NYC schools chancellor violated free speech rights of parent activist who called out ‘Jew hatred’: judge

 

Maud Maron

A New York City parent activist booted from her education post after calling out “Jew hatred” should be reinstated, a federal judge ruled — finding Schools Chancellor David Banks likely violated her free speech rights by ousting her.

Banks removed Maud Maron from Community Education Council 2 in June after the Manhattan mom was quoted in a Post article slamming an anonymous editorial in the Stuyvesant HS student newspaper that accused Israel of genocide.

But Maron’s removal “violated the first amendment because it discriminates based on viewpoint,” Brooklyn federal court Judge Diane Gujarati wrote in a hard-hitting ruling this week.

The First Amendment is mentioned 39 times and the word “unconstitutional” is cited 18 times in the judge’s 54-page decision granting Maron’s request for a preliminary injunction halting her ouster.

“Plaintiff Maron is entitled to reinstatement… Plaintiff Maron should be reinstated immediately to her elected position on CEC 2 for the pendency of this action,” Gujarati wrote.

“I’m thrilled our court system is holding up well to the assault on free speech,” Maron told The Post on Wednesday, adding she was “elated” and “absolutely thrilled” with Gujarati’s Sept. 3 ruling.

Maron, who has claimed she’s a victim of cancel culture, had already drawn the ire of LGBT activists and liberals in the school system for her opposition to allowing biological males who identify as transgender to compete against females in competitive sports.

Then she called out the full-page editorial published in the February issue of the Stuyvesant student paper for whitewashing Hamas’ depraved Oct. 7, 2023 massacre while accusing Israel of atrocities, including apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

“The byline should read coward instead of anonymous. If you are going to repeat revolting Hamas propaganda and transcribe your ignorance and Jew hatred, put your name to it,” Maron, a Stuyvesant parent who also serves on the school leadership team, said then.

“Principal [Seung] Yu should address the school and explain to Jewish students why this factually inaccurate bile was published on the school paper anonymously.” 

Tim Walz’s Owen family members turn against him, pose in ‘Walz’s for Trump’ shirts

 

Political commentators were in an uproar on social media Wednesday after a picture purportedly showing eight relatives of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz expressing support for former President Donald Trump went viral.

“Tim Walz’s family back in Nebraska wants you to know something…,” Cornhusker State Republican Charles W. Herbster wrote on X Wednesday morning alongside the photo, which The Post has not been able to independently confirm shows Walz’s relatives.

A political operative who helped disseminate the image, told The Post the people in it were related to Walz through his paternal great-uncle, but declined to give their identifies, claiming that they were overwhelmed by the attention.

All eight people in the photo posed in front of a “Trump 2024: Take America Back” flag while wearing navy blue “Nebraska Walz’s for Trump” t-shirts.

None were willing to be named or speak with The Post Wednesday. The Harris-Walz campaign declined to comment.

A mutual friend of the operative and one of Walz’s supposed relatives helped ensure the picture wound up in the hands of Herbster, a two-time candidate for Nebraska governor who has faced past controversy over sexual misconduct allegations that he denied.

The image quickly spread on social media, with conservative commentators quick to note the incongruency.

Hamas: "No need for new proposals, pressure Netanyahu"

 

Hamas on Wednesday released a statement in which it again rejected renewed negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release deal and blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure of the talks.

In the statement quoted by Reuters, Hamas said there was no need for new ceasefire proposals for Gaza and called for pressure to be put on Israel to agree to a US plan that the terrorist group claimed it had already accepted.

Hamas accused Netanyahu of seeking to thwart an agreement by insisting that Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor in southern Gaza.

“We warn against falling into Netanyahu's trap and tricks, as he uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,” the statement said.

Hamas’ statement came before the United States is expected to present a new truce proposal aimed at breaking an impasse between Hamas and Israel.

The United States has been pushing an outline for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that President Joe Biden first laid out in May, but Hamas, despite its assertions otherwise, has continuously rejected every proposal that has been presented to it.

The group’s latest statement came after Netanyahu held an English-language press conference on Wednesday evening, in which he stressed the need for Israel to maintain control of the Philadelphi corridor.

"Gaza cannot have a future if Gaza remains porous and you can enable the rearmament of terrorists through the Philadelphi Corridor," he said.

Netanyahu stated that the retention of control of the Philadelphi Corridor was also necessary to secure the release of the remaining hostages. "If you leave this corridor, you can't prevent Hamas from not only smuggling weapons in, you can't prevent them from smuggling hostages out. It's walking distance. It's nothing."

