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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A Minneapolis mother whose parental rights over her teenage son were expropriated and was consequently in the dark about the provision of hormonal treatments to assist with the teen’s desire to “transition” into a girl has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of her case.“[T]he medical providers, without notifying Calgaro, found … that parental consent was not required because the child was ‘living separate and apart from parents or legal guardian … and managing personal financial affairs,'” the writ of certiorari, filed on Wednesday, reads. “The medical service provider never considered Calgaro’s rights as a fit parent to be involved in her child’s decision-making.”“Consequently, the child received gender-transitioning medical care without Calgaro’s input and over Calgaro’s objection.”As previously reported, the mother in the case, Anmarie Calgaro, announced during a press conference in 2016 that she was troubled to discover that a legal aid group for low income persons had created a notice of emancipation for her then 15-year-old son.“Last year, without my knowledge or consent, without any court hearings or legal process, without any involvement on my part whatsoever, a legal aid group that gives free services to low income people created a notice of emancipation for my 15-year-old son,” she explained. “Suddenly, my son, without any notice to me, was no longer under my supervision.”Calgaro said that the document was comprised of false claims and she had not been contacted to verify any of the teen’s assertions.She explained that her son had asked to stay with his father (Calgaro and her husband are divorced) so he could attend a better school, and Calgaro agreed. However, the emancipation document claimed that Calgaro failed to report her son “as a runaway” over the next six months and “made no attempt to bring him home.” It also asserted that Calgaro had told her son that she “no longer wishes to have contact with him,” which she denies.The teen soon also left his father’s home and stayed with various friends and family members. He left those homes as well, and now lives on his own.Calgaro soon learned in the midst of the situation that her son had also been obtaining female hormone treatments — paid for by the government –A- without her consent.“It was then brought to my knowledge that my son had begun receiving hormone replacement treatments from Park Nicollet health services to transition from male to female with medical assistance paying for this,” she said. “I was not consulted or informed about this in any way. I had no way to give or receive any information about my son.”Because of the emancipation document, Calgaro was prohibited from receiving any information about the teen, who was consequently treated as an adult by the Department of Human Services and provided with public services, including assistance with food, housing and medical services.She attempted to obtain medical and educational records from Park Nicollet and her son’s school, but her requests were denied. She consequently sued, contending that her constitutional parental rights were being unlawfully infringed.In 2017, while a federal judge agreed that the emancipation was not valid, he stated that the non-governmental defendants cannot be held liable for their actions because they did not act under state law. The government agencies sued also could only be held responsible if acting under a specific “policy or custom,” which was absent in the case.Therefore, because the entities did not act in accordance with any law or established practice, Judge Paul Magnusen concluded that Calgaro did not have a legal claim.The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Magnusen’s ruling in March, finding that her “assertion that the County acted based on a policy or custom was insufficient to state a claim.” It also concluded that because Calgaro’s son has now turned 18 and is no longer a minor, there is no longer a case in regard to her rights to make parental decisions or to have access to his medical and school records.She therefore has now appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that it rule that what had occurred was unconstitutional.“There are no U.S. Supreme Court cases on whether parental Due Process Clause rights apply to local governments and medical providers ending parental control over their minor children,” the petition states. “[And] neither Minnesota’s statutes nor common law authorize parents to file court actions to restore their parental rights.”“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” attorney Erick Kaardal with the Thomas More Society said in a statement. “Anmarie Calgaro’s child, while a minor, was steered through a life-changing, permanent body-altering process, becoming a pawn in someone else’s socio-political agenda and being influenced by those who have no legal or moral right to usurp the role of a parent.”“Unbelievably, Minnesota statutes authorize a county to deem a minor ‘emancipated’ to receive welfare payments to live on their own and allow medical providers to void parental input if it determines the minor is living apart from the parents and is managing his or her own personal financial affairs,” he noted.“And the St. Louis County School District in Minnesota has a custom and practice of barring a parent for more than two years from involvement in the child’s education after a child is deemed by the school principal, not by a court order, to be emancipated. This is an unacceptable situation for any parent and a serious violation of parental and due process rights.”
