Facebook Primed for Illicit Funds Use/Money Laundering

Posted on July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 by Denise Simon

America’s rivals are increasingly turning to bitcoin-style cryptocurrencies after their economies were brought to their knees thanks to crippling U.S. sanctions, experts have warned.

Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela are all investing in the technology in an attempt to counter American economic might – and an expert says these nations are forming alliances through the technology.

A form of digital money, cryptocurrency uses encryption to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. It uses cryptography, a form of secret coding originating from the Second World War, to process transactions securely. Its major appeal is it is untraceable.

U.S. sanctions work by placing bans on dealings and transactions with persons, nations and companies.

When ransomware is planted on state or local government systems and theft of data occurs, cities are forced to pay ransom to regain ownership and control.

Florida has paid more than $1.1 million in bitcoin to cybercriminals to recover encrypted files from two separate ransomware attacks—one against Riviera Beach and the other against Lake City.

Lake City, a city in northern Florida, agreed on Monday to pay hackers 42 Bitcoin (equivalent to $573,300 at the current value) to unlock phone and email systems following a ransomware attack that crippled its computer systems for two weeks.

For years, ransomware has been a particularly annoying cybersecurity threat. And despite reports that cybercriminals are shifting their efforts away from encrypting malware to cryptomining malware, ransomware infections continue at an alarming rate.

In one week in March 2018 alone, government-run targets in two of the biggest cities in America — Atlanta and Baltimore — were hit by ransomware. These attacks, which disrupted important city services, are far from isolated; similar ransomware attacks have targeted U.S. municipalities for years.

Stories about smaller cities falling victim to ransomware often go unreported by the national news … or anywhere at all. Nevertheless, municipalities and cities in all corners of the U.S. have seen ransomware infect their networks.

So, here comes the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin with a major concern and warning for Facebook. What about this new Libra currency that has been launched?

(Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Monday that the Treasury department has serious concerns that Facebook Inc’s proposed LIBRA cryptocurrency could be misused for money laundering, adding to the growing regulatory skepticism of the company’s digital asset plans.

Secretary Mnuchin also said that the agency has warned Facebook that it must enact proper safeguards against illicit use such as money laundering.

“Treasury has been very clear to Facebook…and other providers of digital financial services that they must implement the same anti-money laundering safeguards in countering the financing of terrorism as traditional financial institutions,” Mnuchin said.

Meanwhile:

Activists and Democratic lawmakers blasted the Federal Trade Commission’s $5 billion fine against Facebook as “chump change” and lambasted the agency’s settlement as toothless.

The settlement, which was reportedly voted along party lines, gaining support from the FTC’s three Republicans while being rejected by its two Democrats, is the beginning of the end for the agency’s probe of Facebook’s alleged mishandling of more than 87 million users’ private data during the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Although the fine sets a record in terms of the agency’s actions against Big Tech, a chorus of Democratic lawmakers, technologists and activists excoriated the FTC for not doing enough and not imposing a larger penalty.

“The sad reality is that this does not go nearly far enough. For a company that last year alone generated revenue nearly 11 times greater than the reported fine, the Federal Trade Commission should send a clear signal to Facebook and so many other tech companies that privacy is their ultimate responsibility,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who is chairwoman of the consumer protection and commerce subcommittee in the House, said in a statement. “If these reports are true, then they failed.”

Will Facebook pay the fine using Libra? Well, when it comes to the Facebook blockchain debate, Facebook declares the Swiss government will regulate it all. Really? There is a Congressional hearing in the Senate by the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee where Libra is to be explained. Frankly, isn’t PayPal a form of cryptocurrency too? Anyway, this testimony found here is regarding Facebook’s Libra Project.

Read it here.

The Jalisco Drug Cartel, the Terror Training Camp

Posted on July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 by Denise Simon

In part:

“If you want to go, fine, get out of here. The only way out of here is in a body bag. Whoever wants to go with him better speak up now. We’re not here to play.”

“Then I understood, and we all understood, that we were in big trouble. You don’t know what’s going to happen next, but you have to stay quiet and very serious because they could take any movement the wrong way,” Francisco recalls.

