“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Viznitz Monsey First Heimishe Chassidus to Allow Internet into their Neighborhood
Taliban spokesman asked whether his government will honor free speech, responds that 'This should be asked to Facebook.'
The Taliban spokesman got a question about freedom of speech and he said the question should be asked to US companies like Facebook who claim to promote it while still censoring pic.twitter.com/woXd5RRCWK
— Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) August 17, 2021
At a Tuesday press conference in Kabul, the Taliban called out Facebook for censorship.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was asked if his government would honor free speech and responded by pointing a finger at Facebook.
“This question should be asked to those people who are claiming to be promoters of freedom of speech who do not allow publication of all information. I could ask Facebook company. This question should be asked to them," he said.
The response was retweeted by Former US President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., who commented that, on this issue, the Taliban spokesman was "not wrong."
Obsessed with Trump..... Cy Vance goes after pardoned man
Is there anything more politicized than the criminal justice system in an administration run by Democrats?
Yes . . . a criminal justice system run by elected Democrats in a blue-dyed stronghold, such as New York City, ensnared by one-party politics.
That is not mere politicization of the justice system. It is weaponization of the justice system against political enemies. Ken Kurson is the latest Trump World habitue to learn that the hard way.
Kurson, the former editor of The New York Observer, is a close friend of former President Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner, as well as a one-time speechwriter for Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. He is also a jackass — or, at the very least, conducted himself like one several years ago when his marriage was disintegrating.
Kurson’s obnoxious behavior, which involved harassing people involved in his personal drama, came to the attention of the FBI only because Trump nominated him to sit on the board of the National Endowment for the Humanities. By normal prosecution standards, it was ancient history, having occurred in 2015, and dubious grist for criminal charges.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn nevertheless filed a criminal complaint weeks before the 2020 election. The “cyberstalking” case never reached the indictment stage because Trump pardoned Kurson before leaving office, reasoning that there would have been no criminal case but for the political connection.
As if to prove the former president’s point, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance swung into action. The federal investigation had uncovered evidence that Kurson had used a computer program to spy on his then wife, whom he suspected of having an affair. Vance has charged Kurson with felony electronic eavesdropping.
At a time when violent crime is surging and the district attorney has declined to prosecute a raft of cases arising out of last summer’s deadly rioting and looting, there is no enforcement justification for devoting resources to a six-year-old non-violent domestic-relations matter.
Kurson’s own ex-wife doesn’t want this pursued. In his pardon application, she wrote that she “repeatedly asked for the FBI to drop it . . . I hired a lawyer to protect me from being forced into yet another round of questioning. My disgust with this arrest and the subsequent articles is bottomless.”
This is sheer political retribution.
What’s stunning is how unabashed Vance is about that. Announcing the charges, he brayed, “We will not accept presidential pardons as get-out-of-jail-free cards for the well-connected in New York.” Kurson is not being punished for the alleged crimes; he’s being punished for being a Trump crony who got a pardon.
It is not the first time. Vance earlier indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort after Trump pardoned him for convictions arising out of the Mueller investigation. It was a blatant violation of New York’s double-jeopardy protections, and the state courts threw it out.
Vance, meanwhile, has spent years and resources — including two trips to the Supreme Court — trying to nail Trump himself on what he hoped were frauds burrowed in the former president’s financial records. After finally getting access to the records, he still has no case. Did he drop it? Of course not: he is now squeezing the Trump organization’s chief financial officer — charging him with bookkeeping improprieties that, in any other instance, would be settled in civil litigation. But it’s Trump, so New York Democrats must treat it as the crime of the century.
In New York, unlike in the federal government, top prosecutor posts are elected rather than appointed positions. That’s why state attorney general Letitia James, a progressive darling, campaigned on a promise to spare no effort to sue or prosecute Trump. The system lends itself to abuse.
There is a term for the exploitation of government police power to crush political foes: banana republic.
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Shmuel (Shmuli) Silverberg 19 Murdered In front of His Yeshiva in Denver
A Yeshiva Bochur was shot and killed in front of the Denver Yeshiva
Police say the horrific incident unfolded early Wednesday morning, in front of Yeshiva Toras Chaim, located at 1555 Stuart Street in Denver.
