The problematic side of the cafe that's open on Shabbat

A discovery came up about Cafe Basimta, which has been open on Shabbat and harrassed by Haredi extremists, that now has some embarrassed, and for all we know, the Haredis may still go after it:

Jerusalem’s premier soccer team made an unusual announcement last week: It would give a new cafe free advertising on players’ uniforms for the coming season.

Cafe Basimta was facing harassment from haredi Orthodox protesters who wanted it to close on Shabbat, and Hapoel Jerusalem said it wanted to send the message that Jerusalem is “an open and diverse city, where there is room for everyone.”

But on Tuesday, Hapoel Jerusalem reversed course and retracted the offer, after learning via an inquiry from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Cafe Basimta is an official project of Jews for Jesus.

“Our original intention was simply to support a small business that was being denied its freedom of operation, and we still believe in that principle,” club spokesperson Matan Avrina told JTA. “However, we also realized that this specific story is more complex than we initially knew.”

For the secular Israelis who have flocked to Cafe Basimta in response to the protests, too, the revelation of the cafe’s ties to a Christian missionary organization is complicating what had seemed like a simple skirmish in the city’s culture war over businesses open on the Jewish day of rest.

Perhaps it's not that surprising a business like this could operate on Shabbat. That said, it's still no excuse for what the Haredi hoodlums were doing, and only makes for bad publicity. So the authorities should continue to make sure the Haredis just simply stay away and remain in their shoddy enclaves, because their behavior doesn't help, and is illegal.

Why recognizing Ahmed al-Sharaa as legitimate is bad

Amine Ayoub wrote about why the Trump administration's continued recognition of Islamists like Ahmed al-Sharaa is bad news:

The recent declaration by President Donald Trump indicating a willingness to remove Syria from the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism marks a perilous pivot in American foreign policy. Coupled with optimistic projections regarding an Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Washington appears to be rushing toward a premature stabilization narrative in the Levant. At the center of this strategy is Ahmed al-Sharaa, the interim Syrian president who assumed power following the dramatic collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Sharaa's sudden elevation from an international terrorist to a prospective diplomatic partner is not a triumph of moderate reform. Instead, it represents the most sophisticated mutation of Salafi-jihadist ideology observed in the modern era, posing a severe long-term threat to Western security and regional minorities.

The Illusion of Transformation

To understand the danger of the current U.S. trajectory,we must examine the meticulous career of Sharaa, previously known by his battlefield moniker, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Sharaa is a veteran of the global jihadist movement who gained operational experience fighting American forces alongside al-Qaeda in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. Following his subsequent incarceration at Camp Bucca, he spearheaded the creation of Jabhat al-Nusra, which operated as al-Qaeda’s official Syrian franchise.

Under his command, the group executed horrific suicide operations, systematically targeted religious minorities, and enforced an uncompromising version of Islamic law. His subsequent break with al-Qaeda and the creation of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, were widely interpreted by Middle East experts as tactical maneuvers rather than genuine ideological transformations.

The institutionalization of HTS under Sharaa demonstrates how modern radical groups adapt their vocabulary for Western consumption without abandoning their core Islamist objectives.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, so read the rest. What the Trump administration's doing, continuing to give al-Sharaa legitimacy, is a very bad example, and when the Democrats don't raise any objections to the administration's dealings with al-Sharaa, you know something's wrong.

Churches in France continue to be desecrated by Muslims

Anti-Christian persecution in France is also as common as anti-Semitism, and here's an example of a church that was vandalized (via Jihad Watch):

Vandals desecrated the Notre-Dame du Faron shrine in Toulon, France, damaging a statue of the Virgin Mary at one of the region’s most visited Marian pilgrimage sites.

On June 9, the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon reported the desecration of the Notre-Dame du Faron shrine, a prominent Marian pilgrimage site overlooking the harbor of Toulon in southern France. Church authorities announced that a statue of the Virgin Mary was damaged in an act of vandalism discovered in recent days by the priest of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul parish, which is responsible for the shrine. The diocese has filed a formal complaint with the authorities.

According to a report released by Tribune Chrétienne, the damage was identified after the parish priest inspected the site at the summit of Mount Faron. The pedestal supporting the statue, known as Notre-Dame du Mont Faron, had been knocked over and broken. The wooden statue itself also suffered damage. Church officials reported a crack in one of the feet and additional deterioration to the head that will require restoration work. The statue has since been removed and secured pending repairs.

At this stage, the diocese indicated, no information has been made public regarding those responsible for the desecration or the reasons behind it.

In all cases, the perpetrators arrested have turned out to be Muslims, and if they're allowed to continue growing in numbers in Europe, this will tragically continue apace.

Pasadena college is just as awful as some major universities

Rabbi Michael Barclay warns that the Pasadena City College has as much antisemitism going around as major insitutions do:

It is clear to many of us that environments on college campuses have transformed from institutions of academic learning into hotbeds of far-left activism, including and especially cultural Marxist and pro-Islamic activities. These colleges no longer serve as safe places to learn and explore; instead, they make conditions unsafe for far too many students, especially those who are Jewish and Christian and who are committed to Israel. The Department of Justice has started taking action against many of these schools such as UCLA, led by Leo Terrell, but attacks on Jewish students continue in a multiplicity of ways at smaller community colleges, such as Pasadena City College (PCC) here in Los Angeles.

This behavior is happening at high schools and junior colleges throughout the country, and I am only using PCC as the latest example because I have been called in and have personal experience with their institutionalized anti-Semitism. Most colleges around the country have Hillel programs: Jewish clubs with faculty advisors that provide support for Jewish students, are Jewish clubs working in conjunction with university administration, and create interfaith dialogue events so that Jewish and non-Jewish students learn more about each other and develop lasting relationships.

