Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bob-menendez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bob Menendez</a> (D-NJ) appears set to try to blame his wife, Nadine Menendez, for the federal bribery charges that the couple is facing, according to newly unsealed court documents.
“At trial, as part of his defense, Senator Menendez may elect to testify to communications with his wife that serve to materially decrease any inference of culpability on Senator Menendez’s part,” the motion <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/16/us-news/sen-bob-menendez-may-throw-wife-nadine-under-the-bus-in-corruption-trial-court-docs-show/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a>. “Senator Menendez will explain, for example, what he and his wife discussed contemporaneously with their dinners with Egyptian officials (which colored his understanding of the purpose of such dinners); the explanations that Nadine provided for why [co-defendants Wael Hanna and Jose Uribe] had provided her certain monetary items; the reasons why he sent his wife a series of questions that other Senators purportedly intended to ask an Egyptian official; and many more topics.”
The 70-year-old senator is planning to show the &#8220;absence of any improper intent on Senator Menendez&#8217;s part&#8221; by &#8220;demonstrating the ways&#8221; that his wife &#8220;withheld information from Sen. Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place,&#8221; the document continued.
The document added that by &#8220;demonstrating the absence of any improper intent on Senator Menendez’s part, they may inculpate Nadine.&#8221;
Menendez and his wife were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senator-bob-menendez-to-not-run-for-re-election-as-a-democrat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicted</a> on federal charges in September for allegedly accepting bribes from three businessmen in exchange for actions that he took as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. According to the DOJ, the alleged bribes were intended to protect the businessmen and to benefit Egypt.
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Prosecutors later said in a revised indictment that Menendez also allegedly used his clout to help a friend secure a multi-million dollar investment deal from the Qatari government, in part by taking actions that benefited Qatar.
In a subsequent superseding indictment, Menendez was also charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice, public official acting as a foreign agent, bribery, extortion and honest services wire fraud.

