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Embattled North Carolina Lawmaker Losing Support in Droves Following Attacks on Israel, Zionists
Raleigh City Council member Mary Black speaking at a rally and anti-Israel activist Rania Masri holding a “Freedom for Palestine” sign. Photo: Screenshot
A member of the Raleigh City Council in North Carolina who has come under fire for regularly attacking Israel and Zionists received a major blow to her re-election bid this week, with the local Democratic Party opting to endorse her opponent as the embattled lawmaker continued to receive backlash from Jewish and progressive leaders.
Following two recent reports by The Algemeiner, Mary Black came under increased scrutiny from the media, community members, and fellow Democrats for spending a disproportionate amount of time lashing out at the Jewish state, despite her job having no apparent responsibilities concerning Middle Eastern affairs.
Amid the uproar, the Wake County Democratic Party — who endorsed Black in 2022 — came under pressure not to endorse Black this year.
On Monday, the Wake County Democratic Party — which includes Raleigh — endorsed Black’s opponent, Mitchell Silver, who is a former New York City Parks Commissioner and Raleigh Chief Planner. Political insiders tell The Algemeiner it is now unlikely Black will be re-elected even as an incumbent in this nonpartisan election.
A local columnist explained, “In a county and city that vote heavily Democratic, the party’s endorsements will guide many voters. That’s especially true this year when a presidential and gubernatorial election will bring a wave of voters to the polls who are unfamiliar with local officials and issues.”
There is widespread agreement that Black won her seat in 2022 in large part based on the endorsement of the party.
Nonetheless, Black dismissed the importance of being passed over by the party.
“I’m actually kinda happy to not be endorsed by the dems this time [sic],” she posted on social media. “That means I can talk shit without fear … I can be a menace now.”
Local Jewish and Democratic leaders told The Algemeiner that they were both “thrilled” and “relieved” that the party did not endorse Black.
“The caucus is thrilled to see that the Wake County Democratic Party shares our belief that Mitchell Silver is the most qualified candidate for District A. Mitchell will continue his long track record of delivering results for Raleigh,” said Conner Taylor, 2nd vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus.
Rabbi Eric Solomon of Beth Meyer Synagogue, the largest congregation in Raleigh, added that he was “relieved that the Wake County Democratic Party did not endorse Council Member Mary Black, a city councilor who exploited her position of power to incite against her district’s Jewish community.”
Dr. Adam Goldstein, a local Democratic leader, told The Algemeiner, “It’s reassuring to see the Wake County Democratic Party endorsing mainstream candidates who will represent all Democrats in the county, who will listen and respect all constituents, and who will unite rather than divide the party.”
This sentiment was shared by Raleigh Democrats and residents who spoke to The Algemeiner.
Black has alienated many voters and members of the Jewish community by working closely with a pro-Hamas activist and spending much of her time in office attempting to have the Raleigh City Council pass a divisive, anti-Israel, one-sided Gaza ceasefire resolution. After several attempts, the resolution did not pass.
The pressure on the Wake County Democratic Party not to endorse Black came from residents and prominent Democratic leaders. Last week, the North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus told The Algemeiner they endorsed Silver. About the same time, Solomon publicly endorsed Silver in a widely read and shared social media post. In addition, a group of more than 20 prominent Democrats wrote a letter asking the Wake County Democratic Party “not to endorse between Democrats in local elections in Raleigh this fall.” Both Silver and Black are Democrats.
The Algemeiner has reported extensively on Black’s troubling posts made on Threads, a social media platform similar to X/Twitter. Black has publicly used the antisemitic slur “zios,” a term that was originally deployed by far-right extremists and has more recently been used by activists on the progressive far left.
The day Silver was endorsed by the Wake County Democratic Party, Black shared on social media: “If threads [sic] costs me the election that’s kind of a flex tbh [to be honest].” Suggesting she may lose the election, Black posted, “I’ve limited my potential to serve my community just to have the folks I’ve served turn their backs on me. Like ouch. But also this was expected and an excellent end to this social experiment I call being in elected office.”
Hours before the Silver endorsement was made public, Black declared on Threads that being electable “has never been on my agenda.”
Black has been accused of trivializing the Holocaust, implying that Israel has treated the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews and comparing politics in Raleigh to “Nazi Germany.”
Speaking to The Algemeiner, Taylor of the Jewish caucus referred to Black’s social media posts as “unsettling,” “bizarre,” “unprofessional,” and “unbecoming of an elected official.”
As reported last week, Taylor explained to The Algemeiner that the Jewish community is concerned about much more than Black’s support for a ceasefire resolution. “For many of Raleigh’s Jews, I think the real turning point, that really galvanized the Jewish community, was her [Black’s] very close working relationship with Rania Masri.”
The Algemeiner was the first to report that in November, Masri spoke at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, declaring that Oct. 7 — when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel and perpetrated the biggest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust — “was a beautiful day.” Masri expressed pride and admiration for Hamas and their paragliders and went on to “demand the eradication of Zionism.” In addition, Masri posted a video on Facebook that called Hamas fighters “heroes.”