PCC is one of the few schools in the Los Angeles area that has no Hillel program. They do not even have a Jewish club of any sort, nor any faculty advisor who is there to help combat anti-Semitism. Conversely, they have a thriving Students for Justice in Palestine group: a national group devoted to furthering the Islamic goals of a worldwide Caliphate; a quasi-terrorist group that works in conjunction with Hamas, supports the Iranian regime, and is the responsible organization for the many violent riots that took place two years ago on college campuses around the country. While there is no Hillel program at Pasadena City College, the college officially supports SJP, despite, or possibly because of, its anti-American, anti-Semitic agenda. SJP has an official home at this community college in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, where it meets weekly under the auspices of PCC.

Well in that case, even a smaller college shouldn't get any public/federal funding if this is the kind of creeps they're going to allow on their campus. For now, the worst part is that California under Gavin Newsom's government is undoubtably enabling this too.

Azerbaijan destroyed Armenian churches in Arsakh

About a month ago, it was reported that, unshockingly, the repellent Azerbaijan destroyed churches in the Arsakh district:

The cathedral of the largest city in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region has been demolished, RFE/RL can confirm through satellite imagery made on April 26.

Reports that the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Khankendi had been destroyed emerged in Armenian media in mid-April, but no clear recent imagery showing the site was available until now. [...]

Armenia's Orthodox church authorities on April 23 accused Azerbaijan of "deliberately target[ing] Armenian Christian holy sites, seeking to erase the Armenian presence," from Nagorno-Karabakh. The church alleged cross stones in the grounds surrounding the demolished Church of St. Jacob have also been destroyed.

No matter what excuses Azerbaijan's reps or anybody else's make, this is disgusting and makes clear how evil the Azeris are being in addition to what physical violence they've committed over past years.

John Daniel Davidson is wrong to use Spain's 15th century expulsion of Jews as an analogy

Well, it looks like Federalist editor Davidson's crossed the line big time, and demonstrated why his news site has to be taken with a serious grain of salt. Case in point: he's taking issue with SCOTUS justice Neil Gorsuch in relation to topics like immigration, and along the way, he employs a horrific analogy with Jews as a subject:

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has done a series of interviews this week to promote his new children’s book about the Declaration of Independence and very clearly has a set of talking points, including a familiar liberal trope that’s no less false and incoherent for being familiar. America, says Gorsuch, is a “creedal nation,” essentially a set of ideas that anyone can subscribe to and become an American. What’s more, Gorsuch claims America was founded as a creedal nation — a creed that enshrines the three ideals of equality, inalienable rights, and the right of self-government.

“What unites us is not a religion, it’s not a race, it’s a belief in those three ideals,” Gorsuch told NRO in a recent podcast. To Nick Gillespie of Reason he said, “Our nation is not founded on a religion. It’s not based on a common culture even, or heritage. It’s based on those ideas. We’re a creedal nation.”

For conservative-minded Americans of a certain age, repeating this mantra that we’re a creedal nation, not a blood-and-soil nation like bad old Europe, has become something of a reflex — a defensive posture meant to deflect charges of racism and xenophobia from the left.

But it’s obviously false. One way you can tell it’s false is that no one who espouses this America-as-creed idea would ever follow through on its implications. If we were really a creedal nation, and in order to be fully American you had to believe and live by a certain civic creed derived from the Declaration and the Constitution, enshrining those three ideals Gorsuch mentions, then millions of our fellow citizens today would not be considered true Americans — to say nothing of the millions of recent immigrants who have never even heard of the ideals supposedly at the heart of our creed.

If we’re a creedal nation, such people cannot be our countrymen. If we were serious about our creed, we would denaturalize and deport them. We would expel heretics and unbelievers as readily as King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled all unconverted Jews from their kingdoms in 1492. That’s what creedal nations do.

Wow. If he'd made a case why Moslems need to integrate and assimilate or leave, that would've been impressive. Instead, Dumberson - as perhaps his nickname should be - chose to fall back on classic antisemitic allegories, and fail to make any distinctions between good and bad religions, if anything. If he doesn't think the USA should be founded solely on Judaism, that's one thing. But to say it was literally justified for Spain's monarchy to expel the community that founded the religion in remote times goes way too far, and I couldn't find anything about Islam in the "op-ed" Dumberson wrote. Suggesting that perhaps he really is that kind of a coward that he can't bring himself to research and point out anything disturbing about the koran's contents, and then, he even has the gall to say:

It’s telling that those most likely to invoke this notion of a creedal nation are the least likely to support something like mass deportation and denaturalization. They will declare that we’re a creedal nation but recoil if you suggest we should act like one. That’s because they either don’t understand what they’re arguing or don’t really believe it, and instead believe America isn’t a nation at all but an economic opportunity zone where anyone from anywhere can, with enough determination and skill, strike it rich.

Alas, based on what he previously told, that's why Dumberson's argument here falls flat, because he doesn't seem to either, and let's not forget his unwillingness to support a ground raid in Iran. And if he won't take an objective view of Islam, then it's hard to buy he's a devout Christian any more than the very pope he chose to whitewash. Does Dumberson also believe Jews/Israelis only came to the USA to "strike it rich"? That sounds eerily reminiscent of socialist cliches.

Amazingly, unlike Dumberson, another Federalist writer, Chris Bray, did show the courage to bring up the issue of Islamofascism while discussing Britain's election where Nigel Farage made significant gains. But it doesn't excuse the harm Dumberson's causing with his loathsome lectures, and if their staff is smart, they'll do what they can to give him the pink slip. He's as awful as Tucker Carlson, and clearly comes from almost the same school of thought.

The man who attacked a French Catholic nun in Jerusalem has only added fuel to a sick fire

Recently, another hoodlum, presumably cut from the same cloth as Haredi extremists, attacked a French Catholic nun in Jerusalem, and its sadly revealed a serious and growing problem that not enough may have taken notice of:

Footage of an attack on a Catholic nun in Jerusalem shocked the world when it went viral last week, but for worshipers attending Sunday mass at Saint Stephen’s Basilica, it was just the latest example of mounting religious hostility.

The attack on Tuesday was captured by CCTV and shared widely, showing a Jewish extremist shoving the nun to the ground and leaving, before returning to resume his attack on her, at which point by-passers intervened.

