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June 2016

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 10, 2016 35 Comments
Do I look dangerous? (Wait, don't answer that.) I must have at about 3 a.m. Israel time as I entered Ben-Gurion Airport for my 4:50 a.m. flight to Boston through Amsterdam. As I entered the terminal, long before the security checks, I was pulled aside by some guy I didn't even notice before, and asked to empty my pockets and open my bags on a table. I then was asked a series of question. I don't even remember what they were. I was allowed to go, and then went through the usual security checks other passengers go through. I'm still trying to figure out which profile I fit:

Posted by Miriam Elman on June 09, 2016 6 Comments
This past Sunday Omar Barghouti blasted Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order No. 157 which directs NY state agencies to counter-boycott those companies that engage in discriminatory pro-BDS business activities. Barghouti (52) is one of the biggest names in BDS. He’s writes prolifically in support of the BDS agenda, goes on frequent speaking tours where he delivers vehemently anti-Israel propaganda to captive audiences on American college campuses and at mainline church events, and is featured prominently on BDS materials and in outlets that are sympathetic to the cause. In the mainstream media, he’s the go-to spokesperson of the movement and has been featured in a number of editorials in prominent newspapers (see here and here).

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 09, 2016 5 Comments
More than 16,000 items belonging to victims of Nazi death camp, Auschwitz were recently rediscovered in Poland. Their whereabouts have been known since 1967, but shortly thereafter, communist upheaval stalled the recovery of these long-lost possessions. Haaretz reports:
The items include flatware, brushes, pipes, lighters, kitchenware, penknives, buttons, jewelry, watches, keys, stamps, medical kits, shoes and documents.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 09, 2016 19 Comments
In February, President Obama said we should not "panic over Zika." At the same time, he asked Congress for $1.8 billion in funding for the resources to combat the Zika virus, the pathogen spreading rapidly through the Americas that can cause birth defects and neurological problems. In a rare display of fiscal restraint, Congress granted $622 million (mainly from unused Ebola response money). However, as negotiations continue for even more Zika funding between these two branches of government, it seems that $500 million of those taxpayer dollars initially allotted now sits in the coffers of the United Nations.
The Obama administration siphoned $500 million that could have gone toward combating the Zika virus into a United Nations effort aimed at mitigating climate change. Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.) wrote in an op-ed published in the Daily Signal that the Senate last year granted Obama the authority to pay for a response to Zika, but his administration chose instead to allocate those funds toward the U.N.’s Green Climate Fund.
As a reminder, that $500 million is the first installment of $3 billion that Obama agreed to turn over as part of the UN Paris climate conference deal.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 09, 2016 38 Comments
Bonnie Schaefer, a member of the Democratic Party's platform committee, recently said that, in her opinion, no one should own a gun. As you absorb this story, bear in mind that her statement wasn't caught on a hidden camera. This was said plainly and openly as if she was opining on her favorite kind of music. Aaron Kliegman reported at the Washington Free Beacon:
DNC Platform Committee Member Doesn’t Think ‘Anyone Should Have a Gun’ A member of the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Committee said at a planning event Wednesday that she does not believe anyone in the United States should own a gun.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 09, 2016 12 Comments
President Barack Obama has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president after meeting with her opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders at the White House. https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/740964361552941056 Clinton declared a victory in the Democratic primary on Tuesday after she won primaries in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota. The Associated Press announced she clinched after she captured the Puerto Rico primary, which propelled her to 2,383 delegates.

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 09, 2016 48 Comments
Today the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, finally released its long awaited opinion in the Second Amendment case of Peruta. The core issue in that case is whether the Second Amendment provides an individual right of the general, law-abiding public to bear concealed arms in public places.  The full decision is embedded at the bottom of this post. In short, today’s 9th Circuit decision states that:
We hold that the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.
The majority arrives at this conclusion having applied intermediate scrutiny, rather than either strict scrutiny (almost invariably finds a constraint to be unconstitutional) or rational basis (almost invariably finds a constraint to be constitutional), to the dispute. In District of Columbia v. Heller the Supreme Court held that rational basis was an inappropriate level of scrutiny to evaluate claims of Second Amendment infringement, but left open the door for intermediate scrutiny. As this opinion shows, allowing for intermediate scrutiny in practice is little different in the hands of anti-Second Amendment judges than allowing them to apply rational basis—every gun control restraint will survive scrutiny, and the Second Amendment effectively loses all meaning.

