September 11, 2001 Started as an Ordinary Day

By Robin M. Itzler 

"The enemy is inside the wire and they will use all means by which to subvert Western civilization into yet one more dhimmitude frontier. This must be made clear to all the potential dhimmis before their fate is made irreversible by their lack of awareness or lack of action. Recalling Trump’s call for the people to “Fight, fight, fight”, this is the most poignant battle which faces the world today, and to the victor will go the spoils of nothing less than the future fate of the world."

September 11, 2001, was just an ordinary Tuesday. That morning at around 8:30 a.m. on the east coast, most people were either at work or on their commute. Kids were settling in at school. On the west coast, folks were likely getting ready to do the same. 

Whether the TV or radio news was background chatter or the focus, suddenly there were interruptions announcing that at 8:46 a.m. an American Airlines Boeing 767 (with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel) had crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center’s North Tower. The jet hit between the 93rd and 99th floors of the 110-story skyscraper. Hundreds of people were instantly killed, and others were trapped on the higher floors with no way to escape.

Most people immediately assumed it was a terrible accident, and they continued along with their day while listening for news updates.

However, 17 minutes later at 9:03 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors.

Americans immediately knew that the United States was under attack, with many correctly guessing WHO had attacked us.

This was not the first time the World Trade Center had been attacked by Muslim terrorists. On February 26, 1993, Islamist terrorists targeted the World Trade Center. A truck bomb exploded in the North Tower’s underground parking structure, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000.

(In October 2025, then mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani visited Masjid At-Taqwa, a mosque in Brooklyn. The smiling Mamdani had his photo taken with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, whom federal prosecutors once named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Is anyone surprised?)

While the world focused on the World Trade Center in Manhattan, American Airlines Flight 77 was circling Arlington, Virginia, which is near Washington, D.C. At 9:37 a.m. the jet crashed into the west side of the Pentagon.

A few minutes later at 9:45 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officially ordered a complete shutdown of U.S. airspace and commanded all airborne planes to land immediately at the nearest airport.

At 9:59 a.m. the South Tower collapsed.

By this time passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 were aware that their plane was not experiencing a “regular” hijacking. They had been calling family and friends who told them about the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. Knowing they were going to die, their goal was to divert the plane away from wherever it planned to go. (Later it was revealed that the fourth plane was intended to hit the heart of America’s republic – the U.S. Capitol.) At 10:02 a.m., at a speed of 500 miles per hour, Flight 93 crashed in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The passengers and crew were heroes for diverting the plane away from D.C.

At  10:28 a.m., the North Tower collapsed. A small group (14 to 18 people) miraculously survived. They were with several New York firefighters in the North Tower’s Stairwell B, which somehow remained intact when the tower fell. Hours later, everyone was pulled from the debris.

Most of the world was glued to their television, radio, social media and phones. For the United States of America, there will always be a ‘before 9-11’ and ‘after 9-11’ view of the world.

President George Bush, who was in Florida when the strikes started, had been shuttled to various locations for protection while in contact with government agents about the unfolding events. By 7 p.m., he was back at the White House. At 8:30 p.m., President Bush addressed the American people and the entire world from the Oval Office. Sitting at the Resolute Desk, he said:

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”

In the days and weeks following the attack, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (since called “America’s Mayor” for his outstanding post 9-11 leadership) told the American people:

“The attacks of September 11th were intended to break our spirit. Instead, we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic and religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human life. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom.”

On September 11, 2026, Americans will commemorate the horrific day when Muslims attacked the United States of America killing 2,977 innocent people of all races and faiths. Thousands more who had spent weeks digging out the remains of the World Trade Center in the aftermath (and trying to find pieces of bodies) developed illnesses related to 9-11. Many lived with chronic respiratory diseases and died prematurely. More than 100 search and rescue dogs that were deployed to help find survivors in the rubble of the towers also suffered from medical ailments in the years following their service.

About 40 percent of the World Trade Center victims have been identified. It might have been from jewelry or body parts. Only 261 intact bodies were found. While workers were going through the debris, they found 65,000 items, including 437 watches and 144 wedding rings.

Twenty-five years later, there are many people, organizations and governments (including many in our own country) that refuse to speak the truth as to WHO committed the terrorist acts on September 11, 2001. As communist Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar once said, “Some people did something.”

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) asked that the word “terrorist” not be used in conjunction with the 9-11 MUSLIM TERRORIST attacks. Former Governor George E. Pataki responded on X to that request:

“I was Governor of New York on September 11, 2001.

The planes did not simply crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They were hijacked and deliberately flown into those buildings by Islamist terrorists.

The CBC’s refusal to call September 11 a terrorist attack is political correctness masquerading as journalism. Fear of being accused of Islamophobia cannot become an excuse for denying the plain truth. This is a shameful failure of moral courage.

Truth matters in a free society. Sanitizing September 11 dishonors the nearly 3,000 people who were murdered, the first responders who ran toward danger, and every family that still carries the pain of that day.

No institution should be afraid to tell the truth.”

At this year’s 25th anniversary Memorial Ceremony in Manhattan, families of the victims will gather on the plaza at the Memorial & Museum. They will read aloud the names of the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

A quarter of a century ago, the United States was attacked by Islamist terrorists who used planes as their weapons. Today many believe Islamist attacks are attacking the United States with ballots. What do YOU think?

Robin M. Itzler is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter. Robin can be reached at RobinItzler@yahoo.com.

Food Stamps for Everyone

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note: This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  Any cartoons are added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK

 

The Schumer Shutdown started solely because feckless Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wanted to show some muscle against big, bad orange man. It has revealed a lot to MAGA Americans. Department of Education must go: (Communist) Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, belches daily that states cannot handle education (funding, accountability or innovation) unless the Dept. of Ed. guides it on a federal level.

Cough-Cough, but for more than one month, there has been no Dept. of Ed guiding anything and guess what, education continued. Talk about miracles! Do you know why? All the major streams of education money come to the states through long-established formulas and scheduled appropriations. Government open or closed, it’s a set schedule that goes directly to states and the states handle their education needs.

Food Stamps must be reduced: In 2010, federal SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) spending was $68.3 BILLION. In 2022, it zoomed up to $119.5 BILLION. Why are 42+ MILLION people – many illegals – collecting food stamps?

• 2025 12.3% of the American population
• 2000 06.1% of the American population

Currently, one in eight Americans receive food stamps. To qualify, recipients' incomes must generally be at or below 130% of the federal poverty line — less than $35,000 a year for a family of three. Yes, there are Americans in temporary need of food stamps, and we must help them, but:

• How many recipients could work but choose not to?
• How many collect SNAP and sell the cards on the street for luxuries?
• Why are food stamp recipients using Door Dash, etc. to deliver their food?  
• Why are ILLEGAL ALIENS receiving food stamps?

Democrats rightly believe that the more people depend on government for their basic needs, the more likely they are to vote for the party that keeps giving them free this, free that, free everything. The SNAP program must be revamped! To share your thoughts with Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins:

Email: feedback@usda.gov and/or press@usda.gov Write: 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20250 

 

‘I Beat Hitler’

November 12, 2025 Robin M. Itzler @ American Thinker

In a few days, Piri Katz will celebrate her 98th birthday. That alone is a milestone worth celebrating. However, the fact that she was once known only as 20,444 makes this birthday especially gratifying.

Piri was the seventh of 11 children born into an orthodox Jewish family that lived in then-Czechoslovakia’s Carpathian Mountains in a small town called Tibiva. Her parents owned two flour mills, and their property was filled with horses, geese, chickens, and all kinds of fruit orchards.

Image courtesy of Robin M. Itzler.

