaurants to remain closed as his force deals with crime instead. Fortunately for us, we are not run by crazy leftists, as is the case in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

I suspect that what is going on here, not just in California, but the whole nation, is that the left wants to take this Covid tragedy and turn it into a racial issue, which it should not be. Is this the narrative now- that black and brown people are dying of Covid while rich white people in Orange County are ignoring the crisis and dining on lobster thermador in fine restaurants? Is this what the readers of Al Jazeera, whoever and wherever they are, are supposed to believe about America?

Sweden: When Is a Kidnap-Torture Not a Kidnap-Torture?

 Hat tip Fria Tider. Translation by Fousesquawk.

This weekend, we reported on the apparent kidnap-torture-release of Abbe Alsaadi, a dirtbag who goes by the name of "Blattelito". The man who served only 2.5 years in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend, apparently staged a publicity stunt a 'la Jussie Smollett. It now appears, just as we suspected, to all be a hoax.

 https://www.friatider.se/blattelito-misstanks-falsklarm

"Blattelito" suspected of false alarm

Posted 15 February 2021 14:30

Alsaadi is one of those suspected of false alarm after it was alleged that he was kidnapped and beaten this weekend,  reports Corren.

 

This weekend pictures were disseminated on the internet of social media influencer Abbe "Blattelito" Alsaadi where he was bound and bloody. But "Blattelito" had not been kidnapped, according to Expressen, who earlier today reported that the investigation into kidnapping and especially aggravated abuse will be discontinued.

Instead, three persons are suspected of false alarm, which can result in up to one year in prison. According to Corren, "Blattelito" is one of the suspects.

Police reportedly already found him Saturday, the same day the pictures were disseminated, together with two other persons.

 All the suspects know each other.

Photos and a film of the alleged kidnapping are reported to have been found on a phone that belongs to a friend of "Blattelito" and who himself has a large account on Instagram, writes Expressen.

"Blattelito" says he cannot understand how he can be a suspect since, according to his own statement, he neither (made) nor leaked the pictures.

Abbe "Blattelito" Alsaadi was sentenced in April 2019 to 18 years in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Annie Andersson, who was left to die in a bathtub. The appeals court sentenced him instead to only 3.5 years in prison for among other things, aggravated violation of a woman's (rights) After 2.5 years in prison, he was released on parole in November of last year.

 

Sweden: A Statistical Breakdown on Immigration and Crime

Hat tip Kronans Martell for video translation. Editing by Gates of Vienna and Sub-titles by Vlad Tepes.

Our Swedish colleague, Kronans Martell, has translated a speech in Copenhagen on 19 September 2020 by Swedish writer Gunnar Sandelin before the Free Speech Society (below). His topic deals with the relationship between immigration and crime in Sweden.

In conjunction with that speech, we have a translated article from Det Goda Samhället (Good Society) Foundation, which deals with the study mentioned in Sandolin's speech. (Translation by Fousesquawk)

 https://detgodasamhallet.com/rapport-om-invandring-om-brottslighet/

Report on immigration and crime

Det Goda Samhället (Good Society) Foundation has updated the reports of the Crime Prevention Council (Brå) from 1996-2005 on immigration crime. The new report is entitled, "Immigration and crime-a 30-year perspective."

Patrik Engellau, the report's author, believes that several interesting conclusions can be drawn from the material in the study. Three of the most important are the following:

- For the first time, more crimes are being committed-in absolute numbers- by persons with a foreign background than by people with Swedish origin.

- The most crime-burdened population-sub-group are those born domestically from two foreign-born parents. This group's weight is higher than the foreign-born and increases over time.

- An earlier, not particularly noticed group are those not registered, for example, members of foreign theft (gangs), so-called undocumented migrants, EU-migrants, and tourists. This group has, in recent decades, greatly increased its share of the total number of crimes committed from 3% to 13%.  

Read the new report, "Immigration and crime- A 30-year perspective here.

See a PowerPoint presentation that explains the new report here. (Go to original Det Goda Samhället link above.)

See the Crime Prevention Council (Brå) statistics that are explained in the new report here.

What Ayaan Hirsi Ali Means to Free Speech and Feminism

This article first appeared in New English Review.

Somali-born activist, apostate from Islam, and Islam-critic, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, is no stranger to controversy. On February 11, Ms. Ali appeared in a virtual speaking event for the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Appearing with her was former New York Times journalist, Bari Weiss (who asked the questions). The host for the event was Dr. Gloria Duffy, the president of the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. The Commonwealth Club has, over its long history, hosted speakers from a  wide range of viewpoints on important issues.

