He was sentenced to life for murder at age 17. At age 74 he's a free man
By Lauren del Valle
CNN
March 1, 2019
John F. Kennedy was the US President when 17-year-old Sheldry Topp killed a man and received an automatic sentence of life without parole in a Michigan county court.
After serving more than 56 years behind bars, 74-year-old Sheldry left prison a free man on Thursday and headed for a steak dinner with his brother.
Topp was the oldest "juvenile lifer" in Michigan before his release. Two US Supreme Court decisions changed Topp's life.
In 2012 the Supreme Court decided that sentencing a minor to an automatic sentence of life in prison without a chance at parole was unconstitutional and represented "cruel and unusual punishment," even if the juvenile was convicted of murder.
In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled the law should be applied to prisoners retroactively, a decision that gave Topp another chance at life in society.
On Tuesday, Topp appeared in front of a judge for the reconsideration of his sentence. The prosecution sought to resentence Topp to life without parole.
Prosecutors argued that Topp did not act out of youthful immaturity when he fatally stabbed a man in 1962, and said he is "irreparably corrupt," according to court documents. The Oakland County Prosecutor did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
Topp never appealed his conviction, but was denied a commuted sentence in 1987 and 2008. He has served much of his prison time in a facility near Lake Michigan with the minimum level of security.
When Judge James Alexander resentenced Topp to 40-60 years in prison on Tuesday, Topp had already served 56 years and accrued more than 10 years' worth of good behavior credits, allowing him to be released without a parole hearing, said Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections.
"I'm really feeling good about it. I don't know how I'll feel tomorrow, but I don't think I'll feel less good," Topp said, laughing, minutes after walking outside the prison fence.
Topp, who uses a walker after having a stroke in 2016, plans to stay with family, whom he says has supported him throughout his prison term.
A life of violence
Topp was captured in Chicago in 1962 less than two weeks after fatally stabbing Charles Davis, 50, after Topp broke into Davis' house.
The teenage Topp confessed, saying he waited until dark outside a house that he thought looked like "anybody with money lived," broke in, grabbed a kitchen knife and went to steal money from a bedroom dresser. When Davis discovered Topp and began fighting with him, he stabbed the man four times, then stole Davis' car and cut the phone line before fleeing to Chicago, according to court documents.
Topp had been in and out of mental institutions since age 12, according to court documents, and said he had sneaked out of a mental institution in Pontiac, Michigan, the day of the murder. Records show that doctors gave him electroshock treatment and hydrotherapy, a treatment in which a person is wrapped tightly in wet sheets.
Topp was abused by his father from a young age, including frequent beatings with an extension cord, according to court documents. Topp's sister testified she witnessed their father beating him with a baseball bat and records show he was put in a juvenile home after begging his mother not to make him return to his own home.
Medical experts testified in Topp's resentencing that he was a child under duress and is not beyond the ability to be rehabilitated.
Topp completed rehabilitation programs, took academic courses and worked various jobs during his life in prison, court records show.
"It was something I had to do if I ever wanted to get out of jail. I had to do that. But then I started learning a lot of things that made me think about why I did what I did and understand why I shouldn't do them," Topp said.
Topp said toward the end of his father's life, they reached "a small understanding" and exchanged birthday cards each year.
Juveniles in prison
The Sentencing Project, a national advocacy group, released a study around the time of the 2012 Supreme Court ruling. The group found that 47% of juveniles serving a life without parole sentence had been physically abused and 77% of girls serving sentences said they had been sexually abused.
In the Supreme Court decision, Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, wrote, "Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features -- among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate risks and consequences."
Prosecutors can still seek no-parole life sentences under certain circumstances, but the Supreme Court ruling said minors typically cannot be given an automatic life-without-parole prison term.
Twenty-nine states still allow juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole, with most cases in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Louisiana, according to The Sentencing Project.
In Michigan, there were 359 other individuals like Topp who were serving life without parole for a crime they committed as a minor when the Supreme Court determined that they had a right to a resentencing.
Since then, 82 have been released on parole and 151 have been resentenced, according to Gautz.
Five people have been resentenced to life without parole as of January 2019, Gautz said.