The simple life in Tibiva meant farming, school, religious studies (for the boys), observing the Sabbath, and other Jewish holidays that saw family and friends gather at the local synagogue.

Then Hitler came, bringing death and destruction in his path.

On Passover Eve, 1944, the Nazis burst into Piri’s home and took the entire family (along with other Jews in the community) to the Munkatch ghetto. The only ones from Piri’s family who were spared were a brother and a sister who had emigrated to America years earlier.

Munkatch wasn’t a ghetto such as the Warsaw Ghetto, which was in a block-off residential area. Instead, it was a brick factory that had no facilities to handle the multitude of people forced to sit or lie on hard bricks or in the streets awaiting transportation by cattle car to work or death camps. Bored Nazis filled their days watching Jews die of illness or starvation. Or, for “fun,” the Nazis would beat and rape helpless Jews.

According to the National World War II Museum:

The Nazis created at least 44,000 camps, including ghettos and other sites of incarceration, between 1933 and 1945. The camps served various functions, from imprisoning "enemies of the state" to serving as way stations in larger deportation schemes to murdering people in gas chambers.

A few weeks later, Piri arrived at Auschwitz and became a number: 20,444. (By this point in the war, many death camps had stopped tattooing and restarted numbering.) Her head was shaved, and she was given a filthy prison gown to wear. No bra or underwear, just a lice-infested striped gown.

Most readers know about Nazi brutality, often supported by local citizens who despised Jews. Those who weren’t immediately shoved into gas chambers worked long days on starvation rations, never knowing from one minute to the next if they would survive to see the sunset.

When the Holocaust was over in 1945, Piri had been imprisoned at Auschwitz, Geislingen, and Dachau, where the U.S. Army finally liberated her and other survivors. Europe was a devastated mess. There was no home to return to. Moreover, there were still many Europeans who hated Hitler but secretly (or maybe not so secretly) wished he had finished the job regarding the Jewish question. Perhaps it’s not much different than today.

The Holocaust inferno took most of Piri’s family, except for a brother and two sisters. She would spend the next five years in a displaced persons camp.

Piri’s aunt Helen, who had emigrated to the United States before the war, regularly submitted affidavits supporting Piri’s immigration to America.  She repeatedly confirmed that Piri was not a communist, would have a job and a place to live, and would not depend on the government for her basic needs.

Compare that to the millions of illegal aliens who waltzed across the border throughout Joe Biden’s four miserable years in the White House. Or how today Democrats staunchly support illegal aliens—many of whom are criminals—who have circumvented our immigration laws and immediately apply for all kinds of government assistance.

Arriving in the Oak Park suburb of Detroit, Michigan, Piri toiled all day working as a seamstress in a factory that made drapes and bedspreads. After long days, she attended night school to learn about our US Constitution and to read and write English. There weren't any “press 2 for ____” options back then.

Becoming a proud American citizen was one of the happiest days of Piri’s 98 years!

While Piri was barely surviving in Hitler’s death camps, her future husband, Milton, was part of the Greatest Generation. He fought in the Third Army, where he was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. Like many patriotic Americans, Milton had enlisted following Pearl Harbor. After the war, he became a physician. Piri and Milton met in 1956, quickly fell in love, and married.

Today, as she turns 98 years young, Piri has been blessed with four daughters, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandsons. Piri always says, “I beat Hitler. I’m still here.”

There are approximately 220,000 Holocaust survivors worldwide. Within the next decade, 90 percent of the remaining Holocaust survivors will die. Of those still with us, they, like Piri, believed that antisemitism had died with the Reich or at least had been greatly reduced, especially in Western nations. But Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel and the world’s response have opened the doors for a rabid rise in Jew hatred.

What is most concerning is that, while the Democrat party has long embraced Jew hatred, antisemitism is also showing up in the Republican Party. Although they don't wear a keffiyah, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, to name three, make antisemitic comments that just a few years ago would have tossed them out of conservative circles.

Piri is a staunch supporter of Donald Trump. During a 2018 Holocaust Remembrance at Cypress College, California, she said:

For those who have never lost their freedom, they cannot appreciate what real freedom is—there is nothing more precious to a human being in this life than to have freedom. It breaks my heart when I see young people on college campuses desecrating the American flag, athletes refusing to stand for the national anthem or people refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I worry about the rise throughout the world of antisemitism & the BDS movement. It hurts me when people propagandize against the USA and disrespect our military, under whose blanket of freedom we are all protected each and every day.

I am forever grateful that we have President Donald Trump, who not only respects our military but is a true friend to the State of Israel. When I was in Dachau, I never would have dreamed that I would live to see the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel and that an American president would finally be moving the US Embassy to Israel’s eternal capital of Jerusalem.

To those who seek socialism, communism, or ideologies that seek to destroy our United States Constitution and the values that our country stands for, to them I say you should kiss the ground that you walk on in the United States of America, and if not, America is a free country, and you are free to leave.

Yet, to all of those who feel as I do that we are so blessed to live in this free country of the United States of America, where we have the opportunity to thrive, live in freedom, and pursue happiness, we owe you, my precious hero, and all of the United States military our eternal thanks.

Happy 98th birthday, Piri! If you would like to email birthday wishes to Piri, send them to me at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com, and I will forward them to Piri’s wonderful daughter, Cherol, who, as Piri’s primary caregiver, enables her to age at home.

Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter, and can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.

Election Day Comments, Before and After

By Robin Itzler 

Editor's Note: This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  Any cartoons are added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK

Let’s look at some of the comments made before Election Day.

Bill Maher, liberal commentator—podcast:

"He (Mamdani) definitely has the power and influence to elect JD Vance, or whoever is the Republican candidate next time. It is a walking commercial for the Republican Party nationally."

President Donald Trump; Truth Social

"If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!

"It can only get worse with a Communist at the helm, and I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad. It is my obligation to run the Nation, and it is my strong conviction that New York City will be a Complete and Total Economic and Social Disaster should Mamdani win."

Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D.; Arizona Today (excerpt)

"Zohran Mamdani is an example of the anti-American, anti-Christian assault already underway to collapse this exceptional (not perfect) nation. Our founding principles are far and away removed from the Marxist/Islamic darkness working to destroy what was given to us if we would keep it. 

Do not think only large cities are the targets. Small and rural communities are a major target of the Marxist movement with the thought that no one will really pay attention to who serves on a public parks board, or library board, or zoning committee, etc. Slowly and deliberately, deceptively and appearing innocent but with new ideas, personalities, like New York City Mayoral candidate Mamdani are coming into the light - NOT to serve but to collapse the unique and wonderful country given to us. 

Come out of your comfortable numbness! WAKE UP…America is under assault."

Read New York City on Edge of Collapse by Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D.

Let’s look at some of the comments made after Election Day:

Scott Pinsker, “PR Fallout of an Electoral Drubbing: How MAGA Fights Back” - PJ Media

"Mamdani’s left-of-Lenin politics, Jew-hatred, and unabashed anti-Americanism make him the perfect foil for the Republican Party. He’s the living, breathing embodiment of every leftwing trope, stereotype, and cliché." 

 

Jim Hoft, “Socialist Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani Declares War on President Trump” - The Gateway Pundit

 

"This is the new Left, obsessed with tearing down not only Trump but also the millions of Americans who believe in faith, freedom, and the rule of law." 

 

Chef Andrew Gruel, X post (regular guest on Gutfeld)

 

"Exit polls show 92% of California voters who voted yes on prop 50 thought they were voting to impeach Trump."

Arthur Schaper, “Election 2025: What Happened?”, American Thinker (excerpts)

"A lot of the new MAGA Trump voters are centrist or liberal-leaning independents who have joined the GOP. These voters don’t get engaged beyond the presidential elections. Republican activists must concentrate their efforts on getting them to vote more.