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Mom Seeks SCOTUS Ruling After State Helps Minor Son Get “Sex Change” Against Her Will
BY SELWYN DUKESEE: https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/32965-mom-seeks-scotus-ruling-after-state-helps-minor-son-get-sex-change-against-her-will?vsmaid=5412&vcid=3987; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:SEE ALSO:As in many states, the Minnesota House voted earlier this year to ban youths from willingly seeking therapy designed to eliminate homosexual urges. But the same legislators apparently think it’s okay to help a youth get a so-called “sex change,” which causes irreparable physical harm, against his parents’ willOne Gopher State mother learned this the hard way, after officials usurped her parental rights and facilitated her minor son’s “gender transition” (i.e., body mutilation) treatments without her consent. That mother is now asking the Supreme Court to review her case. As the Christian Post reports:The Thomas More Society filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon on behalf of Anmarie Calgaro, who is suing St. Louis County officials over their involvement in her child’s gender transition.Society Special Counsel Erick Kaardal said in a statement emailed out to supporters that the case was “a parent’s worst nightmare.”“Calgaro’s child, while a minor, was steered through a life-changing, permanent body altering process, becoming a pawn in someone else’s sociopolitical agenda and being influenced by those who have no legal or moral right to usurp the role of a parent,” stated Kaardal.“This is an unacceptable situation for any parent and a serious violation of parental and due process rights.”In November 2016, Calgaro sued St. Louis County, Fairview Health Services, Park Nicollet Health Services and the St. Louis County School District for providing her son with gender transition treatments without her consent.School officials argued that the child, called “E.J.K.” in court documents, should be treated as an emancipated minor because he was living on his own and had an emancipation letter, albeit one that was not legally binding.In May 2017, District Court Judge Paul Magnuson ruled against the mother, arguing that each of the various parties, including the school district, could not be sued for violating parental rights.“Unbelievably,” Kaardal also said, “Minnesota statutes authorize a county to deem a minor ’emancipated’ to receive welfare payments to live on their own and allow medical providers to void parental input if it determines the minor is living apart from the parents and is managing personal financial affairs,’” WND.com informs, providing further detail. “‘And the St. Louis County School District in Minnesota has a custom and practice of barring a parent for more than two years from involvement in the child’s education after a child is deemed by the school principal, not by a court order, to be emancipated.’”The real issue here is the principle, not Calgaro’s particular case. Since her son was 17, he would have been legally emancipated in less than a year’s time; moreover, though we don’t have all the details, this is apparently a family in disarray.Regardless, the state could just as easily, it appears, have usurped parental rights with respect to a 15 or 14-year-old (and, presumably, even a younger child). Is this justifiable? After all, at issue here isn’t a case of an abusive parent mutilating a youth’s body; in fact, at issue is a case of the state ensuring that someone else may do so.It’s part of a larger phenomenon, too, one in which parental authority isn’t determined by parental fitness, but political correctness. If a child wants a nose job or even to get an aspirin from the school nurse, he’ll likely need parental consent. Yet some states will let a girl have an abortion without such. Likewise, claiming you want to “change your gender” is now as fashionable as killing your baby.Unfortunately, Made-up-sexual-status alteration treatment isn’t as reversible as a nose job. It’s not unusual to hear about sex-change regret, either, as I reported here. An example is the case of Australian Patrick Mitchell, who wanted to “become a girl” (impossible) at age 12, was given regular estrogen starting at 13, but then changed his mind at 14. He’ll probably never be the same again.Yet Patrick certainly is normal is one respect: More than 80 percent of girls and 90-plus percent of boys experiencing “gender dysphoria” — feelings of strong “cross-gender identification,” as psychologists put it (misusing the term “gender”) — will outgrow the phase. What they won’t outgrow is quack medical intervention pursued in deference to their feelings.That’s the point, too. It’s logical to think that before prescribing for a person powerful hormone treatments or body-rending surgery, that medical tests would be performed to verify that at issue is a “body” (biological) problem, as opposed to a psychological one. But think again.The gender dysphoria diagnosis is made solely based on feelings, strong and persistent feelings of that “cross-gender identification.” It’s much like, instead of performing medical tests