Saturday, March 2, 2019
MS-13 TARGETING OFF-DUTY NY COPS
NYPD: MS-13 Planning To Target Off-Duty Cops At Their Homes
LAPPL News Watch
March 1, 2019
The NYPD is warning police officers about a possible threat from the MS-13 gang, particularly when they are off-duty.
CBS2’s Dick Brennan reports that in a bulletin the NYPD put out this alert: “Members of MS-13 are looking to ‘hit’ NYPD police officers, specifically in the Brentwood/Central Islip area as well as possibly Patchogue.”
The bulletin says that the gang members would carry out the attacks on off-duty officers “in order to gain street credibility.”
While the threat has not been substantiated, law enforcement experts say this cannot be taken lightly.
“Whenever a law enforcement officer is being threatened, especially by an organization like MS-13 which we already know is uber violent and has killed numerous people throughout the country if not throughout the world, this has to be taken serious,” said former FBI agent Manny Gomez.
LAPPL News Watch
March 1, 2019
The NYPD is warning police officers about a possible threat from the MS-13 gang, particularly when they are off-duty.
CBS2’s Dick Brennan reports that in a bulletin the NYPD put out this alert: “Members of MS-13 are looking to ‘hit’ NYPD police officers, specifically in the Brentwood/Central Islip area as well as possibly Patchogue.”
The bulletin says that the gang members would carry out the attacks on off-duty officers “in order to gain street credibility.”
While the threat has not been substantiated, law enforcement experts say this cannot be taken lightly.
“Whenever a law enforcement officer is being threatened, especially by an organization like MS-13 which we already know is uber violent and has killed numerous people throughout the country if not throughout the world, this has to be taken serious,” said former FBI agent Manny Gomez.
Friday, March 1, 2019
PIERS RIPS APART MICHAEL THE RAT
Michael ‘Sammy the Bullshitter’ Cohen is a lying, sniveling, self-serving rat who STILL can’t tell the truth
By Piers Morgan
Daily Mail
February 28, 2019
Serial liar Michael Cohen had come to Congress to finally tell the truth.
Donald Trump’s former lawyer and ‘Fixer’, who is about to start a prison sentence for amongst other things, lying, and who had previously brazenly lied to the same Congress, was ready to stop lying.
Cohen’s bottom lip trembled as he solemnly declared: ‘I am here under oath to correct the record, to answer the Committee’s questions truthfully, and to offer the American people what I know about President Trump.’
As for those who questioned his credibility, given the sheer volume of lies he has previously told, he insisted: ‘I have lied, but I am not a liar.’
Ironically, this too was a lie.
If you lie, as one of the Committee members later explained, then self-evidently, you’re a liar.
But Cohen was emphatic: what we were about to hear was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And for the next seven hours, he did his very best to nail Trump down into a political coffin. He branded him a ‘racist’, a ‘conman’ and a ‘cheat’ who only ran for office ‘on a platform of hate and intolerance’ to enhance his personal brand, not to make America great again.
In a withering personal character assessment, Cohen said of the President: ‘He is capable of behaving kindly, but he is not kind. He is capable of committing acts of generosity, but he is not generous. He is capable of being loyal, but he is fundamentally disloyal.’
It was a savage takedown, and Cohen clearly relished his moment in the global media spotlight.
He repeatedly turned on the tears; he spoke again and again of his family, of his loss, of his fears for prison life.
Several times, he even evoked the memory of father of surviving the Holocaust ‘thanks to the compassion and selfless acts of others’ to explain why he, Michael, himself now always instinctively helped those in need.
‘As many people that know me best would say, I am the person they would call at 3am if they needed help.’
All of this was very carefully orchestrated and designed to make us feel sorry for him. Cohen, he was keen for us to know, is a massively misunderstood guy; someone who did bad things but is not actually bad.
A man whose only real crime was trying too hard to help people like Donald Trump at great personal risk to himself.
I found myself laughing out loud at Cohen’s painfully insincere performance, not least because his own lawyer Lanny Davis was sitting right next to him looking like the cat that got every dollop of cream.
Davis, of course, is best known for being one of the closest confidants and advisors to the Clintons.
He took this gig for free, Cohen revealed.
No shit, Sherlock!
