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CAIR Submits Complaint Over Proposal To Prohibit Protests In Front of Synagogues
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas protesters in front of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City’s Upper East Side neighborhood. Source: X/Twitter
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has submitted a complaint against the Los Angeles City Council over a proposal to ban anti-Israel protesters from demonstrating in front of synagogues.
CAIR, which has been dogged for years by allegations of association with Hamas and other terrorist groups, argues that establishing “100-foot protest buffer zones” around “sensitive sites” such as Jewish institutions and houses of worship could hamper speech rights of anti-Israel activists. The organization stated that the proposal represents the latest in a series of attempts to unfairly target so-called “anti-genocide” protesters.
“Though the goal of the motion is to protect public spaces, such as religious institutions and healthcare facilities from those who may block or impede the entrances to these facilities, it is important to examine the underlying context, which directly threatens the free specch and assembly rights of community members who peacefully advocate on behalf of Palestinian rights,” the organization wrote.
JUST IN: CAIR has come out against two LA city council proposals that would, among other things, require pro-Hamas protestors to keep an 8-foot distance from people entering synagogues and prohibit them from intentionally blocking entrances pic.twitter.com/P6A7S32PwQ
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) September 15, 2024
CAIR slammed the proposed rules as “arbitrary” and “impractical,” adding that they are likely to result in the “unjust criminalization of individuals who are peacefully assembling.” The organization pointed to the recent anti-Israel demonstrations at UCLA and in front of a Los Angeles synagogue as instances in which “peaceful protestors were subject to extreme violence and intimidation.”
Police violence against anti-Israel protests could increase as a result of the measure, the group warns. The organization worries that “excessive force” could be deployed against anti-Israel agitators while “pro-Zionist demonstrators” are allowed to “act with impunity.”
“We respectfully urge you to reconsider the harmful implications of this motion and to protect the fundamental rights that underpin our democracy. The right to protest and voice dissent, even on the most controversial of subjects, is a right that cannot be restricted without serious consideration of the constitutional violations that are sure to follow. Moreover, protests serve a critical function in a democratic society. They ensure that individuals can challenge the status quo and call for justice, especially on matters that disproportionately affect those systemically marginalized and dispossessed,” the group continued.
In August, Los Angeles City Council proposed making it a misdemeanor for protesters to prevent entry into schools, religious institutions, or hospitals. The motion amid simmering anger over violent pro-Palestine demonstrations across the city. Pro-Palestine protesters swarmed Adas Torah synagogue in June to prevent a real estate auction of Israeli land.
“Even here in Los Angeles County, we have seen how intimidation is used to prevent community members from entering facilities to receive essential services,” Los Angeles Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in a statement.
A number of Jewish advocacy organizations and leaders expressed support for the proposal, claiming that that it will “ensure the safety” of those trying to enter religious institutions.
CAIR has long been a controversial organization. In the 2000s, it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case. Politico noted in 2010 that “US District Court Judge Jorge Solis found that the government presented ‘ample evidence to establish the association’” of CAIR with Hamas.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “some of CAIR’s current leadership had early connections with organizations that are or were affiliated with Hamas.” CAIR has disputed the accuracy of the ADL’s claim and asserted that CAIR “unequivocally condemn[s] all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the US Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.’”
CAIR has found themselves been embroiled in even more controversy since Oct. 7. The head of CAIR, for example, said he was “happy” to witness Hamas’ rampage across southern Israel.
“The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege — the walls of the concentration camp — on Oct. 7,” CAIR co-founder and executive director Nihad Awad said in a speech during the American Muslims for Palestine convention in Chicago in November. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in.”
The post CAIR Submits Complaint Over Proposal To Prohibit Protests In Front of Synagogues first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Its Missions in UAE Remain Open Despite Reported Security Threats
President Isaac Herzog meets on Dec. 5, 2022, with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. Photo: GPO/Amos Ben Gershom
i24 News – Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that its missions to the United Arab Emirates are open on Friday and representatives continue to operate at the embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai in cooperation with local authorities.
This includes, the statement underlined, ensuring the protection of Israeli diplomats.
On Thursday, reports appeared in Israeli media that Israel was evacuating most of its diplomatic staff in the UAE after the National Security Council heightened its travel warning for Israelis staying in the Gulf country for fear of an Iranian or Iran-sponsored attacks.
