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‘L’Chaim Intifada’: Rashida Tlaib Meets With Fringe Anti-Israel Group Amid Gaza War
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses attendees as she takes part in a protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, US, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Wednesday met with a group of activists representing a fringe anti-Israel organization that did not condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel and has long celebrated terrorism against Israelis.
Tlaib posted a picture on social media with a group of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) activists who visited her office, writing, “I am so grateful for @JVPLive Rabbis on the Hill for standing with us in solidarity to demand a lasting ceasefire in Gaza. I am so inspired by their advocacy to save lives, no matter their faith or ethnicity, and their commitment to uplifting the human dignity of Palestinians.”
I am so grateful for @JVPLive Rabbis on the Hill for standing with us in solidarity to demand a lasting ceasefire in Gaza. I am so inspired by their advocacy to save lives, no matter their faith or ethnicity, and their commitment to uplifting the human dignity of Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/0NAIav1tSd
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) March 13, 2024
In response to Tlaib’s meeting, pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzig wrote on X/Twitter: “The Jewish community knows which viewpoints from our community are mainstream or fringe, when we’re correctly being represented or not.””
“Tokenizing Jews is never to heal your relationship with our community; it’s to play kosher to people who don’t know better,” he continued.
JVP has long been criticized for allegedly celebrating and advocating terrorism. On Oct. 7, it reposted a user who wrote, “Today’s events are more than just an operation, uprising, revolt, etc. Palestinian bulldozers tearing down the barrier that imprisoned them for more than 16 years is symbolic of Gaza’s defiance in the face of decades of siege, massacres, & occupation.”
Hamas terrorists launched a surprise invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, murdering 1,200 people, kidnapping 253 others as hostages, and launching the current war in Gaza.
Nonetheless, JVP wrote in an official statement on Oct. 7 that while it “grieve[s] the lives of those already lost,” Israel’s “war on Palestinians started over 75 years ago. Israeli apartheid and occupation — and United States complicity in that oppression — are the source of all this violence. Reality is shaped by when you start the clock.”
“”nevitably, oppressed people everywhere will seek — and gain — their freedom,” JVP added. “We all deserve liberation, safety, and equality. The only way to get there is by uprooting the sources of the violence, beginning with our own government’s complicity.”
JVP has also created and distributed flyers that read “L’Chaim Intifada.” The flyer was created in 2003, at the height of the second intifada, which featured more than 130 suicide bombings against Israeli civilians and countless shooting and stabbing attacks. The flyer also included a celebratory picture of Leila Khaled, a Palestinian terrorist who hijacked a plane in 1969 and attempted to do it again a year later.
Reportedly, the poster was intended to commemorate the first intifada, which included the murder of almost 300 Israelis but was significantly less violent than the second intifada.
JVP also supports rallies calling to “globalize the intifada” and chants of “there is only one solution, intifada revolution,” which many take to mean an increase in suicide bombings and other terror attacks against Jews and Israelis.
This is not the first time Tlaib has met with fringe figures. In January, she participated in an event with a woman who defended Hamas, doubted that it used sexual and gender-based violence on Oct. 7, and compared Gaza to the infamous Auschwitz extermination camp used by the Nazis.
“Hamas members, like all Palestinians, just want freedom. They have always warmly welcomed people, irrespective of religion and nationality, including Jewish Israelis, who come in solidarity, not as occupiers,” the woman Tlaib appeared with wrote in November.
Additionally, in February, Tlaib was the only House member not to vote “yes” on a resolution that condemned Hamas’ use of sexual and gender-based violence on Oct. 7.
Tlaib explained she voted “present” because the resolution “completely ignores and erases any sexual violence and abuse committed by the Israeli forces, against Palestinians, especially children.”
The vote caused significant backlash, with Michael Dickson, executive director of the pro-Israel group StandWithUs, saying, “Rashida Tlaib is so racist she cannot bring herself to condemn the brutal rape of women used by Hamas as a weapon of war … because the women that were raped were Jewish Israelis. A new low. Most American women — and men — will recoil in horror at her vote.”
After the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, Tlaib flew a Palestinian flag outside her home and seemingly blamed Israel for the attack, accusing the Jewish state of having an “apartheid system” that fosters “conditions that can lead to resistance.” Tlaib and other members of the so-called “Squad” of far left progressive House members came under fire for slamming Israel without condemning Hamas by name.
Tlaib also accused US President Joe Biden of supporting a “genocide” against Palestinians by backing Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the Hamas onslaught.
In November, Tlaib was censured by her colleagues in the US House of Representatives for her recent spate of anti-Israel comments amid the Jewish state’s war with Hamas. The censure measure accused Tlaib of “promoting false narratives” regarding Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion and of “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”
The post ‘L’Chaim Intifada’: Rashida Tlaib Meets With Fringe Anti-Israel Group Amid Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove spotlights a menorah designed in the early years of the State of Israel
This laurel branch Hanukkah menorah, designed by artist Maurice Ascalon (1913-2003), won first prize at the 1950 Tel Aviv Design Competition. Between 2,000 and 4,000 of these were made by the Pal-Bell factory in Israel, and they were sold not only in Israel but in select department stores around the world, including Macy’s in New York and Harrods in London.
The shape of the oil containers resembles ancient Roman lamps, while the large pitcher is a reference to the single jug of oil that lasted for eight days that is at the heart of the Hanukkah story.
These hanukkiyot were manufactured out of cast bronze with a green patina that was created using reactive chemicals, a process developed by Ascalon, resulting in an antique verdigris look.
Ascalon, who was born in Hungary and originally named Moshe Klein, immigrated to Palestine in 1934 after training in Brussels and Milan. He started the Pal-Bell Company in the late 1930s for the production of ritual and secular decorative items. “Pal” is short for Palestine and “Bell” is short for bellezza, Italian for beauty and an allusion to his time in Milan where the artist learned and perfected his sculpting skills. During Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, Ascalon designed munitions for the Israeli army and, at the request of the Israeli government, retrofitted his factory to produce arms for the war effort.
Ascalon closed Pal-Bell and moved to the United States in 1956, where he taught sculpture at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and opened Ascalon Studios, which produces large-scale sculptures for public spaces and houses of worship.
The studio, which is now run by Ascalon’s son David and his grandson Eric, was retooled during the COVID pandemic to manufacture safety boxes that allowed health-care workers to assist a patient on a ventilator while minimizing exposure.
Treasure Trove wishes you a happy Hanukkah , which starts on Dec. 25. This year, as Peter, Paul and Mary sang, “Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice, justice and freedom demand. Don’t let the light go out!”
The post Treasure Trove spotlights a menorah designed in the early years of the State of Israel appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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