He said that if this happened the hostages would "disappear in the Sinai, and then they end up in Iran or in Yemen. They're gone forever."

Netanyahu added that military pressure is necessary to get Hamas to release the hostages. "So if you want to release the hostages, you've got to control the Philadelphi Corridor."

Jews Being harrassed on New York Subway Every day Now!

 

🚩Sep. 2 — Jewish student subjected to UNHINGED antisemitic harassment on New York subway train.

A student wearing a kippah, clearly Jewish, was on the 1 train near 96th street. Unprovoked, a man called him a "Zio-Nazi" and began to shout at him:

"He likes to kill Palestinian… pic.twitter.com/FrgZsnY6qe

— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) September 3, 2024

  In the latest incident, a Jewish student wearing a yarmulke was verbally attacked on a New York City subway by a man who hurled hateful accusations at him, calling him a “rapist” and a “genocider” and blaming him for the deaths in Gaza, as captured in a video shared online.

The unsettling incident, shared by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) on Tuesday, shows a man, who remains unidentified, berating the student while aboard the 1 train near 96th Street. The man, wearing a black cap and an orange long-sleeve shirt, aggressively shouts at the student from across the subway car.

“He enjoys killing Palestinian Semites. He probably enjoys raping Palestinian Semites too,” the man yells. “This is a genocider who loves to kill babies.

The assailant continues his tirade, labeling the student a “Zionist,” a “fake Jew,” and a “bully for the United States,” all while the other passengers in the subway car remain indifferent to the situation.

The man attempts to rally the other commuters, claiming that the US and Israel seek upheaval in Gaza, but his attempts are ignored.

According to CAM, the man’s rant was entirely unprovoked, triggered simply by the sight of the visibly Jewish student.

Liora Rez, founder of the nonprofit group StopAntisemitism, expressed concern over the incident, highlighting that it is part of a broader surge in antisemitic acts in the city since the conflict in Gaza escalated.

“October 7 ripped off the band-aid, exposing a deeply-rooted wave of antisemitism that has been simmering for decades,” Rez told The Post. “These offenders, now emboldened by inaction, feel free to unleash their vitriol and even issue threats against innocent people.”

Rez also criticized the inaction of the bystanders in the video, emphasizing the need for action from city officials, including Mayor Eric Adams, to address the rise in antisemitic incidents.

“Jewish students should be able to move freely on campus, public transportation, and elsewhere without fear of harassment or threats,” Rez urged.

Jewish activist Lizzy Savetsky, who recently had her own encounter with anti-Israel protesters, echoed the call for stronger measures from the city, condemning the attack on the student.

“The student isn’t in Israel, he’s not in the IDF; he’s just trying to ride the train, but he’s being targeted simply because he’s Jewish,” Savetsky said. “The more we allow these incidents to occur, the worse the situation will become.”

This subway incident occurred around the same time that city authorities discovered antisemitic graffiti in Central Park, including messages like “Zionism weaponized Jewish Trauma” and “Israel would bomb your Hospitals too.”

Majority of Israelis Back Netanyahu on Philadelphi, Oppose Protests

 

An overwhelming majority of Israelis support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s negotiation positions regarding a hostage deal with Hamas and oppose anti-government demonstrations in Tel Aviv demanding an immediate deal at any price, according to a new, in-depth JNS poll.

Netanyahu’s positions are supported not only by coalition-party voters, but also by approximately one third of voters for opposition parties, the survey found.

Direct Polls conducted the survey on Monday evening both before and after the prime minister’s press conference, finding a significant disparity in Netanyahu’s favor in the latter sampling.

At the press conference, Netanyahu set out the rationale for his refusal to remove Israel Defense Forces troops from the border zone between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, its code name on IDF maps.

JNS asked respondents: “Do you believe Israel should support or oppose a deal that conditions the receipt of between 18-30 hostages on an IDF withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor for six weeks, during which Hamas will be able to rearm and smuggle hostages out of Gaza?”

Thirty-five percent of respondents overall said that Israel should agree to such a deal, while 62% opposed it. Three percent had no opinion.

Among coalition-party voters, 7% supported withdrawing from the Gaza-Egypt border, compared to 62% of opposition voters. Ninety-two percent of coalition voters opposed the withdrawal and 33% of opposition voters opposed withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor.

