Free speech is something we must stand behind even when it sounds disgusting, vile and makes us angry. The only answer to speech we disagree with is more speech. The wide and loud protests supporting Palestine is not anything that is troubling IMO, but what is strange is the silence and lack of counter protests from the Jewish population and its allies. Perhaps I'm missing something but why aren't Jewish leaders leading protests and calling for supporters of the Jewish state to join them publicly?
As far as universities go......true liberalism was lost in the academies decades ago. They're simply overpriced indoctrination clinics which, if there's any justice in the world, will collapse in on themselves, hopefully sooner rather than later.
I'll also add that if the justice department is going to prosecute J6 supporters (not ones that actually vandalized the capital) for simply being inside the capital building or on capital grounds to protest, then they certainly must go after the pro Palestinian protesters that took over the capital building yesterday. Otherwise how can one not see a double standard of justice by the government?
Finally, Bidens middle east visit has been a complete embarrassment. My god, the man can't stay awake or cobble together a coherent sentence. All the while Anthony Blinken is peering around every corner ready to step in and pull Biden out of coming off like a complete fool to the entire world. At this point, I honestly don't see how anyone can stand behind re-electing this man. God help us all.
Maybe because the pro Hamas side doesn’t fear retribution but the pro Israel side does. Free speech only works when it is equally free for both sides. We lost that a long time ago. College kids won’t even allow opposing view points of campus. They are the new Nazis. We need to start calling them that.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. How come the left idolizes Islam? We know the left isn't liberal. They are tyrants. But they claim they are feminists (a lie) and are humanitarians wanting justice for the oppressed (another lie).
Hamas isn't doing these atrocities because of Israeli oppression. They are doing this because this is what Islam does.
Islam is the religion of brutality, murder, intolerance, homophobia, modern day slavery and misogyny. Yet, these protestors if asked will tell you they are liberals, progressives. They are anything but.
Many of these protestors come from what we used to think were the finest educational institutions the land. Well, it turns out they aren't educational institutions. They are Marists, indoctrination cesspools and their students who are supposed to be the best and the brightest are willing vicious sheep, a pack of vicious assholes.
I'm surprised they don't walk around glassy eyed, with their hands straight out in front of them with a staggering gait, chanting "Israel bad. Hamas and Islam good." Over and over again.
Why isn't the NYT and the WashPo writing articles belittling these nitwits? Nooo, they are not doing that. They are too busy writing articles buttressing Hamas propaganda.
I would believe Porky Pig in a Loony Tunes cartoon before I would believe anything out of those two rag sheets. If these disgusting rags printed the weather report, I would double check from four other sources before I would believe them.
Was listening to Bari this morning on TRIGGERnometry and she stated that she felt there would be a huge shift from Jews who have normally voted Democrat to voting either Independent (RFK Jr) or Republican (Trump or whoever). I'd say that is way overdue. If you've not listened to the podcast, its well worth the time. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0E2kIcXUBIbYsuckm3SSeG?si=3294df659fa2497c
Did you see the clip of the Democrat Indian billionaire (sorry, difficult name) who admitted he was wrong about Trump and is starting to tilt right? His point was, We hated the messenger, so we (they) killed the message. He acknowledged all of Trump’s accomplishments.
So refreshing to see some honesty and humility from the left over their blindness.
The reason has become more crystal clear than ever: Leftists hate Israel and--though they often try to claim otherwise--the very existence of Jews. THAT is the lynchpin that keeps a ideology that otherwise HATES both conservatism and religion attached firmly to a highly conservative and violent religion.
The strangeness of this bedfellowship only makes sense once you realize the one issue that these two groups share.
On Quora, it is very common for non-Leftist Jewish answer-writers and commenters to get called Nazis for their moderate and conservative views.
But that is one of the Leftist narratives now: Israelis have supposedly turned into Nazis, in a sort of "becoming what you hate" trope. I have never seen any evidence suggesting that this is remotely true. But it is a Woke article of faith.
From what I have been hearing, Jewish people are mostly keeping their heads down right now, not making themselves an obvious target by marching and protesting. I can't blame them--as a people, they have experienced these conditions thousands of time before. Jews have never survived by being loud.
I do see from the videos and photos that the overwhelming majority of the anti-Israeli protestors are Middle Eastern descent, with a handful of white useful idiots mixed in. Plus blacks (in US, Canada, and UK) which I'll going to say outright is the biggest betrayal of all. So many liberal Jews were out marching for them when they had their George Floyd BLM moment, donating to those grifters and blasting the BLM fist on their social media and the black box on Instagram. They're all silently taking the kick in their faces, probably in deep denial. In a way I can't blame them. The hardest thing to admit the very people they support hate them.
Well spotted. But this is nothing new. In the 1960s civil rights era, Jews marched and even died alongside blacks in the struggle. Blacks wanted to rid themselves of the “slaveholder” Christian religion (sorry, Martin Luther King Jr.) and what did they choose? Islam. Oh, the irony!!! Muslim slave traders were active in Africa before the first White man arrived, and the Muslim slave trade, in the aggregate, was larger than the transatlantic one.
