anti-semitism
Using A Fictional Antisemitism Crisis To Support A Real Genocide
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
https://medium.com/media/fd45b9975995631844e480e87a8abdad/href
One of the most frustrating things happening in the world right now is the way people of conscience are doing everything they can to bring a stop to Israel’s US-backed atrocities in Gaza, and Israel supporters are responding to this by pointing at an epidemic of “antisemitism” which has no existence outside their own imaginations — but we’re all expected to pretend it’s real and worthy of respect.
TV’s “Dr Phil” McGraw flew to Jerusalem to give war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu an hour-long platform on which to justify his genocidal violence in Gaza to an American audience, shamelessly assisting the Israeli prime minister’s apologia with common hasbara talking points of his own.
The duo spent lot of time smearing anti-genocide protesters at US universities as evil Jew haters. At one point Netanyahu went so far as to advance the ridiculous suggestion that this sudden wave of support for Palestinians has nothing to do with Israel’s actions in Gaza at all, but is solely due to a massive “explosion” in antisemitism which just so happens to coincide with those actions.
“It’s not directed at what we do, it’s directed at who we are,” Netanyahu said of the protests, adding, “It’s an antisemitic explosion that threatens all of civilization.”
Michael Tracey on Twitter: "Netanyahu tells Dr. Phil the US campus protests actually have nothing to do with Israel's offensive in Gaza, they're just a random "anti-Semitic explosion." Dr. Phil agrees, citing completely fake ADL stats about the supposed 360% increase in "anti-Semitic activity" since Oct. 7 pic.twitter.com/AS80oxU23O / Twitter"
Netanyahu tells Dr. Phil the US campus protests actually have nothing to do with Israel's offensive in Gaza, they're just a random "anti-Semitic explosion." Dr. Phil agrees, citing completely fake ADL stats about the supposed 360% increase in "anti-Semitic activity" since Oct. 7 pic.twitter.com/AS80oxU23O
“Antisemitic activity has gone up 360 percent in America since October 7, and it was already high before October 7, and it’s gone up 360 percent,” McGraw responded in furious agreement.
This is a fiction. The TV man is citing a fake statistic from the Anti-Defamation League, who after October 7 began categorizing pro-Palestine rallies as antisemitic incidents, including rallies organized and attended by Jewish groups. This propagandistic manipulation allowed the Israel-friendly mass media to falsely report a massive spike in antisemitism in the wake of October 7 which had not actually occurred.
“One of the most spellbinding doublespeak contortions over the past seven months is this line that there’s just been this random, spontaneous outburst of vicious anti-Semitism which just happens to correlate 100% perfectly with Israel’s US-backed pulverization campaign in Gaza,” journalist Michael Tracey tweeted of the exchange.
Real antisemitism — by which I mean prejudice against Jews as a group — certainly exists. But it’s a fringe position in our society, and it’s almost never what you’re hearing about when Israel apologists are talking. In fact you very seldom see Israel apologists and institutions like the ADL, who are supposedly responsible for fighting antisemitism, going after actual antisemites who harbor actual ill will toward the Jewish people. What you typically see them doing instead is using the “antisemitism” label to falsely smear people of conscience who criticize the actions of the state of Israel.
Generally when you hear an Israel apologist use the word “antisemitism”, they’re actually talking about people like the campus protesters, or public figures like Jeremy Corbyn — lifelong anti-racists who are fervently opposed to prejudice and persecution against any group of people, including Jews. Their crime isn’t that they have an abusive hatred of Jews, it’s that they don’t share Israel’s abusive hatred of Palestinians.
Michael Tracey on Twitter: "Just in case you're wondering what Congress is up to today, Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL) says anti-Semitism has become such a "dominant force" in K-12 schools that Second Graders across America are "spewing Nazi propaganda" pic.twitter.com/WiQA58fPGE / Twitter"
Just in case you're wondering what Congress is up to today, Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL) says anti-Semitism has become such a "dominant force" in K-12 schools that Second Graders across America are "spewing Nazi propaganda" pic.twitter.com/WiQA58fPGE
During a recent congressional hearing some unbelievably stupid assertions were put forward by Florida Representative Aaron Bean, who chaired the meeting.
“It’s hard to grasp how antisemitism has become such a dominant force in our K-12 schools,” Bean said. “Some kids as young as second grade are spewing Nazi propaganda, which begs the question, who has positioned these young minds to attack the Jewish people?”
To be clear, nobody on planet Earth believes what Aaron Bean just said, including Aaron Bean. There is not one single person anywhere in this universe who sincerely believes that there is an epidemic of second graders across America being brainwashed to spout Nazi propaganda. It is not happening, and we all know it’s not happening. But people like Aaron Bean pretend to believe this complete work of fiction is an actual real-life occurrence in order to defend the very real atrocities that are being committed by their favorite apartheid state.
This freakish narrative push isn’t just happening in the US. Here in Australia there’s been a nonstop deluge of melodramatic concern trolling about a completely fictional epidemic of Jew hatred, one recent example appearing in an article for The Age titled “When uni students endorse terrorism, it’s time for political intervention”.
Caitlin Johnstone on Twitter: "Australian propaganda rag The Age justifies shutting down political dissent by calling it "endorsing terrorism". @CroweDM urges the government "to move fast to ban hate speech" - with "hate speech" defined as saying words like "intifada" and "from the river to the sea" - saying... pic.twitter.com/SDo99bkYi6 / Twitter"
Australian propaganda rag The Age justifies shutting down political dissent by calling it "endorsing terrorism". @CroweDM urges the government "to move fast to ban hate speech" - with "hate speech" defined as saying words like "intifada" and "from the river to the sea" - saying... pic.twitter.com/SDo99bkYi6
In it, The Age’s “chief political correspondent” David Crowe argues that Canberra must move swiftly to shut down the campus protests sprouting up in this country under the legal justification of stopping “hate speech” and fighting “terrorism”. The only examples of “hate speech” Crowe cites are protesters using the word “intifada” and the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” both of which only qualify as hate speech by the most tortured of mental contortions.
