Muslims clash with Israeli police at Jerusalem holy site

JERUSALEM (AP) — Muslim worshippers and Israeli police clashed Sunday at a major Jerusalem holy site during prayers marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Palestinian medics said at least 14 people were wounded, one seriously, in the skirmishes with police at the site, which Muslims refer to as the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and Jews refer to as the Temple Mount. Police said at least four officers were wounded. Witnesses said at least two people were arrested.
Tens of thousands of Muslims had flocked to the site in Jerusalem’s Old City early Sunday for holiday prayers, police said. Jews are also observing on Sunday the Ninth of Av, a day of fasting and mourning for the destruction of the two Biblical temples which stood at the site in antiquity.
The site is the holiest for Jews and the third holiest for Muslims, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and has long been a flashpoint at the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Large numbers of Palestinians had gathered at the gates of the compound early Sunday after rumors circulated that police would allow Jewish visitors to enter the site. The protesters chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) and threw stones at police, who then charged into the compound while firing stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets.
Israeli police had initially barred entry to Jewish visitors, but reversed their decision after the clashes broke out and allowed them to enter. Several dozen entered the site under close police escort and Muslim worshippers began throwing chairs and other objects at the group. The Jewish visitors left the compound shortly thereafter.
The reversal came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s religious nationalist allies called for the site to be opened to Jewish visitors. Israelis are headed to unprecedented repeat elections next month after Netanyahu failed to form a government following April’s elections.
Jews are barred from praying at the compound under a longstanding arrangement between Israel and Muslim authorities. Jewish tradition also maintains that Jews should avoid entering the holy site.
But in recent years Israeli religious nationalists have stepped up visits to the site to challenge the arrangement. Jewish extremists have called for destroying the mosque and rebuilding the Biblical temple.
The Palestinians view such visits as provocations, and have long feared that Israel intends to take over the site or partition it. The Israeli government has repeatedly said it has no intention of changing the status quo.
The compound is in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories the Palestinians seek as part of a future state. Israel views all of Jerusalem as its unified capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Israeli-Palestinian tensions have spiked following President Donald Trump’s decision in 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. Embassy there. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been moribund for at least a decade, and the Palestinians have cut ties with the Trump administration over what they see as its unfair bias toward Israel.
In a separate incident on Sunday, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian gunman after he opened fire on them from across the perimeter fence around the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said an “armed terrorist” approached the frontier early Sunday and opened fire toward troops on the other side, who responded by shooting at the attacker. The army said a tank also targeted a nearby military post operated by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza identified the deceased as 26-year-old Marwan Nasser. It was not clear if he was a member of an armed group, and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Saturday, Israeli troops killed four Palestinian militants who the army said had tried to carry out a cross-border attack. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, said the attack was an “individual act” carried out by youths frustrated at the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza and was not planned by the group.
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Associated Press writer Fares Akram in Gaza City, Gaza Strip contributed.

North Korea slams Seoul over military drills with US, says Kim oversaw latest weapons tests

North Korea said Saturday that dictator Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of a new weapons system, the latest in a series of launches widely seen as an effort to drive a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea amid ongoing joint military exercises between the two countries.
The Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang's official propaganda organ, said Kim expressed "great satisfaction" over the launches. The agency didn't specify whether the weapons were ballistic missiles or rocket artillery but said they were developed to suit the North's "terrain condition" and provide "advantageous tactical character different to existing weapons systems."
The KCNA statement came hours after President Trump said Kim has expressed a desire to meet again to start nuclear negotiations after the end of ongoing joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises, and had apologized for the flurry of recent short-range ballistic launches that rattled U.S. allies in the region.
In a separate statement, North Korea's Foreign Ministry blasted South Korea for continuing to host military drills with the United States and said that its future dialogue will be held strictly between Pyongyang and Washington.
South Korea's military said Friday that the North had launched two short-range ballistic missiles Saturday, the fifth such launch within the past two weeks. The country's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew around 250 miles and landed in the Sea of Japan.
By launching a slew of weapons that directly threaten South Korea but not the U.S. mainland or its Pacific territories, North Korea also appears to be dialing up pressure on Seoul to make stronger efforts to coax major concessions from the United States on Pyongyang's behalf.
South Korea has said North Korea's recent launches could hurt efforts to stabilize peace on the Korean Peninsula and called for the North to uphold an agreement to form a joint military committee to discuss reducing tensions, which was part of the inter-Korean military agreement reached last year. North Korea in recent months has ignored the South's calls for dialogue while demanding that Seoul turn away from Washington and resume inter-Korean economic cooperation held back by U.S.-led sanctions against the North.
The rash of weapons firings come as American and South Korean forces conduct a 10-day military exercise which the North has denounced. North Korean officials have called the large-scale annual drills a "rehearsal for war" while the South called the test-firings a show of force.
Pyongyang has claimed that the U.S.-South Korea exercises force it to "develop, test and deploy the powerful physical means essential for national defense."
“Given that the military exercise clearly puts us as an enemy in its concept,” said Kwon Jong Gun, director of the U.S. affairs department at Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry. "They [South Korea] should think that an inter-Korean contact itself will be difficult to be made unless they put an end to such a military exercise or before they make a plausible excuse or an explanation in a sincere manner for conducting the military exercise."
"Though we are to enter into a dialogue in future as the currents flow in favor of dialogue, [the South] had better keep in mind that this dialogue would be held strictly between the D.P.R.K and the U.S., not between the North and the South," Kwon said, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kwon's remarks come a day after the North blasted the South's acquisition of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets as it tries to expand its military capabilities, warning that Seoul would gain "nothing but destruction" if it pursues a contest of strength with the North.
Hours after the North's latest launches, Trump tweeted that Kim spent much of his letter complaining about "the ridiculous and expensive" U.S.-South Korea military exercises. He said that Kim offered him "a small apology" for the flurry of missile tests, and that he assured him they would stop when the exercises end.
Trump said the tests do violate Kim's pledge to give up nuclear and long-range tests. He said on Friday he received a "beautiful" three-page letter from Kim in which the leader complained of "the ridiculous and expensive exercises."
Trump and Kim met twice for summits in Singapore and Hanoi. In June the leaders briefly at the demilitarized zone that divides North and South Korea.
Fox News reporter Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

