Senators introduce legislation to discourage the use of human shields
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) wants supporters to urge their senators to join the list of cosponsors of a bill that would place sanctions on foreign persons who utilize human shields during the course of terror operations. While the legislation would apply universally, AIPAC noted that it specifically would apply to the Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS organizations.
Called the Sanction Terrorist Operations Using Human Shields Act of 2018 (S. 3257)—or the STOP Using Human Shields Act—, the legislation targets groups that “are blatantly violating international law by placing their terrorist infrastructure among civilian populations and hiding behind innocent civilians as they carry out armed attacks,” according to AIPAC.
Authored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN), this bipartisan legislation requires the president to impose sanctions on members of U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations that knowingly encourage, order, control or are complicit in, any attempt to use human shields. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tim Scott (R-SC), Ed Markey (D-MA), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and David Perdue (R-GA) are original cosponsors of the bill. —From AIPAC
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Israeli-American Coalition commend steps to enforce Taylor Force Act
WASHINGTON, DC— The Israeli-American Coalition for Action (IAC for Action) on Tuesday commended Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Doug Lamborn (R-CO), who released a letter this week calling on the Department of Treasury to designate as a terrorist Issa Karake, director of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Commission of Prisoners and ReleasedPrisoners’ Affairs, under Executive Order 13224.
Designating Karake under EO 13224 would represent a key step towards implementing the Taylor Force Act, a law passed by Congress in March 2018 that advances prospects for peace by conditioning continued U.S. aid to thePalestinian Authority (PA) on the PA ending its repugnant policy of financially rewarding terrorists and their families. Thebill is named for U.S. Army veteran Taylor Force, who was brutally murdered by a terrorist while vacationing in Israel in 2016. Under the PA policy which has widely become known as “pay-to-slay,” the terrorist’s family members receive a stipend equivalent to several times the average Palestinian monthly wage because of his murderous act. The Taylor Force Act ensures that U.S. taxpayers no longer subsidize these payments.
EO 13224 provides the U.S. government with the means to disrupt the financial support network for terrorists and terrorist organizations by authorizing the government to designate and block the assets of foreign individuals and entities that commit, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism. Karake is directly responsible for the department that facilitates financial remuneration and other support for Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel and the families of dead terrorists. He has authorized the payments of tiered salaries to imprisoned Palestinian terrorists onbehalf of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other organized terror groups, Zeldin and Lamborn noted in a letter that they sent to U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal P. Mandelker.
“We commend Reps. Zeldin and Lamborn for spearheading the passage, and now the implementation, of the Taylor Force Act,” said IAC for Action Chairman Shawn Evenhaim. “It is critical that our policymakers take action to ensure that this important law is enforced. We were proud to play a major role in rallying the Jewish, pro-Israel, and legislative communities around the Taylor Force Act’s passage, and we will continue leading the charge to implement this law, working alongside leaders like Reps. Zeldin and Lamborn.” —From Israeli-American Coalition for Action
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Orthodox Union pushes for repeal of law taxing parking and transit subsidies for clergy and staff
In December 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This legislation was intended to reduce federal taxes and simplify the federal tax code.
However, the newly revised tax code includes a provision (Section 512(a)(7) of the IRS code) that will impose new, unprecedented taxes and requirements on nonprofit organizations – including houses of worship and religious schools – to potentially pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal and possibly state income taxes for providing parking and transit subsidies to clergy and staff. The new provision, in effect, nullifies an institution’s nonprofit status.
The Orthodox Union Advocacy Center is committed to working to have this unprecedented tax provision repealed and is among those leading a coalition of many faith community and nonprofit sector organizations in opposition to the expansion of this tax.
In recent weeks, the OU Advocacy Center has held and led meetings with key officials at The White House as well as with key U.S. senators and representatives. Recently, legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal the tax law section imposing this new tax on houses of worship and other nonprofits. It is H.R. 6460, the “LIFT Charities Act.”
The OU Advocacy Center is urging people to contact their U.S. Representative to vote for H.R. 6460, which would repeal this new provision in the tax law that unnecessarily punishes religious institutions and charities. —From Orthodox Union
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Hadassah identifies reason behind kidney disease among prematurely born infants
Researchers from Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) in Israel and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have identified the reason why premature birth negatively affects kidney development and how to remedy it, according to study results published in the June 5, 2018, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The article, “Hamartin Regulates Cessation of Mouse Nephrogenesis, Independently of MT0r,” describes how the creation of more nephrons (microscopic blood-filtering units inside the kidney), improves adult kidney function and identifies the protein hamartin which needs to be manipulated for a longer period for proper kidney development.
The study’s chief investigator, Dr. Oded Volovelsky, co-founder and head of HMO’s new Pediatric Nephrology Department, recently completed a three-year fellowship in pediatric nephrology at Cincinnati Children’s. Volovelsky and fellow research scientists at Cincinnati Children’s discovered that hamartin plays an important role in determining when nephron development stops. In their research, the scientists found that mice bred to produce reduced amounts of hamartin developed 25 percent more nephrons than a control group. However, when bred to produce no hamartin at all, the mice developed fatal kidney defects.
Of all premature births, infants born before 34 weeks of gestation face the highest risk of developing kidney complications later in life because nephrons form in the womb only between weeks 25 to 36. When that process is interrupted by an early premature birth, those missing nephrons can never be replaced.
Dr. Volovelsky states, “For years, researchers throughout the world investigated the reasons leading to kidney failure and tried to find solutions. During pregnancy, the body first focuses on lung and brain development. Manipulating this protein with as-yet undeveloped drugs will prevent premature infants from developing kidney disease as adults.”
According to the National Kidney Foundation, over two million people around the world suffer from chronic kidney disease and require dialysis or a kidney transplant. The key factor seems to be the production of nephrons inside the kidney. From Hadassah Medical Organization
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