US Senator Menendez defiantly rejects calls to step down

Democrat Senator Menendez Poised To Blame His Wife For Alleged Crimes: Reports

Bob Menendez

Crime

Egypt

New Jersey

Politics

Here’s how World War III could happen.
To understand how, we should look historically at the closest that the world has gotten to World War III since the end of World War II.
The world came closest to World War III during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when the Soviet Union attempted to ship nuclear-tipped missiles into Cuba and the United States put a blockade around Cuba to prevent that from happening.
The United States and the USSR stood eyeball-to-eyeball and eventually the USSR backed down. But — that was very, very close.
To understand why we came so close to the brink of nuclear war in 1962, you actually have to reverse field for a few years.
The reality is that the USSR started to challenge the United States so strenuously around the world because of roughly a decade of weakness in American foreign policy.
This is how world wars break out — miscalculation. They break out because one side believes that the other side is likely to cave in the face of its aggression.
It&#8217;s particularly true when the United States shows its neck to its enemies. So to really understand what was happening in the lead-up to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, you have to return to 1956, when Dwight Eisenhower was president and there was a crisis that emerged in the Middle East.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1930-world-war-iii-china-edition-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
That crisis involved the Suez Canal. Nasser, the nationalist, pan-Arab nationalist leader of Egypt, decided that he was going to unite all the Arab countries by flexing muscle in the face of the West. And so he decided that despite the fact that he had nothing to do with the building of the Suez Canal, he would nationalize the Suez Canal.
The French and the British both had an interest in the Suez Canal. And they said to Nasser, you can&#8217;t do that. The United States stood on the sidelines and vacillated for a couple of reasons: They believed that if they were kind enough to Nasser, then Nasser would not align himself with the Soviet Union and that Nasser might, in fact, become the tip of the spear in some sort of American overture to the Arab world; if they were just kind and nice to Nasser, then everything would work out just fine. They were supposedly afraid that the USSR was going to get directly involved in the Suez Canal crisis.
Meanwhile, the British were no longer an international power of the sort of vintage they had been historically. The British and the French, who had historically not worked particularly well together, decided to work with the Israelis in order to liberate the Suez Canal, which the British had built.
They went to the Israelis, who were worried about the Egyptian militarization of the Sinai Desert, and Israel decided that it would work with the British and the French in order to free the Suez Canal and possibly overthrow Nasser and put in place somebody who was not going to be an enemy of the West.
The Israelis ended up moving into the Sinai desert, which they quickly overran, and then they were on the march to Cairo.
The plan was for the British and the French to intervene, tell the Israelis to stop, and take over the Suez Canal.
And then — Eisenhower stepped in and rapped everyone on the knuckles. The United States actually stepped in on Egypt’s side and said to the British and the French that this was a violation of international law, hoping Nasser would then align himself with the West. The United States was basically saying to the British and the French that they were no longer world powers.
Again, the Egyptian government didn&#8217;t build the Suez Canal. The British government did it. None of that mattered; the bottom line was that the United States decided to play non-aligned. And in playing non-aligned, Nikita Khrushchev, the new premier of the Soviet Union, decided now was the time to move.
The next thing that happened, just a few months later, was that there was an uprising in Hungary, a state in the Soviet sphere of influence. Suddenly there was a Hungarian revolution, an attempt to actually substitute the puppet government that had been installed by the Soviets with a new government, a better government that was going to essentially remain non-aligned.
The Soviets immediately invaded Hungary and crushed everything and killed everyone involved in the Hungarian revolution of 1956. By 1957, Sputnik was launched and the space race was on. By 1958, Nikita Khrushchev, believing that he had the impetus, felt he had the power to challenge the United States globally.
In 1958, he demanded the withdrawal of American troops and Western troops from Berlin, beginning what was known as the Berlin crisis. For three long years, the Soviet Union and the United States stood toe-to-toe over Berlin.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union facilitated a Cuban revolution that ended with Fidel Castro in charge of Cuba. In 1961, Khrushchev stepped in and solved the Berlin crisis by building the Berlin Wall, which lasted until 1989.
All of this led to the Cuban Missile crisis.
There is one rule when it comes to World War: Lack of clarity in your intention, vacillation, failure to make clear to your enemies what exactly your lines are.
Fake bluffs, empty threats. These things lead to war. Very often the open threat of war actually deters war. Very often, the willingness to actually flex muscle leads the other side to believe, “Hey, maybe I shouldn’t actually go and have this firefight with somebody. They&#8217;re ready to have the firefight.”
Miscalculation is the most likely way the great powers end up in war. That&#8217;s precisely what happened during World War I and happened during World War II. The Germans miscalculated because they thought that since the West had caved at Munich and because they&#8217;d been able to occupy the Sudetenland, they would then be able to then occupy the rest of Czechoslovakia. The aftermath of that was that they thought they could then occupy the Danzig corridor.
Failure of willingness to convey your intention, failure to act as an iron wall against the aggression of your enemies, leads to escalation. And then you actually do get dragged into hot wars that involve extraordinary numbers of casualties.
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Today there is a story out of the <a href="https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/131715/taiwan-usa-troops-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Express</a> that American troops are to be permanently stationed in Taiwan, according to Taipei.
Meanwhile, the Chinese are buzzing the borders of the Taiwan Strait, which is divided between Taiwan and China in terms of offshore control. Chinese jets have been busing the Taiwan Straits. The Chinese are again pursuing hypersonic missile tests.
Now, why would they be doing all of this? The reason they are doing that is because Joe Biden has demonstrated he&#8217;s showing his neck while China has been busily facilitating the creation of an anti-American, anti-Western alliance predominantly staffed by China, Russia and Iran.
Those are countries that are very obviously working together, so much so that the Houthis, an Iranian-backed terror group that is currently attacking shipping in the Red Sea, announced that they would not attack any Chinese or Russian shipping in the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.
What the Biden administration should be doing is taking the position that it is going to destroy any Houthi attempts to harass shipping in the Red Sea. What the United States should be doing in Ukraine is holding the line; the United States does have an interest in holding the line against Russia. The United States, when it comes to Israel, should be saying that Israel has the full capacity to go in to strike Hamas, which is an Iranian proxy group.
The reason that China is getting aggressive with Taiwan, the reason that a war could possibly break out is because China is thinking, “We just don&#8217;t believe that Joe Biden is going to do anything about that. Not only that, you guys look so divided internally in the United States on foreign policy that if we make a move, we think that probably you will just let it go.&#8221;
The single most effective method of upgrading Chinese military capacity is to take or blockade Taiwan. It&#8217;s not about the money for the Chinese military; it is about the microchips. Taiwan is the largest manufacturer of microchips, sophisticated microchips on the planet.
Those microchips are the single greatest advantage the United States has in terms of military tech, because we design all the software here and then the hardware is then printed off and created in Taiwan, but we&#8217;re not even able to ramp up our microchip facilities in the United States fast enough to make up for Taiwan being lost.
But mostly, this is about will.
After the abandonment of Hong Kong, after the abandonment of Afghanistan, after the internal pressures in the United States over Ukraine and Israel, the Chinese are hoping that Taiwan is going to get the message and elect a government that is friendlier to China and then just give them the microchips. Suddenly their military would go from a very large but second-rate military to a first-class military.
It is a game of perception. How does the world perceive Joe Biden right now? They perceive him as weak. How does the world perceive the United States? They perceive the United States as divided. When you have a weak president and a divided United States, that seems like a really good time to march.
And that&#8217;s precisely why it matters.