 

"Republicans need to understand that they have to maintain a winning message and a winning organization, whether President Trump is running at the the top of the ticket or not. Republicans cannot get comfortable with trusting that a spirit of Trumpism or a veneer of Trump sentiment will pull them across the finish line for every future election."

Read Election 2025: What Happened? By Arthur Schaper.

Gary Bauer, American Values (excerpts from Nov. 5 newsletter)

"Election Day was a massacre at the ballot box for Republicans. It was also a tremendous defeat for anyone who believes in faith, family, and freedom. The Left swept virtually everything. Across the country, it wasn’t just Democrats who won, but far-left socialists who won.

 

"Many of our political allies believe that Mamdani will be the “kiss of death” for the Democrats. That’s wishful thinking. It would be true if it were 1980, 1984, or 1988. It was less true in the 90s, and it’s not true today when 66% of Democrats have a positive view of socialism.

 

"Both AOC and Mamdani are left-wing, populist demagogues. They know how to rally the average person to their banner. The affordability issue is H-U-G-E, and a significant part of the GOP establishment doesn’t get it."

Click here to sign up for Gary Bauer’s End of Day Report.

John Nolte, “GOP Can Fully Embrace MAGA or Face More Tuesday Night Election Beatings,” Breibart News (excerpt)

"Fourth, it really is the economy, stupid; and, of late, Trump has been awfully distracted with world events — trade deals, peace deals, etc. There’s been a lot of world travel. There’s been a lot of success. Nevertheless, the Trump Administration needs to refocus on Making America Great Again, which is a lot less attractive to any president. After all, overseas, U.S. presidents hold all the power. Domestically, it’s all about in-fighting, compromise, haggling, and partial victories. The lure of foreign policy is obvious, but it can also be a trap." 

Finally: 

In his acceptance speech, communist Zohran Mamdani told President Trump he had four words for him regarding what will be happening in New York City: Turn up the volume.

President Trump responded on Truth Social with his own four words: And so it begins ..

 

Christians and Jews Are Now Second Class Citizens in the UK

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note: This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  Any cartoons are added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK 

If you are Jewish and openly wear a Star of David necklace, you can be told to hide it as it might be offensive to Muslims. But Muslims who block traffic to pray or protest, no problem. Muslims who commit crimes? Not a problem. The speech police (an actual part of the UK’s law enforcement) can arrest some- body who they believe MAY “cause offense” to somebody. 

But when Muslims hold rallies explicitly calling for the murder of Jews and Christians, nothing happens to them. In fact, the British police do their best to protect Muslims. Do you know who are often arrested? British citizens holding Union Jack flags! The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) notes that in 2023, there were 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes reported across 35 European countries. 

In England and Wales alone, 702 incidents were recorded between April 2023 and March 2024, representing a 15 percent increase compared to the previous year. From the OIDAC: A study highlighted in the report surveyed 1,562 respondents from dif- ferent Christian denominations and age groups in the UK. It found that 56 per cent of respondents reported experiencing hostility and ridicule when discussing their religious beliefs, rising to 61 per cent among those under 35. Additionally, 18 per cent of respondents felt they had been disadvantaged in their workplace due to their Christian faith. In April, Vice President J.D. Vance spoke at a National Conservatism event and rightly said:

“UK will be the first Islamist country with nuclear weapons.” 

 

A just released video shows that on August 29, London police arrested a Jewish man wearing a small Star of David necklace because they said his necklace would “antagonize” Muslims who were protesting.

If you think it can’t happen here, just imagine what would be happening today if Kamala Harris was in the White House and Democrats controlled Congress. Robert J. O’Neill, the SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden, posted on X: 

“Since NYC is about to elect a jihadi, communist mayor and Hamas is on our college campuses, does it really matter if I carry more than 3.4 oz of mouthwash onto an airplane?”

Why did America save Great Britain in WWII if it is morphing into Nazi Germany? Click here to watch the video.  

Here's more below, and this is the tip of the iceberg showing the demise of Great Britain.  Actually, a 100 year old WWII British navy veteran wonders if the sacrifices his generation made to save the UK was worth it saying:

“I can see in my mind’s eye those rows and rows of white stones.  All the hundreds of my friends, everybody else, who gave their lives.  For what?  The country of today.  No, I’m sorry, the sacrifice wasn’t worth the result that it is now."

• English Councils Admit Spending Nearly $100,000 to Remove English and British Flags Raised by Public
• London Wants to Establish ‘Sharia Law’
• Labour Govt. *Defends* Sharia Courts in Britain
• The British government goes to war against the English flag 
• UK PM Vows to Protect Kids From Energy Drinks, Not Muslim Rapists
• UK: Judge says Muslim migrant with ‘receding hairline’ and ‘grey hair’ is really 17, didn’t lie about his age
•  Britain, Land of the Unfree
•  'One Million Girls Raped, And the Government Covered It Up': Anne Marie Waters Exposes the Collapse of Britain—and Warns America Is Next (Exclusive Interview)
•  UK Man Charged With Racism for Mocking Islamic Terrorist 

Around the Nation and the World in Five Minutes

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note: This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  Any cartoons are added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK 

From Around the Nation 

We often hear that there are two Americas. Some statistics that should concern us about the future: 

• Per Gallup, 28+ percent of Gen Z women identify as LGBTQ. That is more than twice the rate of millennial women and almost three times that for Gen Z men. 
• Per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5 percent of U.S. high school students struggle with gender identity. 
• Per USA Today, since 1990, women’s and gender studies DEGREES in the United States has increased 300+ percent. In 2015, there were 2,000 degrees conferred on this insane area of study. (We can only imagine what that number is now.) 
• Exit poll data from the 2024 election showed that singles (and particularly unmarried women) made up the largest percentage of voters for Kamala Harris while men and married women overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump. 

Food stamps by ethnicity.  There is a lot of chatter about the Schumer Government Shutdown causing pain to those who collect food stamps. The question should be: Why are nearly 42 MILLION Americans receiving food stamps?  Officially it's called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

The Department of Agriculture said that more than 12 percent of the US population receives SNAP benefits. Some statistics you can think about when you are buying your own food: 

• 45% of Afghanistan immigrants are on food stamps. 
• 42% of Somali immigrants are on food stamps. 
• 34% of Iraq immigrants are on food stamps. 
• 23% of Haitian immigrants are on food stamps. 
• 59% of ALL illegal aliens are collecting food stamps, meaning that most of the people getting food stamps from the U.S. Government and the U.S. Taxpayer are not even Americans. 

Rob Finnerty of Newsmax put it in perspective: 

“And we didn’t know about any of this before the government shutdown started. But thanks to Democrats, we can confirm tonight that millions of Joe Biden, illegal aliens, people who crossed the border when Joe was president, are now collecting food stamps from a program funded by hardworking American taxpayers.”

New York City:  A Victory Insights survey found that 26.5 percent of respondents are thinking about moving out of the Big Apple next year if communist Muslim Mamdani wins the mayoral race. 

Texas: The Supreme Court ruled that judges in the state who decline to perform a gay wedding ceremony based on a “sincerely held religious belief” do NOT violate the state’s rules on judicial impartiality. Expect this to head to the Supreme Court. 

 Read Tucker Carlson and Antisemitism by Victor Mezhinsky.

From Around the World

Argentina:  President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza Party, won a decisive victory in the country’s midterm elections. Milei has now expanded his control of Congress so that he can proceed with saving the nation from its socialist past. Milei will continue with deep spending cuts and sweeping free-market reforms. China is financing or supporting numerous projects in South America. 