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 09, 2016 43 Comments
Minutes ago trial Judge Barry Williams denied a last minute motion to dismiss all charges by the defense team for van driver Police Officer Caesar Goodson.  Goodson is charged with murder, manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment in the death of Freddie Gray, and his bench trial begins today. Late yesterday the Baltimore Sun and other news outlets report that trial Judge Barry Williams would this morning first hear a motion dismiss all charges against Officer Goodson as a result of repeated prosecutorial misconduct.  That motion has now been denied. Specifically, the motion filed by Goodson’s lawyers earlier this week (but under seal until yesterday) asked Judge Williams to dismiss the charges against their client on the grounds that the prosecution has repeatedly concealed from the defense exculpatory evidence. This follows on at least two prior incidents in the Freddie Gray trials in which prosecutors had similarly withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense. I have embedded the defense motion to dismiss at the bottom of this post. That motion also includes a transcription of the initial full interview with Donta Allen and detectives, in which he describe Freddie Gray’s movements in the van as extremely energetic. It’s worth the read. Prosecutors have a legal duty to share with criminal defendants any exculpatory evidence upon which they might stumble in the course of their investigation. Violations of this duty are commonly referred to as Brady violations, named after the 1963 Supreme Court case of Brady v. Maryland which established this legal duty. The traditional remedy for a deliberate, or even accidental, failure to disclose such exculpatory evidence is dismissal of the criminal charges.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on June 09, 2016 8 Comments
As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Beijing this week, preaching the virtues of “peaceful resolution” of disputes between the neighbours in the South China Sea, fighter jets belonging to Chinese 'People's Liberation Army' carried out aggressive manoeuvres against a US plane. According to the U.S. Pacific Command, the reconnaissance plane was on a routine mission over the East China Sea when two Chinese J-10 fighters attempted an “unsafe intercept”, making it the second incident of this kind to take place in less than three weeks. Earlier in May, two Chinese fighter jets flew within 15 meters of a US reconnaissance plane flying over the South China Sea. As President Obama set about to reduce the U.S. footprint in the world and divert country’s military preparedness to chase the spectre of Climate Change -- seven years ago, Communist China has been investing in a massive project to build and militarise artificial islands beyond its recognised maritime borders. China now contests 80 percent of the South China Sea, staking its control over one of the busiest maritime route in the world.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 09, 2016 7 Comments
Just three days ago, on June 6, the American Anthropological Association announced that the membership narrowly defeated an anti-Israel academic boycott resolution. The resolution was opposed by many Israel anthropologists, including Dr. Michael Feige of Ben-Burion University of the Negev: Michael Feige Ben Gurion Page The boycott, if passed, would have directly affected not only universities like Ben-Gurion, but those who work there like Dr. Feige. Feige was one of hundreds to sign a statement against the boycott, which read in part:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 08, 2016 5 Comments
One of the goals of my recent trip to Israel was to meet with the families of the victims of the ongoing Palestinian violence, sometimes referred to as the Knife or Stabbing Intifada. Of course, the Knife or Stabbing Intifada hasn't only been knives and it hasn't only been stabbings -- there have been shootings and cars turned into deadly weapons. Unfortunately, because my two-week trip was reduced to three days because I had return to the U.S. due to a family medical emergency, I did not get to meet with any families. I was to meet with the widow of Yaakov Don, but the call to me came just 30 minutes before our meeting, and I had to cancel. With the news today of another terrorist shooting, this time in Tel Aviv, it's important to remember that the Tel Aviv attack is just one in dozens of attacks the past few months. You probably don't recognize the name Yaakov Don. But you may remember the name Ezra Schwarz, the American Teenager Murdered in Palestinian Attack on November 19, 2015.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 08, 2016 4 Comments
Anders Kompass, who worked as director of field operations at the UN human rights office, has resigned after the organization did not hold senior officials accountable for human rights abuses. The UN suspended Kompass after he leaked a report that said French troops sexually abused children in the Central African Republic. However, the UN never took action and Kompass decided "he could no longer work for an organisation with no accountability." From The Guardian:
“The complete impunity for those who have been found to have, in various degrees, abused their authority, together with the unwillingness of the hierarchy to express any regrets for the way they acted towards me sadly confirms that lack of accountability is entrenched in the United Nations. This makes it impossible for me to continue working there.”