Not to mention, many governments around the country have shown a willingness to allow violence, so a wise Jewish person can't have a decent expectation of safety.
May I suggest that they then quietly get out of lockstep and finally vote Against the Party in power in the primaries and US next Fall. Not signing blame by any means! Just bewildered by people who repeatedly vote against their own interests. Same goes for Texas democrats on the border. two more issues among many I just cannot comprehend.
Agree with you on the college front. Start with calling out the administrators and professors. Thats where the indoctrination is coming from to begin with.
It’s grotesquely funny how quickly these activist students and administrators change their tune when their bottom line is threatened.
I’ve been saying for years that the reason that the establishment/corporations/academia love woke identity politics is that it does not negatively effect their bottom line, it actually raises it.
Occupy Wall St. terrified them. And deliberately the corporate media pretty much ignored it until there were some police-protester incidents, and then generally mocked the movement unlike the overwhelming pearl clutching for BLM.
Ever notice how the Great Awokening happened soon after which pretty much erased Occupy from the zeitgeist?
"Free speech only works when it is equally free for both sides."
I think Progessives (who currently control American society) only shout "free speech" when it serves them. It is entirely one-sided. Just think about how "words are violence" when it suits - which is bullying. I would not mind if some idiots said nutto and even bad things - if our institutions had not all rolled over. Just today I was obliged to list the sex I "was assigned at birth".
It is fine for "Precious Child" (an adult man) to call for death to women he does not like. But, we cannot say he is a man and use any pronouns that make sense.
Even as the journalist calls out what the guy is doing he refers to "Precious Child" as "she". It might have been too "violent" for the writer to call him "he"?
Also, isn't "drag queen" or "Presious Child" a role, like playing a police detective on television? Yet society humors such folks (not folx) that they really are "Columbo" and we must call them "Sergeant" - or else! The guy's name, which might be Bob Smith or something, is a "dead name". And, you are "dead" if you use it.
Dostoevsky would not be surprised that people make bank on the ideology:
You have to look for it. There was also a peaceful procession last week in NYC of over 3000 Catholics led by Catholic Priests and nuns. You can find it on YouTube. There are probably so many Protestant and Catholic Churches around the country who are praying. My parish included. The contrast in grace and love vs the hate and anger of the anti Israel protests is evident. There are also universities across the USA that are NOT having protests against Israel. My daughter attends the University of Alabama and there hasn’t been anything. Like I said, you have to look for it.
Exactly, as a college student who also supports Israel, I think it's wrong to assume all colleges are lost. It's just the Ivy Leagues have such infinite brand power and endowments that they can afford these types of scandals. Meanwhile my tiny college of about 600 students stays pretty neutral about politics ("social justice" in the mission statement aside). If they get EITHER side of the internet mad at them, they'll lose everything. One of my professors even told me he's against trigger warnings before stories, which suprised me. It's been LONG past time for us to reject the supposed superiority of Ivy Leagues over any other college. University of Alabama is clearly better than Harvard and UC!
Let me guess, you all gathered in peaceful rally instead of hateful rhetorics, no use of threatening terrorist image, and none of you covered your faces to hide who you are.
Chumi, have you ever watched the movie, Dr. Strangelove? A central theme in it is that Russia has launched a “doomsday” satellite. If it detects a nuclear attack by any country, it essentially destroys the world. It is the ultimate nuclear deterrent. Before its presence is announced, though, a psychotic American general launches a nuclear attack on Russia. The American president, when confronted with this by the Russian ambassador, screams at him that a deterrent doesn’t work of you don’t tell anyone about it.*
Seems like a demonstration that only invite the demonstrators to is a lot like having a secret party that you don’t send invitations to.
* The Russian ambassador’s response was that the Premiere loves surprises.
There are also videos making the rounds in Jewish WhatsApp groups of gatherings in dozens of countries in support of Israel, some in countries that no Jewish population.
I saw the one Adams attended in the NYPost. But what’s making me sad is that worldwide, especially in the west, attendance at the pro Hamas “demonstrations” run the tens of thousands, whereas the ones in support of Israel/Jews are only “hundreds” or at best, “thousands”.
"I'll also add that if the justice department is going to prosecute J6 supporters (not ones that actually vandalized the capital) for simply being inside the capital building or on capital grounds to protest, then they certainly must go after the pro Palestinian protesters that took over the capital building yesterday. Otherwise how can one not see a double standard of justice by the government?"
If this was all that you posted it would be enough!
Jared Kushner has expressed sympathy for Palestinians at the mercy of Hamas. Israel walked away from Gaza in 2006. Hamas has been in control. It’s the way it is because of Hamas. Jared stated there are Arab and Western investors that would like to rebuild Gaza and enable to Palestinians to have decent lives. But Hamas won’t allow it. So to all those blaming Jews, they are wrong. Blame Hamas and its backers.