As the congregation poured out of the Sunday service, the story was still on everyone’s lips, as many offered words and tokens of support for the French nun, who was not in attendance.

“She still has pains,” but she is “surrounded by support,” said the priest who led the service, Olivier Catel.

When Catel arrived in Jerusalem over a decade ago, such incidents were rare. Roughly once a year, he said, “when I went out in my habit, people — usually ultra-Orthodox Jews — would spit behind our back.”

“We never paid attention because they were isolated incidents,” he said. But for the past three or four years, it has become something of a daily occurrence.

“When we go out, people spit next to us.”

The Rossing Center, a Jerusalem-based association for interreligious dialogue, has documented “growing harassment” of Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem, according to a study released in March.

Throughout 2025, it recorded 61 physical attacks, including spitting, the use of pepper spray, and blows. It also recorded 28 cases of verbal harassment and 52 cases of defacement of church property.

A British priest who preferred to remain anonymous confirmed that such incidents occurred daily.

He never went out without his black robes and was invariably met with spitting or shouts of “Go home!” in his direction.

‘He should be killed’

“Everyone said this would happen someday,” said Pierre, a 30-year-old parishioner, who was “not surprised” by the incident and in fact expected things to escalate to a possible death if there were no intervention.

The day of the attack on the nun, a priest he knew was in the supermarket when a man stopped before him.

“He told his son, in Hebrew, ‘He should be killed,'” said Pierre. “If nothing is done… someone will take that step.”

That's definitely repulsive, and regardless of what anybody thinks of how Christianity's managed past and present, this cannot go unopposed. Most telling is how the same Haredi extremists who led to this never seem to say the same things about Islam, and one could validly wonder if it's because they actually do consider the Religion of Peace legitimate.

What makes incidents like this additionally repulsive is that it gives the MSM an excuse to do writeups that take attention away from more pressing issues like Islamofascism, and the worst part is that the hoodlums - Haredi or otherwise - who're harrassing Christians, are quite possibly doing it deliberately in order to harm Israel's image all the more. For all we know, that was probably why the IDF soldier who wrecked a Jesus statue in Lebanon pulled his atrocious act. Let's also note a lot of these same ultra-Orthodox also despise the Israeli flag, and that's telling too.

Columnist Nadav Shragai had the following to tell:

Sadly, this assault is not an isolated incident. It joins dozens of incidents over the past two years in which Christians in Jerusalem have been targeted on religious and racist grounds. They are allegedly carried out in the name of Judaism, but they have absolutely nothing to do with Judaism.

When incidents like this happen in Israel or abroad and Jews, usually visibly ultra-Orthodox, are the ones attacked, we rightly raise an outcry and define them as "antisemitic" and as "racially motivated terrorism." That is the case in Stamford Hill in London, in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, and in Antwerp, Belgium.

In Israel, by contrast, similar incidents, even if they are on a far smaller scale and carried out only by a small handful of people, take place in the capital and elsewhere in the country and are met with horrifying media silence.

Almost no response

Among our rabbis, too, the overwhelming majority of them, and among our politicians, also the overwhelming majority, the attack on the nun in Jerusalem, which received wide coverage in many foreign media outlets and blackened our image in public, passed almost without response.

This was not only a vile act and an assault on a cleric and on a person created in the image of God. It was also a public desecration of God's name and of Judaism. Such an incident also plays into the hands of our enemies, direct and indirect, who challenge our sovereignty and our right to govern Jerusalem. It weakens our claim to freedom of religion in Jerusalem. It even weakens the just demand of Jews who seek to visit and pray on the Temple Mount without harassment and acts of violence.

For some reason, those attackers believe they are sanctifying God's name, or "settling accounts over Christianity's many sins against us throughout the generations." Is there no chief rabbi, city rabbi or neighborhood rabbi whose voice will be heard publicly, who will set them straight, denounce them, call for them to be cast out from our midst, and explain that historical reckonings of this kind are not the business of individuals, but belong in theological dialogue between religious leaders?

The story of the attack on the nun and other incidents like it must transcend political camps, Right and Left, religious and secular. It is foreign to us as Jews. We must make it not only illegitimate, but utterly repugnant. Such incidents have no connection whatsoever to even the fiercest struggle against terrorism, nor to collective punishment of an environment that supports terrorism. This is religious racism, pure and simple, which we Jews have suffered from and continue to suffer from across generations.

Of course it's repulsive, and if the response to this has been muted in comparison with the incident in Lebanon, which was possibly carried out by a Haredi soldier, that's very bad too. The mayor should reach out to the nun and the church she works at, and invite them to city hall to make some points clear about why this incident is entirely unacceptable to Judaism.

A commentor stated:

I agree with this writer. I'm sure that there are aspects of 'Ultra Orthodoxy' which may be laudable, but similarly, there are other aspects of their ideology which are lementable, - this certainly being one such example. They seem to live such 'a narrow existence', that they are oblivious to the damage that they are doing to the rest of Israeli and in fact Jewish society. To add 'insult to injury', as a section of the population that avoids serving, it is left to others to make amends for their egregious behaviour. To be sure, I am not a 'supporter' of the Catholic, and some other Christian sects, however, this is not the way to register one's opinion of the myriad of outrages perpetrated against the Jews in the past and in fact currently. This 'man', needs to be prosecuted and needs to be 'seen' to be prosecuted.

Clearly, there's others who realize the Haredis set this kind of behavior in motion, and their leaderships too are going to have to address this and above all, meet with the nun and her other church staff to apologize. But what if they don't? If not, that'll just make clear what continues to be wrong with the Haredi community.

Update: in similar news, a cafe in Ramat Gan that was open on Shabbat was torched by an arsonist, quite possibly, again, an ultra-Orthodox criminal:

An unknown individual set fire to a new cafe in Ramat Gan over the fact that the cafe is open on Saturdays, according to an N12 News report on Tuesday.

According to N12, the owner of the cafe received multiple threats regarding the cafe’s business hours since it opened.

The arson, which took place over the weekend, caused heavy damage to the building.

