UAE officials considering to let UN agency for "Palestinian refugees" "gradually disappear."

 Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are working together to terminate UNRWA, the United Nations' agency for “Palestinian refugees”, i24NEWs reported Sunday, citing the French newspaper Le Monde.

The US, which was previously UNRWA's largest contributor, cut a full $300 million in funding to the agency in 2018, leaving it and asking other countries to help fill the gap.

After the US decision to pull the funding, UNRWA has relied on oil-rich Gulf kingdoms, including the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to plug the budgetary hole. However, according to Le Monde, the UAE has not transferred any funds yet this year.

According to the report, Emirati officials are considering to let the agency to "gradually disappear."

The agency did not return i24NEWS' request for comment.

Created in 1949, UNRWA supplies aid to more than three million of the five million registered “Palestinian refugees” in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and territories assigned to the Palestinian Authority.

However, it is also notorious for its anti-Israel activities. During the 2014 counterterrorism Operation Protective Edge, Hamas rockets were discovered inside a school building run by UNRWA.

Likewise, a booby-trapped UNRWA clinic was detonated, killing three IDF soldiers. Aside from the massive amounts of explosives hidden in the walls of the clinic, it was revealed that it stood on top of dozens of terror tunnels, showing how UNRWA is closely embedded with Hamas.

Israel has long regarded UNRWA as an impediment to a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict.

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Watch: Security forces during arrest of terrorist suspect in murder of Esther Horgan

Border Police on Monday released footage of Yamam counterterror forces in action during the arrest of the PA Arab suspect in the murder of Esther Horgan in the Reihan Forest about a week ago.

The footage shows the forces carrying out searches in the village of Turah Al-Garbiyeh in the Jenin area, and entry into the home of the suspect during his arrest. 

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280,000 Israelis vaccinated in first week

 

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein delivered an update Sunday morning on the first week of Israel's vaccination campaign.

"We continue to increase. We are finishing the first week of vaccinations with an incredible number of 280,000 people vaccinated, 68,000 of them over the weekend," the minister noted.

"We continue to provide vaccinations for you, we continue to protect Israel," he added.

Israel will begin its third lockdown tonight at 5 PM in the hope that the vaccination campaign will result in this being the last lockdown.

Data from the Health Ministry show that during the day that ended last night at midnight, 2,630 new coronavirus infections were diagnosed in Israel. During the day, the results of 64,662 tests were obtained. The rate of positive tests was 4.1 percent.

399,642 people infected with the virus have been diagnosed in the State of Israel since the beginning of the pandemic. 3,210 people have died from the disease so far. There are currently 35,525 active coronavirus cases in Israel.

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Evidence does not equal evidence

 Type “ketchup” into the Amazon search box and you will get 510 results. 510. For a tomato paste. If you’ve attempted to purchase anything online recently, you've likely experienced overchoice - a phenomenon in which people have a difficult time making a decision because they’re faced with too many options.

Do I want sugar-free ketchup? Or perhaps organic? Brand name? Or generic? The upside-down plastic bottle is certainly practical...but aren't the old-time glass bottles more classy? When experiencing overchoice, making a decision suddenly becomes overwhelming due to the many potential outcomes and risks that may result from making the wrong choice.

Now the particular brand of ketchup that adorns your dinner table may not be all that important. But there are numerous choices that involve the big life decisions as well. When buying a house, nobody’s criteria is “it should be a house”. There are different types of houses, with different qualities, and of course, different prices.

In the world of medicine, our “ketchup” is evidence. If you want to prove a point, promote a treatment, or convince your colleagues that a certain medication is more effective than another, you'll have to prove it. And, similar to ketchup, physicians recognize that evidence comes in all shapes and sizes. This may appear to be self-evident fact (the idea that there are different levels of evidence), but it seems that many people are unaware of this.