I like to go around the web and look at different publications, and the sit-in in the capitol was only covered by Breitbart prominently. If that were done with white guys saying that giving weapons to Ukraine hurts Russia, it would leave every news outlet. The media propaganda that protects them, Biden and the fools in the Universities, is something that I pray is addressed in the future. Awesome post on every point.
There are literally no standards of journalistic accountability. The idea being, I think, that such standards would have the potential to suppress freedom of the press. But the result at this point is not even a requirement of truthfulness. So we are left with journalistic anarchy IMO.
We are back to a partisan press, as we had during the early parts of the Republic. My point is to not regulate them as much as not paying attention to them. They have far to much power.
I would say they have far too much influence. But what I said about journalistic standards is the literal truth. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, teachers, plumbers, electricians, barbers, law enforcement officers, and cabdrivers are regulated. Journalists are untouchable. Until fairly recent times they could be sued for defamation but that is largely meaningless now in light if Sullivan v. NYT and its progeny.
A partisan press is not as actively harmful if it is *acknowledged* to be a partisan press. Back in the day, you could choose which newspaper to subscribe to by the politics they openly supported. There are newspapers around here that still bear names that indicate their once partisan status, including one that goes by the extremely outdated name of The Herald-Whig.
But at this point the legacy media keeps pretending to be objective, even when they are literally taking their marching orders from the Democratic Party (re: the NYT debacle with Tim Scott and Chuck Schumer). As a result, millions and millions of Americans consume media without recognizing that it has a deep bias. They believe every word as if it were 100% true instead of considering the spin of the source.
Some Jewish leaders are in fact not being silent and are leading protests. Unfortunately, too many are not; and some ostensibly “Jewish” organizations, particularly those whose agenda has been almost completed devoted to what they consider “social justice” matters, have been unsurprisingly equivocal or effectively silent in their communications regarding their support for Israel and in calling out the vicious antisemitism we are witnessing here and around the world; e.g., the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). Many have chosen to give lip service to these concerns, in favor of focusing on “Islamophobia,” which, while there have certainly been instances of such hateful garbage—notably, the murder of a 6 year-old Muslim child in Illinois— such episodes pale in sheer number and ferocity to the anti-Israel and Jew-hatred we have been witnessing at home and abroad since Hamas/Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists invaded Israel and brutally tortured, murdered , injured, and kidnapped thousands of Israeli and American civilians.
I have been heartened to see the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) exhibit the kind of moral clarity, frequently MIA for many years, the past few weeks in its communications regarding Israel and Jew-hatred. Maybe the ADL, like some other Left-leaning groups and individuals, finally got the wakeup call it needed to rediscover its/ their moral compass.
This is what happened to all the legacy "feminist" organizations too. None of them speak up for real women's rights issue anymore. Not when the Iranian women revolted. Not when Israeli women were killed, raped, and kidnapped by Hamas. Total silence. The same day Hamas attacked Israel, the United Nations "UN Women" Twitter/X account celebrated "transwomen lesbians". When called out, they doubled-down, the woke takeover is surreal. All organizations are captured. I hope Bari or someone will expose the insidious widespread total capitulation of institutions to the Church of Woke. It's not only limited to universities.
There are many churches of all denominations here in NC that have been overrun by the woke social justice movement and actually have BLM and Trans flags hanging in their sanctuaries. Not a single peep out of any of them supporting the Jewish state. Its unreal.
Where in the hell are the hordes of George Floyd protestors, letting us know that the massacre of 1400 Israelis is also an intolerable racist outrage?
I never expected the pro-Palestine demonstrations to be made illegal. I expected them to be drowned out by the counter-protestors denouncing racism.
I'd also like to know why the corporate CEOs are all very quiet on this, because they've been pretty damn loud over basically every Democrat propaganda push for the last five years.
Sigh. The 2020 riots (and occasional peaceful protests) were NEVER about “racism” -- they were about POWER. They were about rigging the election, and about bringing into being a new wide ranging power structure across government, industry, and the media. And here we are...
"I'll also add that if the justice department is going to prosecute J6 supporters (not ones that actually vandalized the capital) for simply being inside the capital building or on capital grounds to protest, then they certainly must go after the pro Palestinian protesters that took over the capital building yesterday. Otherwise how can one not see a double standard of justice by the government?"
The DOJ to prosecute them??? HAHAHAHAHA. Yeah right. The NYT headline today about this is these protestors are "pleading for ceasefire". Yep. They're just peaceniks "pleading". Come on! And Newsweek's already have an article out headline making it clear, "No! Pro-Palestinian protest on capitol was not an Insurrection." https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/no-the-pro-palestinian-protest-on-capitol-hill-was-not-an-insurrection/ar-AA1ivG70. The propaganda machine is already hard of work. Bright an early.
Free speech all the way…with the exception of representatives like Tlaib using her time on the clock that we pay for to protest with the anit Israelis while crying and calling out Biden for supporting Israelis. Her mouth is filthy and she should be removed. Ever since she called Trump a MFer in her campaign, you could tell she was up to no good.
Our justice department is a joke for not going after these people disrupting business on the hill.