State Dept. updates ‘anti-Semitism’ definition following Omar’s anti-Israel resolution

The U.S. State Department recently revised its definition of anti-Semitism, in an apparent response to recent comments and actions by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
The previous definition of anti-Semitism, issued in May, listed 10 examples. The revised definition now lists 11 examples, adding that anti-Semitism now includes “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”
The leader of a U.S.-based pro-Israel organization praised the move last week.
“Kudos to @SecPompeo and Special Envoy Elan Carr,” Adam Milstein, a philanthropist and co-founder of the Adam and Gila Milstein Foundation, wrote on Twitter. “It’s more clear now, the BDS Movement is disgustingly Antisemitic.”
BDS refers to the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, whose supporters call for the withdrawal of financial support for the Israeli government in protest of the treatment of Palestinian people.
The State Department revision followes last month's overwhelming bipartisan 398-17 vote by the U.S. House of representatives to oppose an international effort to boycott Israel.

Omar's intention

Omar, who cast one of the 17 dissenting votes, countered with a resolution of her own, supporting the right to boycott foreign governments “to advocate for human rights abroad,” and likening the action to boycotts of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
Her resolution did not mention Israel or the Palestinians. But she made her intention clear when she spoke with reporters.
“We are introducing a resolution … to really speak about the American values that support and believe in our ability to exercise our First Amendment rights in regard to boycotting,” Omar told Al-Monitor. “And it is an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support a nonviolent movement, which is the BDS movement.”
But several House Democrats gave Omar’s resolution little chance of passage.
“I can’t imagine that any committee is going to mark up or take seriously any pro-BDS resolution,” U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., said last month.
“Am I worried about the overall BDS movement worldwide as an economic matter? No. As an effort to delegitimize Israel, of course. The comments here today are a tiny part of that delegitimizing effort.”

Petition to censure Omar, Tlaib

Meanwhile, the Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice recently launched an online petition, calling for Congress to censure Omar as well as her Democratic colleague, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, over rhetoric that the ACLJ describes as anti-Semitic.
“Rep. Omar said that support for Israel is ‘all about the Benjamins’ – a bigoted accusation that Jews control all the money,” the petition states. “She’s attacked Jews and anyone who supports Israel as having a dual allegiance – another anti-Semitic trope.
“Rep. Tlaib said she has a ‘calming feeling’ about the Holocaust,” the petition continues. “Someone espousing these bigoted views should not have access to classified information or sit on congressional committees such as the Foreign Affairs Committee.”
It states later: “Take action with us. Fight back against anti-Semitism. Demand Reps. Omar and Tlaib be removed from the committees and censured.”
Fox News' Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this story.

Google inserting Anti Trump Ads in blog

This is a Pro Trump Blog. If you view it and see impeach Trump or any other stupid Anti Trump Ads on it, google is the one that is inserting them into my blogs. I do not like what google has become.

1st Democratic Debate Cartoons

Marianne Williamson defends hiring ex-Sanders staffer accused of forcibly kissing subordinate

Where am I ?

Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson on Friday defended hiring a former Bernie Sanders staffer to head her Iowa campaign even though he was accused by a subordinate of sexual assault in 2016.
Robert Becker served as Sanders’ Iowa caucus director in 2016 and would likely have worked on his 2020 campaign, Politico reported. Instead, he was ousted from Sanders’ team earlier this year after a much younger staffer who worked underneath him alleged he forcibly kissed her on the last night of the Democratic National Convention and put his tongue in her mouth, according to Politico.
The woman also claimed Becker said he had always wanted to have sex with her and made other lewd references, which Politico reported others corroborated.

Robert Becker, who was the Iowa state director for Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential bid, has been accused of forcibly kissing a younger female subordinate during the campaign. (Getty Images)

But Williamson said she was willing to look past the allegations against Becker.
“I believe in forgiveness. I believe in redemption. I believe in people rising up after they’ve fallen down,” Williamson said. “I had not read anything or heard anything that made me feel this was a man who never deserved to work again.”