The only example of “endorsing terrorism” Crowe cites is some random student protester in Canberra telling the ABC “I actually say that Hamas deserve our unconditional support,” after which she quickly clarified “not because I agree with their strategy … (I have) complete disagreements with that.”
After making it absolutely clear that he is calling for the government to forcibly shut down and outlaw obvious political speech, Crowe writes that “Universities should be open grounds for free speech, not platforms for antisemitism and violence.”
Western empire managers and their propagandists are so freaked out by this new protest movement that they have to do this hilarious dance where they hop forward and go “Of course I support free speech and dissent is always legal in our country, BUUUUT” and then hop back and explicitly advocate government oppression of obvious political speech. They do this by pointing to a crisis of “antisemitism” which they invented inside their own skulls.
Michael Tracey on Twitter: "Cathartic demolition here by @ggreenwald, who points out the Hate Crime Hoax of the girl at Yale who faked getting viciously "stabbed in the eye." The hoax was feverishly amplified by @aaronsibarium, who has yet to retract or clarify his role in this Jussie Smollett-tier fraud pic.twitter.com/MzPOPiht8X / Twitter"
Cathartic demolition here by @ggreenwald, who points out the Hate Crime Hoax of the girl at Yale who faked getting viciously "stabbed in the eye." The hoax was feverishly amplified by @aaronsibarium, who has yet to retract or clarify his role in this Jussie Smollett-tier fraud pic.twitter.com/MzPOPiht8X
And it’s just so indescribably insane how people who care about humanity, truth and justice are talking about actual children getting killed by the thousands, and Israel and its apologists are responding to this by talking about an entirely fictional “antisemitism” crisis that exists nowhere outside the imagination.
It’s like responding to warnings of another holocaust by babbling about Sauron.
It’s like we’re going, “Oh my god, civilians are being massacred on a daily basis by a racist apartheid regime!” And they’re going, “Oh yeah well you know what we should really be worried about? Sauron, the Dark Lord.”
You’d be like, “What?? I’m talking about a real thing that’s actually happening to actual real-life human beings! You’re talking about a work of fiction by JRR Tolkien.”
“Oh so you’re just going to dismiss Sauron’s plan to overrun Middle Earth with orcish hordes as soon as he recovers the One Ring?” they’d say. “What are you, some kind of Mordor sympathizer?”
“What the hell are you on about?” you’d protest. “We’re talking about actual, physical people being ripped apart by actual, physical military explosives, and you’re talking about some imaginary fantasy land like it’s a real thing! How are we supposed to address this actual real-life problem when you keep trying to drag the conversation kicking and screaming into a debate about something that has no existence outside the realm of the imagination?”
“I guess you just hate hobbits,” they’d say.
I mean, how do you even argue with someone like this? How do you debate someone about a real-life problem of unparalleled urgency when all they want to talk about is a completely made-up crisis that absolutely is not happening on this material plane?
It’s the most frustrating thing in the world.
___________________
My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to find video versions of my articles. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.
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The Anti-Zionist Inquisition
Nobody expects The Anti-Zionist Inquisition!
Like their befuddled medieval Catholic progenitors in the classic Monty Python skit, they descend upon you without warning! Amongst their diverse weaponry are surprise, and fear, and ruthless efficiency, and fanatical devotion to the Church of Anti-Zionism! Blasphemers, heretics, and other apostates of the Church literally wee themselves at the thought of being publicly accused of non-anti-Zionism and subjected to their fearsome inquisitorial methods!
Yes, I’m speaking from personal experience, having recently survived a visit from the Anti-Zionist Inquisition on Twitter. What happened is, I noticed that the pro-Palestinian student protesters in the USA, or many of them, were wearing “Covid” masks. So I tweeted about it. Here are some of those Tweets …
I don’t know what I was thinking at the time. I was probably possessed by a Zionist demon! Anyway, the next thing I knew, the Anti-Zionist Inquisition was onto me. Paul Cudenec, an anarchist writer who I’d been friendly with for several years, and a Cardinal in the Church, rushed onto Twitter to demand that I publicly “condemn Zionist genocide,” and answer to charges of potential Zionist sympathies, and otherwise recant my heresy and blasphemy. I didn’t do that for Paul. I don’t do that for anyone. As I noted in a previous column, I don’t condemn things on command, not Hamas, not Zionism, not anything, for anyone. Nor do I perform any other kind of tricks. If that’s what you’re into, get a fucking dog.
My unresponsive anti-authoritarian response did not sit well with Cardinal Cudenec, so he whipped out one of the Anti-Zionist Inquisition’s most feared and most ruthlessly efficient weapons, the Online Character Assassination. “Why is CJ Hopkins now devoting all his efforts to attacking critics of the Israeli genocide?” he shrieked. Could it be that CJ Hopkins is controlled opposition? Is he now, or has he ever been, a Zionist?
The Anti-Zionist faithful answered the call. I was instantly besieged by a swarm of morons demanding that I publicly deny that I’m a Zionist, and affirm that “the Zionists” own the US government, and most other Western governments, and the banks, and media, and … well, I think you’re probably familiar with that narrative.
Wait … no, it’s not what you’re thinking. These people are not anti-Semites! They are anti-Zionists! They have absolutely nothing to do with the idiotic anti-Semitic garbage that, for example, white-supremacist groups like Aryan Brotherhood or Aryan Nations are into, you know, all that garbage about the “Zionist Occupation Government” and how “the Jews own everything,” and “the Great Replacement,” and all that. I am serious. I know some of these people, personally. They are anti-Zionists, not anti-Semites. They just happen to be totally obsessed with the Jews, and Israel, and Zionism, to the point where anyone who refuses to conform to their simplistic worldview and political analysis is perceived as an enemy, or a “Zionist,” or a “Zionist-entity sympathizer.”
So, that was fun, my appearance before the Anti-Zionist Inquisition. Plus, it inspired me to conduct one of my online courses on basic smear-artist tactics, which I offer as a public service whenever the occasion arises.