Russia Holds 75th Anniversary Victory Parade Over The Nazis In WWII

Here’s How World War III Could Happen

Ben Shapiro

Biden Administration

China

Communism

Cuba

Joe Biden

Opinion

Readers Pass

Russia

On Christmas Day, reports were posted that Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two terrorist groups that run Gaza, had rejected an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire with Israel.
The proposal reportedly suggested that Hamas and Islamic Jihad give up their control of Gaza.
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Egyptian sources: Hamas, Islamic Jihad reject giving up power in return for permanent ceasefire. Hamas and PIJ care about staying in power — even at the cost of Gaza’s civilians.<a href="https://t.co/BjtZv2IXKN">https://t.co/BjtZv2IXKN</a>
&mdash; Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraelWarRoom/status/1739298022264111337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“It goes down to the fact that Hamas has a problem, at least Yahya Sinwar, Hamas in Gaza, has a bit of a problem recognizing the reality on the ground; perhaps that’s the problem when you’re stuck in a tunnel and not being able to see what’s happening above ground,” I24 News senior editor Guy Azriel stated. “But more specifically, regarding this Egyptian proposal: the idea is to relinquish Hamas’ power in Gaza in return for a permanent ceasefire. Hamas and Islamic Jihad rejected this and rejected any sort of concessions beyond the return of Israeli hostages, as we saw in the previous pause back in November.”
“Egypt perhaps has suggested this new vision for Gaza that would see new elections in Gaza, new leadership, would see an overhaul in the management of the Gaza Strip; something that Hamas, for now, fails to understand will have to happen. In addition to that, Egypt also offers an immunity for the heads of Hamas, not to be chased, not to be prosecuted. Of course, this is something Israel has been saying all along, that it will hunt the heads of Hamas, those responsible for the October 7 massacre.”
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Following Hamas’s, PIJ’s rejection of an Egyptian offer for a ceasefire and hostage release deal<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/i24NEWS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#i24NEWS</a>’ senior editor <a href="https://twitter.com/GuyAz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GuyAz</a> breaks down the details of the suggested deal and the sides&#39; reactions <a href="https://t.co/0YOVC4Aa8c">pic.twitter.com/0YOVC4Aa8c</a>
&mdash; i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) <a href="https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1739306355452748161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Recent video shows gunfire erupting, reported as coming from Hamas, when Gazans attempted to obtain humanitarian aid sent into Gaza.
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Rafah: Hamas policemen shoot at a crowd of people taking goods from the aid trucks before they reach Hamas warehouses. Hamas does not care about Palestinians, Gaza or hungry children, they only care about themselves. <a href="https://t.co/jODRrcmVsY">pic.twitter.com/jODRrcmVsY</a>
&mdash; Alon Rokach (@AlonRok) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlonRok/status/1738927870288810054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“Videos circulating on social media Sunday showed gunmen, reportedly Hamas operatives, stealing trucks delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip from Egypt,” The Times of Israel<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-aid-trucks-stolen-by-gunmen-and-looted-as-convoys-start-crossing-from-israel/"> reported</a> in mid-December.
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Other videos reportedly show Hamas stealing aid meant for Gazans, and the anger of at least one resident at Hamas for its behavior.
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Videos are showing Hamas stealing trucks of humanitarian aid that enter Gaza.
Masked and armed men sit on top of the trucks. Hebrew-language media reports the men are from Hamas. <a href="https://t.co/6TMsh12efp">pic.twitter.com/6TMsh12efp</a>
&mdash; Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) <a href="https://twitter.com/AvivaKlompas/status/1736373828563935577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The videos of what Hamas is doing to the civilians of Gaza are increasingly horrendous. 
Hamas shoots their own people when they get too close to humanitarian aid in Rafah.
Hamas beats their own people with bats in the street when someone tries to interfere in Khan Yunis.… <a href="https://t.co/0KxwvbGV7Y">pic.twitter.com/0KxwvbGV7Y</a>
&mdash; Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) <a href="https://twitter.com/HenMazzig/status/1738960977243025888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Roughly a week after the October 7 Hamas massacre of 1200 Israelis, UNRWA, the UN organization under whose umbrella Palestinian children are taught to hate Israel, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-refugee-agency-says-hamas-stole-fuel-and-medications-from-its-gaza-premises/">reported</a> on X that Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip had stolen fuel and medical supplies; it almost immediately deleted the posts, then later declared nothing had been stolen.
A <a href="https://www.impact-se.org/wp-content/uploads/Review-of-2022-UNRWA-Produced-School-Materials.pdf">review</a> of UNRWA-Produced Study Materials in the Palestinian Territories found UNRWA, which reportedly provides education to 533,000 children, had produced material that “consistently ignores the existence of the State of Israel,” in one instance using demonic imagery, with Israeli forces portrayed as a demon sticking its “fangs” in Palestine. One question for fifth graders “states that angels will drag infidels (Jews and Christians) by their hair to hell,” the review pointed out.
While Gazans live under the iron rule of Hamas, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, reportedly worth more than $4 billion, Khaled Mashal, reportedly worth $4 billion, and senior Hamas political leader Abu Marzuk, estimated to be worth $3 billion, all reside in Qatar, which gives Hamas between $120 million and $480 million per year, according to a report from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD).