Sources say that a vehicle drove up and opened fire. The vehicle immediately fled the area. The boy was rushed to a local hospital where he was Niftar.
The victim has been identified as HaBochur Shmuel (Shmuli) Silverberg Z”L (son of Reb Mordechai) from Cleveland. He was 19 years old.
Police do not believe the victim was deliberately targeted or that the assailant had targeted the yeshiva, as there have been several other similar shootings in the area which did not target Jewish people or institutions.
Misaskim was notified in middle of the night, and was working with the authorities and the family.
The Levaya and Kevura will be held in Lakewood, NJ. Time and location will be published when that becomes available.
The Denver Police Department is searching for three vehicles connected to the shooting which Detectives say was a deadly crime spree.
The crime spree started near Colfax Ave. and Grape St. at 10:50 p.m. with a car jacking. No injuries were reported.
Next, a shooting and car jacking took place in the 1500 block of Lafayette St around 11 p.m. One person was critically injured.
The crime spree ended with the fatal shooting of the Yeshiva Bochur at 11:30PM.
Police are looking for three vehicles connected to the crime spree.
- 2018 maroon Honda CRV, Colorado License Plate: CGOW44
- 2020 dark blue Toyota Camry, Colorado License Plate: AGNZ29
- 1998 black Toyota Rav 4, Colorado License Plate: QFO701
The suspects are considered armed and dangerous. If you see the vehicles, call 911. You can also remain anonymous by contacting Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
Taliban parade two men through streets with blackened faces and nooses around necks
Sickening images show two men being paraded through an Afghanistan street with their faces tarred black — and being pulled by nooses around their necks.
“Taliban accused these men of theft, their faces were colored with black color — to embarrass them,” tweeted Bilal Sarwary, one of Afghanistan’s leading journalists, who said he was sent the images late last week.
The photos show the unidentified pair surrounded by a mob of heavily armed men, many punching the air in apparent celebration as others hold assault rifles aloft.
The men’s faces were both completely blackened, seemingly with a tar-like substance, and both had nooses tight around the neck, which was pulled by at least one in the mob, the images show.
“This was after the Friday prayers inside Herat city,” Sarwary also tweeted, with a video of the parade showing dozens of supposed Taliban supporters marching alongside the accused thieves.
“Taliban style Justice often means hands of thieves are chopped off,” the journalist noted.
“This is medieval and barbaric,” wrote one of Sarwary’s followers. “I cannot believe this is happening now and I weep with sadness and with shame.”
The sickening sight came as Herat, a city of about 600,000 people near the border with Iran, was left like a “ghost town,” provincial council member Ghulam Habib Hashimi told Reuters. “Families have either left or are hiding in their homes.”
The parade appeared further proof that the Taliban were already returning to the extreme version of Islamic Sharia law that the US invasion previously appeared to have crushed.
The Taliban notoriously imposed strict punishments under their initial rule, including stoning suspected adulterers and carrying out public executions.
Many of the harshest restrictions were against women, many of whom were raped and forced into arranged marriages, as well as being forbidden from jobs or schooling and forced to be subservient to men.
After the US invasion, women finally started finding freedom — something seemingly already being erased by the Taliban as reports emerge of them ejecting women from their workplaces and forcing girls as young as 12 to marry militants.
As the insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul early Sunday, a photo circulated on social media showing someone painting over posters depicting women.
“This is a new dark era for women,” tweeted activist and former beauty queen Sarah Idan, who shared the images and blamed “radical Islamist misogynists Taliban.”
Rabbi Who Could See into the Future Didn't See this Coming
Young Bride Reunites with the EMT Who Saved her Life
EMT Michael Cohen at Dikla's bedside and at her wedding. |
On Wednesday, October 21, 2015, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Michael Cohen was on his way home on his ambucycle from Jerusalem to the town of Adam, when his communications device alerted him to a medical emergency that occurred just outside his town. A terrorist had stabbed a female soldier who began bleeding at an alarming rate which posed an immediate threat to her life. Michael turned on his siren and sped over to the traffic circle at the entrance to Adam, where the stabbing had taken place.
