Free Republic

In what originally was supposed to be a slam dunk, US Senator Sherrod Brown’s race for reelection in Ohio against the youthful Republican Josh Mandell may instead be turning into a squeaker, and Brown is none too happy about it. Brown originally had as much as a 17 percentage point lead, but according to a report in Bloomberg, several polls last month showed the race to be deadlocked. Mandell claims the race has become intense because Ohioans are increasingly turned off by the “ultra-liberal, hyper-partisan” Brown, while Brown claims that millions of dollars in negative ads have been run against...

J Street Undercuts Obama’s Policy on Iran By Alan Dershowitz President Barack Obama recently invited me to the Oval Office for a discussion about Iran. The president reiterated to me in private what he had previously said in public: namely, that he would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons; that containment of a nuclear Iran was not an option; that sanctions and diplomatic pressures would be applied and increased first; but that, as a last recourse, the military option would not be taken off the table. What the president said is now the official American policy with regard to...

THE DEAD BABY MEDIA If the text on that one is too small for you, it's a CNN piece headlined, "Why the Syrian regime is killing babies." There's not much to add to that. The Syrian regime may be killing babies, but CNN killed journalism. With some help from the New York Times, the Washington Post and the BBC. Anyone who has spent time in the Middle East knows quite well that parading around dead bodies is part of the Muslim ceremony of rallying for the next attack. These aren't funerals, these are corpse parades and the corpses are often...

05/15/12 Carinne Luck, J Street's Vice President for Campaigns, and the person who sent out the mass email announcing the new J Street political initiative , is on video explaining to J Street members that what "the Administration" and people "on the Hill" want from J Street is for them to "move American Jews" towards their views, and so that is what J Street spends most of its resources doing. Got that? The goal of J Street is not to represent American Jews on the left, but is instead "to move American Jews" to the left and to the Administration's/friends...

I am prepared to make a 6 figure donation to J Street and/or Peter Beinart. My $100,000 gift comes with a simple condition – they have to speak to Arabs as they do to the Jewish community. Among my objections to these misguided peace-seekers is that they preach almost exclusively to the Jewish community and Western audiences about peace in the Middle East – and are ignoring the need to address Arab communities in their countries, whose participation is of course necessary to achieve the peace that they so clamor for. I was inspired to make this offer after reading...

MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima) of the Israeli Knesset has criticized the U.S. lobbying group J Street for recent comments it made on the violence between Israel and Gaza. The J Street statement criticized “rockets fired on Israeli cities and towns and airstrikes on Gaza that have killed over a dozen Palestinian civilians.”“At a time when a million Israeli citizens have been living in bomb shelters for four days and four nights, have not gone to school or work and anxiously await the next siren, the terrorists firing on them are getting encouragement and support, not just from Iran and Hezbollah,...

Given the ideological bedlam often seen even within individual Jewish organizations, just imagine trying to get an entire community of Jewish organizations together to sign a several-paragraphs-long statement reflecting a single position -- and to do that within a matter of weeks. That miracle almost happened recently, when the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia gathered practically every Jewish organization in the Philadelphia community to send a message of strong disapproval to an anti-Israel coalition known as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is holding a three-day conference at the University of Pennsylvania on February 3-5. But the "almost"...

With Middle East peace talks all but stalled, one of J Street's top board members took it upon herself to meet with Hamas earlier this month. That J Street board member is Kathleen Peratis (also an initial founder of the group), a partner at the New York law firm of Outten & Golden LLP. She also co-chairs the Middle East and North Africa Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch. Peratis recounted her time exploring Gaza's illicit smuggling operation in a recent article for The Forward. While Peratis was not in the Gaza Strip at J Street's behest, I can't help but wonder why a...

In the face of mounting charges of anti-Semitism at Occupy sites nationwide, several so-called Jewish groups have been attempting to spin the protest movement as Jew-friendly, as even representing Jewish ideals. Most prominent among those groups is the Jewish Funds for Justice, or JFFJ, which is funded by billionaire George Soros. A slew of other Soros-funded progressive groups are also behind the drive to deny Occupy contains significant anti-Semitic elements. KleinOnline found JFFJ is led by individuals associated with communist and socialist groups; the children of Soviet spies; and a U.S. socialist organization that seeks to infiltrate the Democratic Party....