Canada: Canadian Member of Parliament Sameer Zuberi (okay, you can guess what comes next) called for heightened screening of former Israel Defense Forces soldiers entering the country to ensure they weren’t involved in alleged war crimes during the Gaza conflict. (Want to talk about war crimes?   Canada should heighten the screening of anyone from Gaza!) 

Portugal: Their right-leaning Chega party proposed a bill, supported by center-right and even some liberal parties, to prohibit coverings such as burqas and niqabs from being worn in most public places. Excluded are places of worship and sacred places. There are exceptions for facial concealment as “justified for health reasons or professional, artistic, entertainment or publicity reasons.” When the bill was in parliamentary debate, Chega leader André Ventura said that:

"Whoever arrives in Portugal, wherever they come from, whatever region they come from, with whatever customs and religion they have, must comply with, respect and ensure that the customs and values of this country are respected." 

Now the law will be debated in the parliamentary committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, where it may also be amended. From there it must have a final vote before it reaches President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa who can sign or veto the bill. 

Another choice the president has is to do neither and send it to the Constitutional Court for review. If signed into law, Portugal would follow Austria, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands that have full or partial bans on face and head coverings.  

Muslims in Europe: Projections by 2050 Many European nations are on a path for national cultural suicide. Their citizens see what is happening and demand change, but leadership ignores their cries by welcoming legal and illegal Muslims into their nations. According to PewResearch Centre, this is the percentage of Muslims that will comprise these nations population in 2050—just 25 years from now.

 

Mamdani Will Be The Face of the Democrat Party!

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note: This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  Any cartoons are added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK 

 

We have frequently shared that it appears the GOP wants communist Muslim Zohran Mamdani to win New York City’s mayoral race so he would become the face of the Democrat party. After House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries finally endorsed the communist Mamdani, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the endorsement a “seismic shift in politics.”

Alex Hoffman, a Democratic strategist and donor adviser, told Politico: 

“If he (Mamdani) wins, this guarantees that he’s going to be the albatross that Fox News and the MAGA universe hangs around the Democratic neck for the foreseeable future. They will loop him with [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and Bernie and say the ‘radical left’ runs and owns the party even though they don’t speak for the rest of the party or the country.” 

• Zohran Sez He Will Defend Illegal Aliens’ Right to Live in NYC
• Mamdani’s Campaign Was Made in Pakistan
• The Pakistanification of New York: Zohran Mamdani’s Foreign Bloc Power Grab
• Antisemite Linda Sarsour Vows Pro-Jihadists Will Control Mamdani if He Wins NYC Mayoral Race
• Sadiq Khan Islamicized London… and Zohran Mamdani Is Worse Than Khan
• Socialism And The Demise Of The Democrat Party

New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik is running for governor of the Empire State against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul. It took a while, but Hochul finally endorsed Mamdani. You can bet all your MAGA hats that Stefanik will make sure Hochul owns everything Mamdani does.

Should Mamdani win—and we support Curtis Sliwa—how long before the Democrat party officially changes its logo?  

Rent Control

If government controls worked, Chicago would be the safest city in the nation as it has the most stringent gun control laws. Yet, every week people are murdered or injured since the bad guys carry guns—and use them.

Communists like Zohran Mamdani, Alexandria Cortez and Bernie Sanders think landlords are billionaires who own thousands of apartments charging obscene prices on poor, working– and middle-class people. In many instances, landlords own one or two properties, each with a few units. If commie Mamdani wins the mayoral race, New York’s government run rent control and rent stabilization is expected to result in many landlords letting even more apartments sit vacant rather than rent them at devalued rates where they don’t earn enough to maintain the unit or make a small profit. Others might sell the property which could be converted into a non-apartment structure.

Wait until the ignorant Mamdani supporters realize that raising taxes on property owners increases their rent!

If rent control worked, New York City would be one of the most reasonably priced rental cities in the United States. However, after decades of government involvement, that isn’t the case. Just as Chicago isn’t a safe city with its government gun control. How fast can you say, “Thank you, Democrats!” 

•  Mamdani’s Free Bus Scam Would Bring “Dangerous Homeless Shelters on Wheels” to NYC

Read The Unintended Consequences of Rent Control by Jen Sidorova

Big Beautiful Ballroom

By Robin Itzler 

 Editor's Note: This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  Any cartoons are added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK 

 

Leftists are going bonkers about President Trump building a big, beautiful 90,000 sf ballroom that will hold nearly 1,000 people. Currently, the White House can only hold state dinners/events for 300 people. When they need more space, the administration needs to rent a tent, rent flooring, rent tables, rent chairs, rent heaters or air conditioners. Oh, they also need to rent porta-potties!

The big, beautiful ballroom is being built with private funds. Yet somehow lunatic leftists had no issues when any other president renovated the White House, doing everything from rebuilding rooms, upgrading facilities, and redesigning and redecorating interior spaces, changes almost invariably done using taxpayer funds.

Comcast, which owns MSNBC, is among the many corporations that have donated to build the big, beautiful ballroom. Yet, most of MSNBC’s hosts and commentators are kvetching about the ballroom. Leftists should study history as to the multiple times the White House has been renovated since it was rebuilt following the War of 1812. Moreover, the ballroom construction is being done at the eastern edge of the White House. The iconic, presidential part of the White House, as we think of the building, is the West Wing. 

 

Rep. Eric Swalwell wants ballroom demolished No one suggested that a Republican president should destroy Barack Obama’s $40 MILLION taxpayer funded basketball court, but Rep. Eric Swalwell from the Peoples Republic of California said:

“Don’t even think of seeking the Democratic nomination for president unless you pledge to take a wrecking ball to the Trump Ballroom on DAY ONE.”

Swalwell is a lunatic, which is why he is a congressman from California. Even the Washington Post supports the privately funded $300 million ballroom that will hold 1,000 people. Walking back his asinine statement a few days later Swalwell suggested that the next president could keep the ballroom but rename it after Barack Obama. 

Of course, people responded that they didn’t think President Vance would want to do that.

To share your thoughts with Rep. Swalwell (or send him a box of Beanos): Email: Click here - only for constituents.  Phone: 202-225-5065 , Write: 174 Cannon House Office Building. Washington, DC 20515

Defund Mamdani

October 26, 2025 By Robin M. Itzler @ American Thinker

Unless freedom-loving New Yorkers, especially those who can’t easily move to red cities, vote for Curtis Sliwa on November 4, they will bear witness to the Big Apple becoming the Rotten Apple.

Polls show that Gen Zers living in their parents’ basements are excitedly going to vote for the AOC-endorsed communist Zohran “free stuff” Mamdani. Should Mamdani win, drastic changes could start with the New York Police Department.

This is the largest police department in the United States, with nearly 34,000 uniformed officers, but it is still understaffed. Proud men and women in blue with 20 or more years of service are expected to submit their retirement papers should Mamdani be elected. These dedicated officers will not want to work for a mayor who tweeted on October 23, 2020, “We need to elect a socialist city council to defund the NYPD.”

Bill Bratton, who was police commissioner for mayors Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, and Bill de Blasio, a progressive Democrat, said in an interview:

There will be a very significant exodus from the NYPD very soon after his (Mamdani) election, if he is elected. They’re going to leave. And that’s a reality.

During the campaign, the smooth-talking communist tried to walk back many of his anti-police comments and tweets. Finally, Mamdani issued an apology that sounded as sincere as Joe Biden endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

Mamdani, like all communists, lies.

New York Post reporters Vaughn Golden and Craig McCarthy wrote that Mamdani’s top campaign staffer, Robert Akleh, was caught in several undercover videos saying of law enforcement officers, “Who gives a s**t what cops think of Mamdani?”

