Records Show NIAID under Dr. Fauci Gave Wuhan Lab $826k for Bat Coronavirus Research From 2014 to 2019

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(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch today announced that it obtained 280 pages of documents from the Department of Health and Human Services revealing that from 2014 to 2019, $826,277 was given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

The documents, some of which were redacted or withheld in their entirely, were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking records of communications, contracts and agreements with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:21-cv-00696)). The agency is only processing 300 pages records per month, which means it will take until the end of November for the records to be fully reviewed and released under FOIA.

The records include a chart of NIAID funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology sent on April 21, 2020, by NIAID’s Chase Crawford to Principal Deputy Director Hugh Auchincloss and other NIAID officials. The agency funds directed to the Wuhan Institute of Virology between the years 2014-2019 total $826,277. All of the projects listed in the chart are titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.”

In an April 15, 2020 email marked “high” importance, Principal Deputy Director of NIH Lawrence Tabak emailed Fauci, NIH Director Francis Collins, and other NIH officials with the subject line: “HEADS UP: Wuhan lab research:”

Tabak: WH has strongly embraced concerns raised by Congressman Gaetz who is publicly criticizing HHS/NIH for funding the Wuhan laboratory’s bat research. Here’s this quote from another article: “I’m disgusted to learn that for years the US government has been funding dangerous and cruel animal experiments at the Wuhan Institute, which may have contributed to the global spread of coronavirus, and research at other labs in China that have virtually no oversight from US authorities.” [Emphasis in original]

This is a large multi-country study with Wuhan being one site. The principal investigator, Peter Daszak, is based in NY at EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. [Emphasis in original]

Tabak provides details of the grant to Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, for a project titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.” Tabak continues, saying, “The 3.7M dollar figure is over 6 years to all sites which include (several in) China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar. We estimate that approximately $826,300 has been spent at this site since the inception of the grant. Yearly costs appear to be about 80K/year. The grant is in year 6 of a total of 10 year.”

A January 9, 2020, email exchange labeled “high” importance between NIAID Senior Scientific Advisor Dr. David Morens and Daszak details the relationship between the Fauci agency and the Wuhan Institute of Virology: 

Morens: Hi guys, do any of you have any inside info on this new coronavirus that isn’t yet in the public domain? Or any thoughts? 

Daszak: Yes – lots of information and I spoke with Erik Stemmy and Alan Embry yesterday before the news was released. Erik is my program officer on our coronavirus grant specifically focused on China…. 

Morens: Thanks, the excitement never ends, right?

Daszak: NIAID has been funding coronavirus work in China for the past 5 years … (1R01Al110964: “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” ). That’s now been renewed … Collaborators include Wuhan Institute of Virology (currently working on the nCoV), and Ralph Baric [of University of North Carolina]. 

Also-FYI, prior to the R01, we worked under an R01 with Eun-Chung Park as program officer on viral discovery in bats, where originally identified SARS-CoV as having a likely origin in bats (published in Science)….

Morens: Great info, thanks. Tony doesn’t maintain awareness of these things and doesn’t know unless program officers tell him, which they rarely do, since they are across town and may not see him more than once a year, or less…. Interested in your feeling about where this is going. The experts are buzzing around us are all over the map, between doomsday and not that big a deal, with everything in between.

On January 23, 2020, a senior NIH official Melinda Hoskins forwarded a Daily Mail article to colleagues discussing NIH/NIAID funding of the bat virus research, and noting that Fauci would be briefing senators the following morning. Hoskins says, “Would you please confirm the exact nature of our support to the Wuhan Institute of Virology/Biosafety Lab.” 

Another official, Barbara Mulach, responds that, “We’ve identified one grant with a sub-grant to Wuhan Institute of Virology (thanks for the lead) and one primary grant to Wuhan University. We are trying to get clarification whether or not the two organizations are related so we know if the second application is relevant to the request or not.”

She provides data showing a “Sub-award to Wuhan Institute of Virology,” with Daszak as principal investigator for a project titled, “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence,” and she provides information on another award, grant number R01AI119064-06, with principal investigator Ke Lan, going to Wuhan University and titled, “Versatile functions of LANA in KSHV pathogenesis.”

In an April 13, 2020, email from NIH official Emily Erbelding to NIH colleagues, Erbelding notes that the “entire amount of the new Daszak grant (year 6 funded in FY19) is about 3.64 M. The total amount that will go to Wuhan Institute of Virology under this grant will be about $750K ($76,301 had already been sent to Wuhan in year 1 according to the NOA).” Additionally, the email notes that bat sampling work done during years 2011-2015, in addition to receiving funding from Daszak’s grant, “could also have been supported by USAID Predict program (which was also funding the Wuhan lab).”

Auchinloss forwards Erberlding’s note to Fauci, saying, “This is higher but not extraordinarily higher than I originally indicated which was for some earlier work.” Fauci replies, “Thanks.”

In an April 15, 2020, email exchange, Tabak asks his colleagues if Daszak’s team had “published anything seminal related to the current pandemic.” Erbelding responds, “Peter’s only publication on SARS CoV2 since the epidemic began is thought piece in NEJM [New England Journal of Medicine]” to which she provides a hyperlink. She adds, “Note that all of the prior work on zoonotic reservoirs of CoV’s was also supported by USAID funding through a program called PREDICT, which has since ended.”

On October 1, 2017, after receiving Daszak’s email related to his then-unpublished paper describing detailed research into a novel bat-born virus tied to Swine Acute Diarrheal Syndrome, Fauci forwards Daszak’s email and paper on to NIH official Greg Folkers, saying, “Confidential, but fyi for you.” Daszak says, “You should know that this work was supported by a NIAID ROl that [NIH’s] Erik Stemmy is the Program Officer for, and that I’m PI [principal investigator] on, with Zhengli Shi [the director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases of the Wuhan Institute of Virology] as co-PI.”

