The president of the Germany’s 105,000 member Central Council of Jews called on Saturday for the dismissal of Stefanie Carp, the anti-Israel director of the Ruhrtriennale music and cultural festival, who passionately defended a South African-based academic who supports the “global isolation” of the Jewish state as the opening speaker for the now cancelledevent.The Jerusalem Post sent a press query to Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council, this week. He said “I have no understanding for the invitation of Achille Mbembe as opening speaker of the Ruhrtriennale – even if the event has now been cancelled due to corona,” according to a report in the Neuen Osnabrücker Zeitung.

Schuster called on the festival’s organization to fire Stefanie Carp, the director of Ruhrtriennale, who has invited Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions  speakers over the years to the festival to bash Israel.Schuster said Mbembe propagates the view that Israel’s conduct is worse than the former apartheid regime in South Africa. Schuster said that is historically false and unacceptable.Schuster also criticized Mbembe’s writings because they argue that Israel’s interaction with the Palestinians in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is worse than the Holocaust.
 “With that he [Mbembe] disqualifies himself.” said Schuster, adding “I wonder what the director was thinking when she invited him. Apparently, her attitude has not changed at all.”Schuster said “I can no longer understand that she continues to be director of the Ruhrtriennale, and I appeal to those responsible to finally draw the necessary conclusions.”
 The Post reported on that Andreas Görgen,the director of the foreign ministry’s department for culture and communication, tweeted a series of articles in support of Mbembe.When asked about the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s criticism of Görgen and his tweets in support of an academic who allegedly trivialized the Shoah and spreads antisemitism, the foreign ministry told the Post on Friday: “”We ask for your understanding that we won’t comment on the issue mentioned.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the Post on Friday that the German foreign minister needs to launch an investigation into Görgen’s tweets in support of Mbembe.Görgen refused to answer numerous Post media queries on Twitter and via email.Last year, the director of the German Foreign Ministry’s representation for the Palestinian territories, Christian Clages, was revealed to have liked scores of antisemitic tweets while using his government Twitter feed. Clages retained his job. The German paper Bild broke the story about Clages.The foreign ministry disciplined Clages for liking neo-Nazi and KKK tweets.Mbembe did not immediately return a Post press query on Saturday.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/german-jewish-head-opposes-bds-speaker-wants-anti-israel-director-fired-625858?fbclid=IwAR2Lk8LD7AwvlvfSxmTHqFZTAIRlR0X9bVlB30RsMdeHiEP12B5zlKxMSPU

A female vice-director of HKSTV Hong Kong Satellite Television, a Beijing-backed broadcast network in Hong Kong, claims that Kim Jong-un is dead, citing a “very solid source.” TMZ reports the woman is a niece of the Chinese foreign minister.

HKSTV is not owned by the Chinese government, nor is it an official media outlet of the government. But it allowed the Hong Kong-based network to broadcast its programming into mainland China.

The report is not on the HKTV website. It appeared on the Chinese messaging app Weibo. There is a viral image that includes a picture of Kim supposedly lying in a glass coffin, but that appears to be a faked image from 2017.

There are other unconfirmed reports that Kim’s heart surgery was so botched that he slipped into a coma and is now in a vegetative state.

The outlet reports — citing a Chinese medical expert privy to the situation — that Kim had clutched his chest in early April and fell down while visiting the countryside there. He needed a stent procedure done, but apparently … it either wasn’t done rapidly enough, or it was botched completely by the surgeon — with some reports saying he had shaky hands.

There’s a lot of rumors swirling about the guy’s condition — and the fact is … he hasn’t made any major public appearances looking to be okay in several weeks now. About a week or so ago, CNN reported Kim was in “grave danger” after a medical procedure.

How good is this rumor? The fact that the woman’s own network isn’t reporting the story says something. And you would expect some outward manifestation — a change in NoKo’s military readiness perhaps — if the rumor were true. When a Soviet leader died, they played funeral dirges on the radio all day before the announcement. Enough media outlets around the world are running with the story, which makes it news anyway. But it’s doubtful the regime is ready to go public with the news that their “dear leader” is dead.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/china-backed-satellite-tv-network-reporting-that-kim-jong-un-is-dead/

Rumors about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are swirling around the world, with one report out of Japan claiming that the Communist leader is in a “vegetative state.” Other reports say that Kim is experiencing complications from heart surgery. Still, other reports claim that Kim is not ill, but that he left the capitol because the political situation was heating up.

Whatever the reason, Kim has not been seen in public since April 11, despite two national celebrations. He failed to show at the commemoration of his grandfather’s birthday, and he’s nowhere to be seen on the anniversary of the formation of the North Korean army.

Something is amiss in the Hermit Kingdom.

Fox News:

Reports emerged earlier this week that Kim was  gravely ill following heart surgery, although that has since been disputed. However, Japanese media now claims that  Kim is in a vegetative state following a stent procedure.