Davis – who I know well and respect as a brilliant political operator - would have paid to do it, such is his intense dislike of Trump, keenness to exact revenge for Hillary, and love of media attention.
But there was just one big problem with Cohen’s testimony, and it was perfectly highlighted when he was posed a very simple question.
‘How long did you work in the White House?’ asked Republican rottweiler Jim Jordan.
‘I never worked in the White House,’ replied Cohen.
‘That’s the point isn’t it, Mr Cohen?’ sneered Jordan.
‘No, sir.’
‘Yes it is.’
‘You wanted to work in the White House, ‘
‘No sir.’
‘You just didn’t get brought to the dance.’
‘I was extremely proud to be personal attorney to the President of the United States of America. I did not want to go to the White House.’
The moment he said those words, Twitter exploded – led by many people closest to President Trump.
‘Michael was lobbying EVERYONE to be Chief of Staff,’ tweeted Eric Trump. It was the biggest joke around the office. Did he just perjure himself again?’
His brother Donald Jr agreed: ‘Hahahaha, Michael Cohen begged to work at the White House and everyone knows it.’ He added: ‘It really was the biggest joke of the entire transition. The beginning of his bitterness when he realized that was never going to happen. #Delusional.’
Now, you might expect Trump’s sons to spring to his defence and brand Cohen a liar – again.
What would be far less predictable is that CNN, Trump’s least favourite news organisation, did the same.
During a panel debate about Cohen’s testimony, CNN’s top political correspondent Dana Bash said: ‘The one potential problem that I thought Michael Cohen has is when he was asked if he wanted a job in the White House and he said no. Our reporting….all of us have been told by people in and around the process at the time he very much wanted a job at the White House.’
‘Very much,’ agreed CNN anchor Jake Tapper.
Tapper then played the clip of Cohen’s claim ‘because a lot of us raised our eyebrows because we knew it to not to be true.’
Afterwards, he added: ‘The issue is that one sentence ‘I did not want to go to the White House. All of our reporting suggests that’s not true.’
Later in his testimony, Cohen doubled down and again said ‘I did not want to go to the White House’ and insisted he had told President Trump he wanted to continue working for him as an outside personal attorney.
Yet CNN reported Cohen wanted a job at the White House but was edged out by Trump’s family, and was named personal attorney to mollify him.
CNN said he had been particularly keen to be Chief of Staff and was ‘crushed’ when the job went to Reince Preibus instead.
I think it’s safe to assume CNN, that despises Trump as much as he despises them, would not be reporting all this as a favour to the President.
They reported it because it’s true.
And we know it’s true because Cohen himself admitted as much in a CNN interview with Chris Cuomo in 2016.
Asked if he expected to work with Trump when he moved to the White House, Cohen replied: 'Oh, I certainly hope so’, adding he would ‘a hundred per cent’ accept a position.
So Cohen lied yesterday again, about something relatively innocuous.
And if he lied about that, then what else did he lie about?
Cohen says Trump sent him signed personal checks to pay off porn stars, but was it a retainer for general services?
Cohen says he overheard Roger Stone tell Trump that Julian Assange had told him in a phone call that Wikileaks was about to dump their damaging Hillary emails. But both Stone and Assange have categorically denied any such conversation ever happened.
Cohen says he heard Trump spew racist abuse as they travelled through a black neighbourhood in Chicago. But there is no tape (Cohen taped a lot of things) and no witness.
Cohen says Trump was aware of the infamous Tower meeting between members of his campaign and a Russian lawyer. But the detail of how Trump was supposedly imparted this news is distinctly inconclusive.
In the end, most of what Cohen revealed is stuff that has yet to be independently verified or corroborated, and some of it cannot be as only Cohen and Trump were there.
If it’s all true, then President Trump is undeniably facing serious charges and may well have broken several laws.
But as I watched Cohen’s pathetically manipulative, sniveling and disingenuous performance yesterday, I found it very hard to believe almost anything he was saying.
‘Over the past two years, I have been smeared as “a rat” by the President of the United States,’ Cohen bleated. ‘The truth is much different.’
Is it, Michael?
A 'rat' is a word mob bosses use for those who betray them.
The famous mafia rat of all was Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano whose shocking plea deal testimony helped bring down John Gotti, head of the Gambino crime family.