to confirm heart disease’s presence, cutting open a man’s chest and performing a bypass simply because he “feels” as if he has a bum ticker.In reality, though, the apparent contradiction of disallowing reparative therapy (to eliminate homosexual urges) for youth but enabling their “sex changes” does have a perverse consistency to it.Consider: I’ve long pointed out that when people descend into moral relativism, which has swept the West, and thus can no longer use (Absolute) Truth as their yardstick for decision-making, they resort to the only guide they have left: emotion. Thus do we live in the Age of Pathos, where, a study showed, Americans are most likely to decide what’s “right” based on feelings.So where’s the aforementioned consistency, the common thread? Well, thou shalt not try to change a person’s homosexuality because feelings tell him he’s so.But thou mayest try to change a person’s sex if his feelings tell him he’s not. Objective reality (including morality) be darned.Of course, the only beings that should be ruled by feelings are animals and very young children. So, we could ask mental-health professionals and politicians: In which group are you?_____________________________________________________________
http://the-trumpet-online.com/mom-sues-county-for-giving-her-minor-son-sex-change-without-her-consent/
EXCERPTS:
July 24, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — The Minnesota mother whose son was maneuvered through a “sex change” by county officials has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review her case. She is charging the government with usurping her parental rights when its agents provided her son with transgender services and narcotic drugs against her wishes.The Thomas More Society petitioned the High Court Wednesday on behalf of Anmarie Calgaro, arguing that Calgaro’s due process rights were “trampled on” when St. Louis County and its referred health providers “ended her parental control over her minor son without a court order of emancipation.”“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” Thomas More Society special counsel Erick Kaardal said. “Anmarie Calgaro’s child, while a minor, was steered through a life-changing, permanent body altering process, becoming a pawn in someone else’s sociopolitical agenda and being influenced by those who have no legal or moral right to usurp the role of a parent.”
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Ludicrous. Why is this desperately corrupt slave of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation occupying American soil? Why are American taxpayers still funding it?“UN Singles Out Israel as World’s Only Violator of Women’s Rights; Iran, Saudi Arabia & Yemen Among the Voters,” UN Watch, July 24, 2019:GENEVA, July 24, 2019 — Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan were among members of the UN’s 54-nation economic and social council, a principal organ of the world body, who voted to single out and condemn Israel yesterday as the only country in the world that violates women’s rights.The Jewish state was harshly and repeatedly condemned in a resolution, adopted 40 to 2 with 9 abstentions and 3 absent (see breakdown below), for allegedly being the “major obstacle” for Palestinian women “with regard to their advancement, self-reliance, and integration in the development of their society.”Out of 20 items on the UN Economic and Social Council’s 2018-2019 agenda, only one — Item No. 16 against Israel — focuses on condemning a specific country. All the other focus areas concern global topics such as disaster relief assistance and the use of science and technology for development.The resolution completely ignores how Palestinian women’s rights are impacted by their own governing authorities—the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in Gaza—nor does it mention how women are discriminated against within patriarchal Palestinian society.Moreover, ECOSOC concluded its annual session by ignoring the world’s worst abusers of women’s rights, refusing to pass a single resolution on the situation of women in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, or DR Congo, all of which ranked in the top ten worst countries in last year’s Global Gender Gap Report, produced by the World Economic Forum….Discussion of the resolutions followed the presentation of a biased report by Tarik Alami, representative of the Beirut-based Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the UN regional body for the Middle East that includes 18 Arab states, but not Israel. Alami accused Israel of preventing Syria and the Palestinian Authority from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.Voting Record: Resolution Condemning Israel for Violating Women’s RightsYES: Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Benin, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mali, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, South Korea, Russia, St. Vincent, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yemen.NO: United States and CanadaABSTAIN: Brazil, Cameroon, Germany, Jamaica, Mexico, Romania, Togo, Ukraine, and United KingdomHow the UK has degenerated.
