Okay if Israel does it? Twitter cries 'foreign meddling' after Netanyahu says Tel Aviv 'promoted' anti-boycott laws in US

While Washington’s politicians never tire in their constant search for 'foreign meddling', the Twitter crowd has pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted to trying to influence US politics.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu's office quoted the PM as saying that “in recent years, we have promoted laws in most US states, which determine that strong action is to be taken against whoever tries to boycott Israel.” This came shortly after the UN Human Rights Council released a database of more than 100 companies “involved in certain activities relating to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” infuriating Israeli officials.

Netanyahu did not clarify what kind of 'promotion' he was referring to. However, in the past he has praised American politicians for taking steps against the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign for Palestinian rights, which he called “anti-Semitic” and a threat to Israel.

A total of 28 US states adopted various laws penalizing companies and individuals for supporting BDS and engaging in boycotts of Tel Aviv over the way it treats the Palestinians. On top of that, last year the US House of Representatives passed a resolution repudiating the campaign.

Eager to bash BDS, the Israeli PM may not have been too careful about his choice of words. His comments raised eyebrows on social media and were quickly labelled as blatant meddling in US domestic affairs – something Washington usually does not tolerate when it comes from other nations.

Launched by Palestinian NGOs and activists in 2005, the BDS movement states its goal as using non-violent economic and political pressure to compel Israel into ending the “occupation and colonization” of Palestinian lands. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that US anti-BDS laws are illegal because the right to boycott is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Critics have been calling the movement anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli. Officials in Tel Aviv, meanwhile, have been alleging that the NGOs promoting BDS have ties to terrorist groups.

https://www.rt.com/news/480756-netanyahu-promoting-us-laws/

Former Trump Communications Director Hope Hicks Is Returning to White House as Senior Counselor

Former Trump Administration Communications Director Hope Hicks is returning to the Trump White House.

Hicks will reportedly return as a senior White House Counselor and work with Jared Kushner.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/breaking-former-trump-communications-director-hope-hicks-is-returning-to-white-house-as-senior-counselor/

Indonesian volcano spews ash 2,000 meters into the air in new eruption.

Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, erupted Thursday, spewing a column of ash 2,000 meters into the air, while threatening the roughly 24 million people who live in the vicinity with cold lava flooding.

The eruption began at 5:16 local time (10:16 GMT) on the Indonesian island of Java. The volcano's alert status was raised to one level above normal, indicating no immediate danger to surrounding areas, though a 3km radius exclusion zone has been established around the volcano as a precaution. Eyewitness video from the scene shows stunned locals in awe of the eruption.

https://www.rt.com/news/480744-indonesian-volcano-merapi-spews-ash/

Pretty sure they are fucking with time again.

Noticing another time slip

'I'm ashamed of our history': Church of England is 'still deeply institutionally racist' says Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed his shame after admitting that the Church of England remains "deeply institutionally racist," insisting that they must change the "hostile environment" for black and ethnic minorities.

In a scathing speech on Tuesday, Justin Welby, who is England's most senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England — a Christian church — claimed they had failed over many decades on the issue of race equality.

Welby's intervention came as the General Synod voted to back a motion to "lament" and apologize for both conscious and unconscious racism in relation to black and ethnic minorities since the arrival of the Windrush generation in the UK between the late 1940s and 1970.

Welby told the church's national assembly that there is no doubt that the Church was "still deeply institutionally racist," and opened up about his own personal shame.

Personally, I am sorry and ashamed. I'm ashamed of our history and I'm ashamed of our failure.

The senior bishop also appeared to suggest that the Church of England had become susceptible to the UK government's "hostile environment" in so much as not providing a welcoming space for minorities.

Welby called for "radical and decisive" progress on the issue to end the scourge of institutional racism, otherwise "we will still be having this conversation in 20 years' time and still doing injustice — the few of us that remain, deservedly."

https://www.rt.com/uk/480656-church-institutionally-racist-archbishop/