Japanese magazine Shukan Gendai reported that Kim collapsed during a visit to a rural area in April. Kim reportedly required a stent procedure following the incident.

Shukan Gendai subsequently detailed how the surgeon in charge of Kim’s operation was not used to dealing with obese patients and was too nervous during the operation, leading to delays that left Kim in a “vegetative state.”

The magazine cited an unnamed member of Kim’s medical team.

Kim is 36 years old, but I bet his arteries are twice that age. His gorging on fatty, fried western foods that he has flown in for his personal enjoyment, may have caught up with him.

Most curiously, Reuters is reporting that a delegation from the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left for North Korea this week. The delegation is headed up by a bureaucrat but Reuters is reporting that there are medical experts in the delegation.

China has dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to three people familiar with the situation.

The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean leader. Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signaled in terms of Kim’s health.

A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea.

The South Korean media is trying to avoid speculation and is playing the story pretty straight. U.S. intelligence is also reporting that there appears to be no unusual moves by the North Korean government.

Could Kim’s absence be related to politics more than the leader’s health? Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong was recently given the job of propaganda chief and has been seen in close proximity to her brother on several occasions. There is even speculation that she is next in line to succeed her brother.

Her elevation may have ruffled feathers and I’m sure there are plenty of people who would give her a fight for the top spot if Kim dies. Unless Kim dies suddenly, you wouldn’t think she has much of a chance.

Succession in Communist countries is always a guessing game and some of the rumors of Kim’s imminent demise may be coming from rivals in North Korea. Still, North Korea is an unstable nuclear-armed dictatorship. Whenever these sorts of rumors surface, they deserve close observation.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/report-kim-jong-un-in-vegetative-state-as-china-dispatches-health-experts-to-north-korea/?fbclid=IwAR3YFgSY___g8PZxPZBb3V1aoztakJgRsmTlQnh8USnleFv2W3AkDzn8pE0

Germany’s Right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is calling for the government to provide aid to the country’s local breweries and inns, many of which are threatened with disaster because of the ongoing lockdown in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

Germany, which has a long brewing tradition, is home to many breweries, some of which have been in existence for centuries. And although there had been a boom in small breweries in recent years due to the explosive popularity of craft beers around the world, the sudden shock of a long-term lockdown is now threatening their very existence, as previously reported by Voice of Europe. Pubs and restaurants have all been closed, public events where beer is served have been cancelled, and exports have decreased as a result of border closings.

In response, the AfD is saying that the government must provide financial aid to breweries and inns that does not need to be repaid. “Loans and deferrals do not help them,” Stephan Protschka, an AfD MP from Bavaria, said in a report by Junge Freiheit.

Alice Weidel, the Chairman of the AfD’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag, urged for small- and medium-sized restaurants to be allowed to reopen as soon as possible. She pointed out that there are social distancing measures that can be taken in such places, such as if only every other table is occupied by patrons, and that the eating areas can be regularly disinfected.

Beatrix von Storch, Weidel’s deputy, seconded Weidel’s recommendation, and said, “What applies to shops must also apply to beer gardens, restaurants, and cafes.” She expressed disapproval that on April 23, which is Germany’s national Beer Day, beer gardens and restaurants were all closed, despite the fact that countries like South Korea have already demonstrated that it is possible to reconcile safety with reopenings.

voiceofeurope.com/2020/04/germany-populist-afd-calls-for-aid-for-local-breweries-and-inns/

No matter how many worthless face masks and test kits, the People’s Republic of Coronavirus sends to European countries, they will continue to kowtow to Beijing. If only the European governments were as comfortable confronting China as they are America.

Bowing to heavy pressure from Beijing, European Union officials softened their criticism of China this week in a report documenting how governments push disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, according to documents, emails and interviews.

The initial European Union report, obtained by The New York Times, was not particularly strident: a routine roundup of publicly available information and news reports.

It cited Beijing’s efforts to curtail mentions of the virus’s origins in China, in part by blaming the United States for spreading the disease internationally. It noted that Beijing had criticized France as slow to respond to the pandemic and had pushed false accusations that French politicians used racist slurs against the head of the World Health Organization. The report also highlighted Russian efforts to promote false health information and sow distrust in Western institutions.

“China has continued to run a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image,” the initial report said. “Both overt and covert tactics have been observed.”

And then China cracked the whip, and the EU joined the disinformation campaign.

But China moved quickly to block the document’s release, and the European Union pulled back. The report had been on the verge of publication, until senior officials ordered revisions to soften the language.

“The Chinese are already threatening with reactions if the report comes out,” Lutz Güllner, a European Union diplomat, wrote to colleagues on Tuesday in an email seen by The Times.