It also moved me to tweet a few words of advice to my Anti-Zionist Inquisitors, which I will reproduce below for my readers who have the sense (and the luxury) not to be on Twitter.
Ready? OK, here we go …
I hate to bum people out, but repeating the words “Zionism” and “genocide” over and over is not a political strategy. If you want to stop slaughters like the one going on in Gaza someday, get a political strategy. Start with a political analysis. Use a map. Identify who is aligned with what.
For example, which of the Middle East countries on this map are playing ball with the global-capitalist empire? Which aren’t? Which countries has the empire invaded, destabilized, and restructured since 1989? Why has it done that? Where are there still pockets of resistance?
Forget about ideology for a second. Every country has an ideology or a narrative to justify its actions. Try to look at the map through the eyes of the empire. Who is playing ball with you? Who is not? What needs to be done about that? What is your goal as an empire in this region?
Again, forget about ideology, and try to think strategically. Take Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocracy. It’s the largest US export market in the Middle East. The US is its largest trading partner. Do you think the empire cares about its ideology?
Now take a look at Israel. What function does Israel perform for the empire? Do you think the empire cares about Israel’s national ideology, i.e. Zionism, any more than it cares about Saudi Arabia’s national ideology? If so, why do you think that?
Think strategy, not ideology. Does Israel maintain an arsenal of nuclear weapons because of Zionism? Why is the empire determined to ensure that Israel remains the only country with nuclear weapons in the Middle East? Does Israel receive billions in support from the empire because of Zionism? Did the empire invade and restructure Iraq because of Zionism? Libya? Syria? Why is Iran a problem for the empire?
Answer those questions and you may be on your way to developing something resembling a political analysis, which you can use to generate an actual political strategy. Then, someday, maybe, that political strategy might help you to stop slaughters like the one in Gaza.
Or, don’t think about any of the above questions, and just keep shouting “ZIONIST GENOCIDE!” over and over and referring to Israel as “the Zionist entity.” That’s been working really well so far.
Oh, and, if anyone is still unclear about my political views and desperate to fix that, well, might I suggest that they actually read my books, or my columns, which are all available online.
Or, if it’s too much work to do that, just ask some fanatical idiot on Twitter.
###
CJ Hopkins
May 9, 2024
Addendum: Having been subjected to the desperate rationalizations of assorted apoplectic hypocrites pretending they don’t understand my “problem” with pro-Palestinian protesters wearing “Covid” masks, en masse, at demos, for three days, I have attempted to clear that up for them on Twitter (see below). I sincerely hope this will bring an end to their hypocritical bullshit, and their nasty little character-assassination campaign. (May 12, 2024)
And, for the “YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THEY’RE POLITICAL SYMBOLS” crowd …
DISCLAIMER: The preceding essay is entirely the work of our in-house satirist and self-appointed political pundit, CJ Hopkins, and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Consent Factory, Inc., or its staff, or any of its agents, subsidiaries, or assigns. If, for whatever inexplicable reason, you appreciate Mr. Hopkins’ work and would like to support it, please go to his Substack page, or his Patreon page, or send a contribution to his PayPal account, so that maybe he’ll stop coming around our offices trying to hit our employees up for money. Alternatively, you could purchase his satirical dystopian sci-fi novel, Zone 23, or Volumes I, II, and III of his Consent Factory Essays, or any of his subversive stage plays, which won some awards in Great Britain and Australia. If you do not appreciate Mr. Hopkins’ work and would like to write him an abusive email, feel free to contact him directly.
The ‘Antisemitism’ Moral Panic Has Officially Jumped The Shark
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
https://medium.com/media/d462d7e52f977f2a8fc29a6270c64173/href
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded to the International Criminal Court’s rumored plans to indict Israeli officials for war crimes by claiming that for the ICC to do so would be an “antisemitic hate crime”.
Yes, you read that correctly.
“If this does happen, it will be an indelible stain on humanity. It would be an unprecedented antisemitic hate crime that would add fuel to the antisemitic incitement that is already raging in the world,” said Netanyahu this past Tuesday.
So, to be absolutely clear, Israel’s top government official has announced that charges against himself and other Israeli leaders for obvious war crimes like intentionally bombing and starving civilians would be both “antisemitic” and a “hate crime”.
So, to make things even clearer, when a supporter of the state of Israel claims to be sincerely super duper worried about “antisemitism”, this is the kind of thing they are talking about. This is what the label “antisemitism” has come to mean. It means literally any opposition to, criticism of, or consequences for a nuclear-armed genocidal apartheid ethnostate which is backed by the most powerful empire that has ever existed.
Caitlin Johnstone on Twitter: "I need you to understand that when an Israel supporter claims to be very sincerely concerned about "antisemitism", this is the "antisemitism" they're talking about: pic.twitter.com/kx7TlfHXnq / Twitter"
I need you to understand that when an Israel supporter claims to be very sincerely concerned about "antisemitism", this is the "antisemitism" they're talking about: pic.twitter.com/kx7TlfHXnq
Keeping that in mind, let’s turn now to the bill that just passed in the US House of Representatives which can be used to suppress entirely legitimate political speech critical of Israel as “antisemitic”.
Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp reports:
“The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that conflates criticism of the modern state of Israel with antisemitism and will mandate that definition be used by the Department of Education when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws.
“The bill could be used to crack down on pro-Palestine protesters at college campuses across the country, who have been falsely labeled ‘antisemitic’ despite Jewish students participating in the protests.
“The legislation adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which lists ‘drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis’ as an example of antisemitism.
“The IHRA also defines antisemitism as applying ‘double standards’ to Israel by ‘requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation’ and ‘denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination’ by ‘claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.’”