Amid accusations of misleading the public, J-Street website reveals George Soros has donated money to organization. US Jewish billionaire investor George Soros, who is known for his support of leftwing causes and occasional criticism of Israel, is a major J Street donor, it emerged on Friday. Tax forms obtained by The Washington Times’ Eli Lake revealed that over the past three years, the Budapest-born Holocaust survivor and finance guru has given $750,000 to the organization. ...For years J Street had repeatedly denied having any connection with Soros.

J Street finally showed where it really stands on Israel in particular and terroristic violence in general, and it also supported terrorism by denying the role of Palestinian society in promoting it. Majority of Jewish Americans Support J Street’s Views, Not ECI’s says, “The American Jewish community has a choice politically in 2012 and in the years ahead. Save us some time, J Street, and just put on your Obama for President campaign buttons while chanting "Yes We Can!" There’s a part of our community – represented by the Emergency Committee for Israel – whose supporters led the charge to...

After J Street announced its opposition to the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations, the leaders of the leftist pro-Israel group recently launched a new campaign lobbying members of Congress to support a new Congressional letter urging President Barack Obama to ensure that the U.S. will not cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority. The letter to Obama was initiated by Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Peter Welch (D-VT), in which they express their concern about recent proposals to cut assistance to the Palestinian Authority, saying that such a step “would diminish prospects for peace and regional stability in...

It's unconscionable for American Jews to canvass their government to force Israel to act contrary to its will regarding national security. Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and president of J Street, has written a highly misleading book titled A New Voice for Israel that portrays himself as a passionate supporter of the Jewish state and a dedicated Zionist, extolling the virtues of his purportedly “pro Israel, pro-peace” organization. The opening section is based on the autobiography of his father Yitzhak Ben-Ami, whose antecedents settled in Palestine. Yitzchak became a devoted follower of Vladimir Jabotinsky, and was sent to the US on behalf...

Passionate about Israel By Ari Bussel The lady Rabbi said that American Jews tend to distance themselves from Israel and Israel becomes less important to them with time. Thus she concluded her welcoming remarks at an event hosting an Israeli general on a speaking tour in the USA of behalf of J Street: “It is wonderful that so many are so passionate about Israel.” I looked around the synagogue hall, and it was indeed full of people from all parts of the political spectrum, from the extreme left to the hard right. Most profess to be passionate advocates for Israel,...

ZOA and J Street Joining Forces? By Ari Bussel When it was announced an Israeli brigadier general would be speaking in Los Angeles for J Street, I was intrigued. A few months ago, several Israeli Members of the Knesset accepted an invitation to speak at the annual J Street conference causing uproar in Israel. I was very much against the idea then since it gave credence to J Street, even though the speakers did not see it that way. I wanted to hear the Israeli officer now touring the USA. Would he, like other Israelis (predominantly those who shifted the...

Those Progressive Liberals By Ari Bussel Israel National News reports about the President’s Conference now taking place in Israel. Judea and Samaria Council’s chairperson Danny Dayan and J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami participated in a panel discussion about criticism and loyalty in the relations between Israel and the Diaspora. Dayan asked Ben-Ami: “When, recently, did you do a simple act for Israel, one which every child understands is for Israel and does not require a philosophical roundabout explanation?” Dayan detailed the following rules to help define an organization as anti-Israel: Any organization that operates a lobby on its government...

Note: On May 3rd, Daniel Gordis addressed the “J-Street Leadership Mission to Israel and Palestine.” The following column is based on his remarks that day.] Good morning and welcome to Jerusalem. It’s a pleasure to meet with this Leadership Mission; I understand that there are some first time visitors to Israel among you, so a particular welcome to those of you who’ve never been here before. Before we got seated, one member of your group conveyed a message from the Israeli Consul General in his home community. The message was that I shouldn’t speak to you. As you can imagine,...