A person whose name is redacted on April 19, 2018, CCs an email to “International Cables (HHS/OS)” with the subject line “China Virus Institute Welcomes More U.S. Cooperation on Global Health Security,” includes a U.S. cable: 

China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, a global leader in virus research, is a key partner for the United States in protecting global health security. Its role as operator of the just-launched Biosafety Level 4 (or ‘P4’) lab- the first such lab in China – opens up even more opportunities for expert exchange, especially in light of the lab’s shortage of trained staff.

In the last year, the lab also hosted visits from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and experts from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. The institute reports to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

P4 Lab is Open and Transparent, Officials Emphasize

Officials described the lab as a “regional node” in the global biosafety system and said it would play an emergency response role in an epidemic or pandemic. The lab’s English brochure highlighted a national security role, saying that it is “an effective measure to improve China’s availability in safeguarding national bio-safety if [a] possible biological warfare or terrorist attack happens.”

Institute officials said there would be “limited availability” for international and domestic scientists who had gone through the necessary approval process to do research at the lab. They stressed that the lab aimed to be a “worldwide, open platform” for virology. They said they welcomed U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) experts, noting that the Chinese Academy of Sciences was not strong on human disease expertise, having only focused on it in the last 15 years, after the SARS outbreak. A Wuhan-based French consulate official who works on science and technology cooperation with China also emphasized that the lab, which was initiated in 2004 as a France-China joint project, was meant to be “open and transparent” to the global scientific community. “The intent was to set up a lab to international standards, and open to international research,” he said. French experts have provided guidance and biosafety training to the lab, which will continue, the French official said. Institute officials said that France provided the lab’s design and much of its technology, but that it is entirely China-funded and has been completely China-run since a “handover” ceremony in 2016. 

In addition to French assistance, experts from the NIH-supported P4 lab at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston have trained Wuhan lab technicians in lab management and maintenance, institute officials said.… One Wuhan Institute of Virology researcher trained for two years at the Galveston lab, and the institute also sent one scientist to U.S. CDC headquarters in Atlanta for six months’ work on influenza.

NIH-Supported Research Revises SARS Origin Story

NIH was a major funder, along with the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC), of SARS research by the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s [redacted.]

Ready to Help with the Global Virome Project

Institute officials expressed strong interest in the Global Virorne Project (GVP), and said Chinese funding for the project would likely come from Chinese Academy of Sciences funding already earmarked for One Belt, One Road-related initiatives…. GVP aims to launch this year as an international collaborative effort to identify within ten years virtually all of the planet’s viruses that have pandemic or epidemic potential and the ability to jump to humans. “We hope China will be one of the leading countries to initiate the Global Virome Project,” one Wuhan Institute of Virology official said. China attended a GVP unveiling meeting in January in Thailand and is waiting for more details of the initiative. The officials said that the Chinese government funds projects similar to GVP to investigate the background of viruses and bacteria. This essentially constituted China’s own Virome Project …

U.S.-China Workshop Explores Research Partnerships

 Some workshop participants also expressed skepticism about the Global Virome Project’s (GVP) approach, saying that gaining a predictive understanding of viruses with pandemic potential would require going beyond the GVPs strategy of sample collection, to take an “ecological” approach that considers the virome beyond vertebrate systems to identify mechanisms driving pathogen evolution. A follow-on workshop will be held in June at the University of Berkeley. NSF and NSFC hope to jointly announce a funding call for collaborative projects later this year.

On April 14, 2020, NIH official Marshall Bloom forwarded a Washington Post article by Josh Rogin titled “State Department Cables Warned of Safety Issues at Wuhan Lab Studying Bat Coronaviruses,” and asked a colleague to “Please send to the HCTF [High Containment Task Force]. Thanks!”  

After receiving an article via an email on November 1, 2013, from NIH official Greg Folkers with a cartoon depicting a bat depositing coronavirus particles attacking human ACE2 receptor cells, his colleague, Fauci’s Special Assistant Patricia Conrad writes, “I think we need more slides like this…its too cute!”

A January 19, 2018, State Department cable from the US Embassy in Beijing about the Wuhan Institute of Virology with the subject “China Opens First Bio Safety Level 4 Laboratory” includes a section titled “Unclear Guidelines on Virus Access and a Lack of Trained Talent Impede Research,” which notes in its introduction that “its current productivity is limited by a shortage of highly trained technicians and investigators required to safely operate a BSL-4 laboratory and a lack of clarity in related Chinese government policies and guidelines.”

The memo continues: “To date, WIV [Wuhan Institute of Virology] has obtained permission for research on three viruses: Ebola virus, Nipah virus, and Xinjiang hemorrhagic fever virus (a strain of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever found in China’s Xinjiang Province.)”

“These new documents show that funding for the Wuhan Institute was greater than the public has been told,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “That it has taken a year and a federal lawsuit to get this first disclosure on COVID and Wuhan is evidence of cover-up by Fauci’s agency.”

EDITORS NOTE: This Judicial Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Unanimous Supreme Court: Illegal Immigrants Do Not Have A Right To Green Cards

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Law and order. Finally.

Unanimous Supreme Court: Illegal Immigrants Do Not Have A Right To Green Cards

By: Daily Wire, June 7, 2021:

In a 9-0 decision issued Monday morning, the Supreme Court ruled that a law, barring illegal immigrants from seeking green cards, is constitutional and that those illegal immigrants who later earned a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are still ineligible to apply for permanent residency.

Justice Elena Kagan, widely recognized as one of the Court’s more liberal justices, wrote the unanimous opinion, upholding a rule that barred “unlawful entrants” who later received Temporary Protected Status from applying to remain in the United States. Temporary Protected Status technically “gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status,” Kagan noted, but TPS does not rubber-stamp an “unlawful entry.”

