Hamas Responsible for Suffering in Gaza

by | May 28, 2024 | Aggregate

 Fars Media Corporation, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Hamas is calling for a cease-fire. However, they already had a ceasefire on October 6th, but they violated it.

In 2005, Israel withdrew its troops from Gaza as part of a unilateral disengagement plan, which included the evacuation of all Israeli settlers and the dismantling of military bases. Gaza subsequently became a stronghold for Hamas, an Islamist militant group that originated from the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s. Hamas, which has not held elections since 2006, took full control of Gaza in 2007 following a violent conflict with the Palestinian Authority. Since then, Hamas has utilized Gaza as a base to launch attacks against Israel, including rocket fire and other militant activities. The international community has condemned Hamas for its numerous suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and other acts of violence targeting Israeli civilians. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the United States, the European Union, and Israel.

Hamas commits acts of repression and other human rights violations against the people of Gaza. According to Amnesty International, “Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip repressed the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Torture and other ill-treatment were reported in Palestinian detention centers. Members of Palestinian armed groups summarily killed several suspected ‘collaborators’. In Gaza, death sentences were passed, and executions were carried out.”

In 1988, Hamas published its official Covenant, which explicitly called for the elimination of Israel and the killing of all Jews. In 2017, Hamas released an updated version, the Document of General Principles and Policies, which removed the specific language about killing Jews but still did not recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli state, referring to it as “a racist, anti-human and colonial Zionist project.” The document states, “The Islamic Resistance Movement ‘Hamas’ is a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement. Its goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project.” It defines Palestine as the land “from the River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west and from Ras Al-Naqurah in the north to Umm Al-Rashrash in the south.” This definition encompasses the entire territory of the State of Israel, implying the complete elimination of Israel as it currently exists.

Given the ongoing threat that Hamas poses to the state of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that Israel will never be safe unless Hamas is completely annihilated. To this end, he has launched one of the most intense military campaigns since the beginning of the Ukraine War. Israel provided warnings for civilians and non-combatants to leave Gaza. However, their exit is being impeded by neighboring countries. The Rafah crossing, the only border crossing between Gaza and Egypt not controlled by Israel, has frequently been closed or heavily restricted by the Egyptian government. This has severely limited the ability of Gaza residents to flee to Egypt during periods of conflict. To exacerbate the situation, Egypt is also blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza through Rafah, further contributing to the humanitarian crisis.

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has faced accusations of targeting civilians, with women and children comprising more than half of the casualties. However, given that women and children make up about two-thirds of Gaza’s population, they are more likely to be collateral damage when Hamas is targeted. Additionally, women and children have been involved with Hamas, sometimes as human shields or suicide bombers. The term “children” includes those under 18, and Hamas has used minors in combat roles for harassment by throwing stones at IDF soldiers or using kites for espionage and dropping incendiaries.

Israel has also been criticized for restricting aid shipments to Gaza. The rationale behind this includes the fact that Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups have used aid shipments to smuggle weapons, ammunition, and military equipment. As the governing authority in Gaza, Hamas handles the acceptance and distribution of aid, increasing the likelihood that it will support terrorist activities rather than aid civilians.

There are claims that at least 260 humanitarian aid workers have been killed in the conflict, but this does not demonstrate that Israel is intentionally targeting aid workers. War zones are inherently dangerous, and although aid workers, press, and other noncombatants are not intended targets, they face significant risks by virtue of their roles. Most are aware of these dangers and accept the associated risks. A specific issue with this conflict is that Hamas terrorists have either worked as or posed as humanitarian aid workers. This has led to the suspension of U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) when it was discovered that several of its employees were involved in the October 7th attack on Israel.

Hamas could alleviate civilian suffering by refraining from using them as shields. They could also release the Israeli hostages and surrender, which would end the current military campaign. Additionally, the entire situation could have been avoided if they had not attacked Israel in the first place.

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Newly Unsealed Motion Confirms Someone in Trump’s World (Attorney?) Agreed to Become Cooperating Witness for Government in Jack Smith’s Classified Docs Case

by | May 28, 2024 | Aggregate

A newly unsealed motion confirms that someone in Trump’s world, likely an attorney, agreed to become a cooperating witness for the US government in Jack Smith’s classified documents case against President Trump.

A reference to a cooperation agreement with the government was mentioned in a motion filed by Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta.

Just unsealed filing in classified docs case appears to confirm someone in Trump world (perhaps an attorney) agreed to become a cooperating witness for the government. Keep in mind DOJ tried every trick in the book to try to get Nauta to flip, too. pic.twitter.com/TeQUewdWEq

— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) May 28, 2024

Recall that Walt Nauta, a former White House employee and Navy veteran who worked valet for Trump and served as a personal staffer at Mar-a-Lago was indicted along with Trump last year.

A previous court filing revealed a lawyer with an attorney-client privilege relationship with Trump proposed to act as an informant for the DOJ.

As previously reported, a defense motion unsealed earlier this month related to search warrants against Walt Nauta revealed a lawyer with an attorney-client privilege relationship with President Trump proposed to act as an undercover informant in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case.

According to the motion filed earlier this month, a lawyer for Trump was enlisted to act as an undercover informant/source in Jack Smith’s classified documents case.