For years, videos of dismembered bodies, shootings, decapitated heads and all types of violence attributed to the CJNG ran through his mind. “I thought a lot about my son,” Francisco says. He ultimately decided to stay.

A Powerful Cartel

The CJNG has grown to become one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico, according to analysts and security forces. The Attorney General’s Office estimates that the cartel maintains a presence in 28 of the country’s 32 states, according to local media reports. The cartel has also established alliances with local criminal groups in the states of Durango, Campeche, Coahuila and Zacatecas.

photo

The CJNG has also expanded abroad, “with a significant presence not only in the United States and Mexico, but also in Europe, Asia and Australia,” according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The genesis of this criminal organization, according to Sam Houston State University professor Nathan P. Jones, dates back to the July 2010 death of Sinaloa Cartel boss Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel.” He specialized in methamphetamine production in the region around Jalisco. When Mexican authorities killed him, his operations fragmented into several groups. One of them was led by El Mencho. He was able to take advantage of Jalisco’s geographical location near Mexico’s Pacific ports. This allowed him to increase the volume of his business thanks to the sale of methamphetamine in markets in Europe and Asia, and the sale of fentanyl in the United States. Control of the ports was key to the CJNG being able to obtain the resources that allowed them to expand territorially, to corrupt Mexican government officials and to train their assassins as an elite force.

The Training

Francisco’s training camp was in Talpa de Allende, a municipality of just over 15,000 people in western Jalisco. A group of men armed with assault rifles and portable missile launchers loaded the 19 men into luxury trucks and drove them on dirt roads out to a hidden place in the Sierra de Talpa. The first truck stopped, then someone pulled a gun out the window and shot three times, which automatically opened a gate. They all passed and, again, another three shots were fired to signal the gate to close.

Once inside, the armed men took their cell phones and stripped them. “They had some car batteries. They got us wet and made us grab the terminals. So, if you had a GPS [Global Positioning System device] hidden inside you, it would burn. The shock was so strong that I practically peed,” Francisco explained.

The local boss was a young man about 28 years old, according to Francisco. He chose a nickname to address each of them. Then the training began with instructions on how to handle short and long weapons: handguns, AK-47 rifles and rocket launchers similar to the one the CJNG used to shoot down a Mexican Army helicopter in an attack that killed seven soldiers in May 2015.

The instructors let the men know all of the cartel’s rules imposed by El Mencho. They started with those related to firearms.

“Rule number one: Your finger should always be away from the trigger. Otherwise, in front of a cartel leader or high-ranking commander, you could be considered a threat and they could kill you.”

“Rule number two: Always check the safety.”

“Rule number three: Know how to hand over a weapon. Always pass it with the butt of the gun and not the barrel.”

The instructors imposed strict discipline. One mistake could be fatal. As was the case for one of the 19 recruits who nervously failed to put together a gun.

“In the blink of an eye, he killed him. He told us that he wasn’t useful because in a real confrontation, he would panic and put us all in danger,” Francisco said. Then began what the cartel called “the christening.” They all approached the corpse of their recently murdered companion.

“What is the first rule?” the plaza boss asked.

“If there isn’t a body, there isn’t a crime to pursue,” two of the commanders responded.

“Ok, Shaggy, come here. Cut off his hand. You don’t want to do it? Just tell me you don’t want to,” one commander said.

“You knew that if you said no, they were going to kill you,” Francisco recalls. Trembling, he began to cut off the dead man’s hand. Francisco touched his forearm. “I had to do it, you have no choice. I remember the fear, the blood.”

They were going one by one. The commanders saved the most timid group of recruits for the most difficult task: to decapitate the dead man and crush his head with a stone. When the body was severed, they were forced to eat some parts of it.

“There was one recruit who couldn’t eat it and vomited, but they picked up the piece of flesh from the dirt and forced him to eat it.”

These cannibalistic practices described by Francisco coincide with what a group of cartel hitmen arrested last June revealed. They said they did it to become desensitized to violence. The Attorney General’s Office in Jalisco has discovered at least five camps that the cartel used as clandestine training centers and narco-laboratories. Two more have been dismantled in Veracruz and Tabasco.

For Francisco, this was only the first part of a three-month stay in captivity.