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Michael Hansen’s documentary, Killing Europe, was “removed by Amazon from its Prime Video service. Amazon cited ‘quality assurance’ concerns — despite the fact that the documentary had been hosted on the platform since 2017 without issue.” Killing Europe is about the effects of mass migration and Islam in Europe.Amazon has caved to the sharia police and descended into dhimmitude. The company has also banned Tommy Robinson’s book, Mohammed’s Koran, removed doormats featuring Qur’an verses from sale at the demand of Hamas-linked CAIR, and banned Jihad Watch from Amazon Smile and Amazon Associates.The film Killing Europe may be hard to watch, and after watching, it may be hard to digest. That is precisely why hard Leftist interests and Islamic supremacists don’t want you to see it. This alliance does not want the truth about the threats and abuses committed in the name of Islam to be revealed, particularly in an era of suicidal immigration policies.The short version of the film killing Europe is featured below.Trying to feature the film also led to a court challenge against the Ottawa library last year for cancelling the film’s showing because of pressure from some members of the public.“Amazon Removes Danish Filmmaker’s Islam Documentary,” by Allum Bokhari, Breitbart, July 24, 2019:
A documentary by independent filmmaker Michael Hansen about mass migration and Islam in Europe, entitled Killing Europe, has been removed by Amazon from its Prime Video service. Amazon cited “quality assurance” concerns — despite the fact that the documentary had been hosted on the platform since 2017 without issue.Amazon’s censorship came shortly after Breitbart News covered Hansen’s new documentary, Killing Free Speech, which addresses the rise of Antifa and big tech censorship in the United States.In its message to Hansen, Amazon said his previous documentary (which is still available on YouTube) does not meet “customer content quality expectations.” Amazon would not respond to repeated requests from Hansen for the company to specify what content failed to meet its criteria. The documentary had previously been hosted on Amazon since 2017.Amazon did not return Breitbart News’ request for comment, but its full email to Hansen was obtained by Breitbart News and is copied below:Hello,During a quality assurance review, we found that Killing Europe contains content that does not meet our customer content quality expectations. As a result, all offers for your title have been removed and may not be made available as “Included with Prime” or to Buy/Rent on Amazon.We have carefully reviewed all impacted titles and only remove titles based on customer engagement/customer feedback. Prime Video Direct has always had a policy of reviewing content performance and customer engagement and this can be found here: https://videodirect.amazon.com/home/help?topicId=201986500PVD remains an open marketplace, and we encourage you to continue making content that will be engaging for customers available on our site. We’re unable to predict whether any future title(s) you make available will be removed.Thank you for using Prime Video Direct.In part one of his new documentary, Killing Free Speech, Hansen says he intends to warn Americans about the dangers of a European approach to free speech……
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Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah recently issued a new threat to Israel's cities and sensitive sites, boasting of his terror organization's ability to hit targets deep inside the country.The threats came in a televised speech, serving as a reminder of the ambitious arms race that the Shi'ite terror army is engaged in, with the massive assistance of its state sponsor, Iran.The Lebanese Hizballah is the world's most heavily armed non-state actor, and its surface-to-surface firepower arsenal – estimated at around 150,000 projectiles – is larger than most state armies'.The Israel Defense Force's (IDF) main war preparations focus on the offensive and defensive operations needed to deal with this threat.On July 12, Nasrallah told Al-Manar television station, which is affiliated with his terror organization, that Hizballah improved its offensive capabilities. Displaying a map, he threatened strikes on strategic Israeli targets including Ben Gurion International Airport, the Dimona nuclear facility, a power plant in Hadera, Ashdod sea port, and ammonia tanks in the city of Haifa. Hizballah makes no distinction between civilian and military targets, and has made the goal of terrorizing Israeli civilians a top priority in future wars.Nasrallah also threatened to hit the IDF headquarters in the heart of Tel Aviv, as well as a series of air force bases.Hizballah built up its arsenal by smuggling projectiles into 200 southern Lebanese villages, as well as launch sites in the Bekaa Valley in east Lebanon. It therefore has embedded its firepower in the heart of Lebanese communities, turning Lebanese civilians into human shields if Israel needs to target launch sites and bases.The projectiles are manufactured by Iranian arms factories, as well as joint Iranian-Syrian weapons factories in Syria. The Iranian Quds Force is responsible for