Earlier in the week, the Council on American Islamic Affairs (CAIR) in San Francisco had attempted to get the Commonwealth Club to cancel the event, arguing that Ali and Weiss were "hate mongers". To her credit, Dr. Duffy refused to give in to the pressure. I, like others, had written to Dr Duffy asking her not to cave into the pressure. I received a short reply informing me that the event would not be canceled.

Also, this week, a Jewish board member named Emily Howe (aka Femily) resigned from the Commonwealth Club in protest. Howe, who is an advocate for Muslim issues, describes her motivation as follows in Jewish Weekly of Northern California: 

“As a religious minority myself (Jewish), as a fervent ally to the Muslim community, and as an anti-racist, being an ally to Muslim and other targeted communities is at the *heart* of what I’m literally doing on this planet and in this lifetime. Listening to marginalized communities is core to my work as an anti-oppression diversity consultant. I can no longer in good faith remain a part of the Commonwealth Club.”

I think you get the flavor of where Ms. Howe is coming from with that quote. I would suggest she brush up on the plight of Jews in Europe at the hands of this wave of migrants. Ms. Ali could provide all the details.

At any rate, the event was held. The video of the event, posted by the Commonwealth Club and the Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation, may be viewed here. The principal topic is the treatment of women in Europe at the hands of Muslim immigrants-particularly the young, male Muslims who have been arriving in Europe since 2015.

 A brief recap of Ali's life is in order here to underline her importance to feminism and free speech. Born in Somalia, she suffered the agony of female genital mutilation. Later, she fled from her family to escape a forced marriage and wound up in the Netherlands, where she eventually attained membership in the Dutch Parliament. She also left Islam. Another crucial turning point in her life came in 2004 when she produced a film about the plight of women in Islam with Dutch film producer Theo van Gogh. The film was called "Submission". That same year, Van Gogh was murdered in retaliation for the film, and Ali's life was also threatened by the assassin.

Eventually, Ali left the Netherlands and moved to the US. She is now a fellow in the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. She still has to travel under armed guard as she continues to speak out against Islam. Contrary to the claims of people like CAIR, Ali does not propagate hate towards Muslims as people, but she is outspoken against those who wish to impose Islam upon the rest of society. Her latest book is entitled, "Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women's Rights". 

Efforts to silence Ali underline the need for free speech protections-even in the US. As I write, French politician Marine Le Pen is on trial in France for showing images showing ISIS atrocities. She joins other Europeans like Dutch politician Geert Wilders and Austrian housewife and activist Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, who have been prosecuted for speaking out against Islam and Islamic immigration into Europe. Ali has the benefit of the First Amendment in the US, but her life is still in danger.

Ali is also a feminist, but not necessarily in the mold of many Western feminists. As she points out so eloquently in the video, while Western feminists are concerned with glass ceilings and getting a female elected president, the concerns of poor immigrant women, particularly Muslim women, are largely ignored. Also ignored is the plight of European women who have been victimized by young, male Muslim immigrants who now roam around Europe by the hundreds of thousands-millions even- in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, and France. In the video, Ali vividly describes what happened next to the famed cathedral of Cologne on New Year's Eve (2015-16) when over 1,000 of these migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers stormed the area and sexually assaulted hundreds of German women as German police were unable to come to their aid for some reason or another. Ali also referred to the infamous sexual-grooming cases in the UK involving mostly Pakistani men who have preyed on young British girls for years. According to Ali, one reason it has gone on so long is that police and authorities looked down on the victims, many of whom were runaways and/or drug addicts, as "white trash".

It is one thing for Western feminists to turn a blind eye to the suffering of Muslim women in places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and so many other Muslim-majority countries; after all, they may not be able to affect change in other countries. It is quite another to turn a blind eye to the outrages that women must suffer in the West. Sweden is the rape capital of Europe-not because of Swedish men- and yet the government and police refuse to admit the problem, much less do anything about it aside from the occasional convictions and ridiculously low sentences. Aside from the fact that victims may be considered as "white trash" not deserving of protection, the fact is that the European system is flat-out intimidated by the Muslim presence in their countries. And yet, Covid or no Covid, the flood continues.

In addition, we in the West have a legal and moral obligation to ensure that Muslim immigrant women enjoy the same rights as our own women. That means domestic abuse will not be tolerated. That means strict laws against female genital mutilation. That means no forced child marriages. That means no honor killings. That means that parents who send their young daughters back to the home country of origin for purposes of female genital mutilation or forced child marriage are subject to prosecution. If we in the US can prosecute Americans who travel to other countries for purposes of having sex with children, we can also enforce laws against travel to other countries for the purposes of subjecting a  child to female genital mutilation or forced child marriage.