Gravano, a mass murderer involved in the killing of at least 19 people, squealed like a pig to save his own skin.
But at least everyone believed him.
In Michael Cohen’s case, he also made a plea deal in return for squealing like a pig about Trump.
But how much of his testimony can we really trust?
If he is still able to so obviously lie about a simple thing like wanting a job at the White House, how can we believe anything else he says?
I’d be more inclined to believe Pinocchio than Michael ‘Sammy the Bullshitter’ Cohen.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Just goes to show that the only difference between a lawyer and a liar is the spelling. Michael the Rat is merely a bigger liar than most lawyers.
By Piers Morgan
Daily Mail
February 28, 2019
Serial liar Michael Cohen had come to Congress to finally tell the truth.
Donald Trump’s former lawyer and ‘Fixer’, who is about to start a prison sentence for amongst other things, lying, and who had previously brazenly lied to the same Congress, was ready to stop lying.
Cohen’s bottom lip trembled as he solemnly declared: ‘I am here under oath to correct the record, to answer the Committee’s questions truthfully, and to offer the American people what I know about President Trump.’
As for those who questioned his credibility, given the sheer volume of lies he has previously told, he insisted: ‘I have lied, but I am not a liar.’
Ironically, this too was a lie.
If you lie, as one of the Committee members later explained, then self-evidently, you’re a liar.
But Cohen was emphatic: what we were about to hear was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And for the next seven hours, he did his very best to nail Trump down into a political coffin. He branded him a ‘racist’, a ‘conman’ and a ‘cheat’ who only ran for office ‘on a platform of hate and intolerance’ to enhance his personal brand, not to make America great again.
In a withering personal character assessment, Cohen said of the President: ‘He is capable of behaving kindly, but he is not kind. He is capable of committing acts of generosity, but he is not generous. He is capable of being loyal, but he is fundamentally disloyal.’
It was a savage takedown, and Cohen clearly relished his moment in the global media spotlight.
He repeatedly turned on the tears; he spoke again and again of his family, of his loss, of his fears for prison life.
Several times, he even evoked the memory of father of surviving the Holocaust ‘thanks to the compassion and selfless acts of others’ to explain why he, Michael, himself now always instinctively helped those in need.
‘As many people that know me best would say, I am the person they would call at 3am if they needed help.’
All of this was very carefully orchestrated and designed to make us feel sorry for him. Cohen, he was keen for us to know, is a massively misunderstood guy; someone who did bad things but is not actually bad.
A man whose only real crime was trying too hard to help people like Donald Trump at great personal risk to himself.
I found myself laughing out loud at Cohen’s painfully insincere performance, not least because his own lawyer Lanny Davis was sitting right next to him looking like the cat that got every dollop of cream.
Davis, of course, is best known for being one of the closest confidants and advisors to the Clintons.
He took this gig for free, Cohen revealed.
No shit, Sherlock!
Davis – who I know well and respect as a brilliant political operator - would have paid to do it, such is his intense dislike of Trump, keenness to exact revenge for Hillary, and love of media attention.
But there was just one big problem with Cohen’s testimony, and it was perfectly highlighted when he was posed a very simple question.
‘How long did you work in the White House?’ asked Republican rottweiler Jim Jordan.
‘I never worked in the White House,’ replied Cohen.
‘That’s the point isn’t it, Mr Cohen?’ sneered Jordan.
‘No, sir.’
‘Yes it is.’
‘You wanted to work in the White House, ‘
‘No sir.’
‘You just didn’t get brought to the dance.’
‘I was extremely proud to be personal attorney to the President of the United States of America. I did not want to go to the White House.’
The moment he said those words, Twitter exploded – led by many people closest to President Trump.
‘Michael was lobbying EVERYONE to be Chief of Staff,’ tweeted Eric Trump. It was the biggest joke around the office. Did he just perjure himself again?’
His brother Donald Jr agreed: ‘Hahahaha, Michael Cohen begged to work at the White House and everyone knows it.’ He added: ‘It really was the biggest joke of the entire transition. The beginning of his bitterness when he realized that was never going to happen. #Delusional.’
Now, you might expect Trump’s sons to spring to his defence and brand Cohen a liar – again.