Tel Aviv District Police have initiated an investigation into the incident, launching a manhunt to find the suspected arsonist, who was captured on video setting the fire.

Ramat Gan mayor condemns fire, calls for community to support cafe

Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen condemned the arson, stating that it was not only an attack on the cafe, but a direct attack on “the character of Ramat Gan as a city of liberty for everyone.”

"We will not allow any criminal to light a fire of hatred in the heart of Ramat Gan,” Shama-Hacohen asserted. "Anyone who thinks of setting up 'religious guards' in the city and burning down places that are open on Shabbat will quickly discover that they have achieved the opposite.”

He also encouraged the local community to support the cafe as a show of his city’s strength.

According to N12, Shama-Hacohen also called for the cafe to be supplied with double the number of tables and chairs it had before the fire to accommodate new customers who visit to support the business.

So here we have another monster on the loose who, it could be said, violated the 10 Commandments section that says, "Thou shalt not use God's name in vain", and definitely committed a serious offense that could've resulted in lives lost if there were people in the building at the time. One of the worst things about cases like these is that the Haredi extremists who did this undoubtably are hoping to tarnish Judaism and Israel's good name, and bolster leftists who want to stick it to the right. After all, the Haredi MO draws from socialist tactics like living on welfare, so it's not like there's that much difference between leftists and Haredi zealots when it comes to topics like those.

Syrian woman converts to Judaism

An interesting story about a Syrian-born woman who came to understand a lot about Israel while living in France, and has since decided to become a Judaist convert. She also told them:

Rawan Osman has just completed another visit to Israel. It was her 20th trip since Oct. 7, 2023 — no small thing for a woman born in Syria, raised for 18 years in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and now living in Germany. After years of building ties with Israel and Judaism, Osman is preparing for another unexpected step: She plans to convert to Judaism and immigrate to Israel. [...]

The issue of alcohol sales has recently returned to the headlines in Syria. The government of Ahmed al-Sharaa decided in March to ban alcohol service in restaurants and nightclubs in Damascus and limit sales to several Christian neighborhoods. Even there, alcohol may be sold only in sealed containers and by licensed stores. The restrictions sparked public criticism, while the government said they were intended to impose order.

“It’s ridiculous,” Osman said. “Maybe the only good thing about the Assad regime was that it was secular. Everything else was terrible. The current regime is not as monstrous as the Assad regime, but it wants to take Syria back to the seventh century and is contributing to the Islamization of Syria. Syria is going through a dangerous process that must be stopped.

“From my point of view, and I consider myself Israeli today, al-Jolani is very dangerous. He is not good news for us, because we have thousands of jihadists on the border.”

It's fortunate somebody fully recognizes what's wrong with al-Jolani, and again, it's shameful the Trump administration would agree to recognize him as a leader. What's wrong with all the Christians/Druze/Yazidis who live in the area? How do they not qualify as potential leaders?

‘Israel did not start it’

In recent weeks — on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day — Osman posted content to her Instagram account as if she had grown up in Israel. She met a Holocaust survivor and documented Memorial Day events at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl.

Her connection to Israel began in France.

“When I moved there to study wine, I started the first part of my studies in Strasbourg. The place where I lived was in the Jewish Quarter, near the Great Synagogue of Peace. That was the first time I experienced Jews,” she said. “It opened my eyes because I had always imagined Jews as the enemy, as a terrible, problematic, aggressive people.”

That impression, she said, collapsed when she lived among Jews.

“They were nice to me,” Osman said. “In France, my point of view changed. I understood that the hostility that leads to wars was not started by Israel, but by the Arab world, which rejects the very existence of Israel. That made me start reading and researching organizations like Hezbollah, the Islamic Republic in Iran and the armed Palestinian factions, and understand that they are aggressive and that they choose terrorism to make Jews leave the Middle East.”

Trying to understand how the Palestinian issue could be resolved — a conflict she sees as holding back Lebanon and other countries — Osman began studying Islam and Judaism in Germany. She said she had been an atheist. In Lebanon, she attended a French Catholic school but never believed in God, Jesus, Muhammad or the Quran.

“When I studied, I understood that some of the biggest problems that led to terrorism were caused by mistaken interpretations of certain texts, and it does not have to be that way,” she said. “When I studied Judaism, my life changed completely. I fell in love with Judaism. I understood that I am Jewish. I felt that I knew the language, that it was close to me.”

On this, the problem with the verses in the koran advocating violence is that they were meant for just that, and if the newspaper distorted that part of the subject, that's wrong.

Anyway, I appreciate that the lady decided to convert to Judaism, and seriously, when the cards are played right, it can provide sensible Europeans with a good resource in which to find confidence. I will decidedly also say that, if there's any Europeans who think far eastern religions like Hinduism and Shintoism have positive values, I'm welcome to their trying those out as well, just to show that if a specific religion builds on positivity, I'm okay with competition.

Minnesota's Islamic pandering continues at public schools

In the deep blue state of Minnesota, and more specifically, in Minneapolis, some public schools are accomodating Islamic sharia by building facilities like prayer and washrooms (Hat tip: Jihad Watch):

Construction plans obtained by Alpha News show a Minnesota school district is planning to build a “prayer room” and foot-washing station at two high school buildings. Those blueprints have since gone viral on social media and kicked off a debate about religion in schools.

Earlier this month, Alpha News received blueprints for an ongoing renovation at Park Center High School and Osseo High School. Both of those schools are a part of Osseo Area Schools which is located in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis.

In blueprints for Park Center, one room is clearly labeled “prayer room” while Osseo blueprints show plans for a “footwash.” Prayer rooms are commonly used by Muslims as they observe their daily prayers. Meanwhile, foot-washing is a prerequisite for Muslims before they pray. [...]

“Turns out, when the woke left says they want religion out of schools, they’re only talking about Christianity,” Rep. Tom Emmer said. “Maybe if Osseo worried about Somali gang violence as much as they worry about pandering to America-hating leftists, their schools and streets would be safer for their students. Just a thought.”