*** In Bolivia, where he spent over two years evading justice, he was known as Jafett Arias Becerra, a respectable cattle rancher. José González Valencia is a man of many names.

González Valencia flew in and out of Bolivia multiple times in 2016 and 2017, raising questions about how it was so easy for him to live comfortably as a wealthy cattleman when he was wanted by the United States on charges of conspiracy to distribute large amounts of cocaine.

Bolivian authorities blame Mexico for the lapse, but also admit their fertile Santa Cruz region, known as “Bolivia’s barn,” is a popular hideout for drug traffickers on the lam. They acknowledge that they need to corral criminals like the Shrimp who find safe haven there.

A Cartel in the Crosshairs

The Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG) has alarmed authorities in the United States and Mexico with its brutal tactics and rapid growth since it was formed in 2011.

Based in Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, CJNG is behind some of the most notorious drug crimes of the past decade, including the 2011 torture and massacre of 35 rival cartel members in Veracruz and the downing of a military helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade in 2015. The cartel even uses cannibalism as an initiation rite for new members.

The CJNG now has a presence in most of Mexico and connections in the rest of Latin America, the United States, Asia, Europe, and Australia. It is responsible for trafficking at least five tons each of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States every month, according to former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Last October, Sessions announced new measures targeting the CJNG, including hefty rewards for the capture of its leaders and economic sanctions against several of the Cuinis. He also unsealed indictments of 11 alleged members of the cartel, including Jose González Valencia.

Sessions called the CJNG one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal groups in the world.

“We are hitting them from all sides and with every weapon we have,” he said at a news conference. “They are in our crosshairs. This cartel is a top priority.”

Like many criminal organizations, CJNG is a family affair. José González Valencia — the man who lived as a cattle rancher in Bolivia — is the brother-in-law of its leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, who is also known as “El Mencho.”

The cartel’s rise and expansion are due largely to Los Cuinis, which according to US officials is dominated by the González Valencia family.

El Mencho’s wife, Rosalinda González Valencia, and three of her brothers, José, Gerardo, and Abigael, played a dominant role in establishing and operating Los Cuinis, with Abigael serving as “El Cuini” — the top squirrel.

In an interview with the Mexican news magazine Proceso in 2015, a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official described El Cuini as an intelligent trafficker whose diversification strategy differentiates CJNG from other cartels.

“The ‘Cuini’ focused on partnering with drug traffickers and narco-rebels of Colombia and other South American countries to sell cocaine and other drugs in Europe, without regard to the United States. That made a big difference in terms of profits earned,” he said.

“‘El Cuini’ and ‘El Mencho’ understood that there was more risk … if they were to compete with other cartels for the U.S. market,” another official told the magazine.

José González Valencia took over cartel finances after his brother Abigael was arrested in February 2015, according to the Center for Investigation and National Security, a Mexican intelligence agency. He was also allegedly responsible for providing security for the leader, El Mencho, making alliances with criminal groups in Asia and Europe, and establishing relationships with arms traffickers in the United States and Central America, Mexican newspaper La Jornada reported.

But despite his high profile, José González Valencia moved easily from Guadalajara to Bolivia, entering the country for the first time later that year. His ticket was a Mexican passport he had obtained in Guadalajara in 2013 under the name Jafett Arias Becerra.

It is unclear what he did to obtain that document, but it bought him years of freedom. In 2016, the year after he first came to Bolivia, he used it to obtain a Bolivian ID for foreigners. He was also granted a temporary stay valid for one year and applied for a second that would have been valid until March 2019.

Court records show American officials had been aware of his alias since January 2016. But according to Bolivian authorities, Interpol never issued any alerts for “Jafett Arias Becerra.”

González Valencia was finally caught in December 2017 — not in Bolivia, but in Brazil. He had flown there with a Bolivian friend, Mario Genaro Soljancic Fernandez, a vendor of veterinary products for cattle.

González Valencia was planning to meet his wife and children, who live in the United States, for a holiday in the tourist hub of Taíba on Brazil’s northeastern coast. Under Soljancic’s name, they rented a car and a seaside villa, complete with a basketball court and a small swimming pool, for 15 days.

