53percenter's Blog

For more than 50 years Climate Alarmists in the scientific community and environmental movement have not gotten even one prediction correct, but they do have a perfect record of getting 41 predictions wrong.

In other words, on at least 41 occasions, these so-called experts have predicted some terrible environmental catastrophe was imminent … and it never happened.

And not once — not even once! — have these alarmists had one of their predictions come true.

The Constitutional Court of South Africa upheld a previous ruling Wednesday that effectively outlawed spanking and the use of any physical punishment against children nationwide.

The Times of South Africa reports that the case was brought to the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country, by the civil society group Freedom of Religion South Africa (FORSA) as a challenge to a previous ruling from the South Gauteng High Court that deemed parents using physical force against their children as unconstitutional.

The debate began in 2017 when a man in Johannesburg was found guilty of assault against his 13-year-old son for beating him after catching him viewing pornographic material. In his defense, the father argued that he was administering “moderate and reasonable chastisement” previously allowed under common law. However, the Constitutional Court unanimously upheld the 2017 ruling, stating that that were effective ways of disciplining a child without resorting to corporal punishment.

In a truly saddening but by no means unpredictable development, the AMCHA Initiative, which is a watchdog organization dedicated to investigating and combating anti-Semitism on university campuses across America, reported this week an astonishing 70% rise over the past year in anti-Semitic incidents directed against pro-Israel students on college campuses. As reported by Adam Kredo of The Washington Free Beacon, AMCHA noted a drop in “classical” white supremacist-inspired Jew-hatred targeted against Jews on university campuses, but a huge spike in Israel-related acts of harassment against Jews and other non-Jewish Zionists who stand in solidarity with the Jewish state.

The trend is hardly new, and The Daily Wire has extensively covered the years-long development of escalating anti-Semitic incidents on the American campus. Indeed, the problem has been so bad that a group wholly distinct from AMCHA but similarly dedicated to combating on-campus anti-Semitism was founded in 2015: Maccabee Task Force. The question now facing the American Jewish and pro-Israel communities is simple: How can we begin to shift the on-campus narrative away from anti-Semitism and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and back toward a pro-Jewish, pro-Israel stance?

I have personally observed this ongoing fight across numerous college campuses and have been a part of more than one pro-Israel university event that was protested and forcibly shouted down by the Jew-hating miscreants of the misnamed hate group “Students for Justice in Palestine.” I have seen the vicious faces of those who yell “Nakba!” and the genocidal eliminationist phrase, “from the river to the sea, ‘Palestine’ shall be free.” (One must wonder whether these people feel similarly about liberating other legally fictitious locales, such as Mordor or Narnia.) I also have seen many Israeli flag-wielding students push back with hapless pleas for “peace!,” “tolerance!,” and (unfortunately) “two states!”

Do my fellow proud Zionists see the problem here? The Palestinian-Arab side of the argument may be genocidal and jihad-loving, but at least they present a morally framed narrative (no matter how grossly immoral that narrative actually is). The pro-Jewish/pro-Israel side, by contrast, tends toward an overly defensive, AIPAC-inspired defensive posture that relies on a non-substantive, purely procedural narrative.

Interestingly, then, the fight against Israel-inspired Jew-hatred on the university campus can actually learn much from the ongoing conservative dialogue between the New York Post’s Sohrab Ahmari and National Review’s David French. Procedure-based arguments, especially when confronted with a substance-based argumentative opposition, are unlikely to be sufficient; the only way to truly make a dialectic dent is to argue on the substantive merits of an issue and argue in overtly moral terms. I wrote as much in June: “Advocates for Israel on the American university campus must transition away from pleas for ‘peace’ and ‘tolerance’ and toward arguments grounded in the inherent, biblically derived morality of a Jewish state existing between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”

This simply must be the path forward for Jewish and pro-Israel students on campus who are invested in helping to turn back the tide of rising on-campus anti-Semitism. Jewish and Zionist students must make the moral, historically informed case that Zionism — which is simply the Jewish right to self-determination in the Jews’ biblical, ancestral homeland — is an inherently beautiful phenomenon. These courageous students must argue that the culmination of Herzl’s Zionist vision, the establishment in 1948 of a sovereign Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael for the very first time in millennia, represents one of the most profoundly beautiful developments in human civilization over the course of the last century. These students must advance direct, overt, morally based arguments that defend the beauty that Zionism. These students must also advance historically and legally informed arguments that rebut the utter mendacity that is “Nakba” and other purported Palestinian-Arab “national” humiliations.

Appeasement and unilateral disarmament — here, in terms of the use of overt moral terminology — never work. The students who take the lead on this initiative will necessarily be bold. They will be valiant. And they will face mighty resistance from the leftist/Islamist alliance all across the nation. But these students will have the benefit of standing for truth, morality, and, fundamentally, justice. It’s time to get the ball rolling and begin to defeat on-campus Jew-hatred in America.

Just days after appointing her, the Women’s March, which has come under fire for the anti-Semitism of its past leaders, was forced to remove its newest board member, Zahra Billoo, for extreme statements she made on social media. Billoo responded by posting a lengthy thread on Twitter denouncing the group and blaming her removal on an “Islamophobic smear campaign.”

The ouster of Billoo came in response to a series of past statements the activist and former executive director at the controversy-riddled Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) made on social media about Israel.

As reported by The Daily Caller, in 2017 posts on Facebook and Twitter, Billoo defended her decision to boycott “Wonder Woman” because it stars Gal Gadot, who once served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). “I similarly would not watch a movie where the lead actor or actress were proud of their participation in the US military, ISIS, or Al Qaeda,” Billoo explained. “Don’t guess, I’ll just tell you, I believe all of them are comparably evil.” She went on to call Gadot a “murderer” and to condemn “Apartheid Israel.”