Antiwar.com on Twitter: "House Passes Bill That Conflates Criticism of Israel With AntisemitismThe legislation adopts a definition of antisemitism that could be used by the Dept of Education to crackdown on college protestsby Dave DeCamp@DecampDave #Gaza #Israel #censorship https://t.co/glebgTsFsY pic.twitter.com/ulsf3PfQOK / Twitter"
House Passes Bill That Conflates Criticism of Israel With AntisemitismThe legislation adopts a definition of antisemitism that could be used by the Dept of Education to crackdown on college protestsby Dave DeCamp@DecampDave #Gaza #Israel #censorship https://t.co/glebgTsFsY pic.twitter.com/ulsf3PfQOK
This comes as House Democrat Richie Torres teams up with Republican Mike Lawler to advance a bill which would create “antisemitism monitors” on university campuses which receive federal funding, which means the US government is actively working to police political speech in response to criticisms of US government policies. Perfectly normal thing to happen in a healthy liberal democracy.
And again, this is happening within a political climate in which the Israeli government publicly announces that “antisemitism” includes charging Israeli war criminals for extensively documented war crimes.
The thing about conflating support for Israel with Judaism and criticism of Israel with anti-semitism is that it necessarily asserts that there’s a religion which holds as an article of faith that your tax dollars must be used to murder foreigners in the middle east, and that any objection to this on your part therefore amounts to religious persecution. Anyone who makes this conflation is saying, “Judaism is a religion which believes your tax dollars need to go toward support for the military adventurism of the state of Israel, and if you don’t like it then you’re basically a Nazi.”
Antiwar.com on Twitter: "Bipartisan Bill Would Create 'Antisemitism Monitors' at College CampusesPro-Palestine protests have been falsely labeled as 'antisemitic' even though many Jewish students are involvedby Dave DeCamp@DecampDave #Gaza #campusProtests #FreedomOfSpeech https://t.co/AzO355K7Md pic.twitter.com/PlqBQAb8Cg / Twitter"
Bipartisan Bill Would Create 'Antisemitism Monitors' at College CampusesPro-Palestine protests have been falsely labeled as 'antisemitic' even though many Jewish students are involvedby Dave DeCamp@DecampDave #Gaza #campusProtests #FreedomOfSpeech https://t.co/AzO355K7Md pic.twitter.com/PlqBQAb8Cg
Which is as self-evidently ridiculous as any position could possibly be, from any angle you could possibly look at it. Obviously the religion of Judaism itself does not say that western governments should be backing nonstop mass military slaughter in the Palestinian Territories and in Israel’s neighboring countries, which is why many Jews do not hold the position that this should be happening. And even if that was a fundamental tenet of the Jewish faith, a religion which asserts that a foreign country has a right to immensely consequential support from your country’s government would need to be criticized aggressively and relentlessly.
You don’t get to claim that criticism of any part a powerful country’s foreign policy is not allowed because such criticism is against your religion or religiously persecutes you. That’s not a thing.
The “antisemitism” moral panic has officially jumped the shark. It has long been absurd, but now it’s a parody of itself. Things are only going to get dumber and more insulting to your intelligence from here.
___________________
My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to find video versions of my articles. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.
Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2
Featured image via President.gov.ua (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
Italian Philosopher Prosecuted for Criticizing Politician’s Views
Donatella Di Cesare, a professor of philosophy at Sapienza University (Rome), has been charged with “criminal defamation” for describing a politician’s views as “neo-Hitlerite.”
–
According to Times Higher Education:
The charges against Professor Di Cesare stem from April 2023, when the agriculture minister Francesco Lollobrigida, the brother-in-law of [Prime Minister Giorgia] Meloni and a staunch political ally, said in a public speech on migration, “We cannot surrender to the idea of ethnic replacement.” The phrase “ethnic replacement” is strongly associated with the “great replacement theory”, a racist conspiracy that white Europeans are being deliberately “replaced” by migrants of colour, often from Muslim-majority countries, in a plot led by Jewish people…
Professor Di Cesare, who has published extensively on antisemitism, racism and conspiracy theories, was subsequently asked about the comments during an appearance on the talk show DiMartedì. She described the concept of “ethnic replacement” as a “conspiracist myth” and “the heart of Hitlerism”, noting its presence in Nazi ideology that led to the Holocaust.
“I believe that the minister’s words cannot be taken as a gaffe, because he spoke like a Gauleiter, like a neo-Hitlerite governor,” she added.
Professor Di Cesare was indicted earlier this month, telling Times Higher Education that Mr Lollobrigida accused her of wanting to “defame both the Italian government and his family”. The first hearing will take place on 15 May.
Further details here.
UPDATE (5/6/24): The Guardian reports on the story.
The post Italian Philosopher Prosecuted for Criticizing Politician’s Views first appeared on Daily Nous.
Israel Is Turning Hospitals Into Mass Graves While The West Fixates On ‘Antisemitism’
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
https://medium.com/media/b318a60a0d409ca00256593c53a7e713/href
A mass grave created by the IDF has been uncovered at a Gaza hospital, where Palestinian civilians appear to have been the victims of a gruesome massacre.
“Bah, that’s old news Caitlin,” you may be saying. “We already know about the massacre and mass graves which were discovered a few weeks ago at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.”
No no, that’s a different mass grave from a different IDF massacre at a completely different Gaza hospital. The now completely destroyed al-Shifa Hospital was in Gaza City; I’m talking about the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, where some 210 bodies have reportedly been discovered in a mass grave after Israeli forces withdrew from the city earlier this month. Two different massacres, two different hospitals, two different mass graves full of Palestinian civilians.
The IDF are just attacking hospitals and mowing down civilians and trying to bury the evidence of their crimes, so naturally we’re seeing the western political-media class focus very hard on the problem of antisemitism allegations on college campuses.
Motasem A Dalloul on Twitter: "MoH: Number of bodies retrieved from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis rises to 210.Hundreds are still missing!First picture from Nasser and the second from Al Shifa Hospital! pic.twitter.com/bI8KsSv2XV / Twitter"
MoH: Number of bodies retrieved from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis rises to 210.Hundreds are still missing!First picture from Nasser and the second from Al Shifa Hospital! pic.twitter.com/bI8KsSv2XV
“Biden denounces antisemitism on college campuses amid Columbia protests,” reads a new headline from The Washington Post.