smuggling the weapons into Lebanon.This arsenal is mostly comprised of short-range rockets with a 45 kilometer (about 28 mile) range, but it also includes thousands of mid-range rockets that can reach central Israel, where the majority of Israel's population lives, and which is home to the country's economic hub. In addition, Hizballah has several hundred long-range rockets, and dozens of ballistic missiles.Just before the Second Lebanon War broke out in 2006, Hizballah had around 11,000 rockets – less than 10 percent of what it has today – the vast majority of which were short-range.Hizballah's top goal is converting its rockets and missiles into guided weapons. Stopping that from happening has become a top Israeli national security priority.With Iran's help, Hizballah has repeatedly attempted to set up "conversion factories" that install GPS guidance kits onto unguided missiles and rockets. "Relevant components are transported from Iran to factories in Syria and Lebanon, either by land, or by air via Damascus, using civilian aircraft," a recent report by the British Israel Communications and Research Center said.According to an assessment by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, "Nasrallah's threats express his growing self-confidence (and of his sponsor, Iran), based on the significant improvement in Hizballah's offensive capabilities since the Second Lebanon War. Those capabilities are a function of a large arsenal of rockets and a relatively small number of precision missiles that cover strategic targets in Israel."Yet Nasrallah's arsenal is significantly less precise than what he and the Iranians would have wanted it to be by this stage.This is due to the determined, mostly low profile Israel campaign to disrupt the Hizballah arms build-up of guided projectiles, whether by stopping the production and trafficking of such components in Syria, or by issuing clear warnings that missile precision sites Lebanon need to cease their activities, or face attack.Israel holds that it is essential to act now to stop Hizballah from gaining precision destructive firepower, rather than wait and face weapons that can change Tel Aviv's skyline in a future war.This logic appears to be linked to reports on Wednesday of new alleged Israeli strikes on Iranian military targets in southern Syria. The strikes reportedly hit military outposts formerly held by Russian forces that have since been taken over by Iranian-backed militias.On Tuesday, Israel's United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon exposed Quds Force arms trafficking to Hizballah via Beirut's sea port, using civilian maritime channels. "The Port of Beirut is now the Port of Hezbollah," he said. The smuggling included components meant for Hizballah's conversion program to make unguided projectiles into precision missiles.In the meantime, the Iranian-Hizballah axis continues trying to threaten Israel in other ways. On Wednesday, the Shin Bet intelligence agency exposed a Syrian-based Iranian terror network which tried recruiting agents inside Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. It tried to use recruits to gather intelligence and organized attacks on Israeli targets."The network operated out of Syria, under Iranian direction, and was led by a Syrian named 'Abu Jihad,'" the Shin Bet stated. It used fictitious Facebook profiles to try to recruit Israeli Arab citizens and Palestinians, to get them to gather information on military bases, sensitive security facilities, high profile figures, police stations, and hospitals, all as part of Iranian efforts to prepare a target list.The Shin Bet said it detected and monitored the network from its outset, closely monitoring handlers abroad and recruits in Israel and the West Bank who expressed willingness to cooperate. The agency noted that "the big majority of Israeli citizens [who were approached] refused to cooperate, since they suspected a hostile element was involved, and cut off communications."This shadow conflict can escalate into a full-blown conflict due to minor catalysts. Tensions in the Persian Gulf between Iran, the United States, and other countries could form one such catalyst, as Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz noted on July 14.Speaking to Israel's Channel 13, the minister said that Iranian brinkmanship could end up causing a conflict that would trigger an Israeli-Hizballah conflict."I'm not ruling out that within weeks or months, there could be an explosive clash U.S.-Iran clash. And its echoes could reach us," Steinitz said. "There could be a conflict with Hizballah. There could be a direct clash with Iran. Anything can happen. We are prepared.""For four years already, we have foiled Iranian attempts to build bases in Syria, and stopped them from building thousands of projectiles, [from bringing] jets, and the IRGC from bringing tanks [to Syria]," he said. "The Hizballah threat, and the direct Iranian threat remain intact. We are preparing for these day and night."Yaakov Lappin is a military and strategic affairs correspondent. He also conducts research and analysis for defense think tanks, and is the Israel correspondent for IHS Jane's Defense Weekly. His book, The Virtual Caliphate, explores the online jihadist presence.