You are absolutely correct and how the people keep re-electing her is beyond belief. Yet, that tells you what the people of her area really think and advocate for. Silent support for killing of those who are different.
Her district is Dearborn, outside of Detroit, which has one of the biggest Palestinian/Middle Eastern (not sure which…specific or general) in the country.
She'll never be disciplined. The Dem/Socs say they are Pro Israel but they are not. Where is Chuck Shumer and the ever vile Nancy Pelosi denouncing Tlaib? You will never hear it out of their mouths. Their silence speaks for itself.
> Otherwise how can one not see a double standard of justice by the government?
They know but they don't care. They just won't prosecute them, continue to call the J6 protesters "insurrectionists" and not acknowledge what happened yesterday.
Great post Evans W. I will add that in my opinion, the ACLU no longer commands a moral high ground on free speech. Years ago they seemed to act out of principle. Since Trump, that all appears to have gone out the window as they became political and part of the Trump resistance.
Honestly, I don't trust a word that political Democrats say in support of Israel right now. Until they do something about the openly loud antisemites in Congress, they're just virtue-signaling.
Many of these Democrats have previously voted to fund Hamas. A fair number of them have been against support for Israel in the past. And they all support BLM.
I don't believe any of them are earnest in their words of support for Israel. That's just what "looks good" right now.
We need to stop listening to their words and follow their actions. Too many politicians get credit for things they didn't actually do or actively voted against.
Speech calling for a second Holocaust of Jews is not free speech. If you are not troubled by protests supporting Palestinians - who elected Hamas, which wants to eliminate Israel - there is something seriously wrong with your knowledge, values or intelligence.
I’m afraid you’re wrong here. It’s loathsome and despicable however it is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. It’s political speech. If we ban their rights we lose ours. I am Jewish BTW. We can’t let our emotions destroy our republic.
Rather than a discussion of Free speech, I think the discussion should focus on specific groups' power over others. We give people on the left way too much deference and power. Because you are a self-professed black leader, whatever stupidity comes from your mouth is treated as gospel. On the Stupidity scale, there is little difference between Margorie Taylor Greene and Cori Bush, Talib, Pressley, Omar, and AOC. But the mainstream media treat them in the same light as Civil rights icons, but where Greene is a great threat to Democracy.
The race hustlers like Kendi, Blm leaders ( Patrice Cullors), and 1619 project author Nicole Hannah-Jones are all given high perches to preach to us all. I hope this war will shine a light on these groups and those promoting them.
So, letting them speak and seeing who they are will help, but the destruction of their ability to shape society's values and morality must be won. We should let them speak but follow up with the question, why do we give them so much authority? No, I am not a racist or hate people of color because I think their ideas are an abomination. This war allows defeating them in the battle of ideas and gives those who love freedom, justice, and equality a chance to replace them on the high ground.
Free speech YES, but also consequences. Those expressing vile and hateful speech must not be allowed to remain anonymous. Employers should know who they are hiring.
That’s a point I’ve been trying to make. If I come out in favor of Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, the Green River killer, Samuel Little, etc... (in other words, violent serial killers), is it “unfair” and “an attack on free speech” if a prospective employer decides that I might not be the right fit for his firm?
This is not the same level of “cancel culture” as trying to destroy the career of J. K. Rowling, for example, because she said she believes in biological women. It’s the scope that is different: although the trans lobby insisted that Rowling was enabling a genocide of trans, she clearly was not. The same goes for the “defund the police/decarceration” movement: incarcerating violent criminals is not violent. What we’re seeing over the past week or so is very clear support for an unprovoked massacre, mass rape, and kidnapping. I don’t know about you, but I see a big difference.
Free Speech is different than condemnation of Free Speech. The antisemitic marchers can have their free speech rights. (Although I’m SURE Harvard would shut down an antisemitic campus Klan rally in 2 seconds). But these protests everywhere should be roundly and publicly condemned for disgusting celebration of human butchery.
Even Antisemites deserve free speech. Of course. In America that comports with our bedrock, First Amendment value. But it doesn’t mean that your speech is immune from consequences. Say whatever you want, just be prepared to accept how others might react.
An unjust war is when someone starts the war, a just war is when those who are attacked defend themselves and seek to eliminate those who attacked them.
I dislike the notion of proportionality in war as being "just". Doesn't it just prolong hostilities and cause generational warfare? In my opinion, if war is declared, it should be pursued with overwhelming force with the goal of rapid and total defeat of the enemy.... the General Schwarzkopff way.
The US is a country of immigrants. But I cannot recall any other immigrant group brazenly and aggressively demanding the destruction of another minority (Jews) that has lived in the US peacefully, productively and loyally for centuries. Hamas plainly called for a day of “mobilization” against Jews wherever they are. So this is not just about Jews in Israel (which is horrendous enough).
It’s especially mind boggling since these recently arrived Muslim-Americans supposedly were fleeing persecution and brutal dictatorships. Instead of appreciating the incredible opportunities and (clearly) easy access to elite universities for their children, they demand that we all bend a knee to barbarian and primitive practices. They bring strife and fear to our public life. And I’m grateful that Free Speech is bringing this all to light.