In response to a US arrest request passed on by officials in Brasilia, police in the city of Fortaleza identified the rental car and then spent days monitoring security camera video until they found it, said Aldair da Rocha, the officer in charge of the operation. González Valencia was arrested at the stores in front of Beach Park, a nearby water park and tourist resort, on December 27, 2017. He was carrying his Bolivian ID card. Read the full fascinating wild story here from InSight. Amazing work.

Obama’s Aunt Ordered Deported, Remember?

Posted on July 12, 2019July 12, 2019 by Denise Simon

Auntie Zeituni was ordered to leave the country in 2003, but she stayed. Later that year, she tried to stay again. But she lost the appeal, and an immigration judge ordered her deported in October 2004.

Instead, Onyango remained in Boston and lived in state and federal public housing. Critics have denounced her for defying deportation and for living in public housing while scores of families are on waiting lists.

Her lawyers successfully argued to reopen her case, and she was granted asylum in 2010.

Or how about in 2018 when ICE had the case of the Nazi labor camp guard?

Jakiw Palij, a former Nazi labor camp guard in German-occupied Poland and a postwar resident of Queens, New York, has been removed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Germany.

So, to Juan Williams, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Congresswam Jayapal or Senator Hirono, when a judge orders any consequence or punishment such as deportation, is it okay to defy those decisions? A judge or jury decides the sentence is 35 years for armed robbery or el Chapo Guzman to life, but never mind, just kidding? C’mon really?

The operations by ICE to begin aggressive deportations are for only cases that are judge ordered and are listed as fugitives and a public safety threat. These cases include MS-13 members, armed robbers, rapists, terrorists, aggravated homicides and human traffickers to list a few. So Juan or Nancy, you okay with Jose Raul Iraheta from El Salvador staying in the United States for aggravated murder? Or Darrick Bell, otherwise known in the underworld as ‘Tone’ hanging around Detroit for his 9 count indictment of forced labor, money laundering, extortion and a massive human trafficking operation where there is even a reward offered for his capture?

Under this upcoming ICE deportation, arrests would not include those such as Auntie Zeituni, who is now deceased by the way, but rather those Jose Medina Orlando Gonzalez of El Salvador.

One has to ask Chuck, Hillary or Senator Hirono their thoughts of the victims of illegal criminals (read Angel families). Would these Democrats approval of Alan Jacob Mogollon-Anaya of staying in Kenner, Louisana, his last known location? He is wanted for DUI vehicular homicide. He was ordered removed in November of 2017 but fled from Tennessee to Louisiana.

What about those visa-overstays? Should all these people be allowed to remain in the United States when their respective visas become null and void for violating visa conditions? This population is a growing trend as published in a study performed by Center for Immigration Studies.

All these progressives have returned to a pre-911 attitude. There is a specific chapter in the 9/11 Commission Report dedicated to immigration. All the attackers entered the United States on temporary tourist visas. There were overstays and during that time, they were able to obtain a drivers license in Florida, Virginia, New Jersey and California. What would Juan Williams have to say about Hani Hasan Hanjour? Image result for hani hanjour

The Pentagon Plane (AA Flight 77, Dulles to Los Angeles)
Hani Hasan Hanjour (26) — Saudi Arabian — pilot

First came to U.S. in Oct. 1991 to study English in Tucson, Arizona.
Had been in U.S. in April 1996, when he lived in Oakland, Cal. where he studied English, and later received flight training in Scottsdale, Arizona. He left in Nov. 1996 and returned again in Nov. 1997 while he obtained a FAA commercial pilot certificate. He left again in April 1999.
Obtained student visa (F-1) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in Sept. 2000 after an initial refusal. According to the 2/04 Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, Hanjour failed to reveal in his visa application that he had previously traveled to the United States.
Returned Dec. 2000 to study English at Holy Names College (Oakland CA) but never showed up at the school. In illegal status because he did not enroll, and his entry permit had expired at the time of the attack.
Lived in San Diego, Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz. (with Nawaf al-Hamzi), and later in Northern Virginia.
Had a Virginia driver’s license.

So, to the reader, you have some real facts now for a viable argument on public safety and national security threat deportations.