Notably, 65% of opposition party voters polled before Netanyahu’s press conference supported withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor, and only 57% of opposition voters polled after his press conference supported that position. Support for the withdrawal among coalition voters decreased from 8% to 5%.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Charedi Parties Threaten to Boycott Key Knesset Vote

Yitzhak Goldknopf 

 The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) faction has threatened to boycott the Knesset plenum until their “education issues are resolved”.

The threat by the Charedi parties is exacerbated by the fact that the majority coalition plans to introduce a number of bills Thursday for a vote in a plenum session scheduled for Monday – and a boycott will make it harder to pass those bills.

The UTJ spokesperson did not specify which “education issues” he was referring to

However it is reportedly related to two Charedi yeshiva systems, Chinuch Atzmai and Bnei Yosef.

The Charedi parties have demanded that the two systems be included in a salary agreement called “Ofek Chadash” that would increase teachers’ salaries based on several criteria.

Ofek Chadash began in the public school system in 2008.

“We are also sick of this behavior,” a senior UTJ official told Kikar Hashabbos. “We are slapped with difficult economic sanctions and for most of them Netanyahu tells us that he is unable to help, since these are Supreme Court decisions. Here it is a matter which falls under the government’s responsibility, and this, too, he does not handle.”

UTJ announced the boycott to Coalition whip MK Ofir Katz (Likud), according to a spokesperson for one of the party’s MKs.

The main bill planned for Thursday is an amendment to the budget bill, which proposes to increase spending for 2024 by NIS 3.4 billion to fund evacuees from the North and South.

The reform includes a pay raise as well as additional hours in which teachers are required to take up to five students who need extra help and provide assistance above their own teaching hours.

New York Times Columnist Who Hated Netanyahu Now Says Netanyahu is Right!

 One way to know that you’re right, is when your biggest critics agree with you. A New York Times op-ed columnist has published a piece, perhaps somewhat surprisingly reaffirming Prime Minister Netanyahu’s staunch belief that the cease-fire deal he is being pressured to agree to would be detrimental for Israel.

Bret Stephens, the Times’ token moderate, right-leaning opinion writer, wrote a piece entitled “A Hostage Deal Is a Poison Pill for Israel”. Stephens made a strong case explaining why the current cease-fire deal being discussed would likely lead to more Israelis being hurt, and it is not realistic to believe that Israel would ever be able to retake the Philadelphi corridor once they withdraw.

Stephens’ began by referencing how since ancient times, the Torah and Jewish tradition has placed “supreme value on the redemption of captives”.

At one point he wrote: “Netanyahu is right, and it’s important for his usual critics, including me, to acknowledge it. He’s right, first because the highest justification for fighting a war, besides survival, is to prevent its repetition. Israel has lost hundreds of soldiers to defeat Hamas. Thousands of innocent Palestinians have died and hundreds of thousands have suffered, because Hamas has held every Gazan hostage to its fanatical aims. Hamas was able to initiate and fight this war only because of a secure line of logistical supply under its border with Egypt.

“Israel’s control of the Philadelphi Corridor largely stops this. To relinquish it now, for any reason, forsakes what Israel has been fighting for, consigns Palestinians to further misery under Hamas and all but guarantees that a similar war will eventually be fought again. Why do that?”

He continued: “The answer, many of Netanyahu’s critics (including Yoav Gallant, his defense minister) would rejoin, is that the imperative to save the hostages supersedes every other consideration — and that Israel can always retake the corridor if Hamas fails to fulfill its end of the bargain or if Israelis feel their security is again at risk.

“That last argument is a fantasy: Once Israel leaves Gaza, international pressure for it not to re-enter for nearly any reason short of another Oct. 7 will be overwhelming. And Hamas will ensure that any Israeli effort to retake the corridor will be as bloody as possible, for both Israelis and Palestinians, whom Sinwar treats as human shields. Those risks, too, should weigh on the moral scales of what Israel does next.”

At one point Stephens wrote: “…sympathy cannot be a replacement for judgment. Israelis — the hostage families above all — have spent the past 11 months suffering the bitter and predictable consequence of the Shalit deal, which also came about on account of intense public pressure to free him.

He continued: “A good society will be prepared to go to great lengths to rescue or redeem a captive, whether with risky military operations or exorbitant ransoms. Yet there must also be a limit to what any society can afford to pay. The price for one hostage’s life or freedom cannot be the life or freedom of another — even if we know the name of the first life but not yet the second. That ought to be morally elementary.”

“Also elementary: Whatever one thinks of Netanyahu, the weight of outrage should fall not on him but on Hamas,” he wrote.