Yahia al/Sinwar

Hamas, Islamic Jihad Reject Egyptian Proposal For Ceasefire, Won’t Give Up Power: Report

Ceasefire

Hamas

Islamic Jihad

Israel

World

ABC News Senior White House correspondent Selina Wang asked <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-kirby" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Kirby</a> to explain the factors &#8220;beyond Hamas&#8221; that were complicating the United States&#8217; efforts to get Americans and other civilians out of Gaza — but Kirby was adamant that Hamas was quite literally the only roadblock.
&#8220;Why have Americans and foreign nationals still been unable to get out of Gaza, even though aid trucks have been going in?&#8221; Wang asked. &#8220;Beyond putting the blame on Hamas, what more can you say what&#8217;s going on there and what the progress is?&#8221;
WATCH:
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ABC&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/selinawangtv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SelinaWangTV</a>: &quot;Why have Americans and foreign nationals still been unable to get out of Gaza, even though aid trucks have been going in? Beyond putting the blame on hamas, what more can you say what&#39;s going on there &amp; what the progress is?&quot;
John Kirby: &quot;How about if I… <a href="https://t.co/O6bXJrZu91">pic.twitter.com/O6bXJrZu91</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1719417261696426314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Kirby immediately pushed back, saying that Hamas was the only obstacle that needed to be addressed, and he noted that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said the same during a Senate hearing earlier in the day.
&#8220;How about if I just put the blame on Hamas?&#8221; Kirby countered. &#8220;I mean, Secretary Blinken talked about this in his hearing this morning. They are putting obstacles up to allow us to get folks out. It&#8217;s not Israel, it&#8217;s not Egypt, it&#8217;s not places like Jordan. Hamas has been making it difficult to do this.&#8221;
Blinken <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/31/news/hamas-traps-1000-americans-in-gaza-as-last-us-charter-plane-leaves-israel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">addressed the issue</a> during a Tuesday morning hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, saying that some 400 Americans and their families (approximately 1,000 people) and another 5,000 civilians from other countries were waiting for a safe route out of Gaza, and Hamas terrorists had refused to open the gates and allow them passage.
&#8220;We’re working with various parties to try to facilitate their departure from Gaza. The impediment is simple: it’s Hamas,&#8221; Blinken said. &#8220;We’ve not yet found a way to get them out through whatever place and by whatever means that Hamas is not blocking, but we’re working that with intermediaries.&#8221;
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&#8220;We’re working on it with with Egypt. We’re working on it with Israel. We’re looking for ways to get people out,&#8221; Blinken added. &#8220;But because Hamas controls what goes on for the most part inside of Gaza, unless it agrees, then it’s going to be very difficult to get that done.&#8221;

White House Media Briefing Held By Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre And NSC Coordinator John Kirby

Reporter Tries To Get Kirby To Shift Some Blame Off Hamas; He Doesn’t Bite

Reporter Tries To Get Kirby To Shift Some Blame Off Hamas; He Doesn't Bite

Antony Blinken

Executive

Gaza

John Kirby

The New York Times corrected a report on Saturday that the publication said misquoted the chief spokesman of the United Nations Secretary General’s office. 
Over the weekend, the Times <a href="https://twitter.com/guypbenson/status/1715814648476299337" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that the 20 aid shipments that entered Gaza on Saturday were not inspected before crossing the border with Egypt, meaning that weapons could have potentially been included in the trucks. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/21/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">correction</a> to that statement was issued shortly after. 
“Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misquoted Stéphane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for the U.N. secretary general’s office,” the statement from the Times said. “Mr. Dujarric did not say the first aid convoy that crossed from Egypt into Gaza had not been inspected for weapons. He said the Israeli side was fully aware of their contents.”
The initial report claimed that the inventories of the trucks had been provided to Egypt, the United Nations, and Israel, in addition to paperwork – but that their contents had not been inspected, based on a misquotation from Dujarric. According to the Times, the verification of the contents of cargo has been a major <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/21/world/middleeast/humanitarian-aid-gaza-israel-cairo.html?partner=slack&amp;smid=sl-share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demand</a> from Israel in attempts to prevent weapons and other non-aid items from being smuggled into Gaza. 
“All of the equipment was checked before going into Gaza,” Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-denies-humanitarian-aid-not-checked-for-weapons-before-entering-gaza/?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> following the report from the Times, saying that only water, food, and medical equipment were sent. “We emphasize that Israel is able to make sure that nothing goes in or out except the aforementioned.”
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However, the same corrected report also cited anonymous sources who said that the truckloads of aid “did not require physical inspections” because they were part of an &#8220;expedited process.&#8221; Future shipments, the report notes, would not be sent under that process. Once across the border, the aid was set to be distributed by a nonprofit called the &#8220;Palestine Red Crescent Society,&#8221; an organization founded by Yassar Arafat&#8217;s brother. 
The 20 trucks that made their way into Gaza through the Rafah Crossing reportedly included food, water, and medicine, but no fuel, as Israel fears Hamas would use fuel for their vehicles or weapons. On Sunday, however, Egyptian sources and officials from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/unrwa-claims-fuel-trucks-enter-gaza-israel-denies-any-fuel-has-entered-strip/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that six trucks carrying fuel crossed into Gaza from Egypt. Journalists from the Associated Press at the Rafah Crossing <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-gaza-war-syria-lebanon-916edd66e3af095d49e5ba1c59d90c2a?taid=65350fa81014b1000196041b&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that they had witnessed seven fuel trucks enter Gaza on Sunday. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#8217;s office and Israel&#8217;s defense ministry body COGAT <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/unrwa-claims-fuel-trucks-enter-gaza-israel-denies-any-fuel-has-entered-strip/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dispute</a> any reports of fuel entering Gaza. 
At least 17 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza on Sunday, according to Egyptian state-run media. Saturday’s shipment was the first since Hamas carried out a devastating attack on Israel two weeks ago, killing more than 1,400 people in the country and wounding thousands more. According to the Associated Press, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-egypt-gaza-border-crossing-aid-convoy-f061274acdc00788c9a7985d57aa84e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approximately</a> 200 trucks holding roughly 3,000 tons of aid for Gaza are waiting in Egypt. 
In a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/21/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-the-delivery-of-humanitarian-aid-to-gaza/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>, President Joe Biden said shipments of humanitarian aid to Gaza were “essential.” 
“We will continue to work with all parties to keep the Rafah crossing in operation to enable the continued movement of aid that is imperative to the welfare of the people of Gaza, and to continue working to protect civilians, consistent with obligations under international humanitarian law,” Biden said.