“As Protests Continue at Columbia, Some Jewish Students Feel Targeted,” The New York Times urgently warns us.
“White House condemns ‘blatantly antisemitic’ protests as agitators engulf Columbia University,” blares Fox News.
“Columbia University faces full-blown crisis as rabbi calls for Jewish students to ‘return home’,” says CNN.
“Columbia University: White House condemns antisemitism at college protests,” the BBC reports.
https://medium.com/media/7187525e6e2fa3c5d8126327859afd31/href
Getting far less attention than the fact that some Zionist university students are feeling uncomfortable feelings because other students say Palestinians are human beings is the fact that Israel is establishing a pattern of massacring civilians and burying them in mass graves outside hospitals in Gaza, or the fact that the IDF has been butchering children in Rafah, or the fact that the International Criminal Court is reportedly considering charging Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials for war crimes.
Those matters are important, just not nearly as important as how some western Jews feel emotionally upset about pro-Palestine protests. For that, the world must stop spinning on its axis until this extremely egregious problem has been addressed.
All the western spin and distortion around Israel’s mass atrocities in Gaza these last six months have revolved around centering feelings over human lives. How western Jewish Zionists are feeling about pro-Palestine sentiments. How Joe Biden’s feelings secretly feel about Netanyahu. How Israelis feel about October 7.
Wherever there’s an opportunity to focus the narrative on what feelings are being felt by a politically convenient population, the western press fall all over themselves to do so with tumescent enthusiasm. Wherever there’s an opportunity to focus on Israeli atrocities, the western press are nowhere to be found.
If you belong to a group that isn’t supported by the western empire, you can see your entire family murdered right in front of you and the western political-media class still won’t consider you a victim. If you belong to a group that the empire regards as human, then even someone offending your feelings will be viewed as an unforgivable hate crime.
________________
My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to find video versions of my articles. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.
Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2
Germany, Genocide, and Gaza
What about German responses to the claim that Israeli policies toward the Palestinians constitute genocide? Many Germans are understandably wary to use that charged term when it comes to the Middle East because of their own history—the same reason why German officials have kept a tight rein on pro-Palestinian demonstrations at home, even those involving Jewish critics of Israel. ...
The Perfect Recipe For A Real Antisemitism Crisis
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
https://medium.com/media/c642403e391acbeade835f1e2417168e/href
If I wanted to increase antisemitism, I imagine I’d do a lot of really evil stuff under a Star of David flag while adamantly insisting that my actions are inseparable from the Jewish people and the Jewish faith. I’d kill children by the thousands and commit genocidal atrocities.
To really help antisemitism spread I’d do everything I can to make people less vigilant against it. I’d try very hard to make the warning label of antisemitism look ridiculous and meaningless — circulate narratives that people who oppose genocide and ethnic cleansing hate Jews, frame peace marches as hate crimes, brand calls for justice as calls for the genocide of Jewish people. I’d falsely cry wolf as many times as possible in the most self-evidently absurd ways I could think of in order to desensitize everyone to alarm bells about the real spread of anti-Jewish hate.
I’d try to make sure the Jewish soldiers carrying out the atrocities under the Star of David flag make themselves look as inhuman as possible, thereby dehumanizing ordinary Jews in the eyes of the public. They should film themselves doing the most evil things imaginable while laughing and celebrating their deeds, and then share those videos on social media. The more viral content they can create with their horrific acts, the better.
I suppose I’d also want to research longstanding antisemitic conspiracy theories and make sure everyone’s helping to feed into them. “Jews control the media”? I’ll make sure the media are wildly biased in favor of the Star of David flag. “Jews control the government”? Make sure governments are bending over backwards to facilitate the crimes of the Star of David nation. “Child blood sacrifices”? Make sure the war crimes perpetrated under the Star of David flag are killing as many kids as possible.
These steps would create the perfect environment for very real acts of hatred toward members of the Jewish faith, which I suppose could then be used to drum up support for further atrocities, thereby making the very real antisemitism even worse. This would create a self-reinforcing feedback loop of violence and hatred, causing steadily escalating antisemitism throughout our society that one day could potentially lead to something as terrible as history has ever seen.
Of course I would never do such a thing, because it would be a terrible evil to inflict upon the Jews of the world. If such a thing happened it wouldn’t be the fault of the Jews — many of whom are among the most kind hearted and upstanding people on earth — it would be the fault of the governments and media outlets who paved the way to such an outcome. Any power structure which created or fed into such a dynamic would be unforgivably depraved, and would need to be stopped for the good of humanity.
______________
My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.
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Super Bowl Propaganda: Patriots’ Robert Kraft’s Ties to Israel Explained
Amid the fast-paced action that saw the Kansas City Chiefs win their third championship in five years, Americans tuning in to watch the Super Bowl were met with a barrage of unusual propaganda.
Nestled between the typical ads for cars and beer were two bizarre messages: one from the Foundation to Combat anti-Semitism (FCAS) and the other from the State of Israel itself. Both were intimately related to the ongoing slaughter in Gaza and trying to draw attention away from Israeli war crimes.
Targeting Black Americans
The FCAS commercial features Clarence B. Jones, the former advisor to Martin Luther King, who drafted his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The message is that there is a growing tidal wave of racist intolerance in America and that we must all come together to oppose anti-Semitism — the commercial ends by telling people to visit the website StandUpToJewishHate.com.
