Israel Will Spend $72 Million to Fight against BDS Boycotts with New Program

The Israeli government and other private Jewish donors will spend $72 million to fight the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign that opposes the Israeli occupation of Palestine. They will create a civilian infrastructure (described as ‘civil-society’) that seeks to change the present social order, usually ending in regime change, yet it operates outside of government. In other words, it is revolution by people who do not wear military uniforms. Some examples of civil-society organizations include PACs, unions, activist organizations, religious groups, and private service agencies. Activities of Israel’s ‘civil society’ will include public-relations campaigns, funding trips to Israel for opinion-leaders, and lobbying legislators. -GEG

Israel’s government has approved a plan setting aside $72 million to fighting the campaign to boycott Israel.

The plan would entail the largest monetary investment yet by Israel specifically toward combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. It was announced last week to the cabinet ministers and approved as an executive order after none of them objected, the Ynet news site reported Friday.

It calls for setting up a not-for-profit organization whose board will be made up of government officials and donors from abroad, the report said. The board will oversee the first major “civil-society infrastructure servicing the State of Israel and the pro-Israel community in the fight against the de-legitimization of Israel,” the notice sent to the ministers read.

The $72 million budget will come partly from the Israeli government and partly from Jewish donors and communities abroad, the report said. It did not say when the new organization would become operational or even established formally.

But the initial funding to the tune of $36 million will come from the budget of the ministry that includes Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Information. At least 10 Jewish philanthropists have pledge to at least match that sum, with some promising to give $2 and $3 to any dollar put in by the Israeli government beyond the initial funding, according to the report.

The organization envisaged by its creators would operate on a regular basis to counter pressure applied to artists, performers and commercial enterprises who seek to engage with Israel. But it would shift into high gear at sensitive periods such as fighting waves of terrorist attacks and anti-Israel votes at international forums.

The new organization’s avenues for action would include public campaigns, lobbying, arranging for solidarity visits to Israel by opinion shapers, establishing new and social media presence and interacting with pro-Israel organization worldwide for coordinated action with a focus on Europe.
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Paul Manafort Sues Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, for Going Outside His Jurisdiction

Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, is suing Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, for going outside the legitimate scope of investigation of the 2016 presidential election. Manafort was indicted in October on 12 counts related to unlawful financial dealings, and the case will go to trial in May. The Special Counsel has paid particular attention to the involvement of Mr. Manafort’s company in a lobbying campaign that ended in 2014, his bank accounts and tax filings through 2014, and personal expenditures from his political consulting work, none of which have any connection whatsoever to the 2016 Trump campaign. -GEG

Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort filed a civil lawsuit in a DC court Wednesday against Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein and the Justice Department.

The lawsuit alleges Mueller has gone outside of his scope as Special Counsel and the charges brought by Mueller have nothing to do with the 2016 presidential election.

CNBC reported:

“The actions of DOJ and Mr. Rosenstein in issuing the Appointment Order, and Mr. Mueller’s actions pursuant to the authority the Order granted him, were arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with the law,” the suit reads.

The appointment order authorizing Mueller as special counsel permits him to investigate any matters that “may arise directly from the investigation.”

Manafort was indicted Oct. 27 on 12 counts related to unlawful financial dealings. He pleaded not guilty and has been contesting the charges. A trial is scheduled to begin in May

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Fatah Honors Murderers of 179 Israelis

The official Facebook page of Abbas’ Fatah Movement celebrated Fatah’s 53rd anniversary by glorifying eight terrorists from its ranks, four of them female suicide bombers. On Dec. 30, 2017, Fatah posted photos of the terrorists with great praise. -GEG

The official Facebook page of Abbas’ Fatah Movement celebrated Fatah’s 53rd anniversary by glorifying eight terrorist murderers from its ranks, four of them female suicide bombers. Fatah posted photos of the killers with the same text and logo on Dec. 30, 2017:
“The Palestinian National Liberation Movement – Fatah
Mobilization and Organization Commission – Communications Office
The 53rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Palestinian revolution”
The following are the photos of the terrorist murderers posted on Fatah’s official Facebook page, with PMW explanatory notes:
k
Khalil Al-Wazir – Abu Jihad – former head of the PLO’s military wing, was responsible for the murder of at least 125 Israelis, according to the PA’s news agency Wafa.

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San Diego State University Professors Say Farmers Markets are Racist


Two geology professors from SDSU claim that farmers’ markets often are “white spaces where the food-consumption habits of white people are normalized, leading to social exclusion.”

Two professors from San Diego State University claim in a new book that farmers’ markets in urban areas are weed-like “white spaces” responsible for oppression.

Pascale Joassart-Marcelli and Fernando J Bosco are part of an anthology released this month titled “Just Green Enough.” The work, published by Routledge, claims there is a correlation between the “whiteness of farmers’ markets” and gentrification.

“Farmers’ markets are often white spaces where the food consumption habits of white people are normalized,” the SDSU professors write, the education watchdog Campus Reform reported Wednesday.

 The geology professors claim that 44 percent of San Diego’s farmers’ markets cater to “households from higher socio-economic backgrounds,” which raises property values and “[displaces] low-income residents and people of color.”

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Trump Slams Steve Bannon over New Book


A new book, written by Michael Wolff that is highly critical of President Trump, quoted his former senior advisor, Steve Bannon, as saying that Donald, Jr. committed treason and will be indicted. Trump responded by issuing a formal statement saying that Bannon has lost his mind. -GEG




Israel Tells Illegal African Immigrants to Accept a Free Ticket Home Or Go to Prison

Israel announced it would pay African migrants living in the country illegally $3,500 each plus a free airline ticket, to return to their home countries or ‘third-world countries’, like Rwanda and Uganda. Officials told the immigrants they will face jail time if they don’t leave by spring, 2018. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized the resettlement of African migrants in Israel as disruptive to the country’s culture and social cohesion. [Europe and the US would be wise to do the same.] -GEG

The Israeli government said Wednesday that it would pay thousands of African migrants living in the country illegally to return to their home countries, warning that they face jail time if they don’t leave by spring 2018.

Details of the plan were outlined by Israel’s interior minister, Arye Deri, and the public security minister, Gilad Erdan. Illegal immigrants in Israel have “two options only: voluntary deportation or sitting in prison,” the ministers said, according to the Guardian.

Under the repatriation plan, Israel will offer the migrants $3,500 payments and free airline tickets to return home or to “third countries,” likely Rwanda and Uganda. After March, the government will begin to detain remaining illegal immigrants that do not have pending asylum applications.

“Beyond the end of March, those who leave voluntarily will receive a significantly smaller payment that will shrink even more with time, and enforcement measures will begin,” an Israeli immigration official said, according to Reuters.

 Before Israel completed a barrier along its border with Egypt in 2013, about 60,000 African migrants — mostly from Sudan and Eritrea — crossed the desert frontier and settled in the Tel Aviv area. Many of the illegal immigrants say they fled violence and persecution, but Israel treats them as economic migrants.

About 38,000 African migrants are still living illegally in Israel as of this year, immigration officials say. Israel has granted asylum to fewer than 1 percent of those who have applied, with the aim of getting most of the migrants to return to their home countries.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has characterized the resettlement of African migrants in Israel as harmful to the country’s Jewish character and social cohesion. In public remarks to his cabinet about the repatriation plan, Netanyahu said the government is “keeping our promise to restore calm, a sense of personal security and law and order” to residents in south Tel Aviv, where many of the African migrants live.

“We have expelled about 20,000 and now the mission is to get the rest out,” he said, according to Reuters.

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