“We are emphasizing this travel warning given our understanding that terrorist organizations (the Iranians, Hamas, Hezbollah and Global Jihad) are increasing their efforts to harm Israel,” the NSC said in a statement.
After signing the Abraham Accords with Israel in 2020, the UAE has been among the closest regional allies of the Jewish state.
Israel is concerned about its citizens and diplomats being targeted in retaliatory attacks following its 12-day war against Iran last month.
Earlier this year, the UAE sentenced three citizens of Uzbekistan to death for last year’s murder of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Zvi Cohen.
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Hamas Says It Won’t Disarm Unless Independent Palestinian State Established
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Hamas said on Saturday that it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established – a fresh rebuke to a key Israeli demand to end the war in Gaza.
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza war and deal for the release of hostages ended last week in deadlock.
On Tuesday, Qatar and Egypt, who are mediating ceasefire efforts, endorsed a declaration by France and Saudi Arabia outlining steps toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and saying that as part of this Hamas must hand over its arms to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
In its statement, Hamas – which has dominated Gaza since 2007 but has been militarily battered by Israel in the war – said it could not yield its right to “armed resistance” unless an “independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital” is established.
Israel considers the disarmament of Hamas a key condition for any deal to end the conflict, but Hamas has repeatedly said it is not willing to lay down its weaponry.
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described any future independent Palestinian state as a platform to destroy Israel and said, for that reason, security control over Palestinian territories must remain with Israel.
He also criticized several countries, including the UK and Canada, for announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state in response to devastation of Gaza from Israel’s offensive and blockade, calling the move a reward for Hamas’ conduct.
The war started when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel and Hamas traded blame after the most recent round of talks ended in an impasse, with gaps lingering over issues including the extent of an Israeli military withdrawal.
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US Envoy Witkoff Visits the Gaza Aid Operation That the UN Calls Unsafe
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy visited a US-backed aid operation in Gaza on Friday, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there.
Steve Witkoff visited a site run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, where Israel has been fighting the militant group Hamas.
Humanitarian organizations and many foreign governments have been strongly critical of the GHF, which began operations in late May. A global hunger monitor warned this week that famine is unfolding in Gaza.
The Israeli military said it was still looking into the incident in which soldiers fired warning shots at what it described as a “gathering of suspects” approaching its troops, hundreds of meters from the aid site.
The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites.
The Israeli military has acknowledged that its forces have killed some Palestinians seeking aid and says it has given its troops new orders to improve their response.
The UN has declined to work with the GHF, which it says distributes aid in ways that are inherently dangerous and violate humanitarian neutrality principles, contributing to the hunger crisis across the territory.
The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and that it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the U.N.
Israel blames Hamas and the U.N. for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians in Gaza and introduced the GHF distribution system, saying it would prevent aid supplies being seized by Hamas. Hamas denies stealing aid.
Indirect negotiations between the sides aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal ended last week in deadlock.
Hamas on Friday released a video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David in one of its tunnels appearing skeletally thin. Its allied Islamic Jihad militant group released a video on Thursday of hostage Rom Braslavski, crying and pleading for his release.
CRAFTING A PLAN
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who traveled with Witkoff to Gaza on Friday, posted on X a picture showing hungry Gazans behind razor wire with a GHF poster displaying a big American flag and the words “100,000,000 meals delivered.”
“President Trump understands the stakes in Gaza and that feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority,” GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay said in a statement accompanied by images of Witkoff in a grey camouflage top, flak jacket and “Make America Great Again” baseball cap with Trump’s name stitched on the back.
Witkoff said on X that he had also met with other agencies.
“The purpose of the visit was to give @POTUS (Trump) a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza,” Witkoff said.
He visited Gaza a day after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is under mounting international pressure over the devastation of Gaza since the start of the war and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants.
MALNUTRITION
Gaza medics say dozens have died of malnutrition in recent days after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March-May.
Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
The worsening crisis has prompted France, Britain and Canada to announce plans to potentially recognize a Palestinian state, a move already taken by most countries but not by major Western powers.
On Friday, the Israeli military said that 200 trucks of aid were distributed by the U.N. and other organizations on Thursday, with hundreds more waiting to be picked up from the border crossings inside Gaza.
The United Nations says it has thousands of trucks still waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures that aid groups say have prevented the entry of humanitarian assistance.
Israel began allowing food air drops this week, but U.N. agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. On Friday, the Israeli military said that 126 food packages were airdropped by six countries, including for the first time France, Spain, and Germany.