I was recently discussing the Covid-19 pandemic with a friend and he pointed out that “masks trap bacteria in our mouths and cause infections”. I found this to be an interesting point and probed. “Wow. Where did you hear this from?” I asked. “Oh, I just came up with it, and it made sense to me”. Non-expert opinion. The lowest form of evidence (i.e. no evidence at all). That is one of many corona-related non-evidence based opinions.

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Will Biden Administration End the Abraham Accords?

 

Reuven Azar, head of the foreign policy division at the National Security Council and dipolmatic adviser to the prime minister, is currently in isolation after returning from the historic trip to Morocco as part of the political and economic agreements were signed between the two countries.

In an interview with Arutz Sheva, the senior adviser clarifies that this is a special relationship, and that the agreements constitute a kind of 'renewal of contact.' "Although this was done within the framework of the 'Abraham Accords,'" he explained, "the Moroccans feel that in fact the connection has never been severed and that they are pioneers of the [Arab world's] connection with Israel."

Azar noted that many members of the Israeli delegation felt great excitement during the visit because of their personal or family connection to the Morocco Jewish community and emphasized the special excitement he saw on the face of Israel's National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat. "I've been working with him for two and a half years and I've never seen him get so excited. It was a special milestone for him."

Azar said that Ben Shabbat's speech in Moroccan was broadcast on Prime Time on all Moroccan networks and that many people told him that they were very excited about it.

"The connection that the Ben Shabbat, was able to create is very special," he said.

Addressing the agreements themselves, Azar said that they are a direct result of Prime Minister Netanyahu's policies to reach "peace through strength and power" as well as the Trump Administration's "thinking outside the box."

"There is regional cooperation," he added. "Once you bring the allies of the United States closer together, it creates added value for the states and for the United States and also transmits power in the face of opponents who threaten stability."

Are there concerns about the change in the US Administration?

"Obviously there are always concerns," Azar replied, "but the trend is a clear trend and we expect that under every administration there will be American support for the expansion of the normalization of between Israel and the Arab states."

However, Azar added that the change of government in the United States and the Biden administration's policy toward Iran may put pressure on countries to join the Abraham Accords. "It could work both ways," he explained, "because as the fear grows, many countries may see Israel as a bulwark against threats in the region. So that does not mean the process will stop but it may intensify. On the other hand, if there is a situation where the Iranians become very strong and threatening as bullies and no one will stop them, the fear may increase."

What's next for the Abraham Accords?

"There are other countries that are quite jealous of what is happening and would like to jump on the bandwagon," Azar says. "Each of them has its own considerations. I think there is potential for the process to continue."

Azar added that there are many agreements now on paper, and that the change will come when the practical agreements are implemented on the ground. "Once they see that things are implemented, and economic prosperity takes place there will be a greater temptation to join and jump on the bandwagon."

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Covid Grabs Another Rosh Yeshiva .... Rosh Yeshivah Kol Torah HaRav Shalom Povarsky Niftar

Yeshivas Kol Torah was engulfed in mourning on Motzei Shabbos when the bitter news reached the yeshivah of the petira of HaGaon HaRav Shalom Povarsky, who served as one of the yeshiva’s Roshei Yeshivah for decades.

The Rosh Yeshivah, z’tl, 85, was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem on Wednesday due to breathing difficulties caused by the coronavirus. His condition deteriorated and at the end of the week, he was sedated and ventilated and on Shabbos, he was niftar.

HaRav Povarsky was born in Europe, the youngest son of the late Rosh Yeshivah HaGaon HaRav Yehoshua Dovid Povarsky, z’tl, Rosh Yeshivas Ponevezh and author of Yeshuas Dovid. When he was four he moved with his parents to Eretz Yisrael.

As a bochur, HaRav Povarsky learned in Ponevezh. After he was married, he served for years as a Rosh Mesivta in Yeshivash Be’er Yaakov before becoming one of the Roshei Yeshivah of Ponevezh.

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The End of "The Squad?"

 

“The Squad” may be no more.