In March, Masri asked her Facebook followers to vote for Black for “Best Politician in Wake County.” In June, a smiling Masri attended Black’s campaign kickoff event.
Taylor explained the “betrayal” felt by the Jewish community observing Black and Masri’s close working relationship, seeing Black pose for photographs with Masri, speak on a panel with the pro-Hamas activist, speak at a fundraiser with Masri standing behind her, and speak at a local rally standing with the controversial figure.
“A very important piece of context here,” Taylor shared, “is that Mary Black, in District A, represents the heart of Raleigh’s Jewish community. Two large synagogues are there … Many, many Jewish Democrats who voted for Mary Black in 2022 then had to see their member of City Council — who was supposed to be representing all of her constituents, including her Jewish constituents — openly embracing a woman [Masri] who has said that the rape and murder of Jews is a beautiful thing.”
“Many, many people in the Jewish community in Raleigh, over the past year, have been dismayed with how divisive the City Council has become,” he added. “There have been members of the City Council that have become hyper focused on issues happening thousands of miles away that the City Council has no ability to impact, to the neglect of local issues — things like schools, things like housing, things like transportation. In general, the Jewish community is really searching for, and supportive of, Raleigh-focused candidates for City Council, like … Silver.”
Taylor explained the enthusiasm that the statewide Democratic Party Jewish Caucus has for the candidacy of Silver.
“He’s a Raleigh-focused candidate. He is not campaigning on solving issues in Yemen or Gaza or Tibet or Ukraine,” Taylor argued. “He is focused on Raleigh, North Carolina … He is really a phenomenal candidate. He helped draft Raleigh’s 2030 comprehensive plan.”
However, Black is not the only member of the Raleigh City Council who has raised alarm bells among the local Jewish community. Solomon also expressed strong concerns to The Algemeiner about the Wake County Democratic Party endorsing Christina Jones, another member of the council who is also seeking re-election.
Raleigh City council members Mary Black, right, and Christina Jones. Photo: Screenshot
“By endorsing Council Member Christina Jones, whose behavior has been just as abhorrent as Mary Black’s, the Wake County Jewish community’s worst fears were confirmed,” the rabbi said. “Namely, that the local Democratic Party supports candidates who obsessively and singularly criticize Israel. Christina Jones has done precious little to honor the trauma the Raleigh Jewish community is experiencing while she continues to embrace outspoken, violence-urging, pro-Hamas organizers like Rania Masri who infamously called Oct. 7 ‘a beautiful day.’”
Last week, Black took to Threads to dismiss concerns she is antisemitic as “funny.”
The day before the Wake County Democratic Party endorsed Silver, Black wrote on Threads: “What am I even fighting for? To be harassed? To be left unsupported? To be humiliated?? To be denigrated? Literally why am I even here? I hate it here. No Truly.”
Peter Reitzes writes about issues related to antisemitism and Israel.
The post Embattled North Carolina Lawmaker Losing Support in Droves Following Attacks on Israel, Zionists first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Indigo wants the law to block an online boycott promotion that appropriates bookstore branding
Canadian bookstore chain Indigo is seeking a court injunction ordering internet service providers to block a website that the company says causes the brand “irreparable harm,” while also infringing on its copyright and trademark. Indigo’s lawyers appeared in a virtual Federal Court hearing Sept. 17 to ask a judge for an injunction that would order […]
The post Indigo wants the law to block an online boycott promotion that appropriates bookstore branding appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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‘F—king Jews’: Protester Interrupts Hate Crimes Hearing at US Capitol Over Focus on Antisemitism
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
An anti-Israel agitator on Tuesday unleashed an antisemitic tirade during a congressional hearing in Washington, DC on rising hate crimes across the United States.
The US Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to address growing numbers of attacks against minority religious and ethnic groups in the United States. While Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered a presentation condemning anti-Israel protests on college campuses, an angry demonstrator stood up and hurled expletives targeted at the Jewish community.
“F—king Jews and the Israelis themselves!” the man shouted, apparently frustrated and angry at Cruz for focusing on the deluge of reported antisemitic attacks following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
“Talk about the 40,000 [casualties in Gaza]. Talk about all these people. Why is [this presentation] about antisemitism? F—k the law,” the agitator said before being escorted out by Capitol Police.
“We now have a demonstration of antisemitism. We have a demonstration of the hate,” Cruz responded.
Cruz then slammed Democrats for exhibiting what he described as weakness on antisemitism and vowed to punish antisemites if Republicans secure a Senate majority and the presidency in November. He accused the Biden administration and the US Justice Department of turning a “blind eye” to antisemitism.
“I’ll tell you this. Next year, if there’s a Republican majority on this committee, you will see real leadership. Next year, if there’s a Republican administration, you will see people prosecuted for this sort of violence,” Cruz said.
Senate Republicans criticized Democrats for insisting on broadening the scope of the hearing from antisemitism to a “generic” discussion about all forms of bigotry. Some critics pointed out that Democrats previously condemned use of the phrase “All Lives Matter” in lieu of “Black Lives Matter,” accusing conservatives of attempting to minimize anti-black racism.