Super Bowl ads do not come cheap, and its $7 million for 30-second air time price tag was footed by the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots NFL franchise, Robert Kraft. Kraft (net worth: $11 billion) made his fortune in the paper and packaging business and has deep ties to the state of Israel, including donating hundreds of millions of dollars to pro-Israel groups and funding pro-Israel candidates in U.S. elections. He even enjoys a close relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
We are asking all Americans to stand up to hate and not be silent. Millions of people saw our ad during the Super Bowl and we have one question: how will you stand up? #StandUpToJewishHate # pic.twitter.com/uA6cRi5aaL
— Stand Up to Jewish Hate # (@StandUp2JewHate) February 12, 2024
Kraft married his wife in Israel in 1962 and has reportedly made over 100 visits to the country, including leading dozens of PR missions there, bringing celebrities and sports stars with him. He also maintains a network of charities across Israel.
In December, he pledged a gigantic $100 million to the FCAS. This was, Forbes reported, to “educate the public about the rise in antisemitic incidents and further develop the relationship between the Black and Jewish communities.” Considering its content and invocation of Dr. King, it seems clear that the Super Bowl ad was part of Kraft’s plan to target the Black community.
Black Americans are far more progressive on Palestine than the rest of the population. Many Black leaders, as well as movements such as Black Lives Matter, have allied themselves with the Palestinian cause, seeing parallels and connections between the oppression of Palestinians abroad and the treatment of Black Americans at home.
A December poll by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace found that 28% of the Black population favored an immediate ceasefire, as opposed to 20% of white Americans. Only 5% of African Americans wanted the U.S. government to show “unwavering support” to Israel, versus 23% of the white population.
Funding anti-anti-Semitism
In Kraft’s view, therefore, the Black population’s outlook is a problem. The billionaire sports owner founded the FCAS in 2019 amid growing domestic and international opposition to the state of Israel’s apartheid policies in Palestine. He announced the move at a lavish ceremony in Jerusalem, where he was presented with the Genesis Prize – an Israeli government-backed award given to individuals who most aid the Jewish state.
After the ceremony, he had lunch with his friend, Prime Minister Netanyahu. Kraft had previously supported Netanyahu by attending his speech to Congress in 2015. “Israel does not have a more loyal friend than Robert Kraft,” Netanyahu said.
Kraft was awarded the $1 million Genesis Prize for his efforts in philanthropy and “combating anti-Semitism.” Yet his views on what does and does not constitute anti-Semitism are contentious, to say the least.
Benjamin Netanyahu and the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft pose for a photo in Jerusalem, June 20, 2019. Sebastian Scheiner | AP
In the wake of the historic wave of protests across the U.S. calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East, he appeared on MSNBC to denounce those taking part as supporters of terrorism. “It’s horrible to me that a group like Hamas can be respected and people in the United States of America can be carrying flags or supporting them,” he said, clearly equating supporting Palestinian rights with terrorism. “Hamas is preaching the eradication of all Jewish people from the Earth,” he added.
Thus, while the FCAS claims to be standing against lies and racism, its founder continues to spread his own disinformation in service of the Israeli project.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he also opposes the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement – a grassroots campaign to peacefully bring economic pressure on the state of Israel to stop its oppression and occupation of its neighbors. Kraft sees BDS as a form of anti-Jewish racism, lumping it in with attacks on synagogues or the growing threat from the far-right.
“My vision is to work to end the violence against Jewish communities. To counter the normalization of anti-Semitic narratives that question Israel’s right to exist, disguised as part of legitimate debate on campuses and in the media,” he said, thereby hinting that the FCAS will attempt to insert themselves into college campuses nationwide and pressure the media to take (even) more pro-Israel stances.
The Israel Lobby’s Financier
Kraft is one of the Israel lobby’s chief benefactors, donating millions of dollars to various groups throughout his life. In 2022, for example, he gave $1 million to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) super PAC. AIPAC works to push pro-Israel policies across the U.S. and insert pro-Israel language into as many pieces of legislation as possible.
He also funds the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces – a group that raises money to help Israeli soldiers, even as they carry out war crimes in Palestine, Syria and beyond. Other pro-Israel groups, he has given sizeable donations to include:
- American Friends of the Israel Museum
- American Friends of the Yitzhak Rabin Center
- The Anti-Defamation League
- The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis
- The Jewish Agency for Israel
- The Jewish National Fund
- StandWithUs
- The Israel Project
Through his organization, Touchdown in Israel, Kraft regularly organizes propaganda trips to Israel for former NFL players, no doubt hoping they will become advocates of the Jewish state.
Arguably the most influential way in which Kraft influences American public life, however, is his consistent funding of right-wing Democrats standing against progressives and advocates for justice in Palestine.
In 2021, for example, he donated $5,800 to Congresswoman Shontel Brown in her contentious face-off against progressive Nina Turner and another $2,900 to her reelection. Brown was a little-known but strongly pro-Israel candidate standing against a democratic socialist, national co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 election campaign, and an outspoken critic of Israel’s policies.
Vast amounts of pro-Israel money flowed into Brown’s campaign, helping her to defeat Turner. In her acceptance speech, Brown praised Israel and later thanked the Jewish community for “help[ing] me get over the finish line.”
Kraft has also given money to pro-Israel Democrats, including David Cicilline; Juan Vargas; Ted Deutch; Jake Auchincloss and Ritchie Torres.
His actions, donations and public pronouncements have drawn condemnation from some who have followed them. Sports journalist Dave Zirin, for example, recently wrote that:
He appears to think that any criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic. For Kraft, it is Jews like myself, rabbis, and Holocaust survivors calling for a ceasefire and a free Palestine that are part of the problem. And Kraft seems to think that opposition to Israel, the IDF, and the AIPAC agenda is antisemitism.”
Israel on TV
Super Bowl viewers were subjected to another pro-Israel ad in between the action, this one directly funded by and representing the Israeli government.
“To all the dads,” the voiceover says, as images of wholesome fatherhood activities play on the screen, “The funny ones, the silly ones, the strong ones, the adventurous ones. To all the dads held in captivity by Hamas for over 120 days, we vow to bring you home.”
On the surface of the ad, the Israeli government was sending a message to Israeli fathers still in Hamas custody. That message was that they were working to bring them home (by spending millions of dollars to air the message on American TV during the Super Bowl.)