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The following is David Horowitz's speech at this year's annual Western Conservative Summit held in Denver, Colorado. The Freedom Center founder discusses the urgent subject of his latest book, Dark Agenda: The War on Christian America. Watch the video below:
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An anti-Semitic film, "The Occupation of the American Mind" will be shown Tuesday in Takoma Park, Md. at a taxpayer-funded screening despite public pressure to reverse course. The movie peddles in anti-Semitic tropes that claim Jewish and pro-Israel groups have disproportionate power over U.S. foreign policy and in effect brainwash Americans to support Israel."A municipality is using taxpayer money to show a widely rejected 'documentary' narrated by a notorious anti-Semite [Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters] that peddles anti-Semitic canards," Ronald Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, told the Jewish Telegraph Agency earlier this month. "They should be bringing people together, not dividing them."After the movie, Islamist and anti-Israel figures from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) will discuss the film. Each group actively promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement devoted to coercing the Jewish state.BDS – which seeks to isolate Israel economically and culturally – is considered anti-Semitic because it singles out the world's only Jewish state and ignores countries with far worse human rights records.CAIR's efforts to derail this bill or promote an anti-Semitic film are not surprising given the organization's record for spreading anti-Israel views that often transcend into the realm of bigotry.CAIR is actively working to stifle an "Anti-Semitism Awareness" bill that directs the U.S. Department of Education to adopt a widely accepted working definition of anti-Semitism.Elements of this working definition encompass modern anti-Israel sentiment that "crosses the line into anti-Semitism." That includes denying the Jewish people's right to self-determination, claims that Israel was founded as a racist entity, and applying double standards against Israel not expected of other democracies.To add insult to injury, Takoma Park officials confirmed the participation of another radical Islamist: Taher Herzallah, associate director of Outreach & Grassroots Organizing for American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), according to a JCRC press release on issued Monday.Herzallah is one of the "Irvine 11" prosecuted in 2010 following a hostile plan to silence a University of California, Irvine speech by former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. Three years later, as AMP's national campus coordinator, Herzallah proudly justified Hamas rocket fire into Israel while calling images of wounded Israeli soldiers "the most beautiful sight."In November, Herzallah rationalized the slogan, "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," a call that leads to Israel's destruction."If giving Palestinians their right to live freely means the destruction of Israel, then so be it," Herzallah wrote on Facebook.It's no surprise that he also called for violence against Israelis."Israelis have to be bombed, they are a threat to the legitimacy of Palestine, and it is wrong to maintain the State of Israel. It is an illegitimate creation born from colonialism and racism," Herzallah said during a 2014 AMP conference.Despite the controversy, Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart defended the film screening."Our goal is to create a space for people to listen, critique, discuss, and learn from each other," Stewart said in a July 12 statement.Inviting Islamist figures who espouse extremist positions to participate in publicly-financed events, however, is the opposite of creating "a space for people to listen." In numerous speaking engagements Herzallah, like other U.S.-based Islamists, has used his platforms to preach hate and spread extremism in an effort to intimidate supporters of Israel. The film screening likely will be no exception._______________________________________________________________RADICAL ANTI-ISRAEL GROUP TO HOSTCAPITOL HILL BRIEFINGby Abha ShankarSEE: https://www.investigativeproject.org/8000/former-hamas-support-network-successor-group-to;
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:A virulently anti-Israel advocacy group is hosting a Capitol Hill briefing tomorrow where it will allege Israeli mistreatment of American citizens.American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)was able to secure a room in the Longworth House Office Building, which serves U.S. House of Representatives members and their staffs. AMP plans to allege that U.S. citizens visiting Israel and the West Bank "have reported being physically abused, detained for hours of humiliating questions, strip searched, denied entry and forced to buy plane tickets back to the US. Worse (sic) of all, Israeli forces have killed or gravely injured US citizens."AMP is not a reliable actor. It routinely hosts conferences that serve as a platform for Israel bashers and openly approves of "resistance" against the "Zionist state."It is one of the principal advocates of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. BDS campaigns are considered inherently anti-Semitic because they include groups and people dedicated to Israel's elimination and single out Israel for criticism while ignoring far more severe human rights abuses by other nations.A recent