Earlier in the hearing, US Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), chair of the Judiciary Committee, defended shifting the focus of the meeting off antisemitism specifically, stating that “prioritizing which group is being discriminated against the worst” is not a “valid exercise of [the committee’s] authority.” He went on to argue that hatred is a problem “that extends beyond the Jewish population” and also affects “the Arab population” and “the Palestinian population.”
Progressive lawmakers have been under fire from pro-Israel voices in the months following the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7 for allegedly being too soft on Hamas and placing unrealistic restrictions on Israel’s war effort in Gaza. Recent polling suggests that large swaths of Democratic voters have soured on Israel, with many supporting the implementation of an arms embargo on the Jewish state. Younger Democrats, in particular, are reporting significantly greater sympathy for Palestinians than the citizens of Israel. Many Democratic staffers have also reportedly revolted against party officials, demanding that they adopt a more adversarial posture against Israel.
In response, Democratic elected officials have sharpened their rhetoric against the Jewish state, with some suggesting that Israel has committed a “genocide” in Gaza. Democratic politicians have also sought to pressure US President Joe Biden to withhold certain weapons from Israel.
Tuesday’s hearing came amid a record surge in antisemitism across the US since Oct. 7.
The post ‘F—king Jews’: Protester Interrupts Hate Crimes Hearing at US Capitol Over Focus on Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Cyber Expert: Explosives Planted in Hezbollah Pagers in Op Planned Months Before War
An ambulance arrives at a hospital as thousands of people, mainly Hezbollah fighters, were wounded on Sept. 17, 2024 when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
An Israeli cyber and national security expert has claimed that the exploding pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, which left thousands wounded and killed at least nine people on Tuesday, were part of a sophisticated attack that was planned at least half a year before the war in Gaza erupted.
Dr. Eyal Pinko, a former navy commander and senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, dismissed theories that the blasts were caused by lithium batteries that were hacked to become overheated, and said that the nature of the wounds seen in footage emerging from Lebanon was consistent with those caused by explosives such as TNT and HTB.
“To get this kind of wound you need to have between one to two grams of type of explosives, which is not a big technological issue — you just need to open the beeper,” Pinko said during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday evening. He added that a stable explosive that wouldn’t detonate accidentally would have been inserted into the device, along with a small control mechanism capable of receiving remote commands via a call or page.
Such an operation would have required significant infiltration of Hezbollah’s communication systems, according to Pinko, and planting explosives in pagers would necessitate a serious breach of the supply chain. “This is an intelligence operation that was very well planned, prepared for more than one and a half years,” Pinko said
Pinko alluded to the possibility of a coordinated effort, suggesting that Israel may not have acted alone if it was behind the attack in Lebanon, where Hezbollah wields significant political and military clout. He noted efforts by Germany, France, the US, and the UK to prevent escalation in the region.
Israel has so far been quiet about the explosions, but senior Lebanese officials have blame the Jewish state. So too has Hezbollah, which said Israel would receive “its fair punishment.”
The operation clearly appeared to serve as a message to Hezbollah, showcasing vulnerabilities in its security apparatus and serving as a form of deterrence, Pinko said. “It’s saying that, ‘you’re already being penetrated. We know where you are and what you do. Now look what we can do: In one single shot, in less than a second, we can eliminate almost 3,000 terror operatives.’”
Meanwhile, Sky News Arabia quoted an Israeli military source as saying that Hezbollah’s supply chain was infiltrated with the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, placing PETN, a highly explosive stable material, on the batteries of the devices.
A source close to Hezbollah, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the pagers were “sabotaged at the source” before being imported by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist organization based in Lebanon.
Al Jazeera said that the pagers had been in use by Hezbollah operatives for five months.
Brigadier General (res) Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), told The Algemeiner that the attack “had the Mossad’s fingerprints all over it.”
“Hezbollah certainly got the message,” Avivi said, adding that war between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group was “imminent.”
However, Pinko said that Tuesday’s coordinated attacks were not a prelude to a full ground invasion into Lebanon and that Israel was likely to adopt a “wait and see” approach. “Israel doesn’t want to go towards further escalation; not in the north, and not with the Houthis in Yemen. They just want to finish the business in Gaza.”
The explosions came hours after a revelation by the Israeli Shin Bet security agency that a Hezbollah cell had infiltrated Israel with the intent to assassinate a former senior defense official in Tel Aviv using a mobile phone, camera, and remote detonation.
Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel almost daily following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on the Jewish state’s southern region. Since then, both sides have been exchanging fire constantly while avoiding a major escalation as war rages in Gaza to the south.
About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel and flee to other parts of the country amid the unrelenting attacks from Hezbollah.
Israeli leaders have said they seek a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon but are prepared to use large-scale military force if needed to ensure all citizens can safely return to their homes.
On Monday night, Israel’s security cabinet expanded its war goals to include returning the displaced Israelis from the north.
The post Israeli Cyber Expert: Explosives Planted in Hezbollah Pagers in Op Planned Months Before War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.