The TPS status “applies to people who come from countries ravaged by war or disaster. It protects them from deportation and allows them to work legally. There are 400,000 people from 12 countries with TPS status,” according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

The Court was called upon to decide whether a “couple from El Salvador who have been in the U.S. since the early 199s” who were given protected status in 2001 but who originally “entered the country illegally” were actually “admitted” into the United States when they were given protected status, enabling them to apply for a green card.

Kagan was clear, in her opinion, that they were not. “The TPS program gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, but it does not admit them. So the conferral of TPS does not make an unlawful entrant…eligible,” she wrote.

If Congress had wanted to confer “admission” into the United States along with Temporary Protected Status, Congress had an opportunity when they wrote the law, Kagan noted. She also suggested that Congress could approve “pending legislation” that refines the Temporary Protected Status to include “admission.”

“Congress, of course, could have gone further, by deeming TPS recipients to have not only nonimmigrant status but also a lawful admission,” Kagan said in her opinion, writing for the unanimous court. “Legislation pending in Congress would do just that.”

“The House of Representatives already has passed legislation that would make it possible for TPS recipients to become permanent residents,” Kagan noted, per the Star-Tribune. “The bill faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.”

Although the case likely does not impact most immigrants who entered the United States illegally, it does affect around 400,000 people from 12 countries — “Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen” — if they did not enter the U.S. by “lawful” means.

More importantly, “[t]he case pitted the Biden administration against immigrant groups that argued many people who came to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons have lived in the country for many years, given birth to American citizens, and put down roots in the U.S.,” per the Star-Tribune — groups that are already uneasy with President Joe Biden’s immigration agenda, and who have been pressing the administration itself to be more liberal when it comes to allowing immigrants who entered the United States illegally to stay.

RELATED ARTICLE: Gov. DeSantis Signs Foreign Influence Bills, Blasts ‘Communist Party of China’

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Are YOU the One?

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These truths below are designed to hit home and make you wake up to the true threats facing our constitutional republic today.

“The only way we will save our country and our freedoms is to fight the violence of lies with our clenched fists of truth.”

Should that fail remember Thomas Jefferson’s words “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Calling all American Patriots.

I understand that some of you are fearful of opposing the steamrolling forces of our freedoms and liberties coming from the extremist Democrat Socialist Party and their henchmen, led by the MSM and domestic terror groups like BLM and ANTIFA.

You are fearful to lose your jobs for standing up and protesting the wrongs being committed by the above mentioned Socialist Democrats. You are maybe even fearful of losing your liberty or families. Maybe even your life. Maybe your social standing. Your fame and fortune.

You are fearful to be labeled by them as racist, as homophobes, as anti Islamist, as right wing supremacists or bigots or even, woe betide, letting them know you voted for President Trump!( Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me. )

You are fearful to declare your religious Christian beliefs or that you oppose the mass genocide called abortion. You are fearful to let it be known you support the 2nd Amendment or in fact any of the Amendments.

You are fearful to disclose your beliefs that the whole LGBTQI lifestyle is immoral and offensive to you and your religious beliefs. That gay couples should not have and raise kids. That young kids shouldn’t be taught about that whole lifestyle choice and forced to accept it as normal. That same sex marriage is wrong. That not one solitary openly transgender individual should darken the doors of any recruitment center of any branch of our military. That churches that preach inclusion and social justice, gay lifestyles and other extremist philosophies are preaching anything other than true doctrine but are doing the work of the Devil.

The above has all occurred over the last at least 5 decades because we allowed it to.

Plain and simple.

We have allowed more and more radical and progressive thinking to seep into every aspect of our lives from schools, language, music, health, work, play and travel.

We have slept while the domestic terrorists from the above named party have made massive inroads into education, taxes, firearm regulations, freedoms to move, liberties to travel, courts, military, law enforcement and into the censorship of everything that goes against the extremist leftist policies.

We have turned a blind eye to blatant criminal acts performed by leadership from both parties. Handcuffs should have been the new fashion accessory of the left along with long stints in small prison cells on a diet of bread and water while some should be executed.

We have not tried to stop any of it. We just became social media warriors, writing fervently on our tablets and phones venting our frustrations to people who had your same beliefs.

It changed nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch.

It just allowed the enemy to continue their by now not so subtle and stealth full attacks on us and our Constitutional Republic.

When one man stood up we applauded and whooped and hollered and again watched as he fought a fight against what we have called the swamp. A group of globalists and anti Americans from both parties. He was alone and came under the constant attack of republicans and democrats. His character was besmirched. They tried and are still trying to destroy him and his family and all their lives.

We watched as an election was stolen in front of our eyes. Blatantly stolen. They didn’t even care to pretend to hide it. They are all free sucking on the bountiful teats of the American taxpayer.

We are watching as these Commies are destroying our country.

Sure, we still write our social media blogs and talk to our fellow believers. This is not doing anything apart from buying time for our enemies. You know, the domestic enemies within? Everyday gives them 24 more uninterrupted hours to push their agenda and make the changes needed to complete the fundamental changes that will ensure no return to the America we love.

Most other countries would be on fire now. Protests daily. Tax strikes. Boycotts of all the corporations that became enablers for this treason by the left. Millions would be matching. Cities would be closed down.

Only then and only after that real awakening will there be the change needed to save our Constitutional Republic plus the added bonus of seeing just who everyone and where every organization stands. We will see that police, military and 75,000,000 plus Americans can and must unite and make the needed changes to save America. After all, the police and military, presently serving or retired, swore an Oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States against enemies foreign and domestic.

Remember. Oaths do not come with an expiration date.

Yes, the leaders of that movement will be attacked. Their reputations will be destroyed by lies and more by the left and their media buddies. They will be gone after and constantly attacked just as President Trump was daily.

We need that person. Another person like Lech Walesa of Poland. Like the Chinese student bravely facing down a military tank in Tiananmen Square.