Jews have been the canary in the mine historically. Who is the next targeted group? Perhaps we ought to believe what Hamas, their chosen leader, is actually saying. And plainly stating in their charter.
While I agree with most of what the writers have to say on this topic, I would ask the readers to do the following: in the “death to JEWS” chant heard at UPenn, instead substitute the name of any other minority or marginalized community. Then let me know if you don’t believe that it constitutes a call to violence for a specific group of people. There is a persistent double standard in this country when it comes to Jews, where we are expected to prove more, endure more to enjoy equal protections.
Free speech is ok for anti-semites, but it's not ok for the American public (and elected officials) to question the 2020 Presidential election vote? SMH
What makes a just war? How about history to justify exterminating Hamas? Consider this: Jerusalem – Hajj Amin Al-Husseini – met with Adolf Hitler to discuss bringing the Final Solution to the British Mandate of Palestine. ---- Now what could that have been? Exterminating the Jews! So, since the WW II era, the goal of the Palestinians has been to kill the Jews and join with others worldwide to eliminate the Jews.
So now we have the very long history of the Palestinians wanting and working to kills the Jews. So, justifiably, the Jewish population has a right to go and rid themselves of the radical Palestinians once and for all. Israel and the Jewish diaspora has been dealing with the crazy Jewish haters for all of history. At some point, people need to understand that if your family has been slated for elimination through generations, there is a point where you go, What the Hell. Take them all out so we can be left alone.
Free Speech is one thing. Unfortunately, when it is hysterical and rabid, it eventually becomes violent. So do you eliminate Free Speech. "Absolutely not"! Do you say advocating for killing old people, women, and children is fine, absolutely not. There is a fine line between free speech and condoning the slaughter of people just living their lives.
We can discuss the values and use of free speech all day. Yet we ignore the most basic of rights. The freedom of religion! The bottom line is that the mass killings of people everywhere must be stopped and never allowed to be accepted based on speech. Religion is one of the most used reasons for mass killings. Shia versus Sunni, remember that one? Used by Hamas, Hezbo, ISIS, Boko Haram, Janjaweed, and others. The Muslims worldwide are estimated to be 40% illiterate, making them unable to actually read the Koran. Perfect targets for radicals and add in your rewards in heaven for killing babies.
Here is free speech. The world has not moved on from the radicals in every way, shape, and form around the world. Until we as people reject and never support mass killings and move to punish those who conduct it, we are not worth calling civilized. Only idiots, lemmings, and those truly so without a soul can condone, protest, and be happy for genocide.
If anyone ever tells you that you and your family do not need a gun and that a civilized society doesn’t need weapons of war- punch them in the face or at least run the other way right into a gun store and legally purchase yourself protection from people that hate you, us, Israelis, Americans. These stories make me cry- thank you Bari for letting us in to horror straight from hell. It is real.
I agree that even contemptible people get free speech as long as it isn't incitement to violence. So, while the grinning Cornell professor who found the Hamas attack exhilarating is someone I would cheerfully throw into Cascadilla Gorge if I could get away with it, I don't want the Cornell administration to punish him. What I do want is for it to condemn him strongly, not with a tepid statement that his views are contrary to Cornell's values. If students parade around yelling that Jewish Israelis are colonist settlers, I don't want them punished, but I want Martha Pollack, if she is going to make a statement, to put the words Hamas and terrorist in on sentence (she did, ultimately) AND to refute the antisemitic canards. The same would go for the other university presidents, who all seem to use the same PR firm with their wordy statements that try to please all the people while remaining morally opaque.
I’m all for literally and equally free speech. We haven’t seen that in a long time. If Jews, other Israelis, or Trump say something, most media distort it to fit an evil story they have in mind. If arabs say or do something, the very same media surround it with an aura best described as heroic. All sides are given what is loosely and recklessly called “free speech,” but it plainly is not.
When the savages’ apologists—the ones referring to terrorists as “gunmen”—can be interviewed personally, when defenders of logic and reason are given the same seats at the table as the floridly evil, that’s when we will have truly Free Speech. And not until.
I have been struggling with this all week...when does 'free speech' become 'hate speech' become 'hate crimes' and then 'criminal acts'? This spectrum is way too fuzzy for my comfort. When depressed people SAY they are considering suicide, isn't that sometimes the step right before they actually do take their life and when we were supposed to have taken them seriously? Are hateful words towards individuals and groups precursors/prequels to future criminal thoughts and actions? And how does one decide that someone is actually going to do what they say? Words matter.
Free speech is something we must stand behind even when it sounds disgusting, vile and makes us angry. The only answer to speech we disagree with is more speech. The wide and loud protests supporting Palestine is not anything that is troubling IMO, but what is strange is the silence and lack of counter protests from the Jewish population and its allies. Perhaps I'm missing something but why aren't Jewish leaders leading protests and calling for supporters of the Jewish state to join them publicly?