Michael arrived together with two United Hatzalah volunteers. After making sure the scene was safe and the terrorist neutralized, the three EMTs located the young woman, Dikla Megidish, who was suffering from a stab wound to her neck. The knife had been removed from the wound leaving a gushing wound spurting bright red blood. The EMTs assessed that the knife had torn right through the woman’s carotid artery, leaving her very few minutes to live before she bled out completely.
With no time to lose, Michael quickly applied pressure to Dikla’s artery, using his fingers as a makeshift tourniquet. The two other EMTs helped control any other bleeding as Michael held on to the carotid artery. After a few minutes, a mobile intensive care ambulance arrived at the scene. The crew carefully took control over Michael’s makeshift tourniquet and then loaded the woman on the ambulance to be transported to Hadassah hospital.
When Dikla arrived at the hospital, she was sedated and attached to a respirator. The next day, just as Shabbat was entering, Dikla’s family contacted Michael and informed him that she was awake and in recovery after surgery. That Saturday night, Michael and the two EMTs drove to Hadassah hospital to visit the young woman they had saved.
Two weeks ago, Michael received an invitation in the mail. The woman was engaged and getting married and invited Michael to share in her happiness, six years later. Last Tuesday night, Michael attended the wedding and was welcomed with huge hugs from the entire family.
“When I went to the wedding I was nervous at what the reunion would be like,” Michael admitted. “I hadn’t seen Dikla in six years, I wondered if she would recognize me, especially during her wedding, would she come and say hello. I was pleasantly surprised. When I arrived, the beautiful bride Dikla spotted me from across the room and ran over to embrace me. The groom told me how honored he was to see me, and they insisted that we take a picture together. Reuniting with Dikla at her wedding was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to see how I really did save an entire world.”
Pentagon Confirms Evacuated Afghans Being Sent to Texas, Wisconsin, Virginia
Last Jew in Afghanistan vows to remain despite Taliban takeover ... Typical Attitude of Every "Chutz Le'aaretz" Jew
After Taliban forces entered Kabul on Sunday, signalling the fall of Afghanistan after a 20-year American presence in the country, the only remaining Afghani Jew, said he was bracing himself for the new regime.
Zabulon Simantov, 62, has spent his entire life in the capital of Kabul, serving as the caretaker of the city's synagogue.
Simantov announced in March of this year that he would leave the country for good following the Jewish High Holidays in September, citing fears of a possible Taliban takeover following the US withdrawal.
"The Taliban have tried to convert me and I've been imprisoned four times," Simantov told WION News.
Simantov's current whereabouts are unknown, with concern for his fate being expressed on social media.
"Is anyone else sitting on their couch crying because they're scared for Zebulon Simantov?" asked one Twitter user, with others saying they were praying for his safety.
With Simantov's departure, the synagogue will close and 2,000 years of Jewish history in Afghanistan will come to an end. An estimated 40,000 Jews lived in central-Asian nation at the start of the 20th Century.
Shocking video shows bloody hatchet attack in Lower Manhattan ATM
Horrifying new surveillance video shows the moment a 51-year-old man was brutally attacked by a hatchet-wielding maniac while at a lower Manhattan ATM.
The footage, obtained by The Post on Tuesday, shows the victim at one of the ATMs inside a Chase Bank vestibule on Broadway near Beaver Street in the Financial District shortly before 5:30 p.m. Sunday when the attacker walks in, removes a hatchet from a dark bag, sneaks up behind him and begins slashing him.
The frightened and bloodied victim tries to fend off the brutal assault, falling to the floor several times as he futilely attempts to grab his crazed assailant’s weapon, the footage shows.
When the unidentified attacker is finished beating the victim, he smashes the screens of the cash-dispensing machines before walking away — and leaving the hatchet and his backpack behind, according to police.
The wounded man was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, where he remained Tuesday in the intensive care unit.
In a brief bedside interview with The Post, the dazed victim, with his head wrapped in a large bandage, recalled part of the viscous attack.
“A man was there with a hatchet and [hit] my head … and my leg,” said the victim in Spanish.
Before 10 p.m. Tuesday night, police in Chelsea apprehended a suspect who fit the description of the hatchet-attacker, law enforcement sources said.
The 37-year-old man was smashing car windows near 19th Street and Seventh Avenue when officers in a 10th Precinct patrol car spotted him, according to the sources.
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for an evaluation, and as of late Tuesday night had not been charged, sources said.