In February 2018, Billoo posted on Facebook an account of her encounter with a Marine recruiter in which she compared American military to ISIS and Nazis. “He explained the promise of the educational benefits lured him in. He was otherwise not going to be able to go to school,” she wrote. “I shared that financial benefits are often a recruiting tactic for groups like ISIS also. That was tricky for me. Gently comparing his experience to that of ISIS fighters. I refrained from comparing him to a Nazi cook, who though a cook, was still part of the Nazi operation. It took a lot to not say it.”

She also said in May 2018 that she doesn’t see “any difference between American youth leaving the country to join ISIS or the IDF,” declaring, “Both are murderous, war crime committing, terrorist entities.” (See the posts here.)

The Women’s March, which has had to dismiss other high-profile leaders, Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory, for their anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions, voted Billoo out just days after voting her in, The Daily Caller notes in a follow-up report.

In a 25-tweet thread posted late Wednesday night, Billoo unloaded on the Women’s March, which she decried as having caved to an “Islamophobic smear campaign” and which she denounced as “unable and unwilling to be an ally during challenging times.” She also made clear that she stands by her extreme statements that ultimately compelled the group to remove her.

Below is the full text of her tweet thread (formatting adjusted):

Since this is going to be in your newsfeeds in the morning – here’s a thread about me being voted off the board of @WomensMarch tonight.

A few hours ago, I was voted off the @WomensMarch national board. This followed an Islamophobic smear campaign led by the usual antagonists, who have long targeted me, my colleagues, and anyone else who dares speak out in support of Palestinian human rights and the right to self-determination.

The past 48 hours have been a spiral of bad news and smear efforts. Part of the smear campaign is motivated by opponents of the Women’s March, because the organization has traditionally challenged the status quo of power and white supremacy in our country.

However, much of the campaign is driven by people who oppose me and my work challenging the occupation of Palestine, our country’s perpetuation of unjust and endless wars, and law enforcement operations targeting the American Muslim community.

The Women’s March, Inc. is an organization I once held dear. I spoke at the first #WomensMarch, spoke at regional marches every year after, spoke at the #WomensConvention, participated in national actions including the original #Kavanaugh protests, and worked to mobilize Muslim women for their efforts.

During the past few years right-wingers, from the President’s son to the Anti-Defamation League and troll armies, have targeted the Women’s March, Inc. For so long, I’ve admired their resilience in speaking truth to power, in working together, and in never cowering.

Over and over again, the co-founders of Women’s March, Inc., @lsarsour, @msladyjustice1, @TamikaDMallory, and @bobblanddesign, put their lives on the line, winning power for all women in all of our diversity.

The Women’s March, Inc. that voted me off its board tonight is one that no longer demonstrates the strength that inspired millions of women across the country. To see and experience its new leaders caving to right-wing pressure, and casting aside a woman of color, a Muslim woman, a long-time advocate within the organization, without the willingness to make any efforts to learn and grow, breaks my heart.

This isn’t about a lost seat, there will be many seats. The Women’s March, Inc. has drawn a line in the sand, one that will exclude many with my lived experiences and critiques. It has effectively said, we will work on some women’s rights at the expense of others.

To be clear, anti-Semitism is indeed a growing and dangerous problem in our country, as is anti-Blackness, anti-immigrant sentiment, Islamophobia, ableism, sexism, and so much more. I condemn any form of bigotry unequivocally, but I also refuse to be silent as allegations of bigotry are weaponized against the most marginalized people, those who find sanctuary and hope in the articulation of truth.

In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words. I told the truth as my community and I have lived it, through the FBI’s targeting of my community, as I supported families who have lost loved ones because of US military actions, and as I learned from the horrific experiences of Palestinian life.

In attempting to heal and build in an expedited manner within Women’s March, Inc., I offered to meet with stakeholders to address their concerns, and to work with my sisters on the new board to learn, heal, and build together. These efforts were rejected. And in rejecting these efforts, the new Women’s March, Inc. board demonstrated that it lacks the courage to demonstrate allyship in the face of fire.

I came to Women’s March, Inc. to work. My body of work has included leading @CAIRSFBA a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization for over a decade, growing it now more than six fold. I have led the team that forced Abercrombie to change its discriminatory policies, have been arrested advocating for DACA, partnered w/Jewish organizations including @jewishaction and @jvplive to protect our communities, and was one of the first lawyers to sue the President.

It is not my first time being the target of a smear campaign. The Women’s March, Inc., more than any place, is where I would have expected us to be able to have courageous conversations and dive deep into relationship building work. I am happy to have as many conversations as it takes to listen and learn and heal, but I will no longer be able to do that through Women’s March, Inc. This action today demonstrates that this new leadership is unable and unwilling to be an ally during challenging times.

My beliefs drive my work and I am not seeking accolades or positions of power. These past few days have been the greatest test of that. My integrity, my truth, and my strength comes from God and a place of deep conviction. I will continue my work as a civil rights lawyer and a faith based activist. You will find me speaking out against settler colonialism everywhere, challenging Islamophobia and all forms of racism and bigotry, and building with Muslims and our allies in our quest to be our most authentic and liberated selves. Onward, God willing.

National pro-life leaders say American women are increasingly identifying with their movement and choosing life over abortion, as evidenced by the lowest number and rate of abortions since the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

A report at the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute observes the number of abortions fell from 1,058,000 in 2011 to 862,000 in 2017 – a 19 percent drop.

The abortion rate, calculated as the number of abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15-44, fell from 16.9 to 13.5, a 20 percent drop, during the same time period.