Aid To Gaza Rafah Crossing

NYT Corrects Report Claiming Aid Trucks Entering Gaza Weren’t Checked For Weapons

NYT Corrects Report Claiming Aid Trucks Entering Gaza Weren't Checked For Weapons 

Global Politics

New York Times

weapons

Arab leaders canceled a meeting that they had scheduled with President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> later this week after a rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists malfunctioned and struck a hospital in Gaza, killing hundreds of people.
The meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi was canceled as disinformation ran rampant on social media and in newsrooms across the world after those on the political Left immediately parroted claims from the Gaza Health Ministry that Israel bombed the hospital.
Israel later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israel-defense-forces-terrorists-fired-rocket-that-killed-500-at-gaza-hospital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group was responsible for the 500+ alleged deaths at the hospital.
“Following an analysis by the IDF’s operational systems, a barrage of rockets was launched toward Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit,” the IDF said in a statement. “According to intelligence information from a number of sources we have, Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is responsible for the failed rocket launch that hit the hospital.”
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An Al Jazeera broadcast documented the moment that the Islamic Jihad launched a rocket which misfired and hit a hospital in Gaza, killing hundreds. <a href="https://t.co/ypZTdJobzk">pic.twitter.com/ypZTdJobzk</a>
&mdash; Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1714378880713203844?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The announcement that the meeting had been canceled came right as Biden was leaving on Air Force One for his trip to Israel.
Biden later released a statement about the explosion saying that he was &#8220;outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted.&#8221;
&#8220;Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted. Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my national…
&mdash; President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1714426083678851116?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israel-defense-forces-terrorists-fired-rocket-that-killed-500-at-gaza-hospital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israel Defense Forces: Terrorists Fired Rocket That Killed 500+ At Gaza Hospital</a>

TOPSHOT-US-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT-BIDEN

Arab Leaders Cancel Meeting With Biden After Palestinians Hit Their Own Hospital With Rocket

Jordan

Palestinians

A top aide to President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> said <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hamas">Hamas</a> is impeding plans to evacuate U.S. citizens from Gaza to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/egypt">Egypt</a> as Israeli forces wage war on the group following a terrorist attack in Israel last weekend.
CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1713548830266835087">asked</a> U.S. National Security Adviser <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-adviser-confronted-over-touting-quiet-middle-east">Jake Sullivan</a> on Sunday why the Biden administration can&#8217;t tell Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi to open the border to let Americans out of the embattled strip.
&#8220;We have told President Sisi to open the border to let Americans out. The situation there at the crossing is actually more complicated. The Egyptians have in fact agreed to allow Americans to depart, to get safe passage through the Rafah Crossing,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;The Israelis agreed to ensure that the area around there would be safe as far as they were able to do so. The question — when we tried to move a group yesterday was actually Hamas taking steps to try and stop that from happening.&#8221;
An estimated <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip/card/u-s-estimates-up-to-600-americans-in-gaza-XzlzyGWQCFHThTD8sqge">500-600 Americans reside</a> in the Gaza Strip, and some who have tried to leave said they were stuck at the border, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/14/world/middleeast/gaza-egypt-border-crossing-israel.html">according to The New York Times</a>. Meanwhile, Israel&#8217;s military has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idf-urges-gazans-to-evacuate-as-hamas-blocks-escape-route-our-war-is-not-with-the-people-of-gaza">urged</a> civilians inside northern Gaza to evacuate ahead of an expected ground offensive, but Hamas <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-c8b4fc20e4fd2ef381d5edb7e9e8308c">reportedly told</a> people to ignore the warning.
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Sullivan said the Biden administration is working &#8220;around the clock&#8221; to ensure that American citizens are able to get through the border crossing.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken &#8220;is in Egypt today meeting with the president of Egypt. This is at the top of his list, to help get those American citizens out of Gaza,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;Anyone who is a U.S. citizen should have the right to free passage through there and then have the U.S. government facilitate their travel home.&#8221;
Officials have reported more than 1,300 people in Israel have been killed in the attacks and roughly 3,200 more injured.  At least 27 Americans died in the attacks. Dozens of others are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/08/europe/israel-hostages-hamas-what-we-know-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">believed to have been taken hostage</a> by Hamas, with U.S. citizens believed to be among them.
In addition to efforts to assist U.S. citizens flee Gaza, officials have been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-to-evacuate-americans-wanting-to-leave-israel-by-sea-embassy-says">working to help</a> Americans evacuate Israel as its forces fight Hamas and Hezbollah <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/one-killed-in-renewed-hezbollah-missile-attacks-idf-restricts-lebanon-border-area/">attacks</a> Israel from the Lebanon border.