As far as universities go......true liberalism was lost in the academies decades ago. They're simply overpriced indoctrination clinics which, if there's any justice in the world, will collapse in on themselves, hopefully sooner rather than later.
I'll also add that if the justice department is going to prosecute J6 supporters (not ones that actually vandalized the capital) for simply being inside the capital building or on capital grounds to protest, then they certainly must go after the pro Palestinian protesters that took over the capital building yesterday. Otherwise how can one not see a double standard of justice by the government?
Finally, Bidens middle east visit has been a complete embarrassment. My god, the man can't stay awake or cobble together a coherent sentence. All the while Anthony Blinken is peering around every corner ready to step in and pull Biden out of coming off like a complete fool to the entire world. At this point, I honestly don't see how anyone can stand behind re-electing this man. God help us all.
Maybe because the pro Hamas side doesn’t fear retribution but the pro Israel side does. Free speech only works when it is equally free for both sides. We lost that a long time ago. College kids won’t even allow opposing view points of campus. They are the new Nazis. We need to start calling them that.
I heard a Jewish journalist on Megyn Kelly say that the swastika has been replaced with the Palestinian flag. Can’t disagree with that.
Agreed. "Allahu akbar!" has the same connotation as "Seig heil!"
I've said this before and I'll say it again. How come the left idolizes Islam? We know the left isn't liberal. They are tyrants. But they claim they are feminists (a lie) and are humanitarians wanting justice for the oppressed (another lie).
Hamas isn't doing these atrocities because of Israeli oppression. They are doing this because this is what Islam does.
Islam is the religion of brutality, murder, intolerance, homophobia, modern day slavery and misogyny. Yet, these protestors if asked will tell you they are liberals, progressives. They are anything but.
Many of these protestors come from what we used to think were the finest educational institutions the land. Well, it turns out they aren't educational institutions. They are Marists, indoctrination cesspools and their students who are supposed to be the best and the brightest are willing vicious sheep, a pack of vicious assholes.
I'm surprised they don't walk around glassy eyed, with their hands straight out in front of them with a staggering gait, chanting "Israel bad. Hamas and Islam good." Over and over again.
Why isn't the NYT and the WashPo writing articles belittling these nitwits? Nooo, they are not doing that. They are too busy writing articles buttressing Hamas propaganda.
I would believe Porky Pig in a Loony Tunes cartoon before I would believe anything out of those two rag sheets. If these disgusting rags printed the weather report, I would double check from four other sources before I would believe them.
Tim Scott condemns the squad. How come Jewish congress members won't?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/tim-scott-blasts-media-the-squad-for-becoming-disgusting-extension-of-hamas-propaganda-machine/ar-AA1ist6e
Maybe the ever erudite compro can explain why his antisemitic party, the Dem/Soc Party, won't condemn the squad.
Don’t encourage him
Let's keep the turd in the box.
Was listening to Bari this morning on TRIGGERnometry and she stated that she felt there would be a huge shift from Jews who have normally voted Democrat to voting either Independent (RFK Jr) or Republican (Trump or whoever). I'd say that is way overdue. If you've not listened to the podcast, its well worth the time. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0E2kIcXUBIbYsuckm3SSeG?si=3294df659fa2497c
Did you see the clip of the Democrat Indian billionaire (sorry, difficult name) who admitted he was wrong about Trump and is starting to tilt right? His point was, We hated the messenger, so we (they) killed the message. He acknowledged all of Trump’s accomplishments.
So refreshing to see some honesty and humility from the left over their blindness.
We'll see. Won't we.
I can only hope so.
Because lefties envy the unfettered totalitarianism of Islam.
Well said!
The reason has become more crystal clear than ever: Leftists hate Israel and--though they often try to claim otherwise--the very existence of Jews. THAT is the lynchpin that keeps a ideology that otherwise HATES both conservatism and religion attached firmly to a highly conservative and violent religion.
The strangeness of this bedfellowship only makes sense once you realize the one issue that these two groups share.
Progressives hypothetically stepping on the necks Jews (or Christians) while hysterically calling them Nazis. Oh the irony.....
On Quora, it is very common for non-Leftist Jewish answer-writers and commenters to get called Nazis for their moderate and conservative views.
But that is one of the Leftist narratives now: Israelis have supposedly turned into Nazis, in a sort of "becoming what you hate" trope. I have never seen any evidence suggesting that this is remotely true. But it is a Woke article of faith.
They can't debate you with facts so they call you names.
From what I have been hearing, Jewish people are mostly keeping their heads down right now, not making themselves an obvious target by marching and protesting. I can't blame them--as a people, they have experienced these conditions thousands of time before. Jews have never survived by being loud.
I do see from the videos and photos that the overwhelming majority of the anti-Israeli protestors are Middle Eastern descent, with a handful of white useful idiots mixed in. Plus blacks (in US, Canada, and UK) which I'll going to say outright is the biggest betrayal of all. So many liberal Jews were out marching for them when they had their George Floyd BLM moment, donating to those grifters and blasting the BLM fist on their social media and the black box on Instagram. They're all silently taking the kick in their faces, probably in deep denial. In a way I can't blame them. The hardest thing to admit the very people they support hate them.