We need a spark.

We need to change the status quo in DC and politics in general. We need to stand firm as our forefathers did against the tyranny that they faced. Today the tyranny we face is as bad and dangerous but we are or should be better prepared and wiser and able to take it all. Those domestic enemies must pay for their crimes and high treason regardless of which party they affiliate to. It is time America.

It is time. If not for us then our kids and their kids! Let’s leave them a country better than the one we inherited. Let’s make America Great Again. Let’s put America First. Let’s be proud Americans.

Are we domestic pussy cats or lions?

“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson

©Save America Foundation. All rights reserved.

PODCAST: Whom Does the White House Represent?

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GUESTS AND TOPICS:

JACOB HUEBERT

Jacob Huebert is a Senior Attorney at the Goldwater Institute, litigating cases on free speech, property rights, and the Second Amendment. Before joining Goldwater, he served as Director of Litigation for the Liberty Justice Center in Chicago. There, he successfully litigated cases to protect economic liberty, free speech, and other constitutional rights, including the landmark Janus v. AFSCME case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld government workers’ First Amendment right to choose for themselves whether to pay money to a union. Jacob and his work have appeared in numerous national media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Fox News Channel.

TOPIC: Congress Can’t Use COVID Relief to Stop State Tax Cuts!

FRANK VERNUCCIO

Frank Vernuccio serves as editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy & Government, providing objective coverage of key issues facing the United States today. Frank is the co-host of the Vernuccio/Novak Report, nationally both on broadcast radio and the web at amfm247.com. FRANK also co-hosts of the “The American Political Zone,” Broadcast on the AUN-TV Network and on cable in eastern Connecticut.

TOPIC: Whom Does the White House Represent?

©Conservative Commandoes Radio. All rights reserved.

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New Report Sheds Light on Harassment of U.S. Election Officials

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Funding, education and legal safeguards are needed to protect democracy’s frontline workers.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /PRNewswire/ — A new California Voter Foundation report sheds light on the threats and attacks U.S. election officials have endured in the wake of the 2020 election.

“Documenting and Addressing Harassment of Election Officials” features findings gathered through interviews with eleven election officials from six states along with eight of the nation’s leading election experts.

The report finds that ten of the eleven officials interviewed endured death threats, other threats or abusive language.

The report is available online at www.calvoter.org/harassment.

“While many have put the last election in the rear-view mirror, election officials are still being attacked,” said Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation (CVF) president and founder. “These attacks are driving a disturbingly high number of our democracy’s frontline workers to leave their positions. In California, 15 percent of election officials have already resigned and more may follow.”

Officials interviewed for the report are not identified and were selected for their perspective and experiences of harassment. The report is authored by Grace Gordon, a UC Berkeley Master of Development Practice graduate who conducted her research under the guidance of Alexander and Cathy Darling Allen, CVF’s board chair and County Clerk and Registrar of Voters for Shasta County, CA.

Four of the eleven officials interviewed reported receiving explicit death threats. Some election officials described attackers threatening to inflict harm upon their family members. Election staff members have also been harassed and threatened. The report includes direct quotes from election officials and contains a trigger warning for readers that the content is violent and may be disturbing. Nearly all threats were received by phone calls or voicemail.

With women accounting for over 75 percent of local election officials, the report also explores the relationship between misogyny and harassment in the threats and abuse of election officials.

Several officials reported an insufficient response from law enforcement to death threats and other threats they received. Most of the election officials and experts interviewed cited lack of funding for election offices as a major concern.

“Election administration is chronically underfunded and under-resourced, which contributes to election officials feeling at risk and undervalued,” said Darling Allen.

Several recommendations for addressing harassment are detailed in the report and include decreasing the impact of mis- and disinformation by strengthening public education, increasing funding to support election administration and expanding legal and law enforcement protections for election officials.

“We are at risk of losing the vast institutional knowledge required to conduct free and fair elections in the U.S.,” Alexander warned. “By shining a light on the suffering and pain inflicted upon our election officials, we hope to motivate lawmakers, law enforcement, philanthropists, and the nonprofit and academic sectors to work together to safeguard this mission critical role in U.S. elections.”

ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA VOTER FOUNDATION

The California Voter Foundation will host a June 9th webinar to share the report findings and will provide a recording of the event on its web site. CVF is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization working to improve the voting process to better serve voters. Release and distribution of this report is supported by a generous contribution from Craig Newmark Philanthropies.

©All rights reserved.

Anti-Jew Thugs Target Jewish Restaurateur in Michigan

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Just like Berlin in the 30s.

Anti-Israel Activists Target Michigan Restaurateur

Jeremy Sasson said he got a call from the Detroit health department from people calling in complaints of health violations.

By: The Jewish News, June 6, 2021:

After several days of watching his social media newsfeeds fill up with antisemitic and anti-Israel posts after the latest round of conflict between Israel and Hamas, Detroit-area restaurateur Jeremy Sasson took a pro-Israel stand on Facebook.

On Friday, May 14, he commented that Israel had the right to exist in peace. He also created a post with an Israeli flag captioned with the words “Am Yisrael Chai — the Jewish people live.”

The next morning, Sasson said his Facebook direct message inbox “exploded” with hundreds of hateful antisemitic messages. Then, he said, about 5,000 1-star reviews appeared on Yelp and Google about one of his restaurants, Townhouse Detroit, that alleged, among other things, that there were rats running around in the dining room and the chef had stuffed an Israeli flag into a patron’s steak.

The ironic thing — The Townhouse Detroit has been closed for months for renovations.

Sasson also owns Townhouse in Birmingham and Prime + Proper in Detroit, as well as a California-inspired project to open by the end of 2021.

“I ended up with 500 direct message requests with messages calling me a Zionist pig and that I was killing women and children,” said Sasson, who has family in Israel. “They threatened to kill my children and burn down my restaurant. In my 36 years, I have known there are people who are antisemitic, but I have never seen it at this scale.”