Taliban kill woman for not wearing burqa on same day it vows to honor ‘women’s rights’
Taliban fighters shot and killed a woman for not wearing a burqa in Afghanistan Tuesday — the same day the group pledged to usher in a new inclusive era in the country that honors “women’s rights.”
A photo emerged of a woman in Takhar province lying in a pool of blood, with loved ones crouched around her, after she was killed by insurgents for being in public without a head covering, according to Fox News.
The killing came amid the outfit’s version of a charm offensive, after its swift takeover of the country in the absence of US troops, who had been propping up allied military groups since shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid held a news conference to say that the insurgents would honor women’s rights, within the highly restrictive Sharia law. The militants urged women to return to school and work, and another Taliban spokesman granted a televised interview to a female journalist.
Mujahid also vowed to grant amnesty to Afghans who worked with the now toppled government architected by the US.
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan before 9/11, it prevented women and girls from leaving the house without a male chaperone, and did not allow them to work or receive an education.
Insurgents also vowed Tuesday not to interfere with US-led evacuation efforts of Westerners and their Afghan allies, but were instead reported to be controlling the entrances of Hamid Karzai International Airport, and attacking those who were trying to flee.
There was kids, women, babies, old women, they could barely walk,” an Afghan former State Department contractor told Fox. “They [are in a] very, very bad situation, I’m telling you. At the end, I was thinking that there was like 10,000 or more than 10,000 people, and they’re running into the airport … The Taliban [were] beating people and the people were jumping from the fence, the concertina wire, and also the wall.”
Elsewhere in Kabul, Taliban fighters were recorded shooting guns as they patrolled neighborhoods home to activists and government workers, according to the report.
Militants were looking for people who had helped the US, and had questioned the former defense contractor’s neighbors about him, according to the report.
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
U.S. Army veteran Matt Zeller goes off on MSNBC about Biden’s remarks on Afghanistan: “I feel like I watched a different speech than the rest of you guys. I was appalled.”
U.S. Army veteran Matt Zeller goes off on MSNBC about Biden’s remarks on Afghanistan:
— Whitney Robertson (@whitneyleerob) August 16, 2021
Zeller: “I feel like I watched a different speech than the rest of you guys. I was appalled.” pic.twitter.com/eGC5tMBvy4
Former CIA analyst and MSNBC guest Matt Zeller criticized President Joe Biden’s speech on the ongoing Afghanistan crisis amid praise for it from the liberal network's hosts.
Biden addressed the nation from the White House on Monday over the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan after Biden's troop withdrawal. Zeller appeared with hosts Brian Williams and Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House" to discuss the speech at length.
Williams complimented Biden’s speech, claiming "he didn’t run" from his responsibility to the Afghan people.
"He didn't run from it. He owned it. He owned the fact that, as he put it, the buck stops with him," Williams said.
"I hope he gets to own their deaths too," Zeller fired back.
Zeller spent most of his appearance criticizing Biden’s speech, as well as the administration’s actions in withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
"I feel like I watched a different speech than the rest of you guys. I was appalled. There was such a profound bold-faced lie in that speech. The idea we planned for every contingency? I have been personally trying to tell this administration since it took office. I have been trying to tell our government for years this was coming. We sent them plan after plan on how to evacuate these people. Nobody listened to us," Zeller said.
Zeller also slammed the administration for not having adequate plans to evacuate the thousands of Afghan citizens looking to escape Taliban rule.
Wallace previously complimented Biden’s speech saying "95% of the American people will agree with everything [President Biden] just said. 95% of the press covering this White House will disagree."
Extremist Is Mechanich" his Children To Curse R' Moshe Feinstein, R' Aaron Kotler, R' Nissim Karelitz, R' Aron from Belz etc.
Someone is definitely supporting him and his mamzeirim, the question is who?
He is calling Gedoiei Yisrael "Yemach Shemom" a word reserved for Hitler YM"S
No he is not at all crazy... the ones crazy are those who see this and laugh it off ...
Can you imagine if a Modern Orthodox Jew would be on a corner and cursing the Satmar Rebbe? How long do you think that would go on?
Who will protect Har Hazeitim?
Leading public figures from the Israeli Board for the Protection of Har Hazeitim (Mount of Olives -ed.), including former ministers Efi Eitam and Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen, have emphasized how essential it is that Israel strengthen its sovereignty at the site.
