December 7, 2023

'Life under Hamas is like under ISIS,' says Syria-born journalist deported from Gaza

Well written article. Slightly in-depth about a Syrian young woman who went to Gaza

Al-Sharif estimated that about a quarter of the Gazan population is involved with Hamas – as active operatives, public employees, or members of the security forces. The remaining 75 percent of the population, in her view, would much rather live without the terror group. “Gazans are very angry at the Hamas leadership.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/life-under-hamas-is-like-under-isis-says-syria-born-journalist-deported-from-gaza/

Manar al-Sharif was born in Damascus to a devout Muslim family that embraced the Palestinian cause and supported Hamas. But her views on the terror group changed dramatically after she spent three years in Gaza, including months behind bars in a Hamas jail.

Today, she is out of the Strip but still lives in a Middle Eastern country and works as a journalist. At 26, she is one of a handful of people persecuted by Hamas who managed to leave Gaza to tell their tales.

Al-Sharif’s family fled Syria for Egypt in 2013 during the Syrian civil war when she was a teenager. After completing high school in Cairo, she managed to convince her parents to allow her to pursue a degree. Her family insisted that she attend a gender-segregated Islamic university, so in 2017, she moved to Gaza City on her own and enrolled at the Islamic University to study journalism.

She dropped out of the course after only a few months, judging the curriculum “unprofessional” and permeated with Hamas propaganda, but decided to remain in the Palestinian enclave nevertheless.

December 7, 2023

J Street says it'll withdraw support for IDF's Gaza op without 'meaningful changes'

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/j-street-says-itll-withdraw-support-for-idfs-gaza-op-sans-meaningful-changes/


https://jstreet.org/press-releases/moment-of-truth-for-israels-government/
snips....










J Street was created to serve as the political home and voice for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans. The views of the majority of American Jews were previously underrepresented and ignored in our politics. We’re changing that, and in the process transforming our national conversation about what it means to be pro-Israel. We advocate and engage on every level – in Washington, in political campaigns, in our communities and on campuses. By changing the conversation, we open up political space for elected leaders to support policies that advance a secure, Jewish and democratic future for Israel and reflect the shared values that underlie the US-Israel relationship.

December 6, 2023

American Experience: Taken Hostage - PBS

https://www.pbs.org/video/part-1-taken-hostage-american-experience-a56dcc/

https://www.pbs.org/video/part-2-taken-hostage-american-experience-b0xbv2/

Revisit the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, through stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world

If you didn't get to see this last year, watch it. It's riveting.

So many parallels with today.

PBS usually keeps videos online for a few weeks.

December 6, 2023

American Experience: Taken Hostage

https://www.pbs.org/video/part-1-taken-hostage-american-experience-a56dcc/

Revisit the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, through stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.

Episode two is also streaming on my Roku. (It will probably air tomorrow and be available online)

This is so riveting and somewhat parallels today. If you didn't get to see it last year, watch it now. It's very well done.

December 1, 2023

Rocket fired from Gaza shot down, IDF confirms. blasts in northern Gaza. Alert sounds in Holit. Ceasefire expired

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/alert-sounds-in-holit-in-southern-israel/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/palestinians-report-on-gunfire-blasts-in-northern-gaza/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/rocket-fired-from-gaza-shot-down-idf-confirms/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/blast-heard-in-sderot-footage/



https://twitter.com/ignis_fatum/status/1730433961824837663

November 29, 2023

Prosecutors charge Indian man in attempted murder-for-hire plot against Sikh activist on US soil

Source: CNN

CNN
—
US federal prosecutors have charged an Indian national in an alleged murder-for-hire plot to try to assassinate a Sikh political activist in New York City, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Authorities say Nikhil Gupta, 52, paid an undercover officer he believed to be a hitman $100,000 to target the victim, a US citizen who is unnamed in the indictment but described as an attorney and vocal critic of the Indian government.

US officials familiar with the case told CNN the victim is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who runs a New York-based outfit called “Sikhs for Justice,” which has held referendums for a separate Khalistan state. The organization is considered unlawful in India, where its website is not accessible.