Akleh went on to add (all on video) about police officers who risk their lives every day to protect New Yorkers: “They’re city employees. You get told what to do, shut up. When did you get an opinion?”

Akleh is Mamdani’s senior consultant. He has previously worked for Democrat Socialists of America (DSA) candidates Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Representative Jamaal Bowman. What else do you need to know? In the taped conversations, Akleh also dumped on New York Governor Kathy Hochul, “Israel supporting” Democrats, and his disgust for wealthy people. (We assume he really means white wealthy people and not rich Muslims like Mamdani.)

Every New Yorker who cares about the city must get out and vote for Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder who has devoted his entire life to making the city a safer place for people to live and work. Otherwise, historians will pinpoint November 4 as the exact day New York City became a third-world “utopia” cesspool. (Some say it already is.)

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed Curtis Sliwa for mayor of New York City. In his X podcast, Giuliani said, “Curtis Sliwa has been a hero for New York from the time...he was born [snip] Here’s my choice: 100 percent Curtis Sliwa.”

As noted above, should Mamdani win, it is expected that officers with more than 20 years on the force will submit their retirement papers. Those with less than 20 years could be forced to seek work elsewhere since they rely on overtime to make ends meet, and Mamdani has repeatedly said he wants to reduce the NYPD’s overtime. There are three NYPD groups that greatly depend on overtime pay:

• Officers with fewer than five years on the job because their starting pay is low for an expensive city.
• Officers with five to ten years on the job who earn more but are likely to have family expenses.
• Officers seeking to boost their income in their final years to receive higher pensions.

In New York City, a starting officer’s annual salary is $60,884. After five-and-a-half years, they earn $126,410. A family of four requires just over $318,000 to live comfortably. NYPD salaries are not that high, considering what it costs to call New York home. It’s overtime that gives police officers the income they need in expensive New York City.

However, comrade Mamdani has made it clear he wants to bring down the NYPD’s overtime. In February, he told the New York Editorial Board, a group of veteran journalists, “We need to bring down the NYPD’s near-billion-dollar overtime. We need to eliminate that overtime.”

In 2024, the NYPD spent $1.1 billion on overtime wages, and this year, it appears the overtime payments will exceed the budget by $100 million.

Curtis Sliwa is the only mayoral candidate who knows every inch of the city and has spent his entire life seeking to make it safer for those who live and work in the five boroughs. This is why, in addition to multiple Republican endorsements, Sliwa has received glowing endorsements from current and former Democrat officeholders who care more about New York City than party.

Comrade Mamdani supporters who excitedly plan to vote for the communist are enthusiastic about free this, free that, free everything. However, with fewer police officers protecting them, the only thing that might be free in New York City will be crime sprees.

Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter. Robin can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.

Related Topics: Zohran Mamdani, Police, New York City

Around the Nation and World in Five Minutes

By Robin Itzler 

Editor's Note: This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors. If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK

From around the the nation:

North Carolina: House and Senate leaders announced an agreement to redraw the state’s congressional districts that will yield an additional Republican representative from the state.

Nevada: Are people tired of gambling, watching beautiful dance girls and dining at all-you-can-eat buffets? The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported that visitor volume fell 11.3 percent in June as compared to last year. 

Virginia Gubernatorial Race: Months ago, it looked like Democrats would win the gubernatorial, lt. governor and attorney general races, but that was then. Democrat Abigail “won’t answer questions” Spanberger leads Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by 2.5 points in a recent Trafalgar Group poll. That is within the margin of error. The Trafalgar Group had the most accurate polling in the 2021 gubernatorial race. When polls are close with the Democrat leading, it often is a positive for Republicans

If you know any conservatives who live in Old Dominion, tell them to vote Republican in the election so we can hold the state.

Alaska: Antimony (Sb on the periodic table) is a rare earth mineral with many applications. However, much of the antimony production is in countries that don’t particularly like the United States, such as China, Russia and Tajikistan. Those three nations account for 80 percent of antimony global production. By 2027, we should see Alaska-sourced antimony in U.S. supply chains. Nova Minerals, Ltd. (with the Pentagon’s backing) has secured a nearly 43-acre site for a refinery at Port MacKenzie, west of Anchorage.

Turning Point: Applause for Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk and the organization’s leadership for immediately seeing an opportunity after the NFL ridiculously announced that anti-American Bad Bunny would star in the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show. Turning Point’s "The All American Halftime Show" celebrating faith, family and freedom will feature entertainers who love the United States of America. That’s how the NFL halftime show used to be! To show your support for this outstanding organization that is educating our nation’s youth, consider joining or making a donation. Click here to donate to Turning Point USA.

National Education Association: Who do you think of when you hear “indigenous people?” If you are the NEA, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, you think of the terrorist loving folks living in Gaza. The leftist organization recently emailed THREE MILLION TEACHERS info on the Middle East (cough-cough, you can just imagine what is in their info) that includes a map that does NOT have Israel pictured. 

Their map makes as much sense as a map of the 48 states in America being called “Indian.” To share your thoughts with NEA President Rebecca Pringle (who is to the left of Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers):

Email: click here, Phone: 202-833-4000, Write: 1201 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036

Events From Around the Globe

Nobel Peace Prize:  Some very un-noble responses. Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and deservedly so for her unyielding heroic stance against the nation’s brutal dictator Maduro. Liberal news outlets were bothered that when Machado was interviewed, she frequently thanked President Trump for his support and global efforts on behalf of freeing nations from tyranny. Here are three nations that roundly criticized giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Machado:

1. Cuba: President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez 
2. Columbia: President Gustavo Petro 
3. Mexico: President Claudia Sheinbaum 

It’s a shame that above and below the United States we have leaders in Mexico and Canada who lean toward tyranny.

Japan- —Let’s take a dip! This photo was taken in Japan.  What is it? (a) An indoor swimming pool. (b) A public bath house. (c) A subway station. A flooded subway in Japan

The Japanese people keep their streets so clean and free of trash that when there are floodwaters in the Underground Transportation System (subway) the crystal-clear water makes it look like swimming pools. From a young age, Japanese people are taught that keeping public spaces clean is the responsibility of all its citizens. (What would subways in most major American cities look like if flooded? Just the thought of what would be floating in that putrid water makes us lose our appetite.)

Italy: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s ruling Brothers of Italy party wants to fight “Islamic separatism.” They are promoting a bill that would institute a ban on the burka and niqab in public places such as schools, universities, shops and offices.

Syria: Since 1967, Jews have been barred from seeking political office. But the times they are a changing. Syrian American Rabbi Henry Yosef Hamra has declared his candidacy for the People’s Assembly in the Damascus district. Hamra (age 48) is the son of Yosef Hamar who is the chief rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community in New York. The elder Hamar left the country in 1992.

China: Supply chain AI company Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels has been talking to the media and warning that the U.S. currently imports 75 percent of our essential medicines—many sitting in your medicine cabinet—from China and India. Don’t breathe a shy of relief since we mentioned India. The nation relies on China for 80 percent of its active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). More than 500 generic drugs—many sitting in your medicine cabinet that include treatments for diabetes, heart conditions as well as antibiotics—are directly/indirectly from China.

Unpacking Toxic Masculinity

By Tom Budds

Editor's Note:  This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK 

The American left and their fellow-traveler media have been on a mission to pejoratively mischaracterize all conservative men for political purposes. They have successfully exaggerated typical male traits calling them "toxic" linking this adjective with masculinity. "Toxic masculinity" has become part of the American lexicon, but does it exist without exaggerations?