“Utterly absurd,” said Sen. Ted Cruz. “This has no place in any public school. Sharia law should NEVER be adopted in America.”

“This is WRONG,” Minnesota State Sen. Michael Holmstrom said. “I fear it is only the beginning.”

Christine Douglas-Williams says:

Muslim prayer rooms and foot-washing stations just don’t factor in here. They simply do not constitute any part of a secular historical curriculum. So yet again, it is clear that Muslims are enjoying special privileges.

No doubt, if there's any group in Minnesota that's also exempt from having to recognize LGBTQ ideology, it's the Religion of Peace. The state's clearly on its way downhill, and this is but an example of why concerned parents shouldn't even send their children to public schools there.

IDF soldier in Lebanon causes disgusting PR embarrassment by vandalizing Jesus statue

At a time when Israel needs to be able to keep morale high, and is supposed to be dedicated to protecting Christian adherents endangered by Islamofascism, an IDF soldier had to create a repellent situation by vandalizing a Jesus statue in Lebanon:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Sunday that a photo circulating online showed an IDF soldier wielding a hammer over the head of a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon, committing to take “appropriate measures” against those involved.

The outrageous image of desecration of Christian iconography surfaced in the context of an ongoing Israeli invasion of Lebanon that President Donald Trump claimed had entered a ceasefire period to allow for peace talks on Thursday. The text of the IDF statement on the matter stated only that “the photograph depicts an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon” and did not specify whether the military had confirmed that the photograph was authentic and undoctored.

The assurance that the IDF is preparing to take “appropriate measures” against individuals involved suggests that officials do consider that those involved have behaved inappropriately, either truly engaging in the behavior photographed or producing the image to escalate tensions between Christians in Lebanon and Israel. The IDF statement also described the situation around the photo as an “incident” and stated that its soldiers are working to help restore the statue, again indicating that officials do not believe the photo was doctored or created with artificial intelligence.

Could the soldier who committed the disgusting act have been an ultra-Orthodox extremist? I don't know, but here's a case where a valid condemnation and complaint can be lodged against a soldier for doing something dirty that damages morale along with the IDF's expected mission. It's entirely possible the soldier did it deliberately to flare tensions. And division is the last thing we need at a time when the Hezbollah is still bound to be a serious danger. I hope the statue can be repaired, and that's something the IDF should do, along with sentencing the corrupt soldier to prison for the offensive act that was completely uncalled for.

The new right-wing anti-Trump crowd kowtows to Islam

Andrea Widburg discussed how bad right-wingers like Tucker Carlson, and also Pope Leo, have sold out to Islam along their path to undermining Donald Trump's policies:

Today’s news brought stories of two thought leaders—the Pope and Tucker Carlson—showing reverence for Islam. This differs from the left’s long-standing political allegiance with Islamic causes, something reflecting that the left and Islam share a common goal, which is the West’s destruction. Instead, this is a reverence for the Islamic faith. That’s new and, I must say, as someone who likes the Judeo-Christian worldview, disturbing.

The way I see it, the Koran is a pastiche of random lessons from the Bible, with which Mohammed was clearly familiar, plus a lot of rules that worked well for Mohammed’s personal advancement. Thus, Mohammed echoed such principles as a unitary god and the rejection of idolatry, charity to the poor, honesty in trade, respect for parents, mercy and forgiveness, and keeping one’s word.

The problem is that he added other rules that were carve-outs for Muslims. Thus, Mohammed himself is idolized to the point at which he is indistinguishable from God, sharia laws are utterly merciless, and Muslims have no obligation to extend to non-Muslims mercy, honesty in trade, or keeping one’s word.

In addition, Islam has icky things layered over it. For example, because the 50-year-old Mohammed married a six-year-old and consummated the marriage when he was 53 and she was nine, that’s a right given to all Muslim men. And because Mohammed veiled his wives because he was a prophet, Muslim women must wear tents.

Lastly, of course, there’s the whole war thing. Mohammed mandated conquest and war against infidels. Some people counter this by pointing to the violence in the Bible but the Bible is both a religious book and a history book. It recounts battles. But there is no “perfect man” telling Christians and Jews that they must convert the world through fire and sword, nor that women are the sexual spoils of such wars.

What’s disturbing is that two Western men who proclaim both their faith and hostility to Trump and the MAGA movement have lately become very supportive of Islam.

You could probably add a few more rotten apples to the list, those being the aforementioned RINO writers at the Federalist, who've also signaled support for Carlson and Leo. What the main 2 figures in focus are doing is merely an attempt to stealth indoctrinate the western populace under the guise of "conservatism", and we must hope most of the population understands what sellouts both these disgraces really are. They both keep silent on Christians persecuated by Islam, and it's chilling to wonder if both could be secret converts to Islam, much like some British in past decades wondered if King Charles was secretly a convert. Why, what if French communist Jean-Luc Melenchon is? For now, it's disgusting how Leo's following up Carlson as a religious figure who's a dhimmi sellout.

Pope Leo's tour of dhimmitude continues

The current Catholic pope, whom Donald Trump recently took issue with over his disturbing kowtowing to bad causes, is now disembarking on a journey to Algeria, where he'll be the first pope to visit the Muslim dominated country:

Leo XIV will become the first pope to visit Algeria on Monday, taking a message of dialogue with Islam on a trip that also represents a personal pilgrimage for the American pontiff.

Algeria is the first stop on an 11-day tour of four African nations, covering 18,000 kilometres and also taking in Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea from April 13 to 23.

No other pontiff has visited Algeria, a North African country where Islam is the state religion, and the 70-year-old’s arrival is being eagerly awaited by the Catholic minority.

The visit also holds a strong personal dimension for Pope Leo, as modern-day Algeria was home to Saint Augustine (354-430), a great Christian theologian whose spiritual legacy permeates his pontificate.

As the world watches anxiously with war raging in the Middle East, peaceful coexistence will be at the heart of the pope’s message in a country where 99 percent of its 47 million inhabitants are Muslim.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope’s aim was to “address the Islamic world, but also to confront a common challenge of coexistence”.