Israel Hamas War – Gaza

Hamas Impeding Evacuation Of Americans From Gaza To Egypt, Biden Adviser Says

Jake Sullivan

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bob-menendez">Robert &#8220;Bob&#8221; Menendez</a> (D-NJ) pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges in an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/egypt">Egypt</a>-related bribery case brought by federal prosecutors.
Menendez, 69, appeared before a judge in Manhattan federal court where a lawyer entered the not-guilty plea on his behalf, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-gold-bars-bribery-arraignment-49599ba95fbf19ed5169055e24817fea">Associated Press</a>.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona Wang allowed Menendez to be released on a $100,000 bond but ordered the senator to surrender his passport and placed restrictions on contacts with others.
The senator&#8217;s wife, Nadine Menendez, also entered a not-guilty plea, as have three other co-defendants in the case.
Federal prosecutors <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-senator-robert-menendez-his-wife-and-three-new-jersey-businessmen-charged-bribery">announced</a> on Friday an indictment in which Menendez was accused of using his official position to benefit a trio of New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes that included gold bars, cash, and a luxury convertible.
Menendez was &#8220;charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison,&#8221; per the Justice Department.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flood-of-democrat-senators-call-on-bob-menendez-to-resign-over-corruption-allegations">Several Democrats</a> in the House, Senate, and beyond have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-democrats-begin-pushing-menendez-to-resign-as-he-steps-down-from-chairmanship">called on Menendez to resign</a> from Congress. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the No. 2 Democrat in the upper chamber, joined the chorus on Wednesday.
&#8220;Leaders in New Jersey, including the Governor and my Senate colleague Cory Booker, have made it clear that Sen. Menendez can no longer serve. He should step down,&#8221; Durbin <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorDurbin/status/1707032511405015368">said in a post to X</a>.
In addition to the criminal case, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/fbi-probing-whether-egyptian-intelligence-played-role-menendez-case-rcna117531">reported</a> on Tuesday that the FBI is conducting a counterintelligence investigation into the alleged bribery scheme.
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Menendez has remained defiant, insisting that he will not resign, though he did step down as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he was doing <a href="https://idahocapitalsun.com/2023/09/22/menendez-steps-down-temporarily-as-u-s-senate-committee-chairman-amid-federal-charges/">&#8220;temporarily&#8221;</a> until the matter gets resolved.
Years ago, Menendez faced a corruption case that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/nyregion/senator-robert-menendez-corruption.html">ended in a mistrial</a>. In a <a href="https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/1705251591496814956">statement</a> last week, he said, &#8220;I have been falsely accused before because I refused to back down to the powers that be and the people of New Jersey were able to see through the smoke and mirrors and recognized I was innocent.&#8221;
The senator, who claimed &#8220;those behind this campaign simply cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. senator and serve with honor and distinction,&#8221; added that he remains &#8220;focused on continuing his important work&#8221; and &#8220;will not be distracted by baseless allegations.&#8221;
On Monday, Menendez declared, “I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet, but as I have stated throughout this whole process, I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator.&#8221;

