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Black Muslim Leaders Call on Supporters Not to Vote for Kamala Harris Due to Gaza, Israel Policy

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US, Aug. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Erica Dischino

Black Muslim leaders across the United States are calling on their supporters to withhold their vote from Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, accusing the incumbent US vice president of facilitating a so-called “genocide” in Gaza. 

In a letter published by the Middle East Eye on Monday, 50 black Muslim leaders called on members of their community to embrace the legacy of “black liberation” by only voting for candidates who support a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms blockade on Israel. The coalition of Muslim leaders urged their followers to reject the notion that Harris would be better on domestic issues and that a Donald Trump presidency would pose greater danger to Palestinians. 

As black Muslims, we also know that the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza is a war on Islam,” the letter read. “The Israeli government and its unhinged army of cowardly criminals have filmed themselves destroying mosques, burning Qurans, and slandering our sacred religious figures. The supremacist Israeli government has also destroyed churches and attacked the Palestinian Christian community.”

The black Muslim leaders condemned the Biden administration for supporting Israel’s defensive military operations against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. The coalition also slammed Harris for not taking a more adversarial position against the Jewish state since she replaced US President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket. 

“All of this has occurred under the watch of the Biden-Harris administration, which has provided steadfast military, financial, diplomatic, and rhetorical support for the Israeli government’s war crimes for four years, including at least $18 billion since the start of the genocide,” the group wrote.

The Muslim leaders lambasted Harris over her repeated refusals to implement an arms embargo against Israel. In recent months, anti-Israel activists have attempted to pressure Harris into agreeing to block weapons transfers to the Jewish state. In August, the her campaign released a statement denying any support for such a move and affirming Harris’s commitment to ensuring “Israel is able to defend itself.”

Vice President Harris has explicitly opposed an arms embargo on the Israeli government even though US law requires it. She has refused to lay out any plan whatsoever to force [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal in Gaza that ends the genocide,” the letter stated. “She has validated the Israeli government’s efforts to spark a regional war with Iran, leading to instability in the region and the world at large. Just this week, she said that she would not have done anything differently than President Biden over the past four years.”

The coalition attempted to draw a parallel between the experience of black Americans and Palestinians, arguing that the Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza and the West Bank are subject to brutal racial discrimination. 

“As Muslims obliged to uphold justice and as black Americans whose ancestors experienced the worst of crimes, genocide must be our red line,” the letter added.

“There’s a false narrative that is being pushed that the majority of Muslims who are black are Kamala Harris supporters,” Imam Dawud Walid, a Muslim leader from Michigan, told the Middle East Eye. “There’s this narrative that is trying to divide the community to say that the majority of Muslims who aren’t black are supporting third party, but the majority of Muslims who are black are somehow divided from the rest of the community, and that’s not true.”

In the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election cycle, the Harris campaign has scrambled to coalesce support among Muslim voters. Despite aggressive overtures toward the Muslim American community, recent polls indicate that the vice president could experience a collapse of support among the demographic. Some polling data has shown Green Party nominee Jill Stein leading Harris among Muslim voters in the critical swing state of Michigan, while other polls show Harris and Trump tied with Muslim voters across battleground states. 

Moreover, many Arab American leaders have continued to urge their community to withhold their votes from Harris, arguing that the Democratic party deserves “punishment” for supporting Israel. Groups such as “Abandon Harris” have encouraged Arab American voters to only throw their support behind anti-Israel candidates. Other groups such as the “Uncommitted Movement” have also pushed voters, especially in the Arab and Muslim communities, to refuse to cast a ballot in favor of Harris.

The post Black Muslim Leaders Call on Supporters Not to Vote for Kamala Harris Due to Gaza, Israel Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Dutch Court Blasted for ‘Woefully Insufficient’ Sentencing of Men Who Attacked Israeli Soccer Fans in Amsterdam

Israeli soccer fans under assault, near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS

A district court in Amsterdam sentenced five men on Tuesday for participating in violent attacks against Israeli soccer fans in the Dutch city last month, imposing punishments that were roundly criticized as inadequate by many pro-Israel supporters.

The five suspects were sentenced to community service and up to six months in jail for violent public assault, which included kicking fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv before and after the team’s match against their Dutch rivals Ajax and inciting the premeditated and coordinated violence that took place on Nov. 7.