Sasson said he got a call from the Detroit health department from people calling in complaints of health violations.

“They thought it was odd to get so many health complaints about my restaurant because the city knows I was closed,” Sasson said. “However, as procedure, the health department had to call me to let me know that a formal complaint about rats is now on my restaurant’s record. Now, I must go through the process to expunge that. But it just goes to show you the aggression in today’s culture that [anti-Israel activists] have put out.

“Then you see all the videos of violent acts transpiring in New York and Los Angeles by Palestinian activists going after Jews sitting outside in restaurants. You see who is the real aggressor. It’s not like there’s anybody in the Jewish community walking around looking to go after Palestinians.”

Yelp and Google have shut down the review comment sections for the restaurant and the incident is being investigated by the Detroit and Michigan State Police departments. Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Michigan Regional Director Carolyn Normandin said the organization has had conversations with the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to classify this as a possible hate crime, though formal complaints have yet to be filed to the AG office by the ADL on Sasson’s behalf.

“There are serious legal concerns I have about this incident,” said Normandin, who could not comment further on the issue.

Still, Sasson is hopeful and excited for this summer’s reopening of Townhouse Detroit and welcomes people of all backgrounds and viewpoints to be his patrons. He is taking no threats lightly and will do everything he can to protect the jobs of his workers and the well-being of his guests, he said.

“I’m in the hospitality business, and it’s my job to take care of people and make them feel good at any and all costs,” Sasson said. “I do this regardless of how someone feels about my faith or how they feel about a country where I have family.

“I am ever more grateful for those who dine in my restaurants because I know these people carry no hatred in their hearts.”

RELATED ARTICLE: Jew Hating Muslim Bella Hadid Posts Photo Of Team From ‘Palestine.’ One Problem: They’re All Jews.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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RATINGS CRASH: CNN Falls Out Of Cable’s Top 5 Networks In Prime Time

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Ha!

RATINGS CRASH: CNN Falls Out Of Cable’s Top 5 Networks In Prime Time

The ratings are in, and they’re bad news for CNN: The legacy media network lost nearly one out of every four of its total viewers since last month.

By: Ben Johnson, Daily Wire, June 3, 2021:

Total daytime viewership fell by 22% in May compared to April, and even more (28%) among viewers aged 25-54, the most coveted viewing demographic.

The number of people tuning in for prime time also fell in May, causing CNN to crash out of the top 5 cable networks in prime time for the first time in months.

All three major cable news networks saw their audiences shrink over the last month, perhaps in part because casual viewers who tuned in to watch coverage of the Derek Chauvin trial in April tuned out in May.

Fox News Channel won an average of 1.19 million viewers over the full day and 2.17 million in prime time. Its 3% dip in both categories represents the smallest decline of the cable news networks, according to Nielsen ratings data.

Fox News continued its near-lock on prime time programming, as four of the five top-rated TV shows in cable news aired on FNC: “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (1), “Hannity” (2), “The Five” (3), and “The Ingraham Angle” (5).

MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” once again made an appearance in the top five, checking in at number four.

MSNBC ranked second in total day (835,000) and prime time viewers (just under 1.5 million), but since April, has lost 12% of its total viewers, 6% during prime time, and 22% of prime time viewers aged 25-54.

CNN lagged further behind, failing to crack one million viewers in prime time or total viewership in the month of May. Only 913,000 people watched the first 24-hour cable news network’s prime time programming in May, and 610,000 overall.

The only good news for CNN came in the composition of its viewing audience: It ranked second among the coveted 25-54 demographic, beating MSNBC with younger viewers for the eighteenth month in a row.

“CNN continues to have the youngest audience in cable news in Total Day and prime time and reached the largest cumulative TV audience among both total viewers and adults 25-54 in May,” the network said in a press release, putting the best possible construction on disheartening ratings.

While CNN is still the fourth most-watched cable network overall — behind Fox News, MSNBC, and HGTV — its unique blend of commentary-posing-as-unbiased-journalism caused the network to crash to earth. Only the most Woke segment of society, the young, appear to be getting their news from the Atlanta-based network.

A major ethical scandal involving Chris Cuomo undoubtedly hurt the network’s audience and credibility, as the host of CNN’s most-watched show admitted that he had secretly advised his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), about how to respond to numerous allegations of sexual harassment. The move caused dissension among many of his colleagues at the network, although CNN President Jeffrey Zucker opted not to punish the anchor after Cuomo made an on-air apology.

The precipitous ratings decline may explain the network’s increasingly bitter criticism of competing news networks, particularly those whose politics skew more conservative. One of its few remaining Republican commentators called on Fox News to “start deplatforming” some of the “nuts” in prime time — who, coincidentally, have been beating CNN in the ratings ever since January (and for 19 years before that). CNN branded Newsmax and One America News Network as “noxious garbage” last month, as well.

The network also continued its purge of conservative voices in May, firing former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) over statements he made to a private conservative group about American exceptionalism.

CNN is making a fundamental miscalculation: The network hit ratings gold in January with saturation coverage of the D.C. riots. The Derek Chauvin trial breathed some life into its April viewership. CNN brass appears to believe that it’s the network’s chic, critical race theory-driven bias that attracted viewers, not one-off news events, so it is doubling down by further institutionalizing its leftward drift.

In a press release announcing the May ratings, CNN blames its slide on “a news cycle that has cooled down significantly from a year ago.”

But is there less news, or is CNN simply dedicated to ignoring every story that would make Joe Biden and Kamala Harris seem as ineffectual, fail, and out-of-touch as they are?