Cuomo’s Powerful Monologue on Media Coverage of Hostage Murders

 

Chris Cuomo, the well-known journalist and television personality, has ignited widespread discussion with his recent monologue on NewsNation. Cuomo addressed the media’s coverage—or lack thereof—of the brutal murders by Hamas of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages in Gaza last weekend. His words have resonated with many, shedding light on the discrepancies in how the media covers such tragedies.

Cuomo asked the poignant question: “Why are all these lost souls merely called deaths?” He emphasized the importance of calling out the acts of violence for what they truly are—murders, rather than simply reducing them to statistics or vague terms. The gravity of the situation, according to Cuomo, is not being adequately addressed by mainstream media.

Cuomo further challenged the media’s reluctance to discuss the significance of these murders, particularly the killing of Israeli and American hostages. “How can it be hard to discuss why the murder of six Israeli and American hostages matters?” Cuomo’s question underscores a broader concern about how the global media handles reports of violence, especially when it involves complex geopolitical issues like the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Cuomo’s monologue did not just call out the media but also highlighted the human stories behind these tragic events. He reminded viewers of the individual lives lost and the impact on their families and communities. By doing so, Cuomo brings attention to the human cost of the conflict and the necessity of holding perpetrators accountable.

Moreover, Cuomo used this platform to call attention to the broader threat posed by Hamas and its backers, including Iran. He underscored the brutality of Hamas and warned of the global threat posed by its proxies. This narrative, Cuomo argues, is not just about the immediate conflict but about a wider struggle against extremism and terror.

Many viewers and commentators have praised Cuomo for voicing concerns that are often left unsaid in mainstream media coverage. His words serve as a reminder of the importance of truthful and thorough journalism.

This segment by Chris Cuomo is a must-watch as it offers a crucial perspective on the importance of media responsibility.

Finally released ... the Book on How to Live Well During these Challenging Times!!!!!

After the dreadful attacks of October 7, 2023, Israel and the Jewish people went to war on three fronts. While the army fights the war of bodies, and government officials and journalists wage the war of minds, every Jew on earth is a soldier in our war for wellness.

We’re all combating fear, distraction, and stress. We’re all looking for meaning inside the madness. More than ever before, Israel needs healthy Jewish people who value and love their land.

Land of Health teaches how to win the war for wellness:

·       Part One shows how the Land of Israel is the healthy body of the Nation of Israel, and appreciating that holds the solution to our current crisis.

·       Part Two shares practical strategies for healthy living in challenging times. It covers all areas of life: eating, exercise, emotional health, and, of course, spirituality and faith.

Even after the guns go quiet — hopefully soon — the war for wellness will continue as our emotional and spiritual wounds slowly heal. Although our bodies will again be safe and secure, our disturbed souls will yearn for peace and balance. Land of Health will help us heal, as individuals and as a nation.

“Rabbi Naiman masterfully shows how every aspect of the physical Land of Israel expresses profound spiritual concepts — and teaches how to live within it. This book is filled with intriguing insights as well as practical suggestions for healthy living even under the most challenging conditions.” —Miriam Kosman, senior lecturer at Olami and author of Circle, Arrow and Spiral: Exploring Gender in Judaism

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rabbi Shmuel Chaim Naiman is a Torah student, certified health counselor, and foraging guide. He lives in Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel, where he teaches at Yeshivas Lev HaTorah. Check out healthyjew.org to subscribe to his weekly email newsletter, The Healthy Jew, and to book your foraging walk in Israel. Land of Health is available on Amazon.com, on Menuchapublishers.com, and in your local Jewish bookstore.

Order on Amazon: https://bit.ly/LandOfHealth

 

Chassidic singer Shulem Lemmer, sings Eden Golan’s ‘Hurricane’ but using the original words from ‘October Rain.’

Eden Golan Sang the Song at Eurovision

Shulem Lemmer posted this caption to this clip of his hauntingly beautiful rendition of the song, which can be found on YouTube: 

 “In these times, when we’re focused on not drowning in the hurricane of hatred and antisemitism, our personal feelings often take a backseat. Since that dreadful day in October, our hearts and minds have been solely focused on our land and people. From the moment I heard this song, I felt compelled to cover it, as it conveyed so much of what we’ve struggled to express in recent months. The original “October Rain” was deemed “too political” for the world stage, leading to the release of a more neutral version, “Hurricane.” I am sharing “October Rain” in its raw, authentic form to voice our nation’s true sentiments. May the floods dry up with the warm sunshine of Moshiach’s arrival!”