— (((David Lange))) 🇮🇱🇦🇺 (@Israellycool) March 21, 2022
Monday, March 21, 2022
NY college refuses to withdraw a Convicted Murderer and Israel-hating terrorist’s speaking invitation
Despite intense public backlash, school won’t rescind speaking invitation for convicted murderer who spent nearly 50 years behind bars for killing two NYPD officers.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Despite intense public backlash, the State University of New York at Brockport has refused to withdraw a speaking invitation to Anthony Bottom, a convicted domestic terrorist who spent nearly half a century behind bars and co-founded an antisemitic organization.
Bottom, who is also known by the name Jalil Muntaqim, was a member of the violent Black Liberation Army terror group in the 1970s and 1980s, which carried out multiple deadly bombings, arsons, and robberies.
Bottom shot and killed two New York city police officers in a 1971 ambush and was linked to an additional three murders. After being incarcerated for 49 years, he was paroled in October 2020.
A description of the upcoming April talk, titled “History of Black Resistance” on SUNY-Brockport’s events calendar, invites students to an “intellectual conversation” about his experience as a “political prisoner.”
Diane Pigaentini, the widow of an NYPD officer killed by Bottom, blasted the college for hosting Bottom.
“While my husband lay on the ground pleading with them not to kill him, pleading he had a wife and children, Bottom took his service revolver and emptied it into his body,” Piagentini wrote in a letter to the school obtained by PIX 11.
“There were 22 bullet holes in his body,” she said.
But despite public pressure to withdraw the speaking invitation, the school has framed Muntaqim’s presence as a free speech issue.
AIPAC endorses 27 Democrats who fought for the Iran nuclear deal
Despite intense efforts to prevent the deal in 2015, AIPAC is now embracing Democratic lawmakers who voted for the Obama-era agreement, JTA reports.
By World Israel News Staff
Pro-Israeli lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) announced its support for 27 Democratic lawmakers who had voted for the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal in 2015, despite intense efforts by the group to prevent the deal when it was originally proposed.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported that AIPAC is embracing a major policy shift on the matter and now will formally endorse politicians who voted in favor of the deal, after pulling out all the stops in 2015 to stop them from supporting it.
The JTA said that AIPAC had sent its representatives to try to persuade Jewish representatives to vote as one united bloc against the bill, with tensions rising so high that negotiations eventually escalated into “tearful angry exchanges in congressional offices.”
But despite pledging to “excommunicate” lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill, AIPAC is now openly endorsing those same politicians.
Why Pini Lipshutz Editor of US Yated Wears an "Up-Brim" Hat
Two Yeshiva Boys Held Up at Gunpoint on Friday Night in Flatbush
Two young boys were held up by a gunman on Friday night on E. 34th Street between Avenues K and L.
The boys, who were conversing in front of their homes at approximately 1:38AM, were approached by the gun-wielding bandit, who demanded their money. They explained that since it was shabbos, they weren’t carrying anything on them – money or otherwise.
Unconvinced, the suspect grabbed one of the victims by his tie and went through his pockets, which were indeed empty. He then asked the boys who was in the house they were standing in front of, and they intelligently replied that it was full of people, which kept the suspect from trying to enter.
The victims then contacted Flatbush Shomrim, which in turn contacted the NYPD 63rd Precinct, who arrived quickly at the scene. NYPD Inspector Richie Taylor also walked over from his home to assist.
Video footage of the incident has been obtained by Flatbush Shomrim and they are working collaboratively with the NYPD to identify and track down the suspect. Shockingly, a marked Flatbush Shomrim vehicle being driven by an armed off-duty NYPD Officer is seen on security camera footage driving down the same street exactly 4 minutes before the incident.
Through the intervention of Ohel, Dr. Norman Blumenthal spoke to both boys on motzei shabbos to assist them with any trauma effects they may be going through due to the terrifying incident.
Sunday, March 20, 2022
Meet Rabbi Kanievsky's 'successor
Following the death of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the Lithuanian public is hinting at the president of the Council of Torah Scholars of Degel HaTorah and the head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, the 98-year-old Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, as the natural heir to take over the reins of leadership.
Since the death of Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, the Lithuanian community has adopted a two-part leadership in the persons of Rabbi Kanievsky and Rabbi Edelstein.
In practice, however, even though he escaped from the leadership positions all his life, Rabbi Kanievsky was behind many decisions concerning the conduct of the Lithuanian public in Israel. Now, it seems, Rabbi Edelstein will become the leader of the Lithuanian public.
The leadership of the two Rabbis has been characterized by marked differences over the years. While Rabbi Edelstein focused mainly on decisions in the Lithuanian-educational field, Rabbi Kanievsky was required to decide on political issues concerning the entire haredi public.
Although both identified with the Lithuanian idea of diminishing the admor/rebbe title etiquette in issues related to blessings and rebbe-chassid relations, over the years Rabbi Kanievsky's home has become a focal point for Jews of all walks of life to visit for blessings and advice, while Rabbi Edelstein remains less known to the secular public.
There are also characteristic distinctions between them: While Rabbi Kanievsky used to shorten his answers up to only a few words, both in his answers of Halachic responsa and in his responses to all aspects of life, Rabbi Edelstein tends to give lessons that are characterized by length and deal mainly with education and encouraging Torah study and moral laws.
The differences in leadership were also evident during the Coronavirus pandemic. While Rabbi Kanievsky refused to leave the boys' schools closed for extended periods of time, Rabbi Edelstein believed that extra care should be taken to maintain health in all that it entails.
The dominant feature of both leaders has been that both adopted Rabbi Shteinman's decisions in matters of religion and state, unlike the 'Jerusalem Faction' which adopted a much stricter approach which included going out to the streets to protest government reforms on issues related to the status quo.
What will Rabbi Edelstein's leadership be like? Will it be even more pragmatic than Rabbi Kanievsky's leadership was concerning the Lithuanian rabbinical attitude toward the current government? It's too early to tell. What is certain though, is that the longer his leadership will be, the greater his popularity will grow within the haredi community, and especially within the Lithuanian street.
During Rabbi Kanevsky's funeral, Rabbi Edelstein was the first of the eulogizers.
In his remarks, he said that Rabbi Kanievsky "was a great man. There is a lack of leadership in Israel when such a great man passes from the world... The whole world was affected by him, the whole public, the whole world owes him."
Rabbi Edelstein added: "We are a poor generation, an orphaned generation, we lack men of profound wisdom. We lack the influence of a great man like him."
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