Despite a new class of progressives coming to Congress next term, the band of leading liberal firebrands — led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — is likely to dissolve, insiders say. 

“I think the idea of ‘The Squad’ is going to go away, and I think that it is going to be fascinating to see how [AOC] shares the spotlight of progressivism,” one senior Hill staffer told The Post.

Ocasio-Cortez, 31, and her crew, including Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and Massachusetts’s Ayanna Pressley, have been chummy power players since 2019, when they frequently sat together for joint appearances and interviews.

But with the pending departure of their most vocal critic, President Trump, and newly elected reps with their own agendas, there will be less to tie the group together, the source offered.

Newcomers like Ritchie Torres, a pro-Israel backer, has said he wouldn’t sign up for “Squad” duty. 

Two other leftists — Jamaal Bowman, who recently called capitalism “slavery by another name,” and Mondaire Jones, who, along with Torres, is the first openly gay black member of Congress — could look to seize the spotlight for themselves. 

“The idea of ‘The Squad’ — as ‘The Squad’ — may really shift and change and you might see cleavages there because the pressures and interests wont be as unified as they were under Trump,” the source said.

Omar raised eyebrows when she appeared to take a shot at AOC for getting the coronavirus vaccine before the elderly and frontline workers.

Ocasio-Cortez was vaccinated live in an Instagram story to her 8.2 million followers Dec. 18.

Two days later, Omar took to Twitter to slam Congressmembers who were vaccinated ahead of frontline workers or the elderly. 

“It’s now clear that we don’t have enough vaccines for everyone and there is shortage of supply, we have to prioritize those who need it most,” Omar wrote Dec. 20. “That’s why it’s disturbing to see members be 1st to get vaccine while most frontline workers, elderly and infirm in our districts, wait.”

Omar’s father died of coronavirus complications in June.

The next day, Ocasio-Cortez spoke out about her decision to get the vaccine, after Kentucky Senator Rand Paul cited her as someone who shouldn’t have been among the first wave of inoculations. 

“Gee, maybe if the GOP hadn’t spent so much time undermining public faith in science, masks,& COVID itself, I wouldn’t have to weigh the potential misinfo consequences of what wld happen if leaders urged ppl to take a new vaccine that we weren’t taking ourselves! [sic],” she tweeted.

Another former “Squad” source said Omar wasn’t calling AOC out, and even claimed Omar probably didn’t know her colleague was getting the vaccine when she made her remarks.

“The broader message that this carries is this fantasy that there is some sort of orchestrated squad that is doing anything at all resembling strategic things for anybody other than themselves,” the source claimed.

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Democratic boss warns AOC not to challenge Chuck Schumer

 

Don’t do it AOC!

That’s the warning New York’s Democratic party boss has for the sophomore Congresswoman, who is rumored to be mulling a primary challenge to US Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.

“I think it would be a primary driven by ambition more than by need,” Jay Jacobs told The Post. 

“Chuck Schumer has been a progressive force in the state for decades,” added the chairman of the state Democratic committee. “She has a constituency that admires her and supports her, and they’re in her community, and I think it would be a loss for them if she were to do that.”

And he would beat her, he said.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would “absolutely” lose a challenge if she went head-to-head against the veteran Democratic lawmaker, said Jacobs — who noted he’s yet to meet the Queens rep.

“We’ve never met. I would look forward to doing that,” he said. “I am open to that at any time.” 

There has been speculation for months Ocasio-Cortez, 31, may try to unseat US Senate minority leader Schumer, 70, in 2022 — chatter she hasn’t tamped down.

Asked point blank earlier this year about challenging Schumer, AOC responded “I don’t know,” according to Politico.

“I don’t know if I’m really going to be staying in the House forever,” she told Vanity Fair in October. 

She raised eyebrows again earlier this month after saying she wished to see “new leadership in the Democratic Party.”

President Trump has even chimed in on a potential Ocasio-Cortez-Schumer battle, snarking AOC would “kick his ass,” in a primary.