The exhibition of male traits is being viewed as insanely dangerous to health and life! "Real Men" with shaved heads, thick mustaches, long sideburns, coiffed and unkempt beards abound everywhere. Camo caps embroidered with Old Glory, or renditions of wildlife prey, lions and tigers and bears; oh my!

These "dangerous men" are seen at scale at rodeos, ice hockey rinks, Bass Pro Shops, Sportsmen's Warehouses, or most anywhere you can buy rifles, shotguns, pistols, or other mechanisms to slay deer, bear, wild pigs, or defeat large-mouth bass, salmon, or marlin at sea. Tattooed men with multi-pocketed camouflage shirts and pants, dark reflective sunglasses, and boots with bison leather laces to pass through the labyrinth of steel forged eyelets to cinch-up their steel-toed boots before they stalk their prey of choice in the wild brush.

These most "male" of men can be observed most every weekend retrieving a four-step ladder from their man-cave necessary to reach the door handle of their Super-Heavy-Duty-Diesel. Four-wheelers raised so far off the ground a person walking a parking lot could unintentionally bump their head on the under bottom of their personal "monster truck"! You can always tell the sightly insecure of this breed by the trailer hitch attachment resembling part of a bull's anatomy.

This particular "talisman" isn't seen very often as it must be removed to attach your double-axel BBQ trailer for tailgating at pro and college football stadiums, from sea to shining sea. These are the trailers with multiple grills, each able to accommodate a side of beef. The ones with smokestacks reminiscent of the old steam locomotives on the "Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe". It’s hard to get a real good look at these trailers as they travel the highways. 

They only appear intermittently because of their HUGE American flag sitting atop a 20' steel pole rising magnificently from the stake pocket of the pickup bed. It flutters defiantly in the 70+ mph speed generated wind accompanied by other distractions of "masculinity” like tailgating, horn honking, and highway "fist" gestures all the way to their favorite teams parking lot.

Wearing camouflage clothing and their blood-stained aprons standing amongst the billowing smoke, these most "male" of men is difficult to see as they rustle up the grub at their oak-fired grills, grub often slain, trophied, skinned, and butchered with their own hands. The conflagration creates an eerie effect only given context when the intermittent beer can is tossed from one "brother-to-another" as it reflects a flash of sunlight as it arcs like a football; a final play; the “Hail Mary" thrown to win the game; how "manly I feel.

The time to eat comes soon, not just a plate but a “side" of ribs, mere rib-eyes are replaced with "tomahawks" so raw and rare they ooze goblets of bright red blood down the consumer’s forearms making one wonder why they went to the effort to trailer the BBQ at all? Yeah, these are the "men" the media refers to as "toxic" with "toxic masculinity"; but once again it's all FAKE NEWS! "Toxic masculinity" does exist, but none of the foregoing captures what constitutes the true "Toxic Male".

"Toxic masculinity" is when fathers abandon their daughters and sons to the immoral whims of "educators", online and other sexuality groomers all championing dirty schoolbooks, sexualized sex-ed curriculum. They're toxic when they sit-by silently as the so-called "do no harm" medical community and educational "professionals” conspire to butcher their children chemically and surgically.

Toxic masculinity is exhibited by their inaction or being indifferent when boys are indecently exposing themselves in their daughters' locker and restrooms. Letting teachers, school boards, and librarians with broken moral compasses steal their parental rights. Toxic men aren't defined because they flock to hunting and sporting events, or monster truck rallies, they are better defined by the things they don’t "flock" to. 

Why aren't these "men" applying their primal passion flocking to local school and state educational board meetings and the board of education wearing their camo holding monster-truck rallies to save their kids? Where’s the million "man" march or "truck-in" demanding publisher’s, educators, et al, clean up the "literature" forced on their "minor" children or be arrested? Real men protect their families; they don't abandon their daughters and sons to secular perversion.

Masculinity becomes toxic when men cease individually and collectively being Godly serving humbly with willing minds. Masculinity isn't looking and acting tough, it's meeting men's responsibility to nurture, cherish, and protect their family, their wife, and children, all children. It becomes "toxic" when "men" choose to remain merely "male" shirking their moral responsibilities. The well-being of our families and our country demand a collection of Godly men.

"Start the children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it." - Proverbs 22:6. Seems too many "men" today weren't started off on the way they should have gone. Seems too many do not understand the way they should be going.

It's way past time for dads everywhere to take pause and apply the hunting and sports team scenarios to their own families. They should know that, while they hunt in the denizens of animals, fish in the sea, and tailgate at sporting venues, other men are hunting their little daughters and sons in the school yards, libraries, classrooms, and chatrooms for their own salaciously grotesque perversions.

Real men have "vocation" to protect their children and families first before "avocation". Those who don't are the true toxic males suffering self-inflicted “toxic masculinity” and aren't real "men" at all!

Read Katie Porter: A California Karen for Governor? by Arthur Schaper.

Is It a Peace Deal, Or Is It Pause Deal?

“Every penny spent on Israel’s defense is a penny spent on our defense. Hamas and those like them don’t just want to murder Israelis. They want to murder Americans.” —Kurt Schlichter, The Well-Deserved, Utter Humiliation of Palestinian Terrorists & Their Friends.

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note:  This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  Any cartoons are inserted by me.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK 

 

There are some things we can predict: the sun will rise in the east, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom will make idiotic statements, and Hamas (Gazans) or other terrorists will try to break the ceasefire once they get back all their murderous thugs.

In the immediate days following President Donald Trump’s historic announcement regarding a Middle East peace plan, the world applauded. Suddenly, the global community saw celebratory dancing in the streets of Israel and Gaza and ignorantly assumed both sides were celebrating peace. Pictured: Israelis in Hostage Square in Jerusalem waiting for hostages to be released. However, in Gaza, they were chanting, “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahood, jaish Muhammad sa yaoud.” That is, “Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return.” It is a call to exterminate the Jewish people.

The Gazans were dancing with joy that 2,000 guilty Palestinians will be returned along with 250+ murderous thugs who tortured, raped and murdered Israelis … in exchange for 20 Israeli hostages. Kidnapping Israelis is the way to go for Hamas (or any Muslim terrorist organization as they continually pop up with new names). This is why we worry that this is more of a pause than a peace plan.

It’s already reported that Hamas has moved thousands of its members out of “uniform” and into civilian clothing to serve in its rebranded “Gaza Security Forces” as they reestablish control in Gaza while Israel Defense Forces (IDF) move out. Time will tell. Remember, these terrorists have a lot of patience and know that President Trump leaves the White House in January 2028.

History might guide us on whether this is a peace or a pause plan. In the late 1930s, with Adolph Hitler ignoring World War I treaties following Germany’s surrender, the world anxiously wanted to avoid another global conflict. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain foolishly went to Berlin and met with Hitler, who signed a document (“Munich Agreement”) stating that Germany would not invade other nations. Chamberlain returned to London on September 30, 1938. and held up the document when he infamously proclaimed, “Peace for our time.” One year later on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and the world was once again at war.

But we should be hopeful about this peace plan and grateful that our nation has the astounding President Donald Trump in the White House to lead us.

NEVER AGAIN: Exchanging murderers for hostages

Whether or not the 2025 peace deal materializes into a long-term positive change for the Middle East, one thing that must change is Israel’s practice of exchanging terrorists for hostages. Hamas (and all Muslim terrorists) know that kidnapping works. That’s why they do it.

At the very least, Israel could avoid ever again having to exchange convicted murderers for hostages by implementing the death penalty for murder. For example, Yahya Sinwar who was convicted in 1989 on multiple counts of murder and conspiracy, received FOUR life sentences. After spending 22 years in Israeli prisons, he was released in a terrorist for hostage swap.