investigative report by Canary Mission, an organization that investigates hate groups, cited AMP leaders making strong anti-Semitic and pro-terror statements."I believe in [the] holocaust. One of my fav parts of history," AMP-Chicago's Leena Yousef was quoted saying."We will resist until we get our freedom without your BS negotiations! # ... #We_Are_All_Hamas," another AMP activist Ahmad Aburas was cited saying.Meanwhile, the Investigative Project on Terrorism in 2015 found evidence showing that AMP is the successor to a group called the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which was part of a Muslim Brotherhood-led Hamas-support network in the United States. A federal civil suit in Chicago calls AMP and its leaders the IAP's "alter egos and/or successors."IAP was the "Palestine Committee's" propaganda arm. The Muslim Brotherhood charged the committee with helping Hamas politically and financially in the United States.The lawsuit seeks to claim payment of $156 million in damages awarded to Stanley and Joyce Boim, who sued the IAP and a related group over the death of their son David in a 1996 Hamas terrorist attack. Some AMP officials, including National Policy Director Osama Abuirshaid, worked with the IAP and other Palestine Committee branches.Abuirshaid is listed as a speaker at the Capitol Hill briefing.AMP conferences are similar to IAP's old meetings, and are sponsored by many of the same charitable organizations working for the Palestinian cause. Those include Baitulmaal, the Zakat Foundation, Islamic Relief and United Muslim Relief. "Each of these organizations has close connections with Hamas and disburses funds through Hamas operatives," the new Boim complaint alleged.IAP raised and funneled money to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). In 2008, the charity and five top officials were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas.Baitulmaal and other Islamist charities mentioned in the complaint appear to have filled that role.The Gaza-based Unlimited Friends Association for Social Development (UFA), for example, "is closely aligned with senior Hamas leaders" and "openly states that it channels funds from Baitulmaal to the 'families of martyrs of the Palestinian people,'" the complaint said."Baitulmaal has openly distributed meat to Hamas functionaries and government workers on Muslim holy days claiming that "it is a matter of principle for the charity to help [Hamas] officials who can't afford to buy meat," it added.A July 7 report published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) listed Baitulmaal among other American and international Islamist charities that support the Generosity Without Limit Association ("Generosity Association"), a charitable organization operating in the Gaza Strip since 2007, whose board members either serve as operatives or have close affiliations with an umbrella group called the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC). Israel declared the PRC a terrorist organization in 2006. It claims the PRC is funded and trained by Hamas. Its largest attack came in 2011, killing eight Israeli civilians and wounding another 30.The Israeli government accused Baitulmaal founder Sheikh Hasan Haj Mohammad of funding a Hamas charitable organization in Jenin in 2006, the report said.Baitulmaal has contributed to other radical Palestinian outlets, including the AJP Educational Foundation, AMP's fiscal sponsor. According to the organization's available tax records, AMP provided $33,500 to the AJP Educational Foundation between 2011-2017.AMP also provided material support to Hamas through its "open fundraising support" for the so-called "humanitarian convoy" Viva Palestina, the complaint said. In 2009, Viva Palestina activists headed by its founder and leader British Parliamentarian George Galloway met with Hamas leaders to provide "funds and equipment." Galloway personally "handed substantial sums of money and equipment directly to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, stating, 'But I, now here, on behalf of myself...are giving three cars and $25,000 in cash to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Here is the money. This is not charity. This is politics.'"Abuirshaid formerly served as editor of IAP's Arabic periodical, Al-Zaitounah, a mouthpiece for pro-Hamas propaganda.He is listed as "Research Fellow at the United Association for Studies and Research" in a 1999 article published in the Middle East Affairs Journal, "Occupied Palestine or Independent Israel: 'The Right to Existence' After More Than Fifty Years of Occupation."In the article's conclusion, Abuirshaid argues against past peace agreements with the "Zionists" including the 1993 Oslo Accords.Abuirshaid's Israel bashing and affection for Hamas continues to this day.In a 2015 tweet, for example, Abuirshaid condemned Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization and referred to Sisi's government as "Cairo Aviv" as a rebuke to existing close relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv."AMP/AJP ended up with largely the same core leadership as IAP/AMS; it serves the same function and purpose; it holds nearly identical conventions and events with many of the same roster of speakers; it operates a similar 'chapter' structure in similar geographic locations; it continues to espouse Hamas' ideology and political positions; and it continues to facilitate fundraising for groups that funnel money to Hamas," the Boim complaint said.The upcoming Congressional briefing is a prime example of AMP's anti-Israel, pro-Hamas activism.