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 08, 2016 19 Comments
As I noted in my post on the AP announcing that Hillary Clinton has clinched the nomination ahead of the California election, the November 2016 battle is ultimately between the elite media and average Americans. As predicted by many, the American press has started pressuring Bernie Sanders to stop his campaign entirely. This gem from the San Diego Union Tribune is just one example of many attempts to cajole Sanders voters into supporting Clinton.
This is why we urge Bernie Sanders to drop his now-futile challenge to Clinton for the Democratic nomination after the final primary next Tuesday in Washington D.C. At this stage, after a historic speech as a major party’s first presumptive female presidential nominee, Clinton shouldn’t have to spend her time and resources defending herself from Sanders and his allies.
But the California media has not mentioned that Clinton has not experienced smooth sailing they portray in their coverage.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 08, 2016 3 Comments
Two gunmen allegedly dressed as Orthodox Jews killed four people at the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday. The police managed to shoot and disarm the gunmen. Three people remain in critical condition while four others have serious injuries. Police have not confirmed if the gunmen dressed as Orthodox Jews as one eyewitness claimed. https://twitter.com/Conflicts/status/740643767129116672

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 08, 2016 29 Comments
Two weeks ago, we published a post noting that two of the police officers charged by MD State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby had gone on the offensive and filed a civil suit in Federal Court against her and Maj. Sam Cogen of the Baltimore Sheriff's Office for defamation and invasion of privacy. (It was Maj. Cogen who signed off on the charging documents against the officers.) Since that post we have learned that a third officer charged in the case, Lieutenant Brian Rice, filed a contemporaneous suit against Mosby and Maj. Cogen on similar grounds. All three officers claim that both Mosby and Cogen knew that the officers had committed no crime, but nevertheless brought serious criminal charges against them--including manslaughter, felony assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office--despite this knowledge. The officers claim that Mosby and Cogen brought these charges not because they believed the charges were legally justified, but for political advantage and to attempt to quell the riots, looting, and arson taking place throughout Baltimore.  For this reason, they argue that Mosby and Cogen should not receive the immunity that would normally protect them from legal liability for decisions and action made in the course of their duties. Essential to this theory of the case is that Mosby and Cogen acted with actual malice, rather than mere negligence.  The officers feel malice is supported by the evidence including the Mosby press conference in which she announced the charges and stated to the assembled crowd:
I heard your calls for, ‘No Justice, No peace.’ Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man.
Today the officers' initial claims of defamation and invasion of privacy seem to have been simply the opening salvo against Mosby and Cogen.  According to a report by LawOfficer.com Sergeant Alicia White and Officer William Porter plan to amend their civil complaint to add new allegations of malicious prosecution, false arrest, and violation of the Maryland declaration of rights, article 24 and 26.  According to Political Insider, Lt. Rice's complaint against Mosby and Cogen is also expected to be amended to include those additional allegations.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 08, 2016 4 Comments
The United Nations has shown they care more about money than children's rights as they removed Saudi Arabia from a list of countries who committed atrocities in Yemen. The kingdom threatened to pull money from numerous UN programs if they remained on the list. UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon immediately gave into their demands and will remove Saudi pending a review. Not just human rights. This list only mentioned countries that violated CHILDREN'S rights. The UN put money above innocent children. The list claimed that "the Saudis' campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen was blamed for causing 60% of child deaths in the conflict."

Posted by Dexter Van Zile on June 08, 2016 2 Comments
For the past decade, anti-Israel activists in the United States and Europe have called on pension funds, universities and churches to sell their stock in companies that do business with Israel, particularly its defense establishment. They have also called for people and governments to boycott Israel, its products and services. It’s part of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign that seeks to isolate Israel from the international economy and force the Jewish state to make concessions to the Palestinians. BDS proponents say they want to promote human rights and peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but it’s hard to ignore that their criticism is nearly always directed at Israel while groups like Hamas and Hezbollah are given a pass. The effect is not to promote peace, but to portray Israel’s efforts to defend itself as immoral and indefensible.
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