AOC and Schumer did not return messages.

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Heimishe Brooklyn clinics Cause Huge Chillul Hashem and face criminal probe over unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines

ParCare CEO Gary Schlesinger is pictured earlier this week receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

A health-care network with clinics in Boro Park, Bensonhurst and Williamsburg is under a criminal investigation for giving unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines, officials said Saturday.

ParCare Community Health Network “may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted it to members of the public,” state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a news release.

The statement came hours after The Post questioned a state health department spokesman about ParCare giving the coveted inoculations.

The network’s actions appear to violate the state’s plan to administer the limited supply of vaccines first to frontline healthcare workers, along with nursing home residents and staffers, Zucker said.

The state controls where, and to whom, the vaccine is distributed — and there isn’t enough for those who are supposed to be at the front of the line.

“The supply of COVID-19 vaccine remains limited and has not yet met demand among the groups prioritized for initial vaccination,” Dr. Jane Zucker, the city Health Department’s assistant commissioner for immunizations said Thursday.

Officials did not say how Schelsinger may have obtained the vaccine.

ParCare claimed it had received 3,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine, news site BoroPark24 reported Dec. 21.

“Hundreds of patients were already vaccinated today, and people are still coming in,” Gary Schlesinger, the CEO and president of ParCare, told the news site.

Schlesinger also said he expected to have vaccinated 500 people in Boro Park that same day.

ParCare, which also has locations in East Harlem, Crown Heights and Kiryas Joel, set up a website, parcarevaccine.com, where residents could register for the vaccine.

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“You have to be on that list,” Schlesinger told BoroPark24, adding he expected to get more vaccines every day. “Once you are on the list, we have to vet to make sure that you are either a healthcare worker, are over 60, or have underlying conditions. We will not give the vaccine to people who are not eligible for this first batch of the shots.”

The vaccine is supposed to be given free of charge. ParCare’s website, though, asks those interested in receiving it for their insurance information. The network accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and most other insurance plans, the company said.

Schlesinger was seen in a photo tweeted Tuesday by the Rabbinical Alliance of America getting vaccinated himself, although he does not appear to be in a group that qualifies.

ParCare brazenly tweeted photos Monday showing boxes of the Moderna vaccine wrapped with ice packs and then in a refrigerator. 

“ONE SMALL INJECTION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY!” it tweeted.

Schlesinger is politically well-connected in the Orthodox Jewish community. He has cultivated ties to Mayor de Blasio, Attorney General Letitia James, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, and Brooklyn borough president and mayoral candidate Eric Adams, sources said.

He claims on his Facebook profile to have worked for the Bloomberg for Mayor campaign in 2009. His social media is full of photos of him with politicians, including President Trump. On Twitter, Schlesinger called de Blasio’s liaison to the Jewish community, Pinny Ringel, a friend.

A ParCare ad claimed “the FDA authorized” the network to receive “a minimal number of COVID-19 vaccines.”

“The vaccines will be made available on a first-come, first-serve (sic) basis,” the ad says.
It adds the vaccines will be given “Only for people in the following categories,” and lists: “Elderly, high risk, underlying conditions.”

The state has not yet authorized the vaccine for anyone in those categories who lives outside of a nursing home, long-term care facility or group home.

One community member told The Post his father, in his 60s, received the vaccine at ParCare’s Williamsburg clinic.

“It’s known in the community you can get a vaccine if you want,” the resident said, adding “it’s a mystery” how the clinic obtained the supply.

“We take this very seriously and DOH will be assisting State Police in a criminal investigation into this matter. Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” the state health commissioner said.

In a statement released late Saturday, a ParCare rep said the network is continuing to operate while cooperating with the DOH investigation.

“During these unprecedented times, we have striven to provide critical healthcare services and administer COVID-19 vaccinations to those qualified to receive them under the New York State Department of Health’s guidelines, which includes frontline healthcare workers and first responders,” the statement said.