Gupta has been charged with murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. He was arrested in June of this year in the Czech Republic and held pursuant to a bilateral extradition treaty, authorities said.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/politics/us-prosecutors-charge-indian-man-with-attempted-murder-for-hire-plot-against-sikh-activist-on-us-soil/index.html

---

Ugh....

November 29, 2023

Frybread Face and Me (on Netflix) Sweet coming of age movie

Written and directed by Billy Luther.
A 12 yo Navajo boy who lives in San Diego is sent to Arizona to spend the summer with his grandmother, uncle and cousin (Frybread Face) on an Indian reservation.

&ab_channel=MovieCoverage

November 25, 2023

Musk to visit Israel next week, tour Gaza border towns - report (What could go wrong?)

Tech mogul, who held a live conversation with Netanyahu in California weeks before war broke out, set to arrive as he battles allegations of antisemitism

Musk plans to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, and tour Gaza border communities ravaged by the Hamas terror group’s devastating onslaught, Channel 12 reported.

Musk and Netanyahu held a live discussion in September at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, that touched on a range of issues including antisemitism on social media and its implications for freedom of speech, the Iranian threat, the consequences of artificial intelligence, and his coalition’s controversial judicial overhaul legislation.

The reported visit comes as Musk faces accusations of tolerating antisemitic messaging on the platform, with the content on X coming under increased scrutiny amid the war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7 when the terror group carried out a devastating attack that killed over 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

Amid the controversy, Musk announced Tuesday that X would be “donating all revenue from advertising & subscriptions associated with the war in Gaza to hospitals in Israel,” and to a humanitarian organization operating in Gaza.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/musk-to-visit-israel-next-week-tour-gaza-border-towns-report/

November 20, 2023

Study: The most cockroach-infested city in the U.S. is in Texas. Home of LetMyPeopleVote. San Antonio is #2.

Here are the most roach-infested cities, per the study:

Houston, TX home of DU member Let My People Vote
San Antonio, TX home of LeftinTX
Tampa, FL
Phoenix, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Miami, FL
Atlanta, GA
Birmingham, AL
Dallas, TX
Oklahoma City, OK

Everything is bigger in Texas — and that includes the bugs. The most common roaches in South Texas are the American cockroach, a big, brown, flying pest, and the German cockroach, a smaller critter that often dwells in kitchens, pantries and sinks.

So, you’re not losing your mind if you think you keep having to take off your chanclas to kill roaches all the time. San Antonio is crawling with them. And now there’s proof. I’ll do my part to try to get as many out of the mean streets of the Alamo City as I can. But if they fly, you’ve lost me.


https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/study-san-antonio-no-2-nation-cockroaches-18502317.php

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/san-antonio-rochiest-cities-18502727.php


While we watch horrific videos of Gaza, please think of DU members Let My People Vote and LeftinTexas. Thank you. Your prayers mean everything.

Although we read horrific stories out of the state of Florida every day. We've got your beat. Prayer for us.

November 11, 2023

Israel demands clarification from global media over photographers during Hamas assault - accuses AP, CNN, NYT, Reuters

AP, Reuters, NY Times deny any prior knowledge, say their job is to cover news; CNN suspends ties with freelancer; Israel warns those present could be held accountable for crimes

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-demands-clarification-from-global-media-over-photographers-during-hamas-assault/


Israel on Thursday demanded that international media outlets explain the circumstances under which photographers in their pay were present at the scene of the surprise October 7 assault by the Hamas terror group on southern Israel, and warned they could be held complicit in the crimes.

The move came after the pro-Israel watchdog group Honest Reporting published a report Wednesday showing that photographers used by The Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, and CNN provided images taken as the attack was ongoing from the border area and including from inside Israel — intimating they may have had advance knowledge of the assault.

The report also raised questions about the relationship between some of the photographers and the Hamas terror group that rules Gaza.

AP, Reuters and The New York Times all denied having any prior knowledge of the attack and reiterated that their role is to cover breaking news events. AP and CNN said Thursday that they would no longer work with Hassan Eslaiah, one of the photographers named.

_______________

These free lance photographers are no different than storm-chasers or backyard bad weather pics. No one vets the source. (Although our local newscast showed a huge tornado when there was a small one in the area. Someone punked the TV station..LOL) And now Sen Cotton wants to investigate the New York Times. This is BS.