Well spotted. But this is nothing new. In the 1960s civil rights era, Jews marched and even died alongside blacks in the struggle. Blacks wanted to rid themselves of the “slaveholder” Christian religion (sorry, Martin Luther King Jr.) and what did they choose? Islam. Oh, the irony!!! Muslim slave traders were active in Africa before the first White man arrived, and the Muslim slave trade, in the aggregate, was larger than the transatlantic one.
And no discussion of reparations for the descendants of Arab slaves because those slaves were not allowed to have children.
I will never get over the depth of that irony.
Not to mention, many governments around the country have shown a willingness to allow violence, so a wise Jewish person can't have a decent expectation of safety.
🛎️🔨
May I suggest that they then quietly get out of lockstep and finally vote Against the Party in power in the primaries and US next Fall. Not signing blame by any means! Just bewildered by people who repeatedly vote against their own interests. Same goes for Texas democrats on the border. two more issues among many I just cannot comprehend.
Agree with you on the college front. Start with calling out the administrators and professors. Thats where the indoctrination is coming from to begin with.
The rich have it right. Hit the colleges with lack of MONEY! That's their religion.
Spot on.
Start with transparency about that Arab money pouring in.
Hammer, nail, head
It’s grotesquely funny how quickly these activist students and administrators change their tune when their bottom line is threatened.
I’ve been saying for years that the reason that the establishment/corporations/academia love woke identity politics is that it does not negatively effect their bottom line, it actually raises it.
Occupy Wall St. terrified them. And deliberately the corporate media pretty much ignored it until there were some police-protester incidents, and then generally mocked the movement unlike the overwhelming pearl clutching for BLM.
Ever notice how the Great Awokening happened soon after which pretty much erased Occupy from the zeitgeist?
"Free speech only works when it is equally free for both sides."
I think Progessives (who currently control American society) only shout "free speech" when it serves them. It is entirely one-sided. Just think about how "words are violence" when it suits - which is bullying. I would not mind if some idiots said nutto and even bad things - if our institutions had not all rolled over. Just today I was obliged to list the sex I "was assigned at birth".
Let's look at this article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12656675/transgender-singer-precious-child-photo-beheaded-JK-Rowling-sings-kill-TERF-today.html
It is fine for "Precious Child" (an adult man) to call for death to women he does not like. But, we cannot say he is a man and use any pronouns that make sense.
Even as the journalist calls out what the guy is doing he refers to "Precious Child" as "she". It might have been too "violent" for the writer to call him "he"?
Also, isn't "drag queen" or "Presious Child" a role, like playing a police detective on television? Yet society humors such folks (not folx) that they really are "Columbo" and we must call them "Sergeant" - or else! The guy's name, which might be Bob Smith or something, is a "dead name". And, you are "dead" if you use it.
Dostoevsky would not be surprised that people make bank on the ideology:
https://thepostmillennial.com/florida-gender-surgeon-promotes-eunuch-gender-identity-for-kids)
There have been many gatherings by Jews. The media may not be showing them to you.
We also gather differently.
More than 10,000 Chassidic Jews gathered a week ago to Boro Park to show our support and pray.
Almost 10 street blocks were closed off.
There was a vigil near the UN that garnered thousands at which our mayor Eric Adams spoke.
You have to look for it. There was also a peaceful procession last week in NYC of over 3000 Catholics led by Catholic Priests and nuns. You can find it on YouTube. There are probably so many Protestant and Catholic Churches around the country who are praying. My parish included. The contrast in grace and love vs the hate and anger of the anti Israel protests is evident. There are also universities across the USA that are NOT having protests against Israel. My daughter attends the University of Alabama and there hasn’t been anything. Like I said, you have to look for it.
Thank you for sharing this information. It is helpful to hear.
Roll Tide. Surprisingly nothing at UT-Austin either.
Roll Tide! It’s going to be a tough game this weekend! 😩🐘
Exactly, as a college student who also supports Israel, I think it's wrong to assume all colleges are lost. It's just the Ivy Leagues have such infinite brand power and endowments that they can afford these types of scandals. Meanwhile my tiny college of about 600 students stays pretty neutral about politics ("social justice" in the mission statement aside). If they get EITHER side of the internet mad at them, they'll lose everything. One of my professors even told me he's against trigger warnings before stories, which suprised me. It's been LONG past time for us to reject the supposed superiority of Ivy Leagues over any other college. University of Alabama is clearly better than Harvard and UC!
Let me guess, you all gathered in peaceful rally instead of hateful rhetorics, no use of threatening terrorist image, and none of you covered your faces to hide who you are.
Exactly. And the prayer vigil in Boro Park was advertised only in Yiddish to keep the enemies away.