The newly appointed chair of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) has sustained and controversial ties to the fringe anti-Israel lobby, J Street. In early 2009, Wasserman Schultz hosted an event on Capitol Hill with J Street, a group then under fire for issuing a statement accusing Israel of collective punishment in Gaza and equating Israeli self-defensive measures with those of Hamas. J Street's comments were so incendiary, they drew immediate condemnation from all corners of the Jewish community, including noted liberal Rabbi Eric Yoffie, who called the group "profoundly out of touch." Yet Wasserman Schultz, only...

J-Street suffered a humiliating defeat yesterday on Capitol Hill – which means Israel scored an important victory. The George Soros-funded “pro-Israel” group inexplicably mobilized its machinery to oppose a bipartisan letter that merely called on President Obama to pressure the Palestinian Authority to end its longstanding practice of inciting its people to commit terrorism against the Jewish state. Even in a town where tin-eared stupidity is commonplace, essentially protecting the PA’s ability to encourage violence against its Jewish neighbors is jaw-dropping. The straightforward letter, authored by Reps. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and Steve Austria (R-OH), asks Obama to pressure PA President...

Our occasional correspondent Joel Mowbray (jdmowbra@erols.com) reports: J-Street suffered a humiliating defeat yesterday on Capitol Hill -- which means Israel scored an important victory. The George Soros-funded "pro-Israel" group inexplicably mobilized its machinery to oppose a bipartisan letter that merely called on President Obama to pressure the Palestinian Authority to end its longstanding practice of inciting its people to commit terrorism against the Jewish state. Even in a town where tin-eared stupidity is commonplace, essentially protecting the PA's ability to encourage violence against its Jewish neighbors is jaw-dropping. The straightforward letter, authored by Reps. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and Steve Austria...

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has expressed concern at the appointment of Rabbi Richard Jacobs as head of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). Included among our concerns is the fact that Rabbi Jacobs is a member of the Rabbinic Cabinet of J Street, the extremist, George Soros-funded lobby group that takes positions to the left of the Israeli Labor and far-left Meretz parties, recently opposed sanctions on Iran, and urged President Barack Obama not to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning as “illegal” Jewish homes and communities in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. Jacobs is also a...

The Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee held a special discussion on Wednesday on the subject of J Street, the supposedly pro-Israel organization which in fact is sympathetic towards terror groups such as Hamas. “The committee’s conclusion is very loud and clear,” committee chair MK Danny Danon told Israel National News. “You cannot be pro-Israel if you work against the interests of the State of Israel.” Danon noted that “J Street is pro-Palestinian. It’s not a pro-Israeli organization. We told the people who came to the discussion, especially those who came from Washington, that they have to be Zionist...

The J Street national conference in Washington, D.C. has emphasized that they are pro-Israeli. Yet they didn’t say anything about being pro-Jewish. This morning Jikileaks reports that the J Street organizers at the Washington Convention Center are not offering Kosher food at its Jewish conclave with more than 2,000 participants. J Street boasts that hundreds of their attendees are rabbis. The Jikileaks person on the ground at the J Street extravaganza explained his dilemma: “I arrived at the sandwich cart and requested the kosher option. I got a blank stare in return, and when I asked the manager she told...

The Golden Calf by Ari Bussel and Norma Zager These are the first two Commandments given by God to Moses at Mount Sinai: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the...

An organization leading a crusade demanding Fox News fire host Glenn Beck is backed by philanthropist George Soros and is tied to many of the liberal activists that Beck routinely excoriates on his highly rated program, WND has learned. Jewish Funds for Justice, or JFSJ, a charity that campaigns for social change, delivered a petition with 10,000 signatures to Fox News this past week in protest of a program in which Beck specifically targeted Soros, calling the businessman the "puppet master." JFSJ deemed the show anti-Semitic. During the program, Beck highlighted nine people of the 20th century who contributed to...