See ICE, Call FIRE

Posted on July 8, 2019July 8, 2019 by Denise Simon

Force for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (FIRE)

Image may contain: text They do training. training on protecting our communities from ICE! Bring a Laptop! FIRE is located in several states and quite active in Texas, Illinois and California. This organization collaborates with RAICES. ‘Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.

The training by FIRE just for Texas includes:

More than a dozen local and statewide nonprofits — including Dallas Catholic Charities, RAICES, the North Texas Dream Team and the ACLU of Texas — formed the Force for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment, known as FIRE.

The coalition hosts “Know Your Rights” sessions, where immigrants are taught to distinguish between arrest warrants signed by judges and those signed by ICE officers, which don’t grant ICE officers the legal right to enter someone’s home.

Immigrants also learn how to build an emergency family plan in case a parent is arrested and who to call in events of arrests, among other lessons.

President Trump has authorized aggressive deportations of illegal immigrants which hovers around 1 million cases. These deportations are not raids but rather individual cases where the judge has already ordered deportation. There will be some significant law enforcement confrontations as families are harboring these people. Further, there are thousands of households that include non-citizens as well as citizens that are receiving huge financial benefits from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This has been going on since 1980 and those who are 62 years old or younger can either be evicted or have their benefits terminated if new rules take effect. HUD estimates it would save the taxpayer up to $210 million per year as just in Texas, there are 6000 households that fit this description. This new policy has not rolled out yet but is slated to occur by the end of the year. See more details here from the Federal Register.

ICE removes Guatemalan fugitive sought for aggravated ...

As for the million or more slated to be deported by ICE, it must be noted:

1. ICE suggests voluntary departure. This allows the deportee to leave the U.S. at their own expense and within a schedule. If ICE has to perform the deportation, any re-entry is a felony.

2. If hearings in a court or on appeals and there is a ‘no-show’, this is an automatic order of removal. Bail is non-refundable.

3. Once a judge orders deportation, ICE will arrange for travel documents and transportation, so the deportee has time to get affairs in order under the letter of ‘bag and baggage’.(Form I-166) This letter tells the deportee where and when to report for removal and how much baggage is allowed.

4. If the deportee cannot travel within the time limit due to extenuating circumstances including illness, they are required to file an application for a ‘stay’ until such time the circumstances clear.

5. If the ‘bag and baggage’ letter is ignored, then the full case is referred to the fugitive unit. Any of these arrests can take place at any time, under any condition or any location.

ICE has a database of criminal illegal fugitives and the crimes range from murder, rape to weapons trafficking, narcotics and underage pornography. Those cases slated for immediate and aggressive deportation which is reported in the million case range are the worst of the worst. Media wont tell you that and actually the immigrant groups noted above wont either.

Just last month:

MIAMI – Matthew T. Albence, deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami, announced the results of an international weapons trafficking operation with law enforcement partners in Argentina and Brazil.

The international operation resulted in a total of 25 arrests and 53 search warrants executed in three countries. Over the course of the operation, law enforcement seized 5,300 firearms and components, 167 explosives/ordinances and 15 silencers from the transnational criminal organization (TCO).

HSI Miami initiated the investigation into the TCO smuggling large quantities of weapons parts and accessories from the U.S. to Argentina and Brazil. The TCO exploited the U.S. Postal Service by illegally exporting weapon parts and ammunition regulated by the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations without the proper State Department licenses. Since the inception of this investigation, several HSI offices, as well as Argentinian and Brazilian authorities have conducted multiple search warrants and arrests netting significant quantities of firearms, firearms parts and more than $100,000 in cash.

Anyone care about the victims of crimes committed by illegals? Well ICE has a page for that. Go here to see just a few of the most wanted.

Does Ilhan Omar Know that Foreign Donations are Illegal?

Posted on July 1, 2019July 1, 2019 by Denise Simon

There are methods around this but we must keep a close eye here. As published by MEMRI with full citations, this congresswoman clearly has some questionable connections and activities beyond those here at home. (hat tip to MEMRI for the steller work here)

BTW, the media is all too quick to report on allegations when it is alleged for President Trump…

***

In Call For Campaign Funds For U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar – Who Has Met With Turkish President Erdogan – Turkish Pro-Government News Outlets Declare: ‘Ilhan Omar Laid Out The U.S.’s Lies In The Middle East One By One!’

