Month: December 2020

The coronavirus relief bill released Monday includes $250 million in investment aid for the Palestinians and for encouraging Israeli-Palestinian dialogue in a provision titled the “Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act of 2020.”

The provision, named for retiring Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), is buried deep within the nearly 6,000-page legislative text.

Citing economic stagnation in the Palestinian Territories, and the potential for economic development to encourage peace, the Lowey Act would spend $50 million per year for the next five years. A version of the act passed the House in July.

The act would create the “People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund,” run by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to “provide funding for projects to help build the foundation for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians and for a sustainable two-state solution.”

It would also support projects that foster dialogue between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel. The fund would have an advisory board of 13 members, plus two members “who are representatives of foreign governments or international organizations for renewable periods of 3 years.”

The act would also create the “Joint Investment for Peace Initiative,” which would provide investment funding for “projects that contribute to the development of the Palestinian private sector economy in the West Bank and Gaza.”

The act prohibits the funding from being used to aid any foreign government, including the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It also prohibits funds from being given to any group deemed to be involved in, or encouraging, terrorist activity.

Congress limited funding to the Palestinian Authority in 2018 under the Taylor Force Act, which prevents U.S. taxpayer dollars from going to the Palestinian government while it continues to pay stipends to terrorists and their families.

President Donald Trump has also cut other forms of U.S. funding to the Palestinians. His Middle East peace plan, introduced earlier this year, provides for a two-state solution, on condition that the Palestinian state be demilitarized and reject terrorism.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Rev. Franklin Graham detailed in a Facebook post Saturday many of the ways in which the Democrats and media have “maligned” and “falsely accused” President Donald Trump.

The Christian leader, who is president of charity Samaritan’s Purse, and a supporter of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, summarized:

In 2016 Donald J. Trump told the American people that the government was spying on him. The media said that he was paranoid. The Obama administration and the Democrats said that this was an absolute lie and that Donald Trump was not fit to be president, only for us to find out later that the U.S. government did spy on Donald Trump, and what he had said was in fact true. Then we spent the next two years with the President under investigation for collusion with the Russians. The President said there was no collusion, but night after night, the media and the Democrats said there was collusion. After an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, it turned out to be false—there was no collusion. President Trump was right again. Then the Democrats impeached him over a phone call.

“The President has been maligned, falsely accused, and attacked on every front since before the election in 2016,” Graham wrote. “When President Trump says that this election has been rigged or stolen, I tend to believe him. He has a track record of being right.”

Graham concluded by asking his followers for prayers for Trump, Joe Biden, and “our nation – that we will get through this, and for God’s will be done.”

Last week, Graham posted that he is “grateful to God” for the past four years during which Trump has been president.

“People have asked if I am disappointed about the election,” he wrote, and reflected he is “grateful to God that for the last four years He gave us a president who protected our religious liberties; grateful for a president who defended the lives of the unborn, standing publicly against abortion and the bloody smear it has made on our nation.”

“[G]rateful for a president who nominated conservative judges to the Supreme Court and to our federal courts,” he continued, “grateful for a president who built the strongest economy in 70 years with the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years before the pandemic.”

Actor Antonio Sabato, Jr. is teaming up with singer Kaya Jones and other entertainment figures to create ConFlix Studios with the goal of producing films with conservative, pro-America themes.

“We are patriots who want to keep going and support our country, support our law enforcement, support the history of our country, the Constitution, the flag, our soldiers, and so much more,” Antonio Sabato, Jr. told The Kyle Olson Show this week.

Listen below:

Sabato Jr., whose acting career spans 30 years, with years-spanning appearances in General Hospital and more than 150 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful, argued that the entertainment world has “moved away from supporting our country,” and he says his new media venture will create motion pictures and television shows that embrace classic American values.

ConFlix’s first project is Trail Blazers, a film he said is a western where God is fighting evil. Well-known conservative actors Scott Baio, Kevin Sorbo, Kristy Swanson, Stacey Dash, Dean Cain, Robert Wagner, and Deana Martin will star in the film, according to the company’s website.

Sabato Jr. said conservative entertainment consumers are “eagerly waiting for something new” and produce projects that “support our country, support our God, support our flag.”

He said he wants to make “movies about what happened to our president. Who’s going to do it if we don’t do it?”

The actor said many outspoken conservative actors have been blacklisted in Hollywood and his new company will give them the opportunity to continue working while expressing their support for President Donald Trump and their values.

Sabato Jr. spoke on behalf of Trump at the Republican National Convention in 2016, “and I was blacklisted in a matter of 24 hours because they have so much power,” he said. “They can decide if I go to work or not.”

Through his company, Sabato Jr. said he intended to bring back “the old, classic Hollywood with integrity and honor.”

Sabato Jr. asked listeners to sign up for the studio’s email list for updates and information on upcoming projects.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.