We are fortunate to have Ayaan Hirsi Ali here in the US as a voice against the abuse of women. If that occasionally offends the sensibilities of Islamists like CAIR, so be it. I commend the Commonwealth Club for not bending to the bullies of CAIR and other activists.

Sweden: The On-Going Saga of Blattelito

Hat tip Samnytt. Translation by Fousesquawk. Viewer warning: Graphic images.

Last month, we posted a disturbing story out of Sweden concerning Abbe Abdalla Alsaadi, aka Blattelito, a social media figure and a man who was released from jail after serving a short sentence for killing his girlfriend.

Now images of Alsaadi have surfaced on social media sitting bloody in a chair and being tortured. This latest update on this creep is posted by Samnyt. *See update below from Fria Tider. Alsaadi has surfaced and claims he was kidnapped and tortured.

https://samnytt.se/blodiga-bilder-pa-mordmisstankte-blattelito-sprids-uppges-vara-torterad/

 Bloody pictures spread of murder suspect Blattelito- Reportedly tortured

The murder suspect social media figure, Abbe Abdalla Alsaadi, better known under the name, "Blattelito", recently released early on parole after having served two-thirds of his prison sentence in connection with a 29-year-old mother of a small child being found dead. After having mocked the Swedish judiciary for months, now bloody images are shown on social media profile.

Samhällsnytt had drawn attention to the social media influencer's scornful video clip on social media after the Svea appeals court overturned the Solna court's sentence of 18 years in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. The appeals court ruled that the prosecutor had succeeded in showing that Alsaadi injected Annie with Tramadol, but not in what amount.

That resulted in a prison sentence of 18 years, reduced to 3.5 years for aggravated breach of the peace against a woman, 2 counts of abuse, aggravated weapons offense, two counts of illegal threats, sexual harassment, aggravated slander, libel, minor drug offenses, minor doping offenses, arbitrary conduct and five counts of vandalism.

Blattelito, who is of Iraqi background, brags how he has "f---ed the whole system's father" with reference to the Swedish judiciary. Furthermore, Blattelito has also described Swedish prison as "a hotel-worst luxury".

In addition to attacks against the judiciary, Blattelito continues, as usual, to continue with his activities and profile as gangster in spite of the events linked to the death of the mother of a small child.

Bloody Images Seen

The profile's commitment strikes many as scornful and results in many comments with the message that karma will punish him in the future. Now images are disseminated of what appears to be a kidnapping situation where the social media figure sits bound with tape over his mouth.

Blattelito, who normally posts material on his social media account several times a day, has not updated (it) since yesterday. Expressen has checked with police to confirm if a kidnapping had taken place, but police have reported to the newspaper that they have no knowledge of the event. 

Recent beating

At the end of January, video clips circulated on social media and on YouTube which showed how Blattelito visited the so-called vulnerable area of Hjällbo in Gothenburg, where he was then attacked by a gang.

Below is seen a video where Blattelito is shown being beaten

(Caption in video: 'This is for Annie, Abbe Blattelito.")

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is an update from Fria Tider (translation by Fousesquawk). Alsaadi has been freed and is claiming he was kidnapped and tortured.

https://www.friatider.se/frislappt-blattelito-dom-kopplade-mig-till-ett-bilbatteri

Freed Blattelito: "They connected me to a battery"

-Posted February 13 2021 7:41 pm

Domestic: Immigrant figure and influencer (social media figure), Abbe "Blattelito" Alsaadi, who was acquitted of the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Annie Andersson, was kidnapped and tortured by a gang of "small kids", who, among other things, connected him to a car battery. That is what he says himself in a video.

According to the immigrant figure, the kidnapping and torture was about money. He was forced to tell where he kept money, he states in the video, after which, he was able to escape from the "amateurs" who tried to (guard) him somewhere out in the woods.

He stated among other things, that he broke into a cabin in a "slightly secret" place and then rested in the cabin, after which he was able to go a long way out of the woods without shoes and finally, make it home. 

In the video, Blattelito also says he regrets that everyone who was hoping he was dead will now be disappointed.

According to the police website, authorities have initiated an investigation into suspected kidnapping and extremely serious beating. The case is being led from Norrköping and Police Region East.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fousesquawk comment: Frankly, I smell a hoax. If this was a true kidnapping and torture, he would not have gotten out of that chair alive.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Bari Weiss at Commonwealth Club SF

As previously reported this week, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was scheduled to speak on February 11 along with Bari Weiss at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. (It was a webinar). The Council on American Islamic Relations had asked the Commonwealth Club to cancel the event, which the Commonwealth Club, to its credit, refused to do.