Sen. Bob Menendez

Senator Bob Menendez Pleads Not Guilty In Egypt Bribery Case

Congress

Wael Hana, an Egyptian national who was indicted last week on corruption charges with Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bob-menendez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bob Menendez</a> (D-NJ), was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday and later made his initial appearance in court.
Hana pled not guilty and was &#8220;granted release on a $5 million personal recognizance bond and strict conditions, including the surrender of his passport,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/nyregion/wael-hana-arrested-menendez.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. He faces one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.
Prosecutors alleged that Hana, who is also an American citizen, helped facilitate meetings between Menendez and Egyptian government officials in an effort to get Menendez to increase U.S. aid to the Egypt.
Hana was a longtime friend of Menendez&#8217;s wife, who was also charged, and had started a halal meat company, IS EG Halal, that &#8220;the sole certifier of halal meat imported to Egypt, and the government said it became the conduit for a stream of money to the senator,&#8221; the report added.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/politics/menendez-co-defendant-hana/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that the USDA contacted the Egyptian government in 2019 and objected to giving IS EG Halal a virtual monopoly over its competition.
&#8220;When Official-1 attempted to explain why the monopoly was detrimental to U.S. interests, MENENDEZ reiterated his demand, in sum and substance, that the USDA stop interfering with IS EG Halal’s monopoly,&#8221; the indictment said. &#8220;Official-1 did not accede to MENENDEZ’s demand, but IS EG Halal nevertheless kept its monopoly.&#8221;
Menendez, his wife, and the two other businessmen charged in the indictment are expected to make their arrangements in court on Wednesday, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/businessman-pleads-not-guilty-charges-bribing-us-senator-menendez-2023-09-26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>.
The federal indictment against Menendez and his wife was unsealed on Friday and accused the senator and his wife of accepting bribes from the three businessmen in exchange for actions that he took as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. According to the DOJ, the bribes were intended to protect the businessmen and to benefit Egypt.
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Menendez faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted of the charges, which include conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
“Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” the indictment said. Federal authorities reportedly found gold bars and nearly $500,000 in cash stuffed throughout the senator’s home that they traced back to the businessmen Menendez allegedly worked with.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flood-of-democrat-senators-call-on-bob-menendez-to-resign-over-corruption-allegations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Flood Of Democrat Senators Call On Bob Menendez To Resign Over Corruption Allegations</a>

Egyptian National Indicted With Bob Menendez Is Arrested At Kennedy Airport

Scandals

U.S.

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-NY) called on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to resign after the 69-year-old lawmaker was indicted on federal corruption charges last week.
The indictment, unsealed on Friday, claims that Menendez and his wife had a corrupt relationship with New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, who allegedly gave the senator bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the DOJ, the bribes were intended to protect the businessmen and benefit Egypt.
Menendez faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted of the charges, which include conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
AOC was asked to respond to the scandal during an appearance on CBS News&#8217;s &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; with Margaret Brennan after Brennan noted that the congresswoman had called on Republicans to resign amid their own scandals.
&#8220;Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, as you know, has just been indicted on bribery charges,&#8221; Brennan said. &#8220;Should he resign? And what do you think of his statement that it has to do with him being a Latino?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, you know, I think it&#8217;s- the situation is quite unfortunate, but I do believe that it is in the best interest for Senator Menendez to resign in this moment,&#8221; Ocasio-Cortez said. &#8220;As you mentioned, consistency matters. It shouldn&#8217;t matter whether it&#8217;s a Republican or a Democrat. The details in this indictment are extremely serious. They involve the nature of, of not just his but all of our seats in Congress.&#8221;
Ocasio-Cortez dismissed Menendez&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/menendez-addresses-growing-calls-to-resign-after-corruption-charges">claims</a> that there was a &#8220;campaign&#8221; trying to bring him down and that it was racially motivated.
&#8220;And while, you know, as a Latina, there are absolutely ways in which there is systemic bias. But I think what is here in this indictment is quite clear,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;And I believe it&#8217;s in the best interest to maintain the integrity of the seat. I want to emphasize that all people are- they must be extended the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. That is the legal reality in our country. But when it comes to the political and the standard of dignity that we want to maintain for the public in the United States Congress, I do believe it is in the best interests.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> calls on Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to resign following his indictment on federal bribery charges, &quot;to maintain the integrity of the seat.”
“It shouldn&#39;t matter whether it&#39;s a Republican or a Democrat. The details in this indictment are extremely serious.” <a href="https://t.co/QAe2H0qmJi">pic.twitter.com/QAe2H0qmJi</a>
&mdash; Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1705956588257730967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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US-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATE-DIPLOMACY

AOC Calls On Sen. Menendez To Resign, Bucks His Defense That He’s Being Racially Targeted

AOC Calls On Sen. Menendez To Resign, Bucks His Defense That He's Being Racially Targeted