A man identified as Sefa O was given the longest sentence — six months in prison for public violence against several people, minus the time he has already been held in custody. Prosecutors argued that he had a “leading role” in the violence that ensued. In court earlier this month, images were shown of a man identified as Sefa O kicking a person on the ground, chasing fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the streets of Amsterdam, and punching people in the head and the body.

A man identified as Umutcan A was sentenced to one month in jail, and Rachid O, who shared messages in the Whatsapp group chat that incited the violence, was sentenced to 10 weeks in jail. Karavan S was given one month for the same offense. Nineteen-year-old Lucas D — the only one of the five men to appear in court for the sentencing on Tuesday — was tried under juvenile law and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, minus his pre-trial detention. The young man helped incite violence by participating in chat conversations that called for people to gather and attack Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, according to the court, which added that he also sent discriminatory messages in the chat group.

The five men were given sentences that were much less than what prosecutors demanded. The court defended its ruling by saying that community service is typically ordered for such crimes and for first time criminal offenders, which some of the suspects are, but “given the seriousness of the facts and the context in which they took place, the court is of the opinion that a prison sentence is the only appropriate punishment.” However, many have argued that the sentencing is not severe enough.

“Seriously Amsterdam? 6 months maximum prison, while excusing their pogromist actions? Shame on you,” Arsen Ostrovsky, a leading human rights attorney and CEO of The International Legal Forum, said in a post on X. “No wonder Jew-hatred and Islamic extremism is out of control in the Netherlands!”

Tal-Or Cohen, the founder and CEO of CyberWell, a technology company that monitors antisemitism and Holocaust denial on social media, called the sentencing on Tuesday “a shameful slap on the wrist and CYA [cover your ass] by Dutch authorities.”

“One of the leaders of the Amsterdam pogrom ‘possessed illegal fireworks with the power of a hand grenade,’ – But according to Dutch prosecutors no need to pursue charges for terrorism,” she noted, citing a Dutch report about the violence. “What if the leaders of the ‘Jew-Hunt’ brought their grenade to a Christmas market in Amsterdam?”

The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) described the severity of the sentencing as “disappointing” on its website. In a post on X, it further called the punishment “regrettable” since it was much less than what prosecutors had hoped for. “Nevertheless,” the group said, “it is good that prison sentences were imposed and that community service alone was not enough.”

“This shows that the legal order is also shocked. There was no justification for the actions of that night,” the CIDI added. “With this verdict, we as a society draw a clear line that this is not acceptable and that we do not accept this violence. We hope that other suspects will soon be arrested and that prosecutions can be initiated with the same speed.”

Others on X called the sentencing “woefully insufficient,” a “joke,” and a “disgrace.”

“This was an opportunity to show that antisemitism comes with a price. A 6 month jail sentence does not serve as a deterrent,” said one social media user.

After a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax on the night of Nov. 7, Israeli soccer fans were attacked in the streets by assailants who physically assaulted them, ran them over by cars, chased them with knives and sticks, and forced them to say “Free Palestine” to avoid further harm. Chief prosecutor René de Beukelaer said “several dozen” people were attacked. The violence continued into the early hours of Nov. 8 and five Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were hospitalized for injuries sustained during the attack that has been described as a “pogrom.” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema called the attackers “antisemitic hit-and-run squads” who went “Jew hunting.” 

Seven people appeared in court earlier this month in connection to the violence, but two of the cases have been delayed. The defense in one case requested a later date, to have more time to prepare evidence, and the second case, involving a Palestinian refugee accused of “attempted manslaughter,” is pushed back as the court awaits the results of a psychiatric evaluation, according to AFP. A total of 62 people were arrested on the day of the soccer match in relation to the violence, but most were released shortly afterward, the news outlet noted. Dutch police have already identified at least 45 suspects  and are trying to identify more.

The prosecutor previously said that the violence last month “had little to do” with soccer. “In this case, there was no evidence of … a terrorist intent and the violence was not motivated by antisemitic sentiment,” he claimed. “The violence was influenced by the situation in Gaza, not by antisemitism.”

More than 47 people who were attacked during the violence in Amsterdam have obtained legal counsel from The Lawfare Project, which is helping the victims review legal options after also assisting them in securing local counsel in Amsterdam.