RELATED ARTICLE: Jew Hating Muslim Bella Hadid Posts Photo Of Team From ‘Palestine.’ One Problem: They’re All Jews.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Hatem Bazian: Professor of Hate

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Rashida Tlaib’s friend and associate is a quintessential example of how the Left has corrupted academia. My latest in FrontPage:

Fox News reported Thursday that “an ally to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., runs an organization that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says has ‘provided a platform for anti-Semitism.’ University of California at Berkeley instructor Hatem Bazian is a Tlaib ally and donor who is also a co-founder and professor at Muslim liberal arts school Zaytuna College. In 2006, Bazian founded a controversial, advocacy organization named American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which has featured Tlaib at events.”

Hatem “Hate ‘em” Bazian is, essentially, a Professor of Jihad, not in the sense that he teaches about the concept, but that his entire academic career is a jihad, a jihad of the pen, designed to accomplish essentially the same goals that other jihadis are trying to attain by different means: the advancement of Islam and Sharia. Bazian is a Professor of Jihad in other ways as well: he is head of a group with multiple ties to the jihad terror group Hamas,

IPT News reported in May 2017 that AMP was set up as a “ruse” by former officials of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and the American Muslim Society (AMS) after those two organizations were “found liable for an American teen’s death in a 1996 terrorist attack” and ceased operations, claiming to be unable to pay. IPT adds: “A subsequent criminal prosecution found that other defendants in the original lawsuit, like the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and the United Association for Studies and Research, were part of a Muslim Brotherhood-created Hamas-support network in the United States called the Palestine Committee.”

Even the ADL, which has largely morphed into a smear group targeting conservatives (including those who are pro-Israel), noted that the AMP “promotes extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans about ‘the just cause of Palestine and the rights of self-determination.’”

Despite all this, Fox notes that Tlaib was “the ‘guest of honor’ at AMP’s annual convention in December 2019 and months earlier in July delivered a briefing organized by AMP to over 70 people. The Michigan Democrat also addressed AMP’s Palestine Advocacy Day delegates in April of 2019.” Also, “in March of 2013, AMP put up a billboard accusing Israel of engaging in ‘apartheid’ against Palestinians.” Tlaib and her far-Left Muslim colleague in Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu) “were featured as speakers for a virtual AMP event in November 2020, and both congresswomen attended the same pro-Palestine conference as Bazian.”

If Rashida Tlaib were a conservative and had an associate so multiply linked to hatred and violence as Hatem Bazian, she would have been hounded out of Congress long ago. But these kinds of associations are just fine with the political and media establishment. And in these days of a thoroughly corrupted and politicized academic environment, Bazian has all the respectable bona fides: he is “a co-founder and Professor of Islamic Law and Theology at Zaytuna College, the 1st Accredited Muslim Liberal Arts College in the United States. In addition, Prof. Bazian is a lecturer in the Departments of Near Eastern and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.”

Researching and documenting “Islamophobia” doesn’t mean that Bazian keeps track of louts harassing innocent Muslims. No, Bazian is essentially a professor of Sharia Enforcement: he uses the smear propaganda term “Islamophobia” to stigmatize those who dare to note how Islamic jihadis use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and make recruits among peaceful Muslims. Anyone who notices that the jihadis’ motivating ideology is Islamic to the core has already been or soon will be added to Bazian’s list of “Islamophobes”; the objective is to make everyone too frightened of this stigmatization to speak out, so that no will will dare utter a word and the jihad can advance unopposed and unimpeded.

Bazian has engaged in other kinds of thuggery as well. He has openly called for an intifada, a violent uprising, not in Israel only, but in the United States as well. And regarding supporters of Israel, he has declared: “We need to harass them.”

In a sane society, Hatem Bazian would at very least be under investigation for ties to jihad terror activity, and would be a prime candidate for deportation. Instead, he is a respected professor at a prestigious university, and a close associate of an influential member of the House of Representatives. He is thus a prime example of how our academic institutions have lost their way, deserve no public funding, and are in radical need of reform. But as the presence of his friend Tlaib in Congress shows, those who would take needed action against our corrupted universities and colleges are themselves just as compromised.

RELATED TWEET:

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Canada to fight ‘far-right’ groups after ‘terrorist attack’ that killed four Muslims

Hamas top dog admits that they carry out jihad operations in civilian buildings in Gaza

Batley: When a UK town turns Islamic

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel demands social media censor videos of illegal migrants entering the country

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Post-Election Survey of U.S. Election Officials Finds Funding Shortages, Partisan Pressure, and Disinformation Campaigns as Key Concerns at the Local Level

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WASHINGTON, D.C. /PRNewswire/ — Protect Our Election, a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to strengthening democratic institutions at the state and local level, today released the results of its 2020 Local Election Official Research Survey. The survey is the first public study of county-level election administrators’ opinions conducted after the events of the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

The 122-question survey was sent to over 4,600 local election officials (LEOs) in all 50 states, and covered topics ranging from election security and funding to COVID-19 preparations and voter communication efforts. Key findings include:

  • The 2020 election cycle impacted the way LEOs feel about their role in our democracy, with nearly a third of respondents saying they are considering a career change;
  • Significant numbers of LEOs reported feeling “inappropriate partisan pressure” from voters, party organizers, elected officials, and even law enforcement;
  • Roughly half of our LEOs lack the time and resources to effectively engage in proactive voter communications on digital platforms;
  • 73% of LEOs who responded received public funds via the 2020 CARES Act, while 43% received grant money from non-governmental sources;
  • Opinions are mixed on election reform efforts currently underway at the state and federal level, with most LEOs preferring collaborative action from all levels of government.

“It is no secret that our local election officials are underappreciated, underpaid, and under attack in the wake of the 2020 election cycle,” said Steve Wanczyk, executive director of Protect Our Election. “They are an irreplaceable national resource, and their experiences on the ground must be part of the narrative around democracy and electoral reform going forward.”