“Parcare Community Health Network has a long history of partnering with the City of New York to provide vital healthcare services to New Yorkers who need them most — including providing COVID-19 testing — especially for New Yorkers in medically underserved communities who’ve been hardest hit by COVID-19,” ParCare’s statement continued.

“As we actively cooperate with the New York State Department of Health on this matter, we will continue to perfom top-quality healthcare services to help New York come out of this pandemic.”

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Yocheved Gourarie is the 24 year-old Lady That Threw Herself Off "The Vessel Sculpture

A New York City woman scheduled her suicide note stating she was 'no longer in pain' to post on Instagram the day after she jumped to her death from the Vessel sculpture in Hudson Yards.  

Vessel Sculpture 

Yocheved Gourarie, 24, of Brooklyn, died December 22 after she fell from the 150-foot walkable sculpture at about noon, police told the Village Sun.

The next day, on December 23, her apparent suicide note was shared in a posthumous post on her Instagram account.

Gourarie noted that she had planned for her final post - a photo of herself with her face turned up toward the sun accompanied by a lengthy caption - to go live on social media in the wake of her death. 

At the top of the post, which was shared with her 891 followers, Gourarie added a warning in all capital letters, (see below)noting that the information in the post was 'sensitive and shocking' and suggested people 'sit down before reading' it.  

Gourarie then wrote: 'Hey. This is pretty surreal isn’t it? One might say uncomfortable. Jarring. Just close the app now if you want. I guess if you don’t know by now you should probably sit down.

'If you’re reading this, I’m gone. Either that or somehow incapacitated in the hospital so I can’t delete this scheduled post. I really hope I’m not though.'

Gourarie wrote that she didn't 'care to go into the reasons why I’m gone, but there are certainly more than thirteen,' referencing the popular young adult novel and Netflix TV series, 13 Reasons Why, about high school students in the wake of a classmate's suicide. 

Earlier posts on Gourarie's Instagram account made reference to the fact that she struggled with anorexia and depression, while also advocating for mental health.

In May 2019, she wrote that she had finally started seeking help for her depression and was 'Wondering whether I can change. Wondering whether I want to change. But there is one thing I do know: I am experiencing small joys again.'  

Several of her TikTok videos posted in recent months appeared to take a humorous approach to therapy sessions and also referenced overcoming suicidal thoughts. Her latest videos showcased her singing and solicited tips for improvement.  

In her final Instagram post, Gourarie wrote that she had scheduled a 'note to send to my parents posthumously' which included more details about her apparent decision to take her own life. 

She acknowledged that posting a public suicide note on Instagram might cause her parents pain. 

'I don’t want to do that, I just want to leave my last mark on this world,' Gourarie wrote.

'All of you have made my life so much more full, brighter, and happier than it would have been without you. Your support, your encouragement, your hugs, your invitations, your smiles, your texts, your tagging me in memes you think I’d find funny.'

She went on to say that 'None of you could have done anything - or done more - to prevent this from happening. You all did your absolute best and for that I am eternally grateful. I hope you can find some comfort in knowing I am no longer in pain.'

She ended the post by writing 'I love you.' 

According to her TikTok videos, Gourarie had traveled to Utah for inpatient treatment for her eating disorder in August and returned to New York City in late October, after having had her discharge date postponed by two weeks. 

Gourarie was a bright student, who was valedictorian of her graduating class at Shalhevet High School. She then graduated with a 4.0 GPA from Macauly Honors College at CUNY, according to the Village Sun.

She had spent the past two and a half years interning at New York City's National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.  

Gourarie is now the second person to have apparently committed suicide by falling from the Vessel since it was opened in March 2019. 

In February, Connecticut college student Peter DeSalvo, 19, jumped from the top of the 16-story sculpture. 

 Call the toll-free 24-hour hotline of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255); TTY: 1-800-799-4TTY (4889) 

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China’s virus deceptions have been even worse than we thought

Fresh evidence published jointly by The New York Times and ProPublica confirms that Beijing has been trying to keep COVID-19 information from the rest of the world since the very start of the pandemic.