What would be far less predictable is that CNN, Trump’s least favourite news organisation, did the same.
During a panel debate about Cohen’s testimony, CNN’s top political correspondent Dana Bash said: ‘The one potential problem that I thought Michael Cohen has is when he was asked if he wanted a job in the White House and he said no. Our reporting….all of us have been told by people in and around the process at the time he very much wanted a job at the White House.’
‘Very much,’ agreed CNN anchor Jake Tapper.
Tapper then played the clip of Cohen’s claim ‘because a lot of us raised our eyebrows because we knew it to not to be true.’
Afterwards, he added: ‘The issue is that one sentence ‘I did not want to go to the White House. All of our reporting suggests that’s not true.’
Later in his testimony, Cohen doubled down and again said ‘I did not want to go to the White House’ and insisted he had told President Trump he wanted to continue working for him as an outside personal attorney.
Yet CNN reported Cohen wanted a job at the White House but was edged out by Trump’s family, and was named personal attorney to mollify him.
CNN said he had been particularly keen to be Chief of Staff and was ‘crushed’ when the job went to Reince Preibus instead.
I think it’s safe to assume CNN, that despises Trump as much as he despises them, would not be reporting all this as a favour to the President.
They reported it because it’s true.
And we know it’s true because Cohen himself admitted as much in a CNN interview with Chris Cuomo in 2016.
Asked if he expected to work with Trump when he moved to the White House, Cohen replied: 'Oh, I certainly hope so’, adding he would ‘a hundred per cent’ accept a position.
So Cohen lied yesterday again, about something relatively innocuous.
And if he lied about that, then what else did he lie about?
Cohen says Trump sent him signed personal checks to pay off porn stars, but was it a retainer for general services?
Cohen says he overheard Roger Stone tell Trump that Julian Assange had told him in a phone call that Wikileaks was about to dump their damaging Hillary emails. But both Stone and Assange have categorically denied any such conversation ever happened.
Cohen says he heard Trump spew racist abuse as they travelled through a black neighbourhood in Chicago. But there is no tape (Cohen taped a lot of things) and no witness.
Cohen says Trump was aware of the infamous Tower meeting between members of his campaign and a Russian lawyer. But the detail of how Trump was supposedly imparted this news is distinctly inconclusive.
In the end, most of what Cohen revealed is stuff that has yet to be independently verified or corroborated, and some of it cannot be as only Cohen and Trump were there.
If it’s all true, then President Trump is undeniably facing serious charges and may well have broken several laws.
But as I watched Cohen’s pathetically manipulative, sniveling and disingenuous performance yesterday, I found it very hard to believe almost anything he was saying.
‘Over the past two years, I have been smeared as “a rat” by the President of the United States,’ Cohen bleated. ‘The truth is much different.’
Is it, Michael?
A 'rat' is a word mob bosses use for those who betray them.
The famous mafia rat of all was Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano whose shocking plea deal testimony helped bring down John Gotti, head of the Gambino crime family.
Gravano, a mass murderer involved in the killing of at least 19 people, squealed like a pig to save his own skin.
But at least everyone believed him.
In Michael Cohen’s case, he also made a plea deal in return for squealing like a pig about Trump.
But how much of his testimony can we really trust?
If he is still able to so obviously lie about a simple thing like wanting a job at the White House, how can we believe anything else he says?
I’d be more inclined to believe Pinocchio than Michael ‘Sammy the Bullshitter’ Cohen.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Just goes to show that the only difference between a lawyer and a liar is the spelling. Michael the Rat is merely a bigger liar than most lawyers.
IF YOU ARE WHITE, AND HAVE FRIENDS OR FAMILY THAT ARE NOT, YOU ARE A RACIST
by Bob Walsh
At least that was my takeaway from the Cohen show a couple of days ago. Lynne Patton is an official in the Trump administration and a long-time friend and associate of the family. She is also black. She was at the hearing (as a private citizen) and was introduced by Mark Meadows, a Republican representative.
Representative Rashida Tlaib was the final questioner at the hearing that day. She want off on Meadows for allegedly using Patton as a "prop" and asserted on the record that merely having Ms. Patton at the hearing was "racist." Meadows objected strenuously and on the record to the committee chair, Elijah Cummings of Maryland. After a great deal of back and forth Tlaib asserted that she did not mean to indicate that Meadows himself was a racist, only that presenting a black woman at the committee hearing was a racist act.