The results of the survey have helped inform actionable next steps in Protect Our Election’s mission to rebuild civic relationships and repair the damage done to American democracy in 2020. The non-profit is teaming up with like-minded partner organizations, local election administrators around the country, voters, and volunteers to address resource gaps identified in the study via a suite of pro bono services scheduled for launch later this summer.

The survey report and media kit are available at Protect Our Election’s website.

Protect Our Election’s

Protect Our Election  is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded and supported by American citizens who value democracy and the rule of law above all else. The group does not advocate for or against any given candidate – only that our elections must be fair, we must allow all eligible citizens the vote, and we must push back against the forces working to undermine our traditions and institutions.

©Protect Our Election’s. All rights reserved.

WATCH ‘FREEDOM OVER FASCISM’: DeSantis Makes Surprise Appearance at Biggest Concert Since Pandemic

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Every day is a new triumph for Florida’s Trumpesque governor. Under Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida is the land of the free. That’s why the Left hates him. #DeSantis2024!

‘FREEDOM OVER FASCISM’: DeSantis Makes Surprise Appearance at Biggest Concert Since Pandemic

By Hannity.com, June 7, 2021

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made a surprise appearance over the weekend at the Gulf Coast Jam music festival, the biggest music event held since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown the country in March 2020.

“Nothing says Florida is open like a night of live music at the@Pepsi @GulfCoastJam, the largest music festival since the pandemic began,” posted DeSantis on social media.

Watch DeSantis’ speech above.

RELATED ARTICLE: Judicial Watch Obtains Records Showing NIAID under Dr. Fauci Gave Wuhan Lab $826k for Bat Coronavirus Research From 2014 to 2019

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Senator Manchin Blisters Fellow Democrats Over Sweeping Voting Suppression Act

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Only one Democrat? The Democrats are truly the party of totalitarianism and oppression. From his op-ed explaining why he will vote against the “For the People Act”:

: …we now are witnessing that the fundamental right to vote has itself become overtly politicized. Today’s debate about how to best protect our right to vote and to hold elections, however, is not about finding common ground, but seeking partisan advantage. Whether it is state laws that seek to needlessly restrict voting or politicians who ignore the need to secure our elections, partisan policymaking won’t instill confidence in our democracy — it will destroy it (Gazette mail). From Bonchie: Manchin putting this marker in the ground has the left going absolutely insane, which is to be expected. Now, the Civil War is going hot. Rep. Mondaire Jones of New York responded to Manchin by accusing him of codifying Jim Crow (RedState). From Rich Lowry: The Left’s response, of course, is to imply he’s some sort of racist (National Review). One reporter juxtaposed a story highlighting Biden criticizing Manchin with the Manchin op-ed (Twitter). From Byron York: Given fact that 1) It is very, very difficult to eliminate the legislative filibuster, and 2) Democrats do not control a majority of seats in the US Senate, it is amazing that some Democrats and their allies are so upset about this. What did they expect? (Twitter).

Pollster Finds Hispanics Turning Republican

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More Trump magic.

According to the story, GOP pollster Curt Anderson explained the details in “a new NRSC survey of Hispanic voters in battleground states. The top line from his 34-page slide deck? “The coalition of the ascendant is descending.” The proof? The two senators sitting at the table who won election in a Sun Belt state that has become “substantially less white and more Republican.” The moment for their multiethnic, multiracial working-class coalition has arrived, Republicans hope, and Hispanic voters are the key. “They said how well Marco would do because he is of Cuban descent,” Scott said, noting how Rubio won 48% of those voters in his 2016 race, “but when I did it, they said, ‘Well, there is something different about Florida.’ If you look at these poll numbers, it is not. If you look at these poll numbers, Hispanics across the country are Republicans” (Real Clear Politics).

This comes as a Republican won a mayoral race in a majority-Hispanic Texas town (Washington Examiner).

RELATED ARTICLE: Unanimous Supreme Court: Illegal Immigrants Do Not Have A Right To Green Cards

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Florida Gov. DeSantis Signs Foreign Influence Bills, Blasts ‘Communist Party of China’

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No one is fighting harder for the American people than Governor DeSantis. As POTUS, DeSantis will take the fight to China. CCP officials will not push DeSantis around as they do President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken.

Gov. DeSantis signs foreign influence bills, blasts ‘Communist Party of China’

By Florida Politics, June 7, 2021

‘We’ve got to start fighting back.’

With the phrase “Stop CCP Influence” displayed in bold letters across his podium, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills Friday to thwart foreign meddling in Florida’s government and education system.

The bills (HB 1523) and (HB 7017) mark the Republican Governor’s latest jab against China, which he described Monday as an “adversary,” and other communist countries.

“There is no single entity that exercises a more pervasive, nefarious influence across a wide range of American industries and institution than the Communist Party of China,” DeSantis said.

Sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Beltran, one measure (HB 1523) creates the crime of “trafficking in trade secrets” and enhances criminal penalties if the secrets are stolen and provided to a foreign government.

The other (HB 7017), sponsored by Republican Rep. Erin Grall, aims to curb foreign influence in the state’s academic research institutions.

Among other provisions, the legislation prohibits agreements between a handful of mostly communist countries and requires “thorough screening” of foreign applicants for research positions.

It would also force state agencies, local governments and colleges and universities to disclose donations and grants from those countries worth $50,000 or more.

Some of the seven prohibited countries include China, Cuba, Russia, North Korea and Venezuela.

“Enough is enough,” DeSantis said while speaking at a National Guard armory with military vehicles in the background. “We’ve got to start fighting back.”

The Republican Governor also blasted Hollywood, the media, Big Tech and “woke corporations.” They are part of the problem, he argued.

“If you’re somebody that will light your hair on fire because Georgia is requiring voter ID but yet you’re lining your pocket with money from China and not a peep about the slave labor that’s going on over there, you my friend are a hypocrite,” DeSantis said.

