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Joel Pollak

@joelpollak

Jan 9

Palisades Charter High School is largely destroyed and still burning, though the brick structures are mostly standing. The pool may have helped. Students travel here from all across Los Angeles. Other local schools were also destroyed, though I think Seven Arrows survived. (7/15)

Sunset Boulevard is a scene of destruction, including in the center of Palisades — though, notably, @RickCarusoLA’s Village Mall looks largely intact. Caruso’s employees apparently fought the fire themselves. He lost to Mayor Karen Bass in 2022. She was in Ghana yesterday. (8/15)

Firefighters are doing what they can. They appear to be focusing on big fires that are still extinguishable. Police are there to keep people out, except press and emergency personnel. I did not see any looting, but there were some curious onlookers on scooters in the area. (9/15)

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Joel Pollak

@joelpollak

Jan 9

Just got back from a visit to the #PalisadesFire, a little over 24 hrs after evacuating. It is NOT safe & there are active fires as well as live power lines. This is what I was able to see & record. (Note: I will be doing a Space here at 8:00 pm PT to describe more fully.) (1/15)

Much of Pacific Palisades is completely destroyed. The Alphabet Streets; the University Streets; much of Marquez Knolls; some homes in the Huntington; much of the Village (with a few exceptions); the El Medio Bluffs; many public buildings. I could not get to the Highlands. (2/15)

This is what is left of Tahitian Terrace. The burned car reminded me of damage I saw in Israel after October 7 (though the context is different, and no one died in the Palisades). Fires were still smoldering on the ground and the higher reaches of the road looked dangerous (3/15)

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Joel Pollak

@joelpollak

Jan 8

A brief, factual thread about the POLICY issues around the Palisades fire. I will stick to what I know personally. I am covering for @BreitbartNews and available to help @FoxNews, @MSNBC, or anyone needing information and ideas, including the incoming Trump administration. (1/9)

FOREST MANAGEMENT: This is an issue in California generally, but I will say in this IMMEDIATE area I have personally witnessed brush clearance on the trails in the mountains where the fire began. Any hurricane-force wind pushing a fire will be destructive, despite clearance (2/9)

RESERVOIRS: The Santa Ynez Reservoir near the fire outbreak was empty as of Sunday (I was up there). There are 10,000-gal water tanks in the Temescal Canyon for hydrants; don't know if they were full. After outbreak, I doubt whether water could have stopped the blaze anyway (3/9)

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Joel Pollak

@joelpollak

Aug 8, 2024

Some thoughts on the Jewish vote.

You *should not* believe polls that tell you Trump is winning the Jewish vote, especially polls with small samples and large margins of error.

Here is what you are more likely to see, given Harris's VP choice and other developments. (1/5) 🧵

Trump will do very well with Jews, given 1) his record on Israel; 2) Biden's perceived weakness on Israel; 3) Harris's snub of Josh Shapiro; 4) acute fears of left-wing antisemitism; 5) reduced fears of right-wing antisemitism.

But the ceiling for Trump among Jews is 40%. (2/5)

Many Jews are dogmatically loyal to the Democratic Party. The reasons have to do with self-perception, i.e. being seen as on the side of "social justice," both for narcissistic reasons and self-preservation in big cities; and about irrational fear of Christian conservatism. (3/5)

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Joel Pollak

@joelpollak

Apr 10, 2024

https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1777800149818822809

Allow me to respond to @TuckerCarlson's interview here with @MuntherIsaac by talking about the facts, rather than speculating about whether Tucker hates Israel, or is an antisemite. He says he is concerned about Christians; I'll accept that. But there's no excuse for this. (1/nn)

https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1777800149818822809

First, a fact about Bethlehem. Christians used to be a majority there; they are now a minority. The Palestinian Authority has been Islamizing the city since taking control of Bethlehem 30 years ago. Israeli "occupation" is hardly the primary issue. (2/10)jcpa.org/jl/vp490.htm

Another fact: Bethlehem has become an antisemitic city under Palestinian control, far worse to Jews than even to Christians. In 2007, I was told not to speak Hebrew there; in 2023, I was told to remove my yarmulke, or cover it with a hat. In the birthplace of Jesus, a Jew. (3/10)

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Joel Pollak

@joelpollak

Dec 17, 2023

I have spent an anguished 24+ hours thinking about the 3 hostages who were tragically killed by the @IDF as they escaped from Hamas. Here are a few thoughts about the event and what happens next. It's the darkest moment of the war thus far, but also perhaps a turning point. (1/9)

First, a salute to the heroism of these young men -- one Arab, two Jews. They survived more than 70 days in captivity and escaped their captors. Who knows how long they lived without food or water. As the IDF Chief said, they did everything right. They should have survived. (2/9)

The Israeli public does not want the soldiers who shot the hostages punished, tho they broke the rules -- unlike the case of the reservists who mistakenly killed Yuval Kestelman after he stopped a terror attack. I think the difference is that higher-ups took responsibility. (3/9)

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