These asswipes must be terrified of Donald Trump and the thought that he might actually get elected again. They may find that they are overselling. You may remember that after the completely legitimate impeachment action against Slick Willy his approval rating went up considerably, and he was actually guilty as shit of criminal activity.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Bob a better title would be IF YOU ARE WHITE, YOU ARE A RACIST
At least that was my takeaway from the Cohen show a couple of days ago. Lynne Patton is an official in the Trump administration and a long-time friend and associate of the family. She is also black. She was at the hearing (as a private citizen) and was introduced by Mark Meadows, a Republican representative.
Representative Rashida Tlaib was the final questioner at the hearing that day. She want off on Meadows for allegedly using Patton as a "prop" and asserted on the record that merely having Ms. Patton at the hearing was "racist." Meadows objected strenuously and on the record to the committee chair, Elijah Cummings of Maryland. After a great deal of back and forth Tlaib asserted that she did not mean to indicate that Meadows himself was a racist, only that presenting a black woman at the committee hearing was a racist act.
These asswipes must be terrified of Donald Trump and the thought that he might actually get elected again. They may find that they are overselling. You may remember that after the completely legitimate impeachment action against Slick Willy his approval rating went up considerably, and he was actually guilty as shit of criminal activity.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Bob a better title would be IF YOU ARE WHITE, YOU ARE A RACIST
NEW FORDS CAME WITH SURPRISE EXTRAS
Police find meth smuggled into Canada through new Ford cars built in Mexico
The Canadian Press
February 27, 2019
VAUGHAN, Ont. -- Police say they have busted an alleged drug smuggling operation where methamphetamine was being hidden in new cars built in Mexico that were then transported by rail to Canada.
Ontario Provincial Police say employees at four Ford dealerships discovered the drugs stashed within spare tires that didn't match the cars.
They worked with the car company in December and found vehicles that had been dispersed to Quebec and New Brunswick.
Police say they found 180 kilograms of meth during the investigation.
They say they do not know where or when the drugs were hidden in the cars.
OPP deputy commissioner Rick Barnum says smugglers continue to find innovative ways to bring drugs into the country.
The Canadian Press
February 27, 2019
VAUGHAN, Ont. -- Police say they have busted an alleged drug smuggling operation where methamphetamine was being hidden in new cars built in Mexico that were then transported by rail to Canada.
Ontario Provincial Police say employees at four Ford dealerships discovered the drugs stashed within spare tires that didn't match the cars.
They worked with the car company in December and found vehicles that had been dispersed to Quebec and New Brunswick.
Police say they found 180 kilograms of meth during the investigation.
They say they do not know where or when the drugs were hidden in the cars.
OPP deputy commissioner Rick Barnum says smugglers continue to find innovative ways to bring drugs into the country.
TED CRUZ PROVES HE IS A FRIEND OF ISRAEL ….. BUT WILL THE DEMOCRATS JOIN HIM?
Resolutions introduced in House, Senate recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights
Cleveland Jewish News
February 27, 2019
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) introduced companion resolutions on Tuesday urging the United States to officially recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
The bill emphasizes the strategic importance of Israeli control over the area, which the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, in protecting civilians from threats such as from Iran in Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel annexed the region in 1981, a move that has not been recognized by the international community.
It also states that “it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of a peace agreement between Israel and Syria will be an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.”
The bill adds that “it is in the United States national security interest to ensure that Israel retains control of the Golan Heights [and that] the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad faces diplomatic and geopolitical consequences for its killing of civilians, the ethnic cleansing of Arab Sunnis, and the use of weapons of mass destruction.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has raised the issue of the Golan Heights during a meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton in January. Although the United States does not recognize Israeli control over the Golan Heights, it voted for the first time in November against an annual U.N. resolution condemning the Israeli position.
The measure is also sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Scott Perry (R-Penn.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and Jody Hice (R-Ga.).
Although no Democrats are currently behind the bill, members such as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have voice support for this U.S. recognition in the past.
In December, Cotton and Cruz introduced a similar measure.