Sinwar was the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 Massacre. Israel killed him on October 16, 2024, but they should have killed him in 1989!

Guy Miller, US Army LTC, retired, of North Carolina sends out an informative daily news report that includes his exceptional views on current events. His extensive military background and analysis is always spot on. Miller shared with Patriot Neighbors: “It was always all about the hostages. As long as the Israeli government cared more about the hostages, which Hamas was torturing and murdering, than they did about their own national security, Hamas was guaranteed to win.

As I said at the very beginning, if Israel on October 8 had accepted that the hostages were already dead, as most of them wound up being, they could have prevailed. But Israel surrendered all leverage by consenting to make the hostages the only factor in consideration.

In eight decades of existence surrounded by hostile, murderous neighbors, Israel has never before allowed world opinion to override their national security. But this time they surrendered all control to Hamas. “From this day forward, Israel will always be beholden to public opinion regarding hostages. Israel surrendered all its national sovereignty to Hamas hostage takers. It can never end.”

Gregg Roman writes in RealClearWorld, “Why Israel Must Never Negotiate for Hostages Again” that Israel’s social contract with its citizens must evolve so instead of terrorists knowing they will get a trade for those they kidnap, they will now know that Israel will destroy them. He concludes his article with:

“Israel's enemies have learned that kidnapping works. The only way to unlearn this lesson is through decisive action making hostage-taking suicidal for those who attempt it. History will judge Israel not by how many hostages it recovers through negotiation but by whether it finds the courage to end the hostage crisis permanently. Sometimes the most humanitarian act is refusing to negotiate with those who weaponize humanity itself. Israel's moral responsibility demands nothing less than complete victory over the infrastructure of terror. The social contract must evolve from a promise to trade for captives to a promise to annihilate their captors—only then will the cycle finally break.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother-in-law, Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi, spoke to Arutz Sheva – Israel National News on October 9, several days before hostages were released. “[US] President [Donald] gave us the right solution immediately after taking office – ‘conquer and we’ll start a process of emigration.’ But because of our hostage psychosis, we wanted another ten or twenty hostages freed and lost the chance for a strategic solution.”

Asked if he felt joy at the hostages being released, he said: “There is always joy. I rejoiced when the three soldiers were freed in the Jibril Deal, and I rejoiced when Gilad Shalit returned. But at the time, even back then and even more so today, I knew that with our own hands we were signing the next kidnapping, the next massacre, and the next murders.”

We pray that the agreement President Trump signed with the other Arab nations in Egypt on October 13 will truly be peace for our time.

1. Click here for this article by Robin Itzler that was published on American Thinker.
2. Read Netanyahu’s Brother-In-Law: It’s a Disastrous Deal.

Around the Nation and the World in Five Minutes

By Robin Itzler 

Editor's Note:  This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK 

Around the Nation:

New York Mayoral Race: Ballot Position Matters - Americans who follow elections will search their ballot to find the candidate of their choice. Most everyone else, according to several studies, focuses on the top two or three names and picks the candidate from their party. Positioning on a ballot matters … A LOT! It matters a lot in this election.

The New York City Board of Elections announced the order that candidates will appear on the November 4 ballot. Note that two leading candidates are listed twice and although Eric Adams and Jim Walden dropped out, they remain listed on the ballot. Also, two candidates no one ever heard of (nor raised money or campaigned) are listed ahead of Andrew Cuomo. Here is the order:

1. Zohran Mamdani—Democrat Party
2. Curtis Sliwa—Republican Party
3. Irene Estrada—Conservative Party (Raised little money and has not done any campaigning.)
4. Zohran Mamdani—Working Families Party (aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America Party)
5. Curtis Sliwa—Protect Animals Party
6. Eric Adams—Safe & Affordable/End Anti-Semitism Party (Under New York’s rules, his name remains on the ballot although he has dropped out.)
7. Quality of Life candidate (Raised little money and has not done any campaigning.)
8. Andrew Cuomo—Independent, former Democrat governor

According to a UC San Diego report published in December 2024, New York City ranked 49th for turnout among U.S. major cities. New York City is comprised of five boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island with the island being the most conservative. (Personal note: Robin was born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens, married and lived one year on Staten Island before they moved to California, worked in Manhattan across from St. Patrick’s Cathedral and skipped the Bronx except when driving up to the beautiful Catskill Mountains.)

The City, an online site focusing on New York issues, analyzed the 2021 mayoral race that elected Eric Adams: Of the more than 4.9 million active registered voters for the general election that year, only 1.147 million cast votes, according to the CFB data. That’s just 23% of eligible city dwellers who actually exercised their right to vote.

Manhattan had the highest voter turnout during the 2021 primary, with 33.4%. The highest voter turnout in the general election, though, was the Republican stronghold Staten Island, with 33.7% voting.

The borough with the lowest turnout for the primary and the general was The Bronx — 19.1% came out in June and 17.5% voted in November. Brooklyn’s primary turnout was 27.5%, and Queens had 25%; their general turnout were both above 22%.

Congress —Doesn’t it seem that Democrat Congressional leaders are totally out of touch with commonsense Americans? It could be because of the districts/states they represent. Democrats should find leadership from non-blue cities and states. Here is the current leadership:

1. Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune South Dakota House Majority 
2. Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson Louisiana
3. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer New York 
4.  House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries New York, Specifically, BROOKLYN, New York.

Pennsylvania —Thanks to five Republicans, gun control passed in the House (104-99). We hope the bill dies in the Senate so that it never reaches Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro’s desk. The Republicans who voted for gun control are: 

1. Rep. Joe Hogan—District 142 
2. Rep. Kristin Marshall—District 178 
3. Rep. Kathleen Tomlinson—District 18 
4. Rep. Martina White—District 170 
5. Rep. Craig Williams—District 160

California —Scott Pressler, who was largely responsible for Pennsylvania going red in the 2024 presidential election, and Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy’s vice president nominee when he was running for president in 2024, are teaming up to get Voter ID on the California ballot.

Conservative Jews have had it with louder traitorous progressive Jews! Read How Far-Left Jewish Voices Misrepresent American Jewry.

Events From Around the Globe

Britain — Leftist Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer continues calling conservatives names such as racists. (Gee, where have we seen that playbook before? How fast can you say, “deplorables?”) Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party widened its lead over the governing Labour Party as the names were hurled at commonsense folks who want to Make Britain Great Again.

Indonesia — Talk about surprises … Israel was surprised by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s United Nations speech where he said the world must respect Israel’s right to live in security. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world and currently does not have relations with Israel. Subianto said: 

“We must also recognize, we must also respect, and we must also guarantee the safety and security of Israel. Only then we can have real peace,” 

Subianto said, adding once Israel recognizes Palestine, “Indonesia will immediately recognize the State of Israel.” Subianto ended his speech to the general assembly by saying, “Shalom.” 

Editor's Note:  I wouldn't give much credence to this as it's a poison pill statement.  There is no nation of Palestine and there never has been, but if Israel allows the world to create a nation of Palestine it will be to their suicide.  Have no doubt Subianto and all those promoting the creation of a Muslim controlled Palestine know that.  RK 

Czech Republic — Andrej Babiš’s ANO (YES) Party won the parliamentary elections. However, they didn’t secure a large enough majority must now form a government. Babiš is a billionaire, ex-premier and pro-Trump nationalist who pledged to work as a pro-Western, pro-European leader. The goal is for Babiš to be named prime minister.

Japan — Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi of the conservative Liberal Democrat Party has been elected Japan’s first female prime minister. Interestingly, all five candidates called themselves “moderate conservatives.”