The sentence about China’s “global disinformation” campaign was removed, as was any mention of the dispute between China and France. Other language was toned down.

In the US, Chinese disinformation campaigns included inciting panic about the virus and claiming through text messages that President Trump intends to declare martial law. But Europe continues to put Made in China ahead of any pride, dignity, and truth.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2020/04/european-union-bows-china-daniel-greenfield/

by Giulio Meotti

Nine months after the blackouts in the 60’s, New York enjoyed a baby boom with a surge in the birth rate. But at the time, the West was still “the West”.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, now asks his citizens to take advantage of the enforced home lockdown by “making babies”. It is a poor delusion. Coronavirus will empty the Western cradles. 

The coronavirus pandemic will lead to a collapse of births, due to the traumatic economic uncertainty, the lack of a vaccine, the psycological effects of most dramatic images of this crisis: overcrowded morgues, mass graves, hospitals out of control, bloodbath in the nursing homes. In Italy, in vitro fertilization has been already stopped due to the emergency. It will mean the loss of 4.500 new births.

But Europe’s fertility was already falling before this pandemic. The virus is simply going to accellerate some of the Western existential weaknesses. It will be a poorer Europe, one more divided than ever, even less open to new life.On the other hand, we see, from the mainstream media, appreciation for some effects of the lockdown in nature: less smog, less CO2, less greenhouse effect, less cars, less factories, less tourism, less oil, less coal, it seems a film written by Greta Thunberg.

These are the people whi for years asked the West to have less children.Environmentalists and anthropocentrism’s critics have transformed this pandemic into their misanthropic utopia. Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, says that “nature is sending us a message”.Nature is not a sentient being, however much the ecological religion may fantasize that it is. “Gaia”,planet earth, is not God coming to punish for our sins.In fact, however, the pandemic brought something good: it showed us what the world would be like if ideological green extremists won. The nature that takes over man’s creation, the suspension of industrial activity, the collapse of consumption, different forms of socialism to redistribute what little wealth is left because it will be hard to produce it again.

Writing in Le Monde, the French anthropologist Bruno Latour explains “the pathogen whose terrible virulence has changed the conditions of existence of all the inhabitants of the planet, is not the virus at all, it is human beings!”.Every crisis of death is a crisis of life. 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/25595

The giant German drug store chain Rossmann sponsored an advertisement with a rapper who has advocated an antisemitic conspiracy theory against Israelis during the jihadi plane attacks on 9/11 in New York City.Rossmann is the second largest retail drugstore in Germany, with a total of 4,088 stores and 56,200 employees.

The German rapper Wasiem Taha, who is of Palestinian origin, circulated on social media a statement that “On September 11, 2001, 4,000 Israelis did not show up for work at the World Trade Center.” A caption under the statement and a picture of a passenger plane about to strike a WTC tower reads “Islam facts.”Taha wrote above the social media post: “Weird, isn’t it.”Taha fantasized in a song a number of years about a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv with a bomb belt.The popular Rossmann video advertisement targets a young audience and addresses the post-coronavirus climate: “Clubfeeling 2020. So that we all celebrate after corona.”Customers are showed wearing face masks so they can later party.

In 2018, the left-wing daily taz wrote that the Berlin rapper Massiv promoted a “9/11 conspiracy theory and hate speech against Israel.” The paper said that Massiv is “without a doubt pro-Palestinian” in regards to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.Taha was born in Germany in 1982.A Rossmann spokeswoman sent a company statement to The Jerusalem Post on Friday. The statement said “We are against any form of antisemitism…Massiv distances himself today from his earlier antisemitic statement.”Rossmann wrote that Massiv assured the drug chain in a statement that “I distance myself from hate, violence, war and antisemitism. Since 2015, I have completely defused my texts from negative expressions and profanity. I am working wih youths in different projects. My music is motivating.”Rossmann said the advertisement was a one time deal with the rapper and the company does not plan to work with him again.The German Jewish and pro-Israel activist Malca Goldstein-Wolf told the Post on Friday that “The impression arises that Rossmann does not take antisemitism seriously. Anyone who spreads conspiracy theories about Jews stokes hatred of Jews.”She said that “a well-known company like Rossmann does not immediately end its cooperation with the rapper Massiv in times of increasing antisemitism and does not apologize for the wrong decision is a slap in the face of Jewish customers. I will no longer shop at Rossmann stores.”Arye Sharuz Shalicar, who was born in Germany to Jewish-Persian parents and made aliyah in 2001, and author of the book The New-German Antisemite – Do Jews today belong to Germany? – tweeted: “always have shopped at Rossmann. I will refrain from that from now on. Why? Because Rossmann paid an antisemitic conspiracy theory rapper named Massiv to promote the company. Or how do you understand this agitation from him after 9/11?”

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/german-drugstore-chain-shows-ad-with-antisemitic-conspiracy-rapper-625795