The new Board was created on the initiative of the International Committee for Har Hazeitim (ICHH) founded over ten years ago by two brothers Abe and Menachem Lubinsky. ICHH has initiated major improvements on the Mountain, and was instrumental in persuading the government to conduct major renovations, including fixing roads, building fences and installing 170 security cameras.
ICHH works in full cooperation with the large Knesset Lobby for Har Hazeitim, and is in constant dialogue with the police to ensure the safety of all those who ascend the Mountain.
Shalom Lerner executive director of ICHH, reached out to active public leaders in Israel, asking them to join the efforts to preserve and upgrade the site.
Prominent and notable individuals from all walks of life have come together to work for the security and development of this holy mountain.
One of the challenges facing the new committee is the Visitors Center, which is planned for the lower part of the mountain.
The Visitors Center is a 20 million shekel ($6,199,130) project jointly undertaken by the Israeli government, Jerusalem Municipality and the ICHH, and it has obtained almost all the permits required in order for construction to begin. The Center will also run a major educational program and it is expected to draw thousands of visitors daily, making it a major development in the upgrading of the Mount of Olives and ensuring its continued viability for generations to come. Some experts estimate that the Visitors Centre will draw close to two million visitors annually.
In its first meeting, former minister Rabbi Cohen stressed the importance that all functions of the Visitors Center should be professionally planned and implemented, and promised full cooperation with its partners.
Former minister Brigadier General Efi Eitam, pointed out the importance of the educational content of the Center, with emphasis on the unbreakable bond between the Jewish People all over the Diaspora and Har Hazeitim and Jerusalem. From the times of the First Temple until today, many Jews from all over the world dreamed of being buried on Har HaZeitim, where according to tradition, the resurrection of the dead will start.
Gael Grinwald, Deputy Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, pointed out that the Board should already make contact with the Education Ministry to ensure that schoolchildren and students visit the Visitors Center and fully benefit from unique educational programs.
Ilan Geal Dor, CEO of Gesher, and Shalom Wasserteil, a prominent contractor, suggested that a special program should be arranged for soldiers, in partnership with the IDF. The Executive Board of the ICHH, headed by Abe and Menachem Lubinsky, participated in the meeting via Zoom and were very appreciative that such notable persons have joined them in ensuring the future and the upgrading of Har HaZeitim.
Shalom Lerner announced that several new members will be joining the Israeli Board in the next few weeks, following which the Board will hold a festive meeting with the participation of its partners and donors.
PM Bennett orders IDF not to respond to Gaza rocket attack ...Afraid that the Arabs Will Leave Coalition
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz have ordered the IDF to refrain from issuing a response to yesterday’s rocket attack on the Gaza periphery town of Sderot.
This order stands in contrast to the prevailing practice in recent years, including during the previous government’s term of office, when the IDF responded to every single instance of rocket fire out of Gaza, including to the launching of incendiary balloons. Sometimes the response was merely “symbolic” but the IDF was always particular to respond in some manner to terrorist attacks.
Last June, the current Prime Minister – then in the opposition – promised that the residents of the Gaza periphery communities would not be treated as second-class citizens if he were in power. “We won’t tolerate violent attacks of any kind, no matter how minor,” he stated. “Our patience has run out.” Bennett was speaking at an official memorial service for the soldiers who fell during Operation Protective Edge. “In Gaza, they will have to get used to a different kind of Israeli approach – an approach of taking the offensive, of new ways of doing things,” Bennett said then, describing how he would do things if he were given a free hand.
On Monday, a rocket was fired into Israel from Gaza and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization claimed responsibility, stating that the attack was in revenge for the killing of four Palestinian terrorists who were shot by IDF forces in Jenin, during an operation to arrest several wanted men. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile shield during the funeral of two of the terrorists.
Speaking immediately after the rocket attack, the head of the Sedot Negev Regional Council, Tamir Eidan, called on the government to issue a harsh response. “Once again, we are witnessing how terrorist organizations dare to openly attack Israeli residents. We must not tolerate a situation in which they are firing at us from Gaza, and we demand that the government respond harshly and immediately to cut down anyone who tries to harm us, without delay.”