On Feb. 7, Li Wenliang, the doctor who blew the whistle on COVID-19, died of the disease he’d warned the world about. While working at Wuhan Central Hospital in China’s Hubei Province, he saw a new version of the severe acute respiratory syndrome known as SARS, which also originated in China in 2002.

As news of the 34-year-old doctor’s untimely death spread and grief went viral on social media such as Weibo and WeChat — Beijing set out to bury the truth.

“They ordered news websites not to issue push notifications alerting readers to [Li’s] death. They told social platforms to gradually remove his name from trending topics pages. And they activated legions of fake online commenters to flood social sites with distracting chatter,” the Times-ProPublica team reports. In all, the Hangzhou offices of Beijing’s Internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, issued more than 3,200 directives and 1,800 memos in its COVID-censorship drive — all leaked by the hacker group C.C.P. [Chinese Communist Party] Unmasked.

“At a time when digital media is deepening social divides in Western democracies,” the investigative team warns, “China is manipulating online discourse to enforce the Communist Party’s consensus.”

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In January, before the coronavirus had even been definitively identified, the CCP began working overtime to mislead the world about the truth to protect the party’s image as infections began soaring — even making the disease look less severe. As a result, the world lost its best chance of preventing the global pandemic.

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Zera Shimshon Parshat Vayigash

 

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BLM Crashes Festival For Kids With Cancer

It’s that time of year once again. The time for people to put aside

their differences and celebrate another year and a fantastic Christmas. For residents in West Allis, Wisconsin, Christmas is more than presents, it’s a time to decorate outlandishly and help raise money for children battling cancer. But this year it was something different as Black Lives Matter took it upon themselves to crash the Christmas tradition and remind people that Black Lives still matter.

Known as Candy Cane Lane, the celebration of life first started in 1984 when residents decided to collect donations for the MACC fund, also known as the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer Inc. 

The collection was first started when one of the neighbor’s kids was diagnosed with cancer and has since grown into a city-wide event that attracts citizens from all over the state. The residents collaborate over the coming months to put on the display and all they ask in return are for small donations that will go towards finding a cure for childhood cancers.

As for the Candy Cane Lane Festival, the Black Lives Matter protestors decided that Black lives were more important than fighting cancer. 

While Christmas music played over the intercoms, the protestors marched and chanted using bullhorns, yelling at cars and onlookers as they passed by.

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My daughter is "FlatbushGirl" and I couldn’t be prouder

 

Adina Miles Sash, a US Orthodox Jewish activist and social media influencer a.k.a FlatbushGirl who spreads the message #frumwomenhavefaces. (Courtesy)

As the mother of Adina Sash also known as FlatbushGirl, I am still taken by surprise when people stop me on the street to give their opinions of Adina. Sometimes the feedback on her viral Instagram campaign is encouraging and heartwarming as people share how she has entertained them and also inspired them to think more critically about community issues. I feel overwhelming pride that she has found a space in their hearts. Other times I am stopped by complete strangers who feel that Adina needs to calm down and be less controversial. And my heart still swells with pride because my daughter is at the forefront of change.

I raised Adina to be independent, to know her strengths, and to use her voice. At a young age she was already questioning some of the messages she was receiving in her Bais Yaakov school, like how a girl’s hair should be a short length and that a woman’s role is to support her husband in learning. She had an uncanny ability to know when she was being indoctrinated by the system, and when she sensed nonsense, she always called it out.

When Adina pursued a dual BA in psychology and English, I thought she’d follow in my footsteps as either a psychologist or college professor, with her ability to understand the human psyche and her incredible oratory skills proving that she could be either one. But she ultimately continued on with a Master’s degree in medieval literature, reading texts that most of us never knew existed. My daughter was clearly a nonconformist and freethinker, navigating a unique path.

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