Today’s News Summaries November 8 2018

1. The Sky Is Not Falling in Washington – The U.S. Mid-Term Elections – jcpa.org, Lenny Ben David
2. UCLA Shamefully Condones Students for Justice in Palestine – The Algemeiner, Mitchell Bard
3. China Infiltrates American Campuses – GatestoneInstintute.org, Gordon G. Chang
4. UAE minister scolds Hamas over its ‘solidarity’ with Iran – TimesofIsrael.com, Adam Rasgon
5. Dutch MPs call to cut PA funding, following PMW and terror survivor’s lectures – Palwatch.org, PMW Staff
6. US Syria Envoy Says US to Contest Iran Activities in Region – NYTimes.com, The Associated Press

Despite the habitual Jewish gevalt expressions of anxiety, the results of the 2018 U.S. elections do not foretell any change in congressional policy toward Israel, the Middle East, and Iran.

1. What does it mean for the Senate to be controlled by the Republican (+3) and the House by the Democrats (+28)?

As of the last counts, the Dems will lead the House 223-198 and the Republicans will lead the Senate 52-46. There are still some toss-ups.

Both chambers will attempt to pass new laws, but the Democratic-Republican split means legislative gridlock for the passage of any of Trump’s new legislative priorities.  A bill to fund a wall with Mexico or such ideas? Forget about it.

Passage of the Foreign Aid Bill or Defense Authorization/Appropriations? Very likely if it’s a “clean bill,” and free of ideological amendments on abortion, health care, cutting aid to Egypt and arms sales to Saudis, etc.

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Imagine if the KKK asked to hold a conference at UCLA. Does anyone seriously believe that the administration would allow it to take place, or make excuses about the Klan having a First Amendment right to hold the event?

When I was a graduate student at UCLA in the 1980s, we complained about antisemitism on campus, and the administration disregarded our concerns. By contrast, African-American students took over a building on campus until their demands for changing school policy were met and Latino students successfully urged the administration to punish a fraternity for holding a “Viva Zapata” party.

These thoughts and memories were provoked by UCLA’s decision to allow the national conference of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) to be held on its campus on November 16-18. The views of SJP are Klan-like and would never be permitted to be expressed if the target were not Jews.

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China’s Communist Party has targeted institutions of higher learning as part of an intensive, multi-decade effort to influence American society. Chinese President Xi Jinping (pictured right) has placed great emphasis on international propaganda efforts. (Photo by Thomas Peter-Pool/Getty Images)

• The main points of contact for Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) chapters in the U.S. are often intelligence officers in the embassy and consulates. China’s Ministry of State Security uses CSSA students to inform on other Chinese on campus.

• Let us get the FBI to round up Ministry of State Security agents who, up to now, have been given free rein to operate in America. Putting these agents behind bars or even just revoking their visas will end many of the activities that endanger American campuses. The Chinese kill CIA agents in China. The least Washington can do is declare China’s agents personae non gratae.

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The Gaza-ruling terror group had condemned renewed US sanctions against Tehran, saying they aim ‘to destabilize security’ in the region

A senior United Arab Emirates government official appeared to lash out at Hamas over a statement it issued earlier this week, in which it expressed sympathy with the Iranian government in the wake of new American punitive measures against Tehran.

“Hamas’s solidarity with the Iranian government does not take into consideration the Gulf and Arab anxiety over Tehran’s regional interference,” Anwar Gargash, UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, tweeted Tuesday evening. “It is unnecessary. It pushes the Palestinian issue into a maze and confirms the opinion that the movement, in its orientation, is nothing more than an Iranian regional tool.”

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Dutch MPs respond to PMW lecture with calls to cut funding to Palestinian Authority 

Kay Wilson and Palestinian Media Watch director Itamar Marcus (pictured right) spoke to members of Dutch Parliament yesterday documenting the many ways in which the Palestinian Authority in itself is the fundamental impediment to peace. Marcus documented PA’s vicious Antisemitism, its indoctrination of children to hatred and terror, as well as the PA’s continued monthly payments to terrorist prisoners and families of killed terrorists.

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BEIRUT — Washington will focus on pressuring Iran financially and contesting its activities in Syria, Iraq and Yemen where the Persian nation enjoys broad influence, the U.S. envoy to Syria said Wednesday, adding that Tehran should eventually withdraw all Iran-commanded forces from Syria.

Ambassador James Jeffrey told a group of journalists via a telephone conference that Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that President Donald Trump pulled America out of in May had a bad effect on Iran’s behavior that “accelerated its activities.”

Iran enjoys influence in several countries in the region where it backs well-armed militias that are deployed in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. Speaking about Iran’s future in Syria, Jeffrey said: “Iranians are part of the problem not part of the solution.”

Jeffrey said the Trump administration is now focusing on putting financial pressure on Iran and “secondly contesting more actively Iran’s activities particularly in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.”

Washington this week imposed a new list of sanctions against Iran’s vital oil exports, banking and transport industries.

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