Algeria’s constitution guarantees freedom of worship, although the authorities must approve both the place of worship and the preacher.

Yet human rights groups say the repression of religious minorities has continued in Algeria in recent years.

Don't count on Leo bringing up the persecution of Christians in the region, or even in Syria, for that matter. Islam doesn't recognize co-existence. It only recognizes erasure and replacement of all other cultures, though what's really horrific is the violent content of the koran.

Predictably, Leo responded to Trump's criticisms about how you could possibly expect:

Pope Leo XIV responded Monday to President Donald Trump criticising him over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, telling reporters the Vatican works for peace and reconciliation based on the teachings of the Gospel, adding he fears neither the Trump administration or vigorous debate.

“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told the Associated Press aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria where he is beginning an historic four-country Africa trip.

“And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”

And that's "turning the other cheek" when it comes to a savage-run country building nuclear weapons, huh? Leo's doing nothing to turn the tide on the Religion of Peace, and John Daniel Davidson at the Federalist news site so far hasn't commented on where the pope's going, which only suggests said site's not really interested in getting rid of Islam as a "teaching tool".

John Daniel Davidson continues his anti-war agenda by whitewashing Pope Leo

Federalist editor John Daniel Davidson continues his atrocious efforts to undermine the war against Iran by citing a source who's actually done more harm than good to America. First, let's see what Davidson says about Donald Trump's threat that a "whole civilization was going to die":

What does seem clear amid the fog of war, however, is that Trump’s maximalist, annihilationist rhetoric — talk of destroying Iranian “civilization,” “never to be brought back again,” taking out “the entire country,” bombing it “into the stone age,” targeting critical civilian infrastructure like power plants — has already gravely damaged the United States.

Why? Because America should only wage just wars, and waging a just war means being subject to certain restraints. Just war precludes immoral means — like the mass killing of civilians — to achieve victory. Even threatening such means, as Trump has done, damages the moral conscience of a people as much as it degrades the moral standing of a nation. Simply put, threatening to do something intrinsically immoral, even if you don’t actually do it, is wrong.

Yes, it was in poor taste for Trump to say that, and just because Iran's savages running the asylum chanted "death to America/Israel" and "great/little satan" over past decades doesn't justify what Trump said, considering there are some decent civilians there. But is Davidson, with his stealthy anti-war propaganda, suited to make the points? Because, and here now is the troubling part, Davidson obscured the positions of a certain recently instated Catholic pope:

That said, what should most concern Americans in this war is not the conduct of Iran’s leaders but the conduct of our own. Pope Leo, who has been a vocal critic of the war, spoke with moral clarity and authority on Tuesday when he said, “This is truly not acceptable. Here there are certainly questions of international law, but even more than this a question of morality for the good of people … attacks on civilian infrastructure are against international law, but it is also a sign of the hatred and division and destruction that human beings are capable of.”

Amid the tumult of world events in recent days, the pope’s words stand out in part because they offer such a contrast to the naked bloodlust and rumblings of annihilation coming from the Trump administration. Whatever happens, we cannot lose sight of the moral dimension here. In both word and deed, if we do not hold ourselves to a high moral standard then we risk, in a very real sense, becoming the villains in an unjust war.

Well! Is he subtly implying the war on Iran is unjust, despite all the rockets that were fired that even cost several USA soldiers their lives over in Kuwait? Until that can be figured out, however, what's also eyebrow raising is that Davidson touted a pope who acted as apologist for illegal Muslim immigrants in Europe as a just, sage voice. Yes, the same pope Leo who also signaled support for Islam. Leo also voiced support for illegal immigrants in the USA. This is whom Davidson considers a voice of reason? Wow, and to think he has such a problem with Mark Levin, whom the Federalist writers even had the gall to smear as a "neoconservative". I don't know if the term was considered negative years before, but I realize that in the past decade, it certainly took on a negative meaning since. But while there are valid disagreements to be had with Levin, citing somebody as awful as Pope Leo turned out to be does nothing to improve on the issues at hand. "Clarity and authority" my foot. Davidson's insinuation that the Trump administration is one dimensionally bloodthirsty is also disturbing, and hurts the mission of the war terribly.

And if Davidson's coming within even miles of stealthily implying the war against Iran's jihadists is not a just war, despite all the damage caused by Iran's rockets in the past month, which have cost a number of lives locally, then all Davidson's done is make clear why the Federalist is past its sell-by-date, as the British could say. Garbage like this "op-ed" is exactly why I came to find them increasingly repellent instead of the perceptive site I once thought they were. Now, under anti-war propaganda like what Davidson's now stealthily turning out, they're a train wreck, and are doing the conservative movement a horrible disservice.

Update: it's now being reported there's serious tension between the Trump administration and Pope Leo:

Relations between Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, and the White House have sunk to a new low since the outbreak of the Iran War, as the Trump administration wrapped its military messaging in deeply religious language, particularly in briefings by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

[...] The turning point came with the pope's "state of the world" address on Jan. 9 to the Vatican's diplomatic corps. Leo XIV said that "war is back in fashion" and that the international order built after World War II had been "completely broken." The Pentagon interpreted the speech as a direct attack on Trump's policies, especially the pope's statement that "diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus is being replaced by a diplomacy based on power, whether of individuals or groups of states."

[...] According to the report, the meeting contributed to the cancellation of a planned papal visit to the US. In May 2025, just two weeks after Leo XIV was elected, Vance invited him to celebrate the 250th anniversary of US independence. The Vatican considered the invitation, but according to the report declined it for three reasons: foreign policy disagreements, growing opposition among American bishops to Trump's immigration policies, and concern that the visit would be seen as political support for the administration on the eve of the midterm elections.

And this is who Davidson's supporting, right? What an embarrassment indeed. All this makes clear something is terribly broken in the religious system, and no telling if it'll improve for the better.

Update 2: and now, Trump's issued a more official statement taking issue with Leo for his grave mistakes:

In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that he likes Pope Leo’s brother “much better” than he likes the Pope. Trump also noted he does not want a Pope “who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” or who “thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela.”