In an article about U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), the manager of the Turkish state-run news channel TRT World’s Research Centre, Dr. Tarek Cherkaoui, encouraged readers to donate to Omar’s campaign fund. The article, written for the English-language website of the Turkish pro-government daily Yeni Şafak and published April 1, 2019, was titled “Media Flak Directed At Ilhan Omar No Surprise At All.”[1] At least seven other Turkish media outlets ran the same article, in both English and in Turkish. It should be noted that U.S. federal law prohibits foreign nationals from donating to political candidates.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) meets with Turkish President Erdoğan during the 2017 UN General Assembly.

Turkish News Outlets Call For Funding For Omar

In his article, Dr. Cherkaoui wrote that “donating money to Omar’s campaign fund would be an adequate way of denying powerful organizations the power to censor alternative voices.”[2] The article, which originally appeared in Yeni Şafak, was also published, with the same call for funds, on both the English- and Turkish-language websites of Turkish state-run news wire Anadolu Agency,[3] the website of the Turkish state-run TRT World’s Research Centre,[4] and the Turkish news websites TimeTurk,[5] Haksöz Haber,[6] TürkHaber,[7] and Fikriyat.[8]

It is difficult to calculate the reach that this call has had among Turkish readers, but Yeni Şafak’s Turkish-language website is one of Turkey’s most popular news websites,[9] and, as of September 2018, its Turkish print edition had a weekly circulation of 111,622.[10] Given Omar’s popularity in Turkey, and that the article was published in Turkish as well as in English, it is likely that some Turks have sought to donate to Rep. Omar’s campaign fund.

Turkish Foreign Minister Phones Omar To Congratulate Her On Election Wins; Omar Meets With Erdoğan In New York, And With Turkish Consul General, Participates In Istanbul Conference

According to diplomatic sources, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu phoned Rep. Omar in November 2016 to congratulate her on her election victory,[11] and again congratulated her on her win in November 2018.[12]

Turkish press reports on Turkish FM’s phone call congratulating Omar.

In September 2017, Rep. Omar met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he was in New York for the UN General Assembly.[13] President Erdoğan’s party, the AKP, tweeted about the meeting from its official Twitter account.[14] On July 1, 2017, Omar tweeted that she had met, the previous day, with Turkish Consul General in Chicago Umut Acar for lunch and a tour.[15] The tweet linked to a Facebook page that has since been removed.

A year later, on September 24, 2018, Turkish Consul General Umut Acar tweeted a photo of himself, Omar, and another woman. Acar wrote: “We hosted Omar at the residence.” He went on to describe Omar’s life.[16]

On February 4, 2017, Omar spoke on a panel at the “Who Is A Defender? International Human Rights Defenders Conference,” held in the Şişli district of Istanbul, Turkey. the conference was organized by the Şişli municipality.[17]

Omar at “Who Is A Defender? International Human Rights Defenders Conference” in Şişli, February 2017.

Turkish Media Praise For Rep. Omar

Omar has become a favorite of both the Turkish- and English-language media in Turkey. TRT World’s YouTube channel, the English-language channel of the Turkish state-owned broadcasting network TRT, has at least a dozen videos featuring her,[18] including an interview with Omar herself.[19] Hundreds of news articles in Turkish about her have been published, some under headlines such as “Ilhan Omar Laid Out The U.S.’s Lies In The Middle East One By One!”[20] and, in a play on a Turkish expression, “The One Who Tells The Truth Will Be Chased Out Of Nine Parliaments.”[21]

Dr. Cherkoui’s Article: “Media Flak Directed At Ilhan Omar No Surprise At All”

Following are excerpts of Dr. Cherkaoui’s article, “Media Flak Directed At Ilhan Omar No Surprise At All,” as it first appeared on the English-language website of Yeni Şafak on April 1, 2019:

“Recently, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held its annual conference amidst political upheavals both in the United States and the Middle East. It is no secret that AIPAC has an enormously influential role in American politics and the organization’s events, and especially the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, are generally well attended by top political personalities in Washington D.C. and beyond.