The video of the event is up on  YouTube, and I am cross-posting it above (hat tip Aha Foundation).  It is about 1:24 minutes long.

Old Joe's New Pick for State Department: Hady Amr

 Hat tip Frontpage Magazine

"I have picked Hady Amr for Deputy Asst. Secretary of State for Israel-Palestine."

“I was inspired by the Palestinian intifada,”

"I am not and never have advocated violence, but viewed from the other side's perspective, Sharon's bellicose logic provides for a rationale that would extend the cycle of violence. Sharon's extra-judicial executions are illegal by international law in the first place.

And if a few dozen innocent Israeli children die in the process, terrible as it would seem, the logic would go, so be it. If this is the reality that the international community accepts that we now live in, then I'm moving to a sleepy corner of Vermont to become a goat farmer."

Meet Joe Biden's pick for Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israel-Palestine. His name is Hady Amr. Daniel Greenfield at Frontpage Magazine will handle the introductions.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/02/bidens-new-asst-sec-state-worked-islamic-terror-daniel-greenfield/

I am sure that Mr Amr will be very even-handed in his new diplomatic role.

Fredo Has a Broken Heart

 

Hat tip Hot Air

"I know it was you, Michael Andrew. You broke my heart."

                                                                                  

News item: A top aide to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has confessed that nursing home deaths due to Covid 19 were drastically and deliberately under-reported.

How's that broken heart coming along, Fredo?

                                                                                                 "And the Emmy goes back to...."

UC Irvine Rejects Student Government BDS Resolution

 Hat tip Algemeiner, Students Supporting Israel (UCI), and Shirley

As expected the University of California Irvine has announced that it will not abide by a student government resolution that the school should divest from companies that do business with Israel. 

https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/02/11/bds-bill-does-not-reflect-the-universitys-views-says-uc-irvine-after-student-government-passes-anti-israel-resolution/

Here is a statement by Students Supporting Israel at UC Irvine:

*Update: The Jewish Journal (Los Angeles) has several reactions from several Jewish leaders. 

I totally agree with the above statement from SSI. In addition, every year, student governments on university campuses across the nation waste hours, if not days or weeks of time and resources debating this issue, which has nothing to do with student life on an American university campus, and is based on lies about Israel.

I can also personally attest as a former part-time teacher at UCI (1998-2016) that these resolutions and the entire anti-Israel campaign do result in anti-Semitism against Jewish students. While I commend the university for its statement, it is not enough. The university-all universities- must do more to protect their Jewish students from the bullying, disruption, and intimidation that comes with this asinine campaign.

A Dutch Op-Ed in Support of Israel

The Netherlands is not exactly known as a bastion of support for Israel. Quite the opposite, but there are pro-Israel voices out there. The conservative news outlet Ongehoord Nederland (Unheard Netherlands) does support the Jewish state. 

In this op-ed by ON editor, Ernst Lissauer, the International Criminal Court, of which the Netherlands is a member, is sharply criticized for its support of the Palestinians and its interference in Israeli affairs. 

Translation by Fousesquawk.

https://www.ongehoordnederland.nl/nederland-en-icc-begeven-zich-op-glad-ijs-tegen-israel/

The Netherlands and the ICC are on slippery ice against Israel

The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) allows itself to be used by the Arab lobby against Israel. While the United Nations (UN), with 192 member nations, has previously shown itself to have a fixed agenda in condemning the Jewish state, the ICC, to which some 60 countries, including the Netherlands, have complied, now plays a political role. Last Friday, February 5, 2021, the ICC ruled that it held jurisdiction over Judea and Samaria (West Jordan Bank), Jerusalem, and Gaza.  

The fight against the Jewish state has long since not limited itself to attacks, plane hijackings, guerilla and rocket fire.  An extensive international anti-Israel network has been set up in administrative organizations and NGOs. Recently, this tactic managed to get the UN to no longer consider the Temple Mount, the location where the Temple of Solomon stood in Jerusalem, as Jewish heritage, but as Islamic heritage. The name has been changed to Haram-al-Sharif. The Netherlands (read; Rutte cabinet 3) finds that to be a good idea and agrees. The ICC, thus, now has determined that the areas of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and Gaza are under the jurisdiction of the ICC. The sovereignty of Israel is thus, violated, and this body is operating politically.