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Corruption

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> has reportedly notified Congress that he intends to shift tens of millions of dollars from Egypt to Taiwan for failing to improve in areas that were required to receive the money.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/u-s-to-shift-millions-in-military-aid-from-egypt-to-taiwan-a416c2e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the Biden administration will withhold $85 million in aid while some lawmakers are pushing the administration to withhold an additional $235 million. The deadline for authorizing the withholding of the aid is September 30.
U.S. officials said that the shifting of money comes in response to Egypt failing to &#8220;make progress on human rights and other issues,&#8221; the report said.
The conditional aid is only a fraction of the $1.3 billion that the U.S. gives Egypt per year, the report noted, which comes as the two countries have growing disagreements on a variety of matters.
The report said that the administration is planning to redirect at least $55 million to Taiwan and $30 million to Lebanon.
Taiwan is facing rising threats of military confrontation with communist China and Lebanon has been in a state of upheaval ever since a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massive-explosion-reported-in-beirut-lebanon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">massive explosion</a> in Beirut in 2020.
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The news comes as Taiwan is set to purchase 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the U.S. — a formidable weapon that could make an attempted invasion by China nearly impossible.
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-17/taiwan-to-buy-400-us-anti-ship-missiles-intended-to-repel-a-china-invasion?leadSource=uverify%20wall">Bloomberg</a> that the contract with Boeing on Taiwan’s behalf by the US Naval Air Systems Command marks the first time the island will have purchased land-launched versions of the missile.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), chairman of the House Select Committee on China, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-house-republican-warns-u-s-needs-to-arm-taiwan-fast-beef-up-u-s-military-presence-to-avoid-war">said</a> earlier this year that the U.S. needed to provide Taiwan with weapons and the U.S. needed to “be moving heaven and earth to surge power out to the Indo-Pacific before it’s too late, before we have another war on our hands.”
Gallagher said that the “most important” weapon that the U.S. needed to send to Taiwan are “Harpoon anti-ship missiles.”
“I remain convinced that there’s more we can do to move Taiwan to the front of the line, ahead of Saudi Arabia, for example, when it comes to Harpoon deliveries, as well as take the Harpoon missiles that we’re putting into deep storage, that we’re de-milling, and change around a few aspects of them so that we can deliver them to Taiwan,” he said. “We could also explore licensing certain weapons systems so the Taiwanese could produce them domestically. But, at the end of the day, it just comes down to energy and focus and prioritization from the executive branch. We need the secretary of defense himself to get involved, to make this a daily priority for the backlog to get cleared.”
This is a developing news story; refresh the page for updates.

TAIWAN-CHINA-US-POLITICS-MILITARY-DRILL

Biden Shifts Some Military Foreign Aid From Middle East Country To Taiwan

Taiwan

Archeologists from a museum in the Netherlands have been banned by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/egypt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Egyptian</a> authorities from working at a historic dig site for portraying black celebrities — including Eddie Murphy, Rihanna, and Beyoncé — as ancient Egyptian rulers and figures in an exhibition.
The National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands, recently unveiled an exhibition, <a href="https://www.rmo.nl/tentoonstellingen/tijdelijke-tentoonstellingen/kemet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">titled</a> “Kemet: Egypt in Hip Hop, Jazz, Soul &amp; Funk,” which has Egyptian Queen Nefertiti portrayed by both Rihanna and Beyoncé, King Tutankhamun portrayed by American rapper Nas, and Pharaoh Ramesses portrayed by Eddie Murphy. An email <a href="https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/06/05/egypte-boos-om-tentoonstelling-leids-museum-mag-geen-opgravingen-meer-doen-in-egyptische-necropolis-a4166431" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Monday by Dutch news outlet NRC shows that Egyptian authorities banned a team of the museum&#8217;s archeologists from performing excavations at Saqqara — a historic and culturally significant site in Egypt.
Egyptian authorities accused the Dutch museum of “falsifying history” with an “Afrocentric” approach, the Dutch outlet reported.
“The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden has been working at Saqqara since 1975,” Wim Weijland, the managing director of the Dutch museum, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/egypt-bans-archaeology-team-mime-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN. “For the upcoming season, the museum has been denied the permit to excavate here.”
Saqqara, a burial ground just south of Egypt’s capital Cairo, is an important archeological site in Egypt and has been the location of some of the most prominent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3200-year-old-tomb-of-temple-guard-discovered-in-egypt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">archeological finds</a> this year. The <a href="https://arce.org/resource/saqqara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">site</a> has the tombs of the kings of the first, second, and third dynasties, and is the site of the oldest pyramid in the country.
“Ancient Egypt and Nubia have been an undeniable source of inspiration for musicians of African descent for over 70 years,” the exhibition’s translated description reads. “The artists embrace and claim these ancient African cultures to express resistance, empowerment and spiritual healing. They often refer to the name that the Egyptians themselves gave to their country: Kemet, &#8216;the black,’ a reference to the fertile soil along the Nile.”
Weijland defended the exhibition to CNN, saying its purpose is to “show and understand the depiction of ancient Egypt and the messages in music by black artists” and “show what scientific, Egyptological research can tell us about ancient Egypt and Nubia.”
This is not the first time Egyptian authorities have expressed concern with the way Egyptian historical figures are portrayed. Last month, the Egyptian government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/egyptian-government-slaps-jada-pinkett-smiths-cleopatra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Netflix of “falsifying Egyptian history” by portraying Cleopatra as a black woman in “African Queens: Queen Cleopatra.” The director of that film, Tina Gharavi, admitted that the choice of Adele James as the Egyptian queen was a “political act.”
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“No one with even a little education could make a film showing Cleopatra as black,” Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former minister of antiquities, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/egypt-bans-archaeology-team-mime-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
As for the pushback on the “Kemet” exhibition, the Dutch museum is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65835611">asking</a> Egyptian authorities to reconsider. &#8220;The Egyptian authorities have every right to terminate a permit for an excavation; after all, it is their land and their heritage. However, the museum considers the underlying argument for this decision incorrect.&#8221;

EGYPT-HERITAGE-ARCHAEOLOGY

Egyptian Authorities Ban Dutch Archeologists From Historic Site For ‘Falsifying History’ With ‘Afrocentric’ Exhibition

Archaeology

History

Netherlands

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