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote. “He talks about ‘fear of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart.”

“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump added. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country.”

Trump added that he also did not want a Pope who criticizes him because he was “doing exactly” what he was elected to do.

Indeed, Leo attacked the electorate, and that's simply unacceptable. So again, this is whom Davidson considers a great sage? A man who does what could be called "projection"? Please. Do tell us about it.

Tucker Carlson is against rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple

The insufferable pseudo-conservative Carlson continues his anti-Israel tirades with assaults on the right to reclaim sovereignty over the Jerusalem Temple:

Anti-Israel media personality Tucker Carlson sparked controversy after claiming that Israel’s war is allegedly driven by a goal of destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque and building the Third Temple in its place.

In an episode of the "Tucker Carlson Show," he asked, "How did all these guys wind up wearing patches suggesting the point of this war was the destruction of one of the holiest places in Islam and the rebuilding of a temple that is totally anathema to Christianity?" [...]

He accused, "Chabad has been pushing in a pretty subtle way, unless you look carefully, for the reconstruction of the Third Temple."

And this is exactly why the Temple Mount, as it's called today, needs to be reclaimed for Judaist worship. Carlson also disgustingly puts words in the mouths of Christians who're realists, and says exactly what the Islamic world wants to hear. And the worst part is that it was undoubtably his full intention to kowtow to the Religion of Peace. He's really being a humiliation lately. What next, will he say women who wear skimpy clothes are criminals? It's sickening to ponder what other awful positions Carlson harbors at the expense of sane societies.

The first pope from the USA proves to be a very bad one

Pope Leo announced he'd be visiting the Italian island of Lampedusa, site of many Muslim illegal immigration arrivals (H/T: Front Page):

Pope Leo XIV will spend July 4 visiting a Mediterranean island known for migrant crossings into Europe.

The Vatican announced this week that the first American leader of the Catholic Church will visit Lampedusa, a small Italian island that has for years served as a gateway for migrants and refugees traveling to Europe from Africa and the Middle East.

Pope Leo expressed a desire to visit Lampedusa in a video message sent to volunteers there last year, in which he said they “have shown … the smile and the attention of a human face to people who have survived in a desperate journey of hope.”

His predecessor, Pope Francis, celebrated Mass on the island in 2013 on an altar made of shipwrecked migrant boats, throwing a wreath into the ocean in honor of migrants who lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

The Vatican announced earlier this month that Pope Leo would not be visiting the U.S. this year, after Vice President J.D. Vance personally delivered an invitation from President Donald Trump during a visit to the Vatican in May last year.

Pope Leo also pandered to Ramadan adherents, so there's something else quite telling about his MO. He may be the first Catholic representative from the USA who was elected pope for the Vatican, but he's definitely proven to be the worst, and he's embarrassed the USA as a result. Note how he won't even visit his homeland or travel to the White House to meet with the POTUS and the Veep, and that's very telling as well. Leo's one of the worst sellouts of his sort.

Huckabee sends a vital message to Carlson

The USA ambassador gave an interview to the awful pseudo-conservative journalist, and sent him a message about why Israel is allowed areas that currently aren't under its control:

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said that Israel has a right to large swaths of the Middle East.

Speaking on the Tucker Carlson Show in an interview released Friday, Huckabee quoted Genesis 15:18, in which G-d promises Abraham, then known as Abram, that his descendants would inherit the land, "from the Nile to the Euphrates."

Carlson noted that this verse would mean Israel has a right to claim land in "basically the entire Middle East," including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and even parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Huckabee corrected him, saying, "Not sure we'd go that far," and noting, "It would be a big piece of land."

But when Carlson asked, "Does Israel have the right to that land?" Huckabee responded, "It would be fine if they took it all."

Huckabee also stressed that despite this, Israel is not seeking to take over the Middle East, but does have a right to live in the land currently under Israeli sovereignty.

Someday, those specific areas that aren't currently under Israeli sovereignty will return. And Huckabee did the right thing to make it clear to Carlson the exact facts in history.

Jean-Luc Melenchon's party faces backlash for leading to murder of conservative figure at Lyon university

There was recently a murder of a conservative figure committed by Antifa anarchists at a university in Lyon, in which a representative of Jean-Luc Melenchon's France Unbowed party was involved, and now, it's leading to backlash against the communist party:

A leftist parliamentary assistant has been barred from the French National Assembly after being accused of taking part in the mob killing of a conservative university student in Lyon.

During a protest from the anti-mass migration feminist group Collectif Némésis, who gathered on Thursday on the Sciences Po university in Lyon in opposition to a lecture from far-left La France Insoumise (France in Rebellion) MEP Rima Hassan, a 23-year-old student, Quentin Deranque, was killed in an alleged act of Antifa violence.

Deranque, a conservative Catholic who had been asked by the female activist group to provide informal security from the far-left, suffered a traumatic brain injury during the attack and ultimately perished in the hospital on Saturday.

On Monday, the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, announced that the parliament had taken the “precautionary measure” of banning Jacques-Élie Favrot, the parliamentary assistant to LFI Raphaël Arnault, after he was accused by Némésis of being present during the attack that led to the death in Lyon, Le Figaro reported. Favrot has denied responsibility for the death of Quentin.

For his part, Arnault has long been the subject of controversy, having been accused and even reportedly convicted of violent assaults against conservatives. The founder of the Jeune Garde (Young Guard) Antifa branch in Lyon was also revealed to have been placed on the government’s extremist watch list. Despite this, he was still backed by the Jean-Luc Mélenchon party and was elected in 2024 to represent Vaucluse in the National Assembly. [...]

The leader of the populist National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, said that “far-left militias, which, for years, relying on the complacency and support of parties such as La France Insoumise, have multiplied in the public space, intimidation, threats and assaults.”

“Democracy can no longer accept those who want to overthrow it,” she argued, calling for the government to ban such Antifa groups as terrorist organisations, as was done by the Trump administration.