American Jews who defend Israel, it seems, have much to not be happy about this Thanksgiving Day. In a major Politico article, writer Ben Smith writes that Z Street, a hawkish pro-Israel group that consciously bills itself as an alternative to the leftist J Street, reveals that the IRS may be targeting pro-Israel groups for seeking a tax exemption, solely on the grounds of their position. Writes Smith about the proposed query of an unnamed religious group that has no expressed position on Israel: “Does your organization support the existence of the land of Israel?” IRS agent Tracy Dornette wrote...

ZOA: It's Troubling To See Jewish Leaders Defend Israel/U.S. Basher George Soros Against Glenn Beck's Criticism November 16, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Morton A. Klein Phone: 212-481-1500 http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=1968 Soros: 1944 (Nazi occupation) “was happiest time of my life … adventure … fun” The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has expressed its concern over the strong criticism that a number of American Jewish leaders and other prominent Jews in recent days have directed at Fox broadcaster, Glenn Beck, for his criticism of Israel/U.S.-basher, financier George Soros, regarding his behavior in Nazi-occupied Budapest in 1944. In that year, George Soros’ father...

"JStreetU," a branch of the controversial J Street lobby that focuses on activity inside university campuses, has announced it is beginning operations in Jerusalem. Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren has broadly hinted that J Street endangers Israel's existence. In an email message, Drew and Kelly Cohen of Jerusalem announced that JStreetU recently hired them “to put together educational programs reflective of JStreetU's mission for students studying abroad in Israel, both on the undergraduate and graduate level – including rabbinic programs, education programs, or the myriad other Israel experiences (and especially Pardes)...” “We're very excited about the launch...

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak defends signing letter pushed by J Street calling for easing Gaza blockade. LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP – One day, months before the race to represent Pennsylvania in the US Senate entered the homestretch, Democratic candidate Joe Sestak arrived at his campaign office to find it practically empty. “Where is everybody?” Sestak told The Jerusalem Post he had asked at the time, only to be told it was Pessah. That’s how he found out that nearly half his staff was Jewish. But on Monday, the day before Americans finally head to the polls, Sestak’s headquarters in...

Some people are still clinging to the remaining shreds of J Street's pro-Israel raiments. Time to let go. Even when that faux pro-Israel organization takes action seemingly supportive of Israel - such as opposing divestment from Israel - it does so for reasons that have nothing to do with being pro-Israel. But first, let's recap the undressing and dressing down of the J Street cloak. In less than two weeks, it was revealed that various J Street mouthpieces: lied when they repeatedly represented that the hateful anti-Israel billionaire George Soros hadn't given them any loot; lied when they said they...

Quite the few days that J Street had last week, what with all the admitting they’re foot soldiers in Soros’s anti-Israel army after lying about it for years and then trying to get ahead of the story by lying about it some more. Most of the criticism has focused on co-founder Jeremy Ben-Ami, who did not exactly fall on his sword and instead tried to hamfistedly change the subject. But it’s probably unfair to blame him for all of J Street’s failings, from rigging polls to being more anti-Israel than the Saudis to expressing fake confusion about Hamas’s intentions. Per...

When Eli Lake's story regarding J Street's donor list was published the role of George Soros created controversy. Soros has a long history of funding anti-Israel activism so his role at J Street was deliberately hidden by the group for years. Now more revelations have started to leak. I did a bit of further research (hat tip: Cheryl Lewin) about another donor and supporter of J Street: Gail Furman. She sits on its advisory council and is a donor listed on its Form 990  . She is also a member of the board of the Soros-created Democracy Alliance - a...

Yes, George Soros again. Bigpeace has the story. Remember, Soros is now suing people for suggesting he may be an unrepentant Nazi collaborator. "Less than one week after the faux Israel advocacy group J Street was caught lying about taking cash from progressive financier George Soros, new evidence has been revealed about the group that eliminate any doubt about its true intentions vis a vis the Jewish State. J Street was involved in trying convince the US Congress to accept the Goldstone Report, a one sided UN Report with trumped up charges of Israeli War Crimes during the Gaza war."...