The reality, however, is that this was an attempt to sway the American public into identifying with Israel, suggesting that this could happen to any of their fathers’ too.
Israel ran an ad during the Super Bowl vowing to "bring all their dads home" in reference to the Israeli captives being held in Gaza.
But what about the dads in Gaza who have suffered the worst grief imaginable at the hands of Israel's genocidal campaign? pic.twitter.com/JerxiRHkKy
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) February 13, 2024
Many viewers felt that what they saw amounted to little more than expensive disinformation. “I’m sorry, is Israel seriously airing a SOB STORY PROPAGANDA AD during the SUPER BOWL while SIMULTANEOUSLY BOMBING THE REFUGEES AT RAFAH???????” wrote one viewer on Twitter.
Nevertheless, the Super Bowl was the most-watched American telecast ever, reaching over 123 million viewers. Some say you cannot put a price on that sort of publicity, but apparently, you can, and that price is $7 million. Propaganda it might be, but in America, money talks. And both Robert Kraft and the government of Israel certainly have a lot of it to spend.
Feature photo | Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds the NFL Super Bowl trophy during a meeting with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in Jerusalem, June 20, 2019. Sebastian Scheiner | AP
Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams.
The post Super Bowl Propaganda: Patriots’ Robert Kraft’s Ties to Israel Explained appeared first on MintPress News.
Israel Weaponizes Sympathy And Victimhood
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
https://medium.com/media/209d716f1cf6f4104dac26da3fed9719/href
There’s a certain particularly toxic personality type which thrives on being hated. They behave in wildly odious and destructive ways, and then when people react to this with hostility they plunge into poor-me victimhood, which they then use to justify more odious and destructive behavior.
You may have been unfortunate enough to have encountered such personalities in your own life. They behave atrociously, and then when people react to it they say “See?? I really AM being persecuted!”
Hillary Clinton is a perfect example of this personality type taken to the extreme. People hate her because she’s a phony, egomaniacal sadist who has spent her entire political career pushing for mass military bloodshed at every opportunity, but she then frames this hatred as evidence of widespread misogyny and far-right extremism, which is why the world desperately needs Hillary Clinton to help fight those things.
Any remotely normal person who was both as wealthy and as despised as Hillary Clinton would have simply retired from public life to enjoy their hundreds of millions of dollars, blissfully sheltered from the vitriol and condemnation of the common riff raff. But Clinton keeps showing up, adamantly refusing to go away, because the hatred she receives is actually what fuels her entire personal dynamic.
BreakThrough News on Twitter: "NOW: "You are a war criminal! The people of Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestine!" Protesters interrupt Hillary Clinton multiple times while speaking on a panel at Columbia University. pic.twitter.com/TwXEv6PPfB / Twitter"
NOW: "You are a war criminal! The people of Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestine!" Protesters interrupt Hillary Clinton multiple times while speaking on a panel at Columbia University. pic.twitter.com/TwXEv6PPfB
We see a large-scale version of this same dynamic with the state of Israel. A Jewish anti-Zionist Israeli named Alon Mizrahi posted an interesting piece on Twitter a few days ago that’s been rattling around in my head ever since, wherein he argues that Israel is actually intentionally generating hatred towards itself in order to shore up political power.
Claiming that “Israel and American Jewish organizations took it upon themselves to keep Jews afraid and isolated” in a “strategy of intentional paranoia,” Mizrahi opines that when October 7 hit, “the right wing, nationalistic, paranoid section of the Jewish political spectrum, realized it could be translated into political gold.”
“It doesn’t seem like Israel is trying to be hated globally. It is actually what it’s doing,” Mizrahi writes. “It is intentionally airing its cruelty and barbarity so that it will remain closed up to the world, thus guaranteeing the continued rule of the paranoia camp.”
“Palestinians are just crash test dummies in this scenario,” he adds. “Their deaths are used to get people angry and Israel hated, so it becomes even more paranoid.”
Alon Mizrahi | without equality there's no freedom on Twitter: "So why is Israel doing this? Is there anything in it for Israel but virtually global hate? Because it doesn't seems like there is. A couple days ago I said I was going to provide an explanation why Israel has chosen to conduct itself like it has. Here it is. It's very... / Twitter"
So why is Israel doing this? Is there anything in it for Israel but virtually global hate? Because it doesn't seems like there is. A couple days ago I said I was going to provide an explanation why Israel has chosen to conduct itself like it has. Here it is.
Whether you accept or reject Mizrahi’s perspective, you can’t deny that Israel’s apologists have been seizing on the outrage its actions in Gaza have caused as evidence of anti-semitic persecution. The Anti-Defamation League has started categorizing pro-Palestine rallies as anti-semitic incidents, including rallies organized and attended by Jewish groups, leading to the Israel-friendly mass media reporting a massive spike in “anti-semitism” in the wake of October 7. Common pro-Palestine chants like “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” have been deceitfully labeled calls for the genocide of Jews, and any criticism of Israel’s actions is met with a deluge of accusations of anti-semitism.
Once Israel and its western supporters succeeded in framing any opposition to to the Israeli government as evidence of anti-semitism, it was guaranteed that any time Israel does something evil it will cause a new wave of “anti-semitism” per those standards. This perceived hatred and persecution could then be cited as evidence for why Israel needs to be even more violent, militaristic and tyrannical than it already was, and why its brutal treatment of Palestinians is justified and correct. This in turn could be used by western governments to justify pouring more weapons into Israel and providing military support against its neighbors.
In this dynamic, anything Israel does causes more people to hate Israel both in the middle east and around the world, to which Israel responds by tearfully proclaiming “See?? They hate us! We must defend ourselves against their hostilities!”
This is not the sort of behavior you would accept from someone in your life, and it shouldn’t be the sort of behavior we accept from nuclear-armed ethnostates. As with any other widespread dysfunction, the key to dismantling this one is to spread awareness of what it is that Israel is doing.