At a demonstration in Paris on Sunday, which drew support from right-wing leaders such as former presidential candidate Éric Zemmour and MEP Marion Maréchal, attendees were heard chanting “LFI murderers!” and “LFI assassins”. Others carried signs reading “Antifa murderers, justice for Quentin” and “Young Guard terrorists”.

Melenchon's movement has really done it this time. He for starters should be expelled from the parliament, and Antifa should be banned from operating there too, just like the Muslim Brotherhood must also be banned from operations there. Monsters like Melenchon's movement are part of the reason why things have become so much worse over the years in France.

An upcoming Congressional hearing on banning sharia in the USA

Janet Levy talks about an upcoming panel in Congress on banning Islamic sharia in the USA:

Whenever patriots rise to defend America from radical Islam, liberals dismiss them as alarmist or Islamophobic. Therefore, criticism is likely to increase after the February 10th Sharia Free America hearings of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. But not only is the threat real, it also grows stronger from apologists who insist that Islam is a religion of peace, even though Islamist groups openly swear by its medieval tenets of world conquest.

Fortunately, many House Republicans are standing against this growing threat. In less than a month, 26 representatives from 17 states have joined the Sharia-Free America Caucus, led by Representatives Keith Self (R-TX-3) and Chip Roy (R-TX-21). Their goal is to protect the Constitution and defend individual freedoms and the American way of life by passing laws to prevent sharia from invading our civic life and courts.

Read more. This is something that must also be taken to Europe, Africa, Asia and even Latin America, because who knows how much horrific influence of the Religion of Peace can be found in any part there? The time's come to deal with this properly, and the House hearings are just the beginning of what's needed.

Britain allows convicted jihadist to run for Birmingham city council

The UK government continues to enable decay, moral or otherwise, by allowing a convicted jihadist to run for Birmingham council:

A convicted jihadist who was previously jailed for his role in an armed terrorist plot on a British consulate has confirmed that he will be running in a council election in the multicultural hub of Birmingham.

Pakistani-born Shahid Butt, 60, has attempted to downplay the Islamist infiltration of the United Kingdom, despite running for office as a convicted terrorist.

Butt is running to represent the overwhelmingly Muslim area of Sparkhill on the city council of Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city.

The council candidate was convicted in 1999 of having formed an armed terror group planning to attack an Anglican Church, a Swiss-owned hotel, and the British consulate in Yemen, the Birmingham Mail reported.

Butt’s group was also alleged to have been tied to an Islamist group that kidnapped 16 and killed four Western people in 1998 in Yemen.

His violent past stretched before that, however, having been jailed for his role in street violence in the 1980s in Birmingham, where his parents migrated to from Pakistan. Butt is alleged to have been a member of the Pakistani Lynx gang, which would clash with nativist groups in racist street battles.

The Islamic activist has also recently called upon Muslim youth in Birmingham to “work out at the gym and learn to fight” to be prepared for potential attacks from “disbelievers”.

In November, Butt also called on Muslims from around Britain to descend on Birmingham during the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer match in the city. He told followers that they needed to stop Israeli fans “desecrating” and “dirtying” the city, while also claiming that “babykiller” Israeli soldiers would also be in attendance.

Visiting Israeli football fans were ultimately banned from attending by local police, who attempted to claim that there were concerns over the Israeli fans, when in reality they were concerned over violence from the local Muslim population. The local police chief was later forced to resign after it emerged that the force had relied on fake evidence produced by an AI chatbot to accuse the Tel Aviv fans of wrongdoing.

If the UK government refuses to take any steps to bar Butt from running for and working in what's basically a local government outfit, they've only brought the country down even further.

Tucker Carlson continues his downward spiral

The disgraced former Fox News writer continues his kowtowing to Islam, this time in Saudi Arabia:

In Saudi Arabia Wednesday for the Real Estate Future Forum, disgraced former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said, "I'm, for whatever it's worth, a pretty fervent Christian, and I feel completely comfortable here in the seat of Islam… and just saying that is a threat somehow to some people, who are propagandists and liars."

Well, who exactly is the propagandist and liar here? It is no surprise that Tucker Carlson feels "completely comfortable here in the seat of Islam." He is a welcome and lauded guest of the state, and his presence there is useful for the Saudi monarchy. They aren't going to give him any trouble for being a Christian, and even if they were, Carlson is not there as a missionary or preacher. He didn't proselytize, and no one expected him to do so. If he had done so, it would have been quite quickly made clear to him that such behavior was not what the Saudis invited him for, and that he should stop it forthwith or would be just as quickly shown the door.

Carlson also appears to be trying to generalize from his own experience, as if every Christian who ever ventured into Saudi Arabia were an internationally renowned VIP who could expect to receive nothing but the most deferential treatment from the Saudi government. The reality, of course, is quite different. Virtually all of the Christians in Saudi Arabia are foreign workers from countries such as the Philippines or India. They know very well that when they come to Saudi Arabia, they are expected to leave their religion at the door. There are no churches. Public worship is forbidden to them. If the Christians gather in someone's private home and conduct their own worship services, they could end up being the recipients of a police raid. If they speak to any Muslim about Christianity, they could be arrested and imprisoned or deported. Even having a Bible or a cross could get them arrested and imprisoned or deported. Christians in Saudi Arabia don't have the privilege of being Tucker Carlson and are well aware of how precarious their situation is while they are there.

Even now, when women aren't forced to wear niqabs in Saudi Arabia, there's still obviously many things still going wrong, and forbidding anybody religious freedom, if that's still in effect there, is very disturbing. No doubt, even Hinduists, Buddhists and Shintoists are forbidden to practice their faiths there. And, lest we forget, even Judaists quite likely aren't allowed to practice theirs. That they may be allowed to enter the country now is beside the point.

Carlson's kowtowing is a very bad omen, and he's continuing to let down everybody by opening his big mouth for worthless reasons. And if Saudi Arabia's still restricting freedom of faith, then prince Mohammed bin Salman's definitely not improving on something.