04/26/2024
The inhumane, anti-free expression & conflict-escalating situation on college campuses has been bothering me & is an extension of the insane reactions in the Middle East. I hope in the A.D.D./extreme impatience world of social media, many will have the patience to review this, & contemplate w/*care*.
The Monstrous terrorist attack murdering 1200 w/many other atrocities & no Government response for many hours in a tiny nation was a massive failure & indictment of Netanyahu & his whole rationale for being President.
But that Hamas is evil & hides among civilians makes it no better to kill 10's of 1000's of innocent civilians & create massive Trauma, famine, disease, endless orphans & mayhem.
Not technically Genocide since the intent is not to eliminate a group. But at best it amounts to collective punishment & not CARING that you are murdering numerous innocents & children. While creating many more terrorists & turning the world against you & causing more hate for Jews: oh & I am proud to be Jewish, but ashamed of Israel's actions & that of renegade IDF & extremist/violent religious fanatics.
More important than the short video below: please READ at least a few dozen of the comments below. Many from protesters, many Jewish or speaking of them.
I deeply condemn Anti-Semitism & offenders should be shamed & punished when abusive &/or violent: but overwhelmingly the protesters are PEACEFUL.
It is idiotic tribalism to equate demonstrators & those who site things like Netanyahu, already Trumpian in trying to dismantle the judiciary & clearly using the war & horrific tactics to cling to power (still deeply unpopular in Israel)--->to just support "your" group & justify all tactics against the "enemy" & only be outraged at how "your" group is treated is Hateful & WRONG.
Last but not least, it is Conservative politicians & corporate interests that Betray the whole traditions & principles of University in a DEMOCRACY by sending in the Police Forces or other militias against overwhelmingly peaceful students.
Part of the trend of justifying extreme, UNAMERICAN repressive force due to any level of "chaos" or isolated violence-or often just a few students harassing...Might as well use racist Willie Horton-like rationales to justify ending everyone's freedom or those of or in certain communities...
And the rabbi who urged Jewish students to stay home was sadly wrong.
We as Jews have dealt with the likes of pogroms & mass murder & expulsions & oh yeah, 6 million, 2/3 of all Jews living where most were then, Europe, MURDERED...
And instead of showing & preaching some cojones/ovaries, he says it is unsafe & stay home?!?
Laughable. 🙄 A wise & brave life & following your principles requires accepting some discomfort & at least a slight risk: the odds of being really hurt in protests are TINY.
This crackdown on tents & intolerance for "disruption", instead of just policing those who get abusive: is much WORSE than a few unbalanced characters being mean.
We need to toughen up: just because some "feel unsafe" does not justify dealing w/it or destroying the whole right to Free Speech & challenging others in public direct actions!
That is ignoring our own American legacy & Better Angels & at least unwittingly serving monied & repressive interests-which unfortunately have become less confined to right wingers in some academic & civic structures: reactionary yahoos or fellow travelers because ruled by *fear* exist across the political spectrum.
It is a vicious, bitter irony that those protesting what ARE War Crimes (international law allows fighting terrorists WHEN you can & are scrupulous about minimizing the deaths & misery of civilians) & few are even slightly violent but may be loud & challenge/occupy a space supposedly representing FREEDOM...Themselves are like in the 60's & climaxing with 5 murdered at Kent State...met with militance, tear gas, tasers & mass arrests to keep "order"
Here is a single quote among the many I again urge you to read *a bunch more* after & below the short video.
Thanks for listening, & I hope most will not merely sympathize & advocate for "their" side...that way lies prejudice &...Madness.😔
"Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel's creation," Avner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official"
Former Israeli officials such as Brig. Gen. Yitzhak Segev, who was the Israeli military governor in Gaza in the early 1980s. Segev later told a New York Times reporter that he had helped finance the Palestinian Islamist movement as a "counterweight" to the secularists and leftists of the Palestine
As protests for Gaza ramp up on college campuses, the de-escalation effort doesn't seem to be...de-escalating. Ronny Chieng and Jordan Klepper break down the...
