PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court on Friday rejected an appeal of President Donald Trump’s last significant legal challenge to Pennsylvania’s election results, setting the stage for his campaign to potentially appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.A three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit declined to overturn […]
Joe Biden’s transition team has said that it continues to support the appointment of a Palestinian-American to a senior position after critics accused her of anti-Semitism.Arab-American organisations had hailed the appointment of Reema Dodin, formerly a Senate staffer, as deputy director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs and the first Palestinian-American to serve
Biden team stands by Palestinian-American staffer after backlash Read More »
Middle East, USA
President-elect Joe Biden’s first major foreign policy appointments are being hailed as centrists and experts. None of them are known as radicals, ideologues or Israel-bashers. News outlets have made much of the fact that the stepson of a Holocaust survivor is one of the key appointments. But a closer look at their backgrounds and associations raises disturbing questions about their views on Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict. [Moshe Phillips]
Biden’s Team Turns Blind Eye to Palestinian Terror Read More »
Middle East, USA
Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump said Thursday for the first time that he would leave the White House if Joe Biden is officially confirmed the winner of the US election, even as he railed against the “rigged” vote.Trump has made an unprecedented attempt to defy the results of the election by refusing to concede, spreading
Trump says he will leave office — if Biden victory is confirmed Read More »
USA
ATLANTA — Supporters of Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the presidential election in Georgia say they have filed a federal lawsuit that accuses top state officials of abetting voter fraud.The lawsuit says Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger rushed to buy new election software that played a big role
Georgia Trump supporters fight on in court Read More »
USA
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down Wednesday night blocking state officials from enforcing a cap on religious gatherings in coronavirus hot spots in Brooklyn and Queens is “irrelevant from any practical impact” because those areas are no longer designated virus hot spots.He said the decision,
President-elect Joe Biden tried to inspire Americans to keep fighting the pandemic Wednesday night in a Thanksgiving address ahead of the holiday.Biden began the speech by briefly remarking about the history of Thanksgiving and linking it with Americans’ need to continue fighting COVID-19.Speaking from Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said, “The first national day of Thanksgiving, authorized
I’m always fascinated at Thanksgiving time to see how rabbis express what is a central tenet of Judaism: giving thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings bestowed upon us.
For example, the Forward offered a prayer from the book, Talking to God: Personal Prayers for Times of Joy, Sadness, Struggle and Celebration by Rabbi Naomi Levy of the Neshuva congregation in Los Angeles. The poem focuses on every day things—children’s laughter, our ability to breathe, having enough food to eat, living in adequate shelters, being clothed, being healthy, the special people in our lives, and residing in a country where people are free to practice their religion without fear. [Donald H. Harrison]
Thanksgiving Blessings and Tzedakah Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
My wife and I are in the medical field. My wife works on the front lines at a large medical center and watches the suffering that COVID inflicts. Not just to the patients and their families but to the front line workers risking their lives to help others. In the evening we watch the news showing these dedicated doctors, nurses and support staff, exhausted both physically and mentally, literally begging us to stay home this Thanksgiving. The Surgeon General, the President-elect and many of our states’ governors also warn us not to make matters worse. They are ignored by a huge percentage of the population. [Ben Dishman, PharmD]
Medical professionals lament holiday travel Read More »
Ben Dishman, Judaism, Lifestyles, USA
In the recent election, American-Israelis voted 70%-30% for President Trump, the converse of how American Jews voted. That tells you Israelis value the president’s accomplishments abroad, feats which are not high priority for most Jews in the US. Under Trump, the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, quit the Iran nuclear deal, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, declared that Israeli “settlements” beyond the 1949 Armistice lines are not illegal, endorsed, in principle, an Israeli annexation of up to 30% of the West Bank, and brokered normalization agreements with three Arab states under the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement. All of these accomplishments deal with reality in the Middle East, not some tired, fanciful panacea about the necessity for a State of Palestine to allow peace in the Middle East. [Steve Kramer]
Trump is a good friend of Israel. We’ll see about Biden Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA
Those of us who are used to covering the high-flying first days of America’s most-promising presidents-elect reflexively shift into wait-and-see skeptic mode when they effusively introduce their new Cabinet advisers to the world.Every new team sounds super special, to hear their new boss tell it. Richard Nixon regaled us at length about his belief that
Martin Schram: Talking tough about truth Read More »
USA
ATLANTA — In the hours after a gunman in Pittsburgh opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018, the phone rang in Atlanta for Rabbi Peter Berg, the leader of The Temple, Atlanta’s oldest Jewish congregation.It was the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church.“Raphael was the first to call,”
Jewish leaders defend Raphael Warnock after Loeffler attacks Read More »
USA
Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he had pardoned Michael Flynn, the former security advisor whose lies about his Russian contacts spurred the troubling investigation into Trump campaign collusion with Moscow.The pardon, which was expected, came in the final weeks of Trump’s presidency, two years of which was spent fighting the allegations that
Trump pardons Michael Flynn, who lied to FBI over Russia Read More »
International, USA
The rise of Alejandro Mayorkas may be just the feel-good story Miami needs post-election.After his Jewish parents fled Fidel Castro’s Communist takeover of Cuba in 1960, Mayorkas lived in Miami as a child. They eventually left the capital of Cuban exiles for a life in Los Angeles, but the 61-year-old hasn’t forgotten his immigrant beginnings.It