The post Dutch Court Blasted for ‘Woefully Insufficient’ Sentencing of Men Who Attacked Israeli Soccer Fans in Amsterdam first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan makes history as first Sephardi woman to join federal cabinet

Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan is Canada’s new minister of official languages and associate minister of public safety, following a Dec. 20 cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The 44-year-old lawyer was first elected in a 2019 byelection to fill the seat vacated by Thomas Mulcair, who represented Outremont for more than a decade, including as the leader of the federal NDP. Bendayan was twice re-elected in the riding, which has seen the NDP’s popularity rise over the last year. The seat is now considered a toss-up between the NDP and Liberals, according to 338 Canada poll projections.

Canada’s first Sephardi woman appointed to cabinet is also the former parliamentary secretary to former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, who stunned the nation by resigning last week.

She is a strong advocate for federal gun control measures and has a background in international trade law. She is one of two new cabinet members from Quebec, alongside Minister of National Revenue Élisabeth Brière, who represents Sherbrooke.

After her swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Bendayan spoke about the third shooting of a Toronto Jewish school just hours earlier and Wednesday’s firebombing of Beth Tikvah synagogue in Montreal. She also noted Jewish schools in her own riding were shot at “not once, twice, but three times” since October 2023.

She used the opportunity to reveal a new federal summit on antisemitism, which The CJN reported on Dec. 20.

https://twitter.com/RachelBendayan/status/1870194541372027232

“I think everybody is aware that hate-motivated crime in particular is on the rise since 2019, police reporting that hate crimes have more than doubled, that there is a significant increase in hate crimes committed against the Muslim community, and, strikingly, antisemitic hate crimes have almost tripled in that same time period.

“As a result, and in order to ensure that we stem this violence, I’ll be convening along with the minister of justice, our counterparts provincially and territorially, also municipally as well as police authorities,” she said, announcing a national forum on combatting antisemitism. “We are going to be working all together in order to address this heinous and intolerable rise in hate crimes in Canada.”

Reactions range from silence to skepticism

When asked by The CJN, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Communauté Sépharade Unifiée de Québec had no comment about Bendayan’s appointment.

The president of the Canadian Sephardi Federation, Avraham Elarar, told The CJN that Bendayan’s appointment is “not a bad thing for the community, but I wish she had done more for the community at large, regardless of whether she is Sephardi, but as a member of the Liberal Party…. I like her, but where was she? Unfortunately, I didn’t see her much during the tumultuous 14 months that we have just gone through.”

(Bendayan was absent from Parliament for about six months following a debilitating concussion in January 2024.)

Nevertheless, Elarar told The CJN, the move can seem “a desperate attempt by Justin Trudeau to cater to the Jewish community. Canada has had similar experiences as democracies like France and Britain, where every time a leader proclaims itself against Israel in any way, it becomes open season on Jews in their countries. Unfortunately, Trudeau fell into the same trap…. Antisemitic acts in Canada are some of the most virulent we’ve seen in Western countries,” he says.

“It takes courage, of course, and just because Bendayan is a Jewish MP does not mean it was her burden alone to fight antisemitism, but the ethical obligations as a human, as a Canadian regardless of affiliation, should have enticed her.”

In the hot seat in Quebec

For her part, Bendayan fended off questions about Trudeau’s future and election talk, stressing the importance of looking at political crises in Germany, France and instability across the world, including in the United States, where Donald Trump will be sworn in as president in January. She noted, “It is important for us to be a stable country here in Canada. It is important for us to defend Canadian interests. I don’t intend to waste any time on partisan politics.”

Indeed, Bendayan got her first taste of the delicate ministerial portfolio she now commands, when asked the question posed by Quebec journalists to every politician working on any language file, if “French in Quebec is in decline, yes or no?”

“Quebec has a very important role,” she replied. “It is the province that must first and foremost be francophone in order to ensure that the linguistic duality that we have here in Canada is protected and maintained.”

Pressed again for a “yes or no” answer, Bendayan replied, “I think my role as minister of official languages is to make sure that we maintain bilingualism, to make sure that the English-speaking minority in Quebec is protected and that the French-speaking minority outside Quebec is protected, so that bilingualism is protected everywhere across the country and that we maintain the linguistic duality that we have and that we are so proud of.”

She was immediately pilloried by nationalists and language hawks before she backtracked, telling reporters shortly after that it’s “true that French is in decline in Quebec.” Quebec’s French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge called Bendayan’s initial response irresponsible. “The decline of French in Quebec and Canada is a fact proven by Statistics Canada figures,” he posted on social media. “The new Minister of Official Languages must absolutely recognize this, because it is her responsibility to reverse this decline.”