“I believe in forgiveness. I believe in redemption. I believe in people rising up after they’ve fallen down. I had not read anything or heard anything that made me feel this was a man who never deserved to work again.”
— Marianne Williamson, Democrat running for president

Becker “categorically” denies the accusations and said he remembered the night was filled with “hugs and kisses," Politico reported.
The Sanders campaign in 2016 was rocked by numerous complaints of sexual harassment by members of the staff. In January, Sanders wrote an apology said his campaign staffers' standards for personal conduct should have been higher.
"The allegations speak to unacceptable behavior that must not be tolerated in any campaign or any workplace," Sanders wrote in a statement.

Bill Maher finds ally in NBC News' Richard Engel in 'hoping' US economy slides to oust Trump

Who the hell?

NBC News correspondent Richard Engel was the lone voice to side with "Real Time" host Bill Maher on Friday night, after the comedian reiterated his "hopes" that a U.S. economic recession would help block President Trump's reelection in 2020.
"Short-term pain might be better than long-term destruction of the Constitution," Engel argued.
"Right!" Maher replied. "Thank you very much."

"Short-term pain might be better than long-term destruction of the Constitution."
— Richard Engel, NBC News

None of the other members of Maher's panel wanted to see the U.S. stumble.
"I'm not wishing for a recession," Tom Nichols, author of "The Death of Expertise," said.
"Neither am I," Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell agreed.
But Maher -- a multimillionaire whose investments include a stake in MLB's New York Mets -- tried to make the case that economic hardship for the nation might help him and other liberals realize their dream of preventing a second Trump term.
"You should wish for a recession because that would definitely get [Trump] unelected," Maher shot back, earning him a few claps from his Los Angeles studio audience.
Another guest, former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, attempted to lower the temperature of the conversation.
"You don't really want a recession," Scaramucci tried to convince Maher.
"I really do," the host replied. "We have survived many recessions, we can't survive another Donald Trump term."
Last week, Maher had revived his stance that a recession would be "worth it"  because it would hurt Trump's reelection.

Plan for Straight Pride rally rejected – but California city offers alternative idea

GOOD OLD CALIFORNIA AT IT AGAIN.

GOOD OLD CALIFORNIA AT IT AGAIN.

Organizers of a planned Straight Pride rally received some bad news from city officials in Modesto, Calif., on Friday. They will not be permitted to hold their event in a city park as planned on Aug. 24.
However, the city has offered to allow the group to rally in a space near the city’s convention center – provided the organizers file a permit application by Tuesday, the Modesto Bee reported.
City officials said the original plan to use Graceada Park raised safety issues because the organizers’ liability insurance had been voided, according to FOX 40 in Sacramento.
“If you don’t have insurance, you can’t reserve one of our parks,” city spokesman Thomas Reeves told Sacramento’s KOVR-TV.
The latest development follows a contentious City Council meeting on Wednesday evening, at which critics contended the organizers didn’t wish to celebrate heterosexuality, as the event name suggests, but to instead communicate an anti-gay agenda.
Co-organizer Mylinda Mason of the National Straight Pride Coalition, however, insisted there was no hidden intent.
“Everyone is trying to sensationalize this event and it’s going to be much like a church service,” Mason told FOX 40. “I know everybody likes to go and celebrate sodomy but we actually want to celebrate heterosexuality.

"Everyone is trying to sensationalize this event and it’s going to be much like a church service. I know everybody likes to go and celebrate sodomy but we actually want to celebrate heterosexuality."
— Mylinda Mason, co-organizer of proposed Straight Pride event

“They’re looking to amp it up into something that it’s not,” Mason said of the critics. “It’s really going to be much more like on the purview of a church service, really. It really is just celebrating our beautiful country.”
But Mason’s 28-year-old son, Matthew Mason, who is openly gay, was among those opposing the plan for a Straight Pride event.
“This isn’t ‘straight pride,’ this is ‘hate pride,’” the son told FOX 40. “This is the woman who raised me, actively working against my rights as a human being, who I am as a person.”
In a Thursday interview, National Straight Pride Coalition organizer Don Grundmann told USA Today that his organization’s First Amendment rights should be respected.
He accused the Modesto City Council of “working overtime” to block his event.

"We're saying that it's OK to be a man. It's OK to be a woman," the organizer of a planned Straight Pride rally says. (iStock)

“We’re being viciously smeared and lied about that we’re racists,” he told the paper. (At the public meeting a night earlier, Grundmann drew laughter from his critics when he misspoke and described his organization as "a totally peaceful racist group," the Bee reported.)

"We're saying that it's OK to be a man. It's OK to be a woman. It's OK to have a natural family, a man, woman and children.”
— Don Grundmann, co-organizer of proposed Straight Pride event

"Our culture is under attack on multiple fronts, such as just being men. There's so-called toxic masculinity. There's actually college courses being taught that men are an inherent problem, there's something wrong with them," he said. "We're saying that it's OK to be a man. It's OK to be a woman. It's OK to have a natural family, a man, woman and children.”