A year ago J Street — the putatively progressive fledgling counter to the Israel lobbying group AIPAC — was riding high. They had just received a write up in the New York Times Magazine that was somewhere between a press release and a love poem and, with a complaisant Obama in the White House, the tiny organization seemed poised to be a significant player in the Middle East discussion. My, as grandma said, have times changed. For starters, J Street’s director, Jeremy Ben-Ami, has shown himself to be a Junior Beltway Pinocchio, serially denying his organization had the financial backing...

George Soros is the source of the dirty money behind the front group to destroy Israel, J Street, as J Street executive director Jeremy Ben Ami has finally admitted to the media, after lying about it since the group’s founding: “I accept responsibility personally,” said Ben Ami, “for being less than clear about Mr. Soros‘ support once he did become a donor.”Of course it was Soros. George Soros vowed years ago to start an anti-Jewish organization under the nefarious guise of a Jewish organization, in order to counter the influence of the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC).

Revelation about funding sources prompts distancing from J StreetThe White House appears to be distancing itself from the liberal advocacy group J Street that it once embraced as its envoy to the U.S. Jewish community after disclosures that nearly half the group's funding for 2008 came from a single Hong Kong donor. White House spokesman Thomas Vietor declined to comment when asked on Monday if the White House would continue its past practice of inviting J Street's leaders to take part in conference calls with senior White House officials and to other White House events, and whether senior Obama administration...

J Street, the liberal Middle East policy advocacy organization, on Sunday issued a statement acknowledging what the group had earlier denied: J Street received financial support from billionaire George Soros. "I accept responsibility personally for being less than clear about Mr. Soros' support once he did become a donor," Jeremy Ben Ami, J Street's executive director, said in a note to supporters on the group's website. The Washington Times first disclosed Friday that J Street, a group that portrays itself as a progressive alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), had received $750,000 from Mr. Soros and his...

Amid accusations of misleading the public, J-Street website reveals George Soros has donated money to organization. US Jewish billionaire investor George Soros, who is known for his support of leftwing causes and occasional criticism of Israel, is a major J Street donor, it emerged on Friday. Tax forms obtained by The Washington Times’ Eli Lake revealed that over the past three years, the Budapest-born Holocaust survivor and finance guru has given $750,000 to the organization over the past three years.

The left-wing Jewish group J-Street, which purports to represent "moderate" Jews opposing "hard line" Israelis, has been revealed to be a Soros front, receiving Soros money and lying about it. Thus, J-Street joins left winger Jim Wallis's group Sojourners as lying religious group fronts for Soros.Eli Lake reports in the Washington Times: The Jewish-American advocacy group J Street, which bills itself as the dovish alternative to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee(AIPAC) lobby, has secretly received funding from billionaire George Soros despite previous denials that it accepted funds from the Hungarian-born financier and liberal political activist. Tax forms obtained by The Washington Times reveal that Mr. Soros and his...

Groups says they support "religious freedom" and "tolerance." Following protests against the planned construction of a mosque close to the site of the former World Trade Center in New York, Washington-based left-wing group J Street launched a petition Monday in support of the project. A statement on the organization's website said: " Appalled by the opposition to plans by American Muslims to build a community center in lower Manhattan modeled after Jewish Community Centers (JCC's) and Y's all over the country, J Street is collecting petitions in support of religious freedom and against anti-Muslim bigotry.

WASHINGTON (JTA) – J Street has called for an investigation into American charities that fund Israeli settlement activity. J Street, the self-proclaimed political home for “pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans,” launched a campaign on Monday calling on the US Treasury Department to look into whether organizations named in a July 6 New York Times report have broken the law. The report identified more than 40 US organizations that have collected over $200 million in tax-deductible contributions for schools, synagogues and recreation centers in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. The organizations support Jewish settlements in the West Bank and receive tax breaks...