“During this year’s gathering, heavy criticism was directed to Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. For example, American Vice President Mike Pence said ‘recently, a freshman Democrat in Congress trafficked in repeated anti-Semitic tropes,’ adding that ‘anyone who slanders those who support this historic alliance between the United States and Israel should never have a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives.’[22]

“It is interesting to note that Rep. Omar had not expressed anti-Semitic statements per se. She made comments[23] on Twitter about the nature of AIPAC’s influence in Washington. However, her remarks were distorted and taken out of context.

“The smear campaign directed against Omar is merely an attempt to stifle this new wave of youthful political activism, which paved the way for greater representation of minority groups and women. This increasing influence of minorities in the political sphere is surely not to the liking of the Republican Party’s support base. The latter sees with suspicion the loss of urban and suburban centers to minority candidates. The new dynamics are set to alter the balance of power in the long-term since the current demographics that brought electoral victory to the Republican Party relies primarily on an aging populace of conservative whites.

“This transformation is already affecting electoral behavior. For instance, in the aftermath of Nov. 7, 2018, the Democrats succeeded in wresting a 223-seat majority in the House of Representatives. In this context, Ilhan Omar (who is a Somali refugee) and Rashida Tlaib became the first Muslim women to be elected to Congress.

“Interestingly, both Omar and Tlaib were singled out in the current AIPAC controversy. For example, Adam Milstein, one of AIPAC’s biggest donors, accused them of being representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood,[24] saying that their values ‘clash with American values.’[25]

“Such outburst of accusations is indicative of the growing impatience among power centers in the U.S. The latter are used to having a firm grip on the political process and shaping the contours of political debate incontestably. In contrast, the emergence of strong counter-narratives by grassroots organizations disrupt the existing status quo and expose its fallacies…

“Therefore, the media flak (to borrow the term of Herman and Chomsky) directed against Omar and others, does not come as a surprise. It is merely part of the institutional power’s response. Negative ‘public’ responses are directed towards opposing narratives and positions to close down any serious discussion about the role and consequences of U.S. foreign policy in the world. Against this backdrop, harassing opinion leaders, academics, journalists, and activists can take many forms, such as social media hate campaigns, ads,[26] trolling, letters, phone calls, speeches, and lawsuits.

“Among the rhetorical devices used to intimidate Omar and like-minded politicians is to make the connection between Israel’s criticism and anti-Semitism. Such a misleading and pre-packaged conclusion helps frame the debate in a way that conceals both the political agendas at play and the lack of sound supporting reasons. The current controversy has nothing to do with anti-Semitism but is all about protecting Israel from criticism and conflating Zionism with Judaism.

“All in all, it is not possible to silence those who question the rationale behind the U.S. policy towards Israel, especially in an era of information overload. By the same token, it is imperative for civil society organizations in the U.S. to have a better media presence, not only to push their narratives but also to prevent the spreading of falsehood within the public sphere. This will reinforce democratic politics and responsible journalism.

“Lastly, since the campaign was fixated on making an example of Ilhan Omar, donating money to Omar’s campaign fund would be an adequate way of denying powerful organizations the power to censor alternative voices.”

[1] Yenisafak.com/en/world/media-flak-directed-at-ilhan-omar-no-surprise-at-all-3477913, April 1, 2019.

[2] According to the Federal Exchange Commission, federal law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to political candidates.

[3] Aa.com.tr/en/analysis/media-flak-directed-at-ilhan-omar-no-surprise-at-all/1440079, April 2, 2019; Aa.com.tr/tr/analiz/ilhan-omar-a-yonelik-medya-saldirisi-sasirtici-degil/1446761, April 9, 2019.

[4] Researchcentre.trtworld.com/publications/in-depth/media-flak-directed-at-ilhan-omar-no-surprise-at-all, April 2, 2019.

[5] Timeturk.com/analiz-ilhan-omar-a-yonelik-medya-saldirisi-sasirtici-degil/haber-1069674, May 9, 2019.

[6] Haksozhaber.net/abdde-ilhan-omara-yonelik-medya-saldirisi-sasirtici-degil-113351h.htm, April 10, 2019.

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