Rania Khalek on Twitter: "nuclear armed Israel at war with premature babies but want you to believe Israel is the victim / Twitter"
nuclear armed Israel at war with premature babies but want you to believe Israel is the victim
And what Israel is doing, ultimately, is weaponizing sympathy and victimhood. When somebody is using a weapon to hurt others, you take their weapon away. The world needs to stop giving Israel sympathy and stop buying into its victimhood narratives, because those narratives are only ever used to justify more and more western-backed atrocities.
This won’t happen until enough awareness has spread of what’s really going on here. For there to be a movement toward health, a lot of eyes need to open to the unwholesomeness of this manipulative dynamic — both inside and outside of Israel.
Luckily that does appear to be the case. More and more people are recognizing the unwholesomeness of the pro-Israel victimhood narrative, just as you’d eventually recognize the unwholesomeness of someone in our own life who keeps behaving terribly and then playing the victim. It’s going to be a messy, two-steps-forward-one-step-back slog, but I think we’ll find our way out of this mess eventually.
_______________
My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.
Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2
Featured image via Adobe Stock.
I Don’t Care What Religion The Genocidal Child Murderers Are
Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
https://medium.com/media/e414862f8e0bdedb85a0fc8159d02d7f/href
❖
Unfuckingbelievable. It is un fucking believable that it’s 2024 and the US-sponsored incineration of Gaza is still going on.
They’re just looking us dead in the eye and doing the worst things humans could possibly do, right in front of us. Against all laws. Against all opposition.
❖
The other day Tony Blinken posted an astonishingly obnoxious tweet fretting about how “This has been an extraordinarily dangerous year for press around the world,” as though his own administration had not directly facilitated the lion’s share of the deadly attacks on journalists in 2023. The utter gall of these freaks still surprises me sometimes.
Caitlin Johnstone on Twitter: "https://t.co/cKcI9Mji74 pic.twitter.com/QVr4dxRbWd / Twitter"
https://t.co/cKcI9Mji74 pic.twitter.com/QVr4dxRbWd
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Very frightened and upset by the alarming increase in anti-semitism* we’ve seen in the last three months.
[*Pro-Palestine demonstrations, pro-Palestine political slogans, pro-Palestine tweets and TikTok videos, criticism of the Israeli government, people saying it’s wrong to murder thousands of children]
❖
All this “anti-semitism” gibberish is so fucking stupid. It’s like if every time we wanted to criticize the Iraq invasion we had to do a whole big song and dance swearing on our lives that we weren’t racist toward Texans.
I don’t give a fuck if you’re Jewish. I don’t care what religion you are. If you’re murdering thousands of children, the very least significant thing about that situation is what religion you happen to be. I think the overwhelming majority of people on my side see it this way.
❖
Actually what fuels antisemitism is murdering children by the thousands under the banner of the Star of David while adamantly insisting that your actions are inseparable from all Jews and the totality of Judaism.
❖
Caitlin Johnstone on Twitter: "It's actually almost cute at this point. He just keeps making up excuses to get the one thing he desperately wants, like "Uh-oh, looks like we'll have to do that thing I've always wanted to do!" He's like a cartoon breakfast cereal mascot always making new schemes to grab a bowl. pic.twitter.com/ym07oRLzni / Twitter"
It's actually almost cute at this point. He just keeps making up excuses to get the one thing he desperately wants, like "Uh-oh, looks like we'll have to do that thing I've always wanted to do!" He's like a cartoon breakfast cereal mascot always making new schemes to grab a bowl.
❖
Step 1: Deliberately make Gaza uninhabitable
Step 2: Leave Gazans no choice but to migrate elsewhere
Step 3: Call this forced migration “voluntary” and “humanitarian”
Step 4: Turn the entire Gaza Strip into a giant Israeli settlement
❖
Don’t worry, Israel will be at peace once it defeats Hamas. Well, first it’ll need to conquer Syria, eliminate Hezbollah and Ansarallah, achieve regime change in Iran, and defeat all the new enemies these military campaigns will create along the way.
But THEN there will be peace!
❖
It’s crazy how there’s mountains of evidence that Israeli higher-ups allowed October 7 to happen in order to advance ethnic cleansing agendas in Gaza, but you’ll never be allowed to say this blatantly obvious thing happened without being branded an anti-semitic conspiracy kook.
12 Ball on Twitter: "the Nova festival survivors are suing the Israeli government for negligence since the IDF obviously had ample time and ample reason to cancel the festival but instead forced its approval & failed to station any IDF soldiers at all to guard it https://t.co/k9wWaXzGrw pic.twitter.com/XmtLLPPyBr / Twitter"
the Nova festival survivors are suing the Israeli government for negligence since the IDF obviously had ample time and ample reason to cancel the festival but instead forced its approval & failed to station any IDF soldiers at all to guard it https://t.co/k9wWaXzGrw pic.twitter.com/XmtLLPPyBr
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It is right and good to aggressively scrutinize claims about mass rape on October 7, but it’s also important to stress that even if every single one of those claims was true it would not justify anything Israel has been doing in Gaza.
❖
No matter how many times you bleat the phrase “Blame Hamas”, it will never magically erase Israel’s guilt in raining military explosives on a giant concentration camp full of children.
No matter how many times you accuse Israel’s critics of being anti-semitic, it will never magically erase Israel’s guilt in raining military explosives on a giant concentration camp full of children.
No matter how many times you mention October 7, it will never magically erase Israel’s guilt in raining military explosives on a giant concentration camp full of children.
❖
Older generations, for the love of God stop telling the young generation “It’s terrible, but that’s just the way it is.” That may have been true in our youth, but our children are networked in an unprecedented way which has already resulted in massive social changes. They changed the way we think about gender pretty much overnight; you think a tiny old war machine is going to get in their way? Stop trying to indoctrinate them with your learned helplessness.
Next time a young person gets angry about the way the world is, please don’t chuck the sand of pre-emptive disappointment in their eyes with your somnolent words of status-quo enforcing “pragmatism”. Simply say “I am with you all the way. Tell me where to next.”
_______________
My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.
Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.