J Street mixes its views on Israel with domestic party politics, and now, before midterm elections this is not the time to escalate partisan rhetoric around a two-state solution. J Street, the "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby, ran its first television commercial last week in the United States. Watching the ad online (it can be viewed via a link on my own organization's website, www.rethinkme.org) confirmed my worst suspicions about this new organization, which likes to portray itself as the "real voice" of the mainstream American Jewish community. The commercial makes J Street's particular bias quite obvious. It begins with overt political...

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) convening in Minneapolis will debate this week whether to endorse an official church study committee report that compares Israel to the worst regimes of the 20th century, including Nazi Germany. The report, which also mentions ultra-liberal Jewish lobby group J Street as a sign of “hope,” seems to have embarrassed that group. J Street Vice President Rachel Lerner called out to the Presbyterians to reject the 'study.' She said that the report’s authors never consulted her group before choosing to mention it.

Timing by Ari Bussel It is all a question of timing. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles by the urging of the Israeli Consulate General in Los Angeles held a rally to support Israel. It was a week after the Turkish Flotilla of Terror against the Jewish State. Among the many speakers were representatives of J Street, the so-called “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” camp, and Americans for Peace Now. When they spoke the public booed. Someone even shouted “Traitor!” That hurt the delicate feelings of the organizers on stage. Alas, the same afternoon, those “Jews for Peace” organized another demonstration in...

Capitulation by Ari Bussel At one point, someone will be reading this Collection of Postcards. That person would not have known us. In fact, we will be long dead. Many things would have happened in the world between then and now. It may be months, years, decades or even a century from present time. This Postcard is for that person. Things with which we are very familiar today, thus consider obvious, will be complete unknowns as the dust of history covers over them. Some phrases may not be understood, and references may seem disconnected. This Postcard, although it may not...

<p>TEL AVIV, Israel—A U.S. congressman says he's seeking clarification from Israel after an apparent snub by a top Foreign Ministry official. Rep. William Delahunt of Massachusetts is touring the region with a congressional delegation hosted by J Street, a liberal Jewish lobbying group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace.</p>

J-street claims to be pro-Israel, but the next time it takes a stance that matches that of the majority of Israelis it will be the first time. openly campaign against Israel on the grounds that it possesses a superior understanding of what is best for Israelis. Seeded with dollars by self-proclaimed Nazi collaborator George Soros, and given "legitimacy" by President Obama because he agrees with their anti-Israel position, J-Street works to lobby the US Government to pressure Israelis, contrary to their will, to take steps that could have life and death implications. That's why it seemed like such a cynical...

The recent media attention garnered by the relatively new J Street lobby necessitates an examination of the very notion of the term “Pro-Israel.” Until very recently the J Street was always self-branded as “Pro-Israel”. Intensifying the matter is the case of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel spoke on November 10, 2009 at the General Assembly/GA of the Jewish Federations of North America, the largest and most important event on the U.S. Jewish establishment’s calendar. Emanuel has been called “Pro-Israel” by the media. It should be clear that the label “Pro-Israel” must be defined if the term is...

Ben Smith, following on Eli Lake’s blockbuster story, has a must-read post on the emerging scandal concerning the mullahs’ favorite front group, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). The issues go far beyond whether NIAC has been illegally operating without registering as a foreign agent, and have ensnared NIAC’s close ally, none other than J Street. First, NIAC is a Soros-backed group. Soros is of course the money behind MoveOn.org and got J Street up and running. He is also paying “the $90,000 annual salary of the NIAC staffer, Patrick Disney.” The Left’s moneyman is plainly in the mullah’s corner....

This little Ditty appeared on Laura Rozen's Column in Politico Today: UPDATE: A top candidate seems to be Hannah Rosenthal, former head of the Jewish Council on Public Affairs and former executive director of the Chicago Foundation for Women. She has a track record of involvement in countering anti-Semitism in the international context. Rosenthal, currently community outreach director at a Wisconsin firm, was traveling and could not be immediately reached to comment. UPDATE II: An administration official said this sounds right, regarding Rosenthal This is the ultimate cynical move by Obama. Even as the executive director of JPAC, found herself...