According to StatsCan, Quebec’s overall population grew 4.1 percent between 2016 and 2021 (to 8,501,833) while the number of those whose mother tongue is French grew by less than 1.2 percent, comprising 74.9 percent of the population. Moreover, the number of Quebecers who most often spoke French at home was outpaced by those speaking English. Nationwide, French was the first official language spoken by more than 7.8 million Canadians in 2021, up from 7.7 million in 2016, a 1.6-percent hike that lagged far behind Canada’s population growth (5.2 percent).

Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet and Quebec’s sole NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice also took her to task. Boulerice posted, minutes after her appointment, “When you come to appointing Rachel Bendayan as (minister of) official languages, you’ve reached the bottom of the barrel.”

Outremont is a diverse riding encompassing the borough of Outremont, parts of Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough and Mile End, and is home to the city’s largest Haredi Jewish community, an older Greek community and new immigrants. The riding is majority French-speaking, and about 12 percent Jewish.

Known as a long-time Liberal activist and Trudeau loyalist, Bendayan joins fellow Montreal cabinet members Marc Miller, Mélanie Joly, Steve Guilbeault and Soraya Martinez. As new official languages minister, she succeeds Randy Boissonnault, who resigned from cabinet in November over controversies surrounding his business activities and claims to Indigenous heritage.

Bendayan’s predecessor-turned-pundit, Thomas Mulcair, described her the day before her appointment as a solid lawyer and backbencher. The former NDP leader told CTV, “She’s well respected and, since Oct. 7, the Trudeau-Joly team has been under a lot of criticism from that [Jewish] community. The Liberals are expecting to lose Anthony Housefather’s riding to the Conservatives on the island of Montreal, so she would be a way of sending a positive signal.”

Bendayan “is young, she’s strong, and I like her,” added Elarar. “But an associate minister means nothing. As for language issues, she’s going to have her hands very full…. I’m also realistic to know that this government will not last, and the government that will replace it will continue the tradition of Stephen Harper, who was tremendously supportive of Israel and the Jewish community.”

Housefather has been elected three times in Mount Royal—which was, until recently, one of Canada’s safest Liberal ridings, which previously elected Irwin Cotler, Sheila Finestone and Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Housefather has publicly called on Trudeau to resign, saying his remaining in place is a liability for Liberal members of Parliament across the country. While the riding has been inching closer towards the Conservatives, and their candidate, Neil Oberman, over the last year, polling aggregate 338 Canada shows Housefather’s fortunes rising over the last two weeks, amid the turmoil of the Trudeau government and his calls for the leader to step down.

The post Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan makes history as first Sephardi woman to join federal cabinet appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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Palestinian Authority Clashes With Al Jazeera Over Jenin Coverage

Palestinian demonstrators call for an end to clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in Jenin, in the West Bank, Dec. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta

Al Jazeera television has clashed with the Palestinian Authority over its coverage of the weeks-long standoff between Palestinian security forces and terrorists in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Fatah, the faction which controls the Palestinian Authority, condemned the Qatari-headquartered network, which has reported extensively on the clashes in Jenin, saying it was sowing division in “our Arab homeland in general and in Palestine in particular.” It encouraged Palestinians not to cooperate with the network.

Israel closed down Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel in May, saying it threatened national security. In September, it ordered the network’s bureau in Ramallah, to close for 45 days after an intelligence assessment that the offices were being used to support terrorist activities.

“Al Jazeera has successfully maintained its professionalism throughout its coverage of the unfolding events in Jenin,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Palestinian Authority security forces have battled Islamist fighters in Jenin, as they try to control one of the historic centers of militancy in the West Bank ahead of a likely shakeout in Palestinian politics after the Gaza war.

Forces of the PA, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, moved into Jenin in early December, clashing daily with fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which are internationally designated terrorist groups supported by Iran.

The standoff has fueled bitter anger on both sides, deepening the divisions which have long existed between the Palestinian factions and their supporters.

Al Jazeera said its broadcasts fairly presented the views of both sides.

“The voices of both the Palestinian resistance and the Spokesperson of the Palestinian National Security Forces have always been present on Al Jazeera’s screens,” Al Jazeera said.

The post Palestinian Authority Clashes With Al Jazeera Over Jenin Coverage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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