The New York Mayoral Race: Sliwa, Cuomo, and Mamdani

By Robin Itzler 

Editor's Note:  This is a commentary in Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK 

 

The excitement for the communist Muslim Mamdani comes from the downwardly mobile – those who want others to pay for their basic needs. Should the communist win, New York City (like other blue cities) will see the rich and middle-class leave. It’s been happening in the Big Apple for decades and will accelerate. In 1965, 128 Fortune 500 firms were headquartered in New York City. Today, it’s about 50 firms. Texas boasts 54 Fortune 500 companies and Florida has 22. There are many memes of Florida calling Mamdani ‘realtor of the year.’

New Yorkers should rally around Curtis Sliwa. After all, when you think of someone who repeatedly stands up for New York’s working and middle-class residents, Sliwa’s name is among the first that comes to mind. He founded the now international Guardian Angels to protect New Yorkers when no one else cared – sort of how things are today. Every borough’s Republican Party has endorsed Sliwa, along with the Rockland County GOP. Former Republican New York Governor George Pataki was one of Sliwa’s earliest endorsements.

Sliwa is projecting its strongest fundraising stretch so far, reporting more than $421,000 raised in the last filing period. Moreover, he is gaining endorsements from both sides of the aisle. For instance, Democrat Assembly Member Jamie Williams and Democrat Council Member Robert Holden have endorsed the Republican Sliwa. Holden touts the Guardian Angels founder’s “decades of public service and straight talk.” “He (Sliwa) built the Guardian Angels into a global public safety force,” Holden wrote. “He has walked the streets, ridden the subways, and stood with victims when no one else would. His campaign has grassroots support, a serious platform, and the toughness to govern.”

Why would anyone want former New York Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo, famous for “murdering” elderly nursing home residents during the “scamdemic?” Speaking on The View on October 6, Andrew Cuomo focused on President Trump: "Mamdani is a gift for him (President Trump) — a gift. He wants Mamdani, for two reasons. One, going into the midterms, he will take a picture of Mamdani, run around the country and say, ‘Here is what happened to the Democrats. They are now communists, they hate the police, they legalize prostitution, legalize drugs, they want to elect this Democrat, no experience whatsoever — being mayor of New York would be his first real job."

At this point, the only debate is whether Mamdani is a socialist or a communist. Ayn Rand explained the difference: “There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.”

Cuomo’s ballot position, at the bottom behind someone who didn’t campaign with no name recognition is going to hurt him. The choice is now between a communist who has a platform to the left of Karl Marx and a man who has spent his entire life trying to make New York City a place where people can safely live and work. New Yorkers should elect Curtis Sliwa.

Click here for a mostly AI generated: Commietown – The Musical.

Never Again: Exchanging Vicious Terrorists For Innocent Hostages

October 15, 2025 By Robin M. Itzler

 There are some things we can predict: the sun will rise in the east, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom will make idiotic statements, and Hamas (Gazans) or other terrorists will try to break the ceasefire once they get back all their murderous thugs.

In the days immediately following President Donald Trump’s historic announcement regarding a Middle East peace plan, the world applauded. Suddenly, the global community saw celebratory dancing in the streets of Israel and Gaza and ignorantly assumed both sides were celebrating peace.

However, in Gaza, they were chanting, “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahood, jaish Muhammad sa yaoud.” That is, “Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return.” It is a call to exterminate the Jewish people.

The Gazans were dancing with joy that thousands of guilty Palestinians will be returned, along with 250-plus murderous thugs who tortured, raped, and murdered Israelis...in exchange for 20 Israeli hostages. Kidnapping Israelis is the way to go for Hamas (or any Muslim terrorist organization, as they continually pop up with new names). This is why there’s a rational concern that what’s happening is more of a pause than a peace plan.

It’s already reported that Hamas has taken thousands of its members out of “uniform” and into civilian clothing to serve in its rebranded “Gaza Security Forces” as they reestablish control in Gaza when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) move out. Time will tell.

History might guide us on whether this is a peace or a pause plan. In the late 1930s, with Adolph Hitler ignoring World War I treaties following Germany’s surrender, the anxious world wanted to avoid another global conflict. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain foolishly went to Berlin to meet with Hitler, who signed a document (“Munich Agreement”) stating that Germany would not invade other nations.

Chamberlain returned to London on September 30, 1938, and held up the document, infamously proclaiming, “Peace for our time.” One year later, on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and the world was once again at war.

But we should be hopeful about this peace plan and grateful that our nation has the astounding President Donald Trump in the White House to lead us.

Whether or not the 2025 peace deal materializes into a long-term positive change for the Middle East, one thing that must change is Israel’s practice of exchanging terrorists for hostages. Hamas (and all Muslim terrorists) know that kidnapping works. That’s why they do it.

At the very least, Israel could avoid ever again having to exchange convicted murderers for hostages by implementing the death penalty. Many of the released terrorists who murdered Israelis are receiving a hero’s welcome. Some (many?) are sure to again take up arms against Israel as Yahya Sinwar did.

In 1989, Sinwar was convicted on multiple counts of murder and conspiracy. He received four life sentences. After spending 22 years in Israeli prisons, Sinwar was released in a previous “terrorist for hostage” swap and became the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023, Massacre. Israel killed Sinwar on October 16, 2024, but they should have killed him in 1989!

Guy Miller, US Army LTC, retired, of North Carolina, sends out an informative daily news report that includes his exceptional views on current events. His extensive military background means that his analyses are always spot on. Miller said:

It was always all about the hostages. As long as the Israeli government cared more about the hostages, which Hamas was torturing and murdering, than they did about their own national security, Hamas was guaranteed to win.

As I said at the very beginning, if Israel on October 8 had accepted that the hostages were already dead, as most of them wound up being, they could have prevailed. But Israel surrendered all leverage by consenting to make the hostages the only factor of consideration.

[snip]

In eight decades of existence surrounded by hostile, murderous neighbors, Israel has never before allowed world opinion to override their national security. But this time they surrendered all control to Hamas.

From this day forward, Israel will always be beholden to public opinion regarding hostages. Israel surrendered all its national sovereignty to Hamas hostage takers. It can never end.

Gregg Roman, in “Why Israel Must Never Negotiate for Hostages Again,” explains that Israel’s social contract with its citizens must evolve so that instead of terrorists knowing they will get a trade for those they kidnap, they will now know that Israel will destroy them. He concludes his article this way:

Israel’s enemies have learned that kidnapping works. The only way to unlearn this lesson is through decisive action making hostage-taking suicidal for those who attempt it. History will judge Israel not by how many hostages it recovers through negotiation but by whether it finds the courage to end the hostage crisis permanently. Sometimes the most humanitarian act is refusing to negotiate with those who weaponize humanity itself. Israel’s moral responsibility demands nothing less than complete victory over the infrastructure of terror. The social contract must evolve from a promise to trade for captives to a promise to annihilate their captors—only then will the cycle finally break.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother-in-law, Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi, spoke to Arutz Sheva – Israel National News on October 9, several days before hostages were released:

[US] President [Donald] gave us the right solution immediately after taking office – ‘conquer and we’ll start a process of emigration.’ But because of our hostage psychosis, we wanted another ten or twenty hostages freed and lost the chance for a strategic solution.

Asked if he felt joy at the hostages being released, Ben-Artzi said:

There is always joy. I rejoiced when the three soldiers were freed in the Jibril Deal, and I rejoiced when Gilad Shalit returned. But at the time, even back then and even more so today, I knew that with our own hands we were signing the next kidnapping, the next massacre, and the next murders.

We can only pray that the agreement President Trump signed in Egypt on October 13 with the other Arab nations will truly be peace for our time.

Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter. Robin can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.

Related Topics: Israel