Judea and Samaria is the Israeli province wherein Palestinian reservations or Palestinian areas with self-governance is permitted. The agreements were made in the Oslo Accords of 1993. It is thus, an area, not a state or a people, but a relic from 1948 when the ancestors of these Arabs did not want to be Israeli, but also were not welcome in the lands of their origin. These Palestinians live outside Israel in camps in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan without rights as second-class, discriminated (against) foreigners without status. In Lebanon, for example, they are the last to be vaccinated against the Corona virus, as announced by the Lebanese government.  The priority of the wealthy PLO, financed by Qatar, and the Iran-armed Hamas that (rules) Gaza, is not the fate of the Palestinians. Their choice is to delegitimize the Jewish state. 

Israel is not a member of the ICC, and should not be concerned with this statement. They do not extradite or permit investigators. That, in itself, would be an insult to the outstanding justice system of the country. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is not only one of the best armies in the world, but it is also one of the most moral military forces in the world. It is this enormous precision and strong intelligence service that has ensured that as few civilian victims as possible are killed in Israel's defense.

The opposite happens when Hamas fires unfocused rockets at Israeli civilians or when Palestinians weekly attack Jewish civilians and soldiers. These actions against Israel are fueled by the European Union, which not only carries out illegal activities in Israel but also supports NGOs who thwart Israeli interests. Even the construction of houses and roads is hindered by these action groups. That certainly is part of democracy, but it indicates that the Netherlands and the EU, in the whole, do not play a kosher role.

Attacks like that against 17-year-old Rina Shnerb on 23 August 2019, turn out to be funded with Dutch tax money, and the EU, with the Netherlands in the lead, casts a strange figure because it labels products from Israel, finances Palestinian schoolbooks full of hate against Jews, and supports dingy Palestinian militias. And now, possible ICC cases against Israelis, who, if convicted, can no longer safely travel through countries that are members of the ICC. The situation could thus be that Palestinian terrorists could travel within the EU and the Netherlands, but an Israeli military commander or politician couldn't.

The ICC, and thus, the Netherlands, are politically and morally on slippery ice, if that is not yet clear.

Ernst Lissauer is chief of the parliamentary editorial staff of ON broadcast (Ongehoord Nederland).

Nora O'Donnell, CBS, and the Big Lie

"Fact or opinion?"

"....before calling on his supporters to violently stop Congress from counting the Electoral College votes".

Last night on the CBS Evening News, Nora O'Donnell opened her broadcast by repeating the mantra that President Trump, "called on his supporters to violently stop Congress from counting the Electoral College vote." Below is the entire show. The statement comes between the 2:30-2:48 marks.

 https://www.cbs.com/shows/cbs_evening_news/video/Gj66q9ko_gDmrLYY382fMaec9qKRXabe/cbs-evening-news-february-10-2021/

In fairness, O'Donnell might argue that she was merely referring to the case that the Democrat impeachment managers were trying to make. I would call it parroting. Keep in mind she wasn't speaking off the cuff; she was reading the words off a screen. 

The fact is that Trump never uttered that exhortation. He referred to the protesters marching "peacefully and patriotically to the Capitol to make their voices heard."

This is another example of journalism at its most skillful-and at its worst.

Sexual Violence Against Women: Europe's Open Secret as Revealed by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

On February 8, Fox News' Tucker Carlson interviewed Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who spoke on the topic of sexual violence against women in Europe. Ali did not mince words, The Somali immigrant, who is herself a victim of female circumcision, blamed the dramatic increase on the flood of immigration into Europe by Muslim men from the Middle East, Africa, and other countries like Afghanistan.

Here is Fox News's announcement of the interview.

The actual interview can be viewed here.

And where is the outrage? Where is the coverage of this on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN? Where is the Me Too movement? Where are the feminist organizations? 

This is the dirty little secret that everybody in Europe knows. In European cities today, it is not safe for women to walk the streets at night. Sweden, for example, is the rape capital of Europe, and its leaders say nothing. On the one hand, these mostly uneducated migrants from Muslim-majority countries consider European women to be sluts-ready for the taking. As for the Muslim women in Europe who live behind closed doors-who knows what goes on in these no-go zones that now infest European cities?

Kudos to Ms. Ali for speaking out on the topic. Her life has been under threat from the Islamists ever since she fled her family and went to the Netherlands, where she left Islam and became an outspoken critic. She eventually had to leave that country, when it became too cumbersome for that feckless government to protect her. She deserves respect for what she does. Instead, the left attacks her or ignores her. As we previously reported, Ali is scheduled to speak on February 11  at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, an organization that regularly hosts speakers from the entire spectrum of topics and opinions. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has asked that the event be canceled. I have been informed via email by the president of the Commonwealth Club, Gloria Duffy, that the event would not be canceled.