While critics lambast the bill as a political stunt, proponents point to China’s history of meddling in state and local affairs.

In February, for example, federal authorities indicted a University of Florida researcher who created a company in China that would profit from his taxpayer-funded UF research.

The researcher and Chinese resident, Lin Yang, reportedly concealed support from the Chinese government.

Yang traveled to China in August 2019 and has yet to return to the United States, according to the Department of Justice.

In recent years, the University of Central Florida in Orlando and the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa have also fallen victim to foreign interference.

RELATED ARTICLE: Cruise line concedes to DeSantis – won’t require vax after Florida gov threatened fines

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Quick note: Tech giants are snuffing us out. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense permenently banned us. Facebook, Twitter, Google search et al have shadowbanned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. Help us fight. Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here — it’s free and it’s critical NOW more than ever. Share our posts on social and with your email contacts.

FLORIDA: Muslim Inmates Beat Guard Unconscious for Trying to Search Their Qur’an for Contraband

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They have evidently thoroughly imbibed the Qur’an’s teachings of peace.

Flager County officials would do well to investigate the possibility that there is heavy Islamic proselytizing and jihad recruitment going on in their jail. But they almost certainly will not do so.

2 Flagler jail inmates attack guard who tried to search Quran for contraband, release says

by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal, June 6, 2021:

A Flagler County Sheriff’s Office detention deputy was beaten unconscious by a pair of inmates after he tried, as is standard practice, to check the Quran belonging to one of the inmates for contraband or weapons, according to a press release.

Inmates Carlos Dupree and Marion Leo Gavins Jr. were accused of attacking the corrections deputy on Friday, according to the release.

Gavins and Dupree were each already charged with serious crimes even before they attacked the detention deputy, according to reports.

Gavins, 20, was charged with first-degree murder in the 2019 killing of 18-year-old Curtis Gray in the parking lot of a Palm Coast shopping center. Gray had attended Matanzas High School for 3½ years and played on the school’s football team for three seasons. In January 2019, he transferred to Flagler Palm Coast High School to join the Bulldogs’ track team.

Dupree, 34, had been in jail since December 2020 related to a home invasion robbery in which he was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, false imprisonment, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, home invasion with a firearm, wearing a mask while committing a felony, and resisting without violence.

Dupree and Gavins were additionally charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, and depriving an officer of means of protection or communication in the attack on the detention deputy….

Dupree and Gavins were being prepared on Friday for a meeting and requested to bring along their prayer items, a request which was approved.

The detention deputy then proceeded to search them as he was instructed to do for safety reasons because inmates are “well-known” to try to hide weapons and contraband in hollowed-out books, the release said.

The surveillance footage shows the detention deputy search Gavins’ items without issue.

But when he tries to search Dupree’s items, Dupree tells him he cannot search his Quran, the release said.

The deputy tells him he needs to search the Quran for him to bring it with him and then tries to reach for it.

Dupree violently shoves the deputy away, according to the release. The detention deputy then tries to detain Dupree. But the other inmate, Gavins, approaches from the deputy’s right and violently shoves the deputy into a wall.

Then both Gavins and Dupree attack the detention deputy, the release stated. Security video shows the inmates repeatedly punching the deputy in the head until he loses consciousness….

RELATED ARTICLE: UN investigators find that Islamic State gave Yazidis ultimatum: convert to Islam or be killed

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

If No Islamophobic ‘Hate Crimes’ Exist, They Must Be Invented. The Next Target Is Southwest Airlines

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My latest in PJ Media:

If “hate crimes” targeting Muslims do not exist, they must be invented. They’re simply too politically useful to do without. And so it is that the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is aiding a Muslim woman, Fatima Altakrouri, who claims that Southwest would not allow her to sit in a plane’s exit row because she was wearing a hijab.

Just for some perspective, in the last few weeks alone, in Nigeria, Islamic jihadis murdered a Christian pastor and his 3-year-old son. Elsewhere in the same country, Muslims screaming “Allahu akbar” murdered 37 Christians, all the while roaming freely in the presence of security personnel, who did nothing to stop them. In Indonesia, eleven Muslims were arrested for plotting jihad massacres at several Christian churches. In South Sudan, thirteen Christians were murdered in a village that, according to the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, “experiences frequent attacks by Arab Islamic militias.” In Pakistan, a Muslim mob murdered a Christian for trying to defend his sister whom Muslims had stripped naked in the street. In Uganda, Muslims beheaded and removed the tongue of a pastor who had debated Muslims and converted some of them to Christianity.

Now, I don’t mean to minimize the gravity of being denied a seat in the exit row, but compared to incidents of that kind, which take place more or less regularly, it doesn’t seem to be that big a deal. If this is an example of what CAIR can come up with in terms of “Islamophobia,” it’s pretty thin gruel. Yet “Islamophobia” in the U.S. and Europe gets far more international media attention than the global Muslim persecution of Christians. Now, why is that?

As for Fatima Altakrouri, according to USA Today, she has “filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation, saying she was not allowed to sit in an emergency exit row on a Southwest Airlines flight because she was wearing a hijab, but her sister was allowed to sit there without one.”

Altakrouri claims that after denying her request, a flight attendant mocked her as a terrorist: “As I was walking, I overheard her saying to the passengers in the seats that were around that area, laughing, saying that ‘If we sat her there, she’d bring down the plane in an emergency. You can imagine the shock I was in at that time.”

There is more. Read the rest here.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Florida: Muslim inmates beat guard unconscious for trying to search their Qur’an for contraband

Brooklyn Film Festival premieres documentary about NJ mayor who ‘fights the forces of Islamophobia’

Yemen: Houthi leader claims US fabricated 9/11 in order to target the Islamic world

Afghanistan: 12 civilians murdered in bomb blasts on buses in Shi’a area

Germany: Intelligence agency reports dramatic increase in number of Hizballah members and supporters

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.