“The affiants hid information about [redacted] who were acting as political enemies of President Trump, including one attorney who had an attorney-client privilege relationship with President Trump and then proposed to act in an undercover parallel role to [redacted].

The defense motion argued that the affiants “used attorney-client violations as the basis for evidentiary allegations, but the SCO cannot use information it gathers improperly to justify a search warrant, or as evidence against a third party.”

Well this seems important.

From defense motion related to numerous search warrants against Trump aide Walt Nauta.

I’ve long suspected at least one govt informant/source involved in this case. This suggests that hunch is true.

Not exactly sure what it means but we will find out pic.twitter.com/0Keo9yghUC

— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) May 12, 2024

Cannon earlier this month indefinitely postponed Jack Smith’s classified documents trial against Trump after the Special Counsel admitted to tampering with evidence.

Judge Cannon set a second set of pre-trial deadlines to manage pending discovery and disclosure matters.

The Judge vacated the May 20, 2024 trial date. It may be several months until Judge Cannon sets a new trial date.

The post Newly Unsealed Motion Confirms Someone in Trump’s World (Attorney?) Agreed to Become Cooperating Witness for Government in Jack Smith’s Classified Docs Case appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

JUST IN: GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik Files Misconduct Complaint with New York State Unified Court System Related to “Random” Assignment of Judge Merchan

by | May 28, 2024 | Aggregate

 Far left Judge Juan Manuel Merchan

GOP Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY) on Tuesday filed a misconduct complaint with the New York State Unified Court System related to the “random” assignment of far-left radical and conflicted Judge Juan Merchan to Trump’s NYC ‘hush money’ trial.

“I just filed an official misconduct complaint with the New York State Unified Court System related to the “random” assignment of Acting Manhattan Justice Juan Merchan, a Biden donor whose daughter is fundraising millions off his unprecedented work, to criminal cases against President Donald J. Trump, his companies, and his allies.” Elise Stefanik said.

The judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is a far-left political operative who worked for the Biden-Harris campaign. The media has infantilized 34-year-old Loren Merchan in an effort to attack Trump’s First Amendment-protected speech with a gag order.

Loren Merchan’s firm, Authentic Campaigns, Inc., has received tens of millions of dollars from Democrats who want to take down Trump.

According to The New York Post, Loren Merchan helped Democrats raise $93 million off of her father’s case.

Here is Rep. Stefanik’s judicial complaint:

Members of the Commission, and Madam Inspector General,

I am writing to alert you to potential misconduct by Justices and employees of the Supreme Court, Criminal Term, New York County.

The potential misconduct pertains to the repeated assignment of Acting Justice Juan Merchan, a Democrat Party donor, to criminal cases related to President Donald J. Trump and his allies. Acting Justice Merchan currently presides over the criminal case against President Trump brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Acting Justice Merchan also presided over the criminal trial against the Trump Organization and will be presiding over the criminal trial of Steve Bannon, a senior advisor in President Trump’s White House and a prominent advocate for President Trump.1

The website for the Supreme Court, Criminal Term, New York County does not provide a comprehensive list of every justice and acting justice sitting in the courthouse, but based on the courtroom directory there are at least 24 sitting justices on the court.2 Acting Justice Merchan is not even listed among them, one assumes, because of his status as an acting justice.

Section 200.11(c) of the Uniform Rules for New York State Trial Courts requires that criminal actions be assigned to a judge “pursuant to a method of random selection authorized by the Chief Administrator.” If justices were indeed being randomly assigned in the Criminal Term, the probability of two specific criminal cases being assigned to the same justice is quite low, and the probability of three specific criminal cases being assigned to the same justice is infinitesimally small. And yet, we see Acting Justice Merchan on all three cases.

This is the same Acting Justice Merchan who, in violation of New York State Code of Judicial Conduct 100.5(h), donated to President Biden’s 2020 campaign, along with the Progressive Turnout Project and its “Stop Republicans” subsidiary.3 It’s also the same Acting Justice whose daughter is a political consultant working for prominent Democrats, whose firm stands to profit greatly if Donald Trump is convicted.4

One cannot help but suspect that the “random selection” at work in the assignment of Acting Justice Merchan, a Democrat Party donor, to these cases involving prominent Republicans, is in fact not random at all. The simple answer to why Acting Justice Merchan has been assigned to these cases would seem to be that whoever made the assignment intentionally selected Acting Justice Merchan to handle them to increase the chance that Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and Steven Bannon would ultimately be convicted.

I request that both the Commission and the Inspector General investigate this anomaly to determine whether the required random selection process was in fact followed in the assignment of these criminal cases to Acting Justice Merchan. If Acting Justice Merchan or any other Justices of the Court are found to have violated these rules, I would hope that the Commission would subject them to the required discipline. And if any non-judicial employees of the Court are involved in such a scheme, I would hope that the Inspector General subject them to the appropriate sanction.

I just filed an official misconduct complaint with the New York State Unified Court System related to the “random” assignment of Acting Manhattan Justice Juan Merchan, a Biden donor whose daughter is fundraising millions off his unprecedented work, to criminal cases… pic.twitter.com/OsBjFc3qeI

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) May 28, 2024

The post JUST IN: GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik Files Misconduct Complaint with New York State Unified Court System Related to “Random” Assignment of Judge Merchan appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.