By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Eleven Jewish members of Congress are among 39 urging “immediate classified briefings” from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on the implications of Turkey providing a haven for the leaders of Hamas.
Jewish members signing the letter included Democratic Reps. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Lois Frankel of Florida, Dan Goldman of New York, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Kathy Manning of North Carolina, Jared Moskowitz of Florida , Brad Schneider of Illinois, Brad Sherman of California, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, and Republican Max Miller of Ohio.
“We are alarmed by recent reports that senior members of Hamas’s leadership have relocated to Turkey with the intent of establishing a headquarters there. We have serious concerns about the security implications of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member hosting, and potentially aiding, Hamas, a U.S. and EU designated foreign terrorist organization.
“Throughout the tenure of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s relationship with Hamas has long been an issue of concern. Turkey has maintained relations with Hamas and openly expressed support for its mission and movement. In spite of Hamas’s heinous October 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel, the Turkish government has continued its unreserved public support for the terrorist group responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians, including Americans and nationals from NATO allied countries. In the year following the attacks, support for Hamas in Turkish government policies and rhetoric from top Turkish officials, including President Erdoğan, has intensified over the last year.”
The congressional letter posed these two questions, among others, to Blinken and Haines:
–What actions have been, or will be, contemplated by the United States and NATO allies to address the possibility of a NATO country harboring a designated terrorist organization?
–Would the U.S. seek extradition of Hamas officials from Turkey based on the U.S. criminal charges brought against Hamas by the Department of Justice? We look forward to your prompt response.
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Gary Gensler, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has announced he will retire when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, clearing the way for Trump to appoint his own choice. Appointed by President Joe Biden, and confirmed by the Senate on a 54-45 vote, Gensler’s term had been scheduled to run through 2026.
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Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Massachusetts) has urged the U.S. Senate to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. “If Kennedy is charged with overseeing the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he will fuse his personal brand with organs of state to pump out quackery and conspiracy,” the congressman wrote in an op-ed for the Boston Globe. “Kenney won’t only attack vaccines. Other targets include fluoride, which he pledges to ‘remove from public water’ although it has drastically improved children’s dental health; new medicines for cancer and Alzheimer’s, which he impugns as pharmaceutical poison; and high-speed internet, which he speculates causes ‘leaky brain.’”
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Democratic Reps. Becca Balint of Vermont and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois have sprung to the defense of incoming freshman Congresswoman Sarah McBride, a Delaware Democrat. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a resolution to bar McBride, a transgender female from women’s bathrooms in the Capitol. The Los Angeles Times quoted Balint, cochair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, as saying, “This incredibly craven and cruel attack directed at [McBride] was certainly intended to dehumanize her before she has even been sworn in, but it actually doesn’t just affect our first trans member of Congress. It impacts all of the people who work on Capitol Hill who identify as trans and nonbinary. It impacts the reporters who cover the Hill that identify as trans and nonbinary. And it also impacts every single one of our constituents who come into the halls of Congress to meet with us.” Schakowsky, whose grandson is trangender, was quoted by the Times as calling the attack on McBride “absolutely outrageous. … What a ridiculous focus this is. There are needs of many, many Americans who don’t have the healthcare they need, seniors who can’t afford their medications. Those are the things that we should get to work on, tht I’m sure Sarah would want to get to work on – and this is just off the deep end.”
INTERNATIONAL
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, sensitive to U.S. criticism that her country has been sending Chinese parts and products to the U.S., said on Friday, “We have a plan with the aim of substituting these imports that come from China and producing the majority of them in Mexico, either with Mexican companies or primarily North American companies.”
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U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-Florida) issued a warning on Fox News to any country that would enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. “You’re going to have to pick the rogue ICC versus America. I’m working with [Senator] Tom Cotton to have legislation passed as soon as we can to sanction any country that aids and abets the arrest of any politician in Israel. So, to any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham said.
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Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan has been missing since Thursday, Nov. 21, in the United Arab Emirates. On Saturday, Israel’s National Security Agency announced its suspicion that his disappearance is a “terrorist incident.”
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Russia’s Wagner Group is conducting various military operations in Africa and Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky has offered to share tips with Africans on how to beat them. “We know who the Wagnerites are,” Zelensky informed the 3rd International Grain from Ukraine conference. “We know how to fight them. We know how to destroy them. This shows that we have the relevant experience.”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.