BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & THOMAS FRIEDMAN IS A GREAT MAN & ANN'S MEGA DUB & ISAIAH'S THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS -- THE KOOL AID TABLE
Yesterday,
Amy Goodman (DEMOCRACY NOW!) noted, "Israel is lashing out at the U.N. after Secretary-General António Guterres said it was guilty of 'clear violations of international humanitarian law' and that the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel 'did not happen in a vacuum.' The Israeli envoy to the U.N. demanded Guterres resign over the comments, as Israel has reportedly refused a visa to U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths to 'teach them a lesson'." It's not just about carrying out an assault on Gaza, it's about bullying and frightening anyone who might speak up.
A New York University Law School student whose job offer from an international law firm was rescinded for remarks seen as insensitive to victims of the Hamas attack on Israel said they would continue to speak out.
Ryna Workman, who uses the pronouns they/them, told ABC News that speaking out was a matter of human rights.
And political hacks -- especially those who are unpopular -- will always try to ride a wave of censorship to score points. Kathryn Varn (AXIOS) reports:
Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered Florida university officials to shut down their pro-Palestinian student groups.
Driving the news: State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said Tuesday in a letter to university presidents that their chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) "must be deactivated."
- Only the University of South Florida in Tampa and the University of Florida in Gainesville have active chapters registered with the schools but the organization appears to have a presence at other universities, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Details: Rodrigues' letter pointed to a "toolkit" released by the group's national chapter that said early October's Hamas attacks on Israel were part of "the resistance" and says: "Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement."
- Rodrigues did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
The other side: The University of Florida SJP chapter told Axios in a statement that it found the "recent attempt by the DeSantis administration to shut down our chapter disgraceful."
- "If followed through, a precedent would be set to shut down any organization that does not align with the ideals held by Governor DeSantis," the group added.
The assault on Gaza, which is not a war since only one side has the means to destroy a whole population, will cement what some in Washington wanted all along, more lies and more war. Now, speaking out for Palestine is conflated with supporting terrorism.
Another lie that spread like COVID-19 was that progressives and those on the left opposing war are empowering terrorists. Actually, terrorism thrives in war. Like a virus, it grows away from light and oxygen. Those who oppose war give the human family hope for curing a cancerous disease.
On 9/11, I was on my way to the White House to meet with President George W. Bush, and en route, I learned about the targeting of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Our meeting was canceled along with years of work for civic engagement, for getting moderate Muslim voices seen and heard, for resolving crises in the Middle East without war, for peacemaking among followers of the Abrahamic faiths, and for a future of America that included Islam.
Immediately after 9/11, the American people demonstrated their greatness by reaching out to Muslims and learning about Islam as a religion that created a great civilization, much like Western civilization. The Quran became a best-seller at bookstores. Muslims at every local level learned the art of public speaking and became spokespeople for the faith. They aspired to marginalize Osama bin Laden rather than be marginalized. But then the war drums began beating louder and louder, first Afghanistan and then Iraq, both strategic errors by the United States. We never learn from our mistakes.
We certainly don't appear to. Ronald DeSantis thinks he can control free speech and dole it out only to those he agrees with. That's frightening all by itself. It's even more frightening and more upsetting when you grasp this piece of filth wants to be President of the United States and tip-toe on his tippy toes across the Constitution.