Cleveland Jewish News
February 27, 2019
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) introduced companion resolutions on Tuesday urging the United States to officially recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
The bill emphasizes the strategic importance of Israeli control over the area, which the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, in protecting civilians from threats such as from Iran in Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel annexed the region in 1981, a move that has not been recognized by the international community.
It also states that “it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of a peace agreement between Israel and Syria will be an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.”
The bill adds that “it is in the United States national security interest to ensure that Israel retains control of the Golan Heights [and that] the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad faces diplomatic and geopolitical consequences for its killing of civilians, the ethnic cleansing of Arab Sunnis, and the use of weapons of mass destruction.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has raised the issue of the Golan Heights during a meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton in January. Although the United States does not recognize Israeli control over the Golan Heights, it voted for the first time in November against an annual U.N. resolution condemning the Israeli position.
The measure is also sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Scott Perry (R-Penn.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and Jody Hice (R-Ga.).
Although no Democrats are currently behind the bill, members such as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have voice support for this U.S. recognition in the past.
In December, Cotton and Cruz introduced a similar measure.
THEATER OF THE ABSURD
UN suggests Israel committed crimes against humanity during deadly 2018 crackdown on Gaza protests
News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
February 28, 2019
United Nations-backed investigators said Thursday that Israeli soldiers intentionally fired on civilians and could have committed crimes against humanity during crackdowns against violent Palestinian demonstrations in Gaza last year that left 189 people dead.
The independent Commission of Inquiry mandated by the historically anti-Israel Human Rights Council, said more than 6,000 people were shot by IDF snipers using live ammunition to repel protesters near the Gaza security fence.
The panel said Thursday that Palestinian civilians who did not pose an "imminent threat" were among those killed and injured.
It acknowledged significant violence linked to the demonstrations, but said they did not amount to combat campaigns, essentially rejecting an Israeli claim of "terror activities" by Palestinian terrorist groups.
Acting Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) said Thursday that Israel rejects the report as "theater of the absurd."
In a statement, he said that the U.N. Human Rights Council had "produced another hostile, mendacious and slanted report against the State of Israel ... No one can deny Israel the right of self-defense and the obligation to defend its citizens and borders from violent attacks."
The panel also said it had confidential information about those believed to be responsible for the killings, including IDF snipers and commanders, which was being given to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet for her to share with the International Criminal Court.
During the weekly "March of Return" protests along the border, Palestinians have routinely hurled rocks and explosive devices at soldiers, and have made repeated efforts to breach the fence and infiltrate Israel.
Investigators also faulted Hamas, which runs Gaza, for its campaign of cross-border arson and not preventing the use of incendiary kites during the protests, which have caused immense economic and environmental damage.
News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
February 28, 2019
United Nations-backed investigators said Thursday that Israeli soldiers intentionally fired on civilians and could have committed crimes against humanity during crackdowns against violent Palestinian demonstrations in Gaza last year that left 189 people dead.
The independent Commission of Inquiry mandated by the historically anti-Israel Human Rights Council, said more than 6,000 people were shot by IDF snipers using live ammunition to repel protesters near the Gaza security fence.
The panel said Thursday that Palestinian civilians who did not pose an "imminent threat" were among those killed and injured.
It acknowledged significant violence linked to the demonstrations, but said they did not amount to combat campaigns, essentially rejecting an Israeli claim of "terror activities" by Palestinian terrorist groups.
Acting Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) said Thursday that Israel rejects the report as "theater of the absurd."
In a statement, he said that the U.N. Human Rights Council had "produced another hostile, mendacious and slanted report against the State of Israel ... No one can deny Israel the right of self-defense and the obligation to defend its citizens and borders from violent attacks."
The panel also said it had confidential information about those believed to be responsible for the killings, including IDF snipers and commanders, which was being given to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet for her to share with the International Criminal Court.
During the weekly "March of Return" protests along the border, Palestinians have routinely hurled rocks and explosive devices at soldiers, and have made repeated efforts to breach the fence and infiltrate Israel.
Investigators also faulted Hamas, which runs Gaza, for its campaign of cross-border arson and not preventing the use of incendiary kites during the protests, which have caused immense economic and environmental damage.
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