Chumi, have you ever watched the movie, Dr. Strangelove? A central theme in it is that Russia has launched a “doomsday” satellite. If it detects a nuclear attack by any country, it essentially destroys the world. It is the ultimate nuclear deterrent. Before its presence is announced, though, a psychotic American general launches a nuclear attack on Russia. The American president, when confronted with this by the Russian ambassador, screams at him that a deterrent doesn’t work of you don’t tell anyone about it.*
Seems like a demonstration that only invite the demonstrators to is a lot like having a secret party that you don’t send invitations to.
* The Russian ambassador’s response was that the Premiere loves surprises.
Except that this wasn't meant to be a demonstration. It was a prayer vigil.
Looked like it was connected to a demonstration. Perhaps I misread.
Lol. I hear you.
Thats great to hear! I had no idea.
I read several main stream media, as well as substacks of all opinions, and I saw NOTHING about this.
There are also videos making the rounds in Jewish WhatsApp groups of gatherings in dozens of countries in support of Israel, some in countries that no Jewish population.
That have no Jewish population.
I saw the one Adams attended in the NYPost. But what’s making me sad is that worldwide, especially in the west, attendance at the pro Hamas “demonstrations” run the tens of thousands, whereas the ones in support of Israel/Jews are only “hundreds” or at best, “thousands”.
Evans W, your words:
"I'll also add that if the justice department is going to prosecute J6 supporters (not ones that actually vandalized the capital) for simply being inside the capital building or on capital grounds to protest, then they certainly must go after the pro Palestinian protesters that took over the capital building yesterday. Otherwise how can one not see a double standard of justice by the government?"
If this was all that you posted it would be enough!
word.
Some of those loud protests for Palestine were from the Jewish population. See Jewish Voice for Peace and Not In My Name.
Jared Kushner has expressed sympathy for Palestinians at the mercy of Hamas. Israel walked away from Gaza in 2006. Hamas has been in control. It’s the way it is because of Hamas. Jared stated there are Arab and Western investors that would like to rebuild Gaza and enable to Palestinians to have decent lives. But Hamas won’t allow it. So to all those blaming Jews, they are wrong. Blame Hamas and its backers.
Yes we have president Bush to thank for having Israel trade land for peace. Another superb Bush idea. Oh wait, never works by giving in to killers.
2005, not 2006...but the principle is the same.
Yeah, well, I’m Jewish. And I say, “~definitely~ in my name.”
Maybe because they think the crocodile will eat them last or maybe not at all. A fatal error.
I like to go around the web and look at different publications, and the sit-in in the capitol was only covered by Breitbart prominently. If that were done with white guys saying that giving weapons to Ukraine hurts Russia, it would leave every news outlet. The media propaganda that protects them, Biden and the fools in the Universities, is something that I pray is addressed in the future. Awesome post on every point.
The DailyMail in UK covered it.
There are literally no standards of journalistic accountability. The idea being, I think, that such standards would have the potential to suppress freedom of the press. But the result at this point is not even a requirement of truthfulness. So we are left with journalistic anarchy IMO.
We are back to a partisan press, as we had during the early parts of the Republic. My point is to not regulate them as much as not paying attention to them. They have far to much power.
I would say they have far too much influence. But what I said about journalistic standards is the literal truth. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, teachers, plumbers, electricians, barbers, law enforcement officers, and cabdrivers are regulated. Journalists are untouchable. Until fairly recent times they could be sued for defamation but that is largely meaningless now in light if Sullivan v. NYT and its progeny.
A partisan press is not as actively harmful if it is *acknowledged* to be a partisan press. Back in the day, you could choose which newspaper to subscribe to by the politics they openly supported. There are newspapers around here that still bear names that indicate their once partisan status, including one that goes by the extremely outdated name of The Herald-Whig.
But at this point the legacy media keeps pretending to be objective, even when they are literally taking their marching orders from the Democratic Party (re: the NYT debacle with Tim Scott and Chuck Schumer). As a result, millions and millions of Americans consume media without recognizing that it has a deep bias. They believe every word as if it were 100% true instead of considering the spin of the source.
Some Jewish leaders are in fact not being silent and are leading protests. Unfortunately, too many are not; and some ostensibly “Jewish” organizations, particularly those whose agenda has been almost completed devoted to what they consider “social justice” matters, have been unsurprisingly equivocal or effectively silent in their communications regarding their support for Israel and in calling out the vicious antisemitism we are witnessing here and around the world; e.g., the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). Many have chosen to give lip service to these concerns, in favor of focusing on “Islamophobia,” which, while there have certainly been instances of such hateful garbage—notably, the murder of a 6 year-old Muslim child in Illinois— such episodes pale in sheer number and ferocity to the anti-Israel and Jew-hatred we have been witnessing at home and abroad since Hamas/Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists invaded Israel and brutally tortured, murdered , injured, and kidnapped thousands of Israeli and American civilians.
I have been heartened to see the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) exhibit the kind of moral clarity, frequently MIA for many years, the past few weeks in its communications regarding Israel and Jew-hatred. Maybe the ADL, like some other Left-leaning groups and individuals, finally got the wakeup call it needed to rediscover its/ their moral compass.
This is what happened to all the legacy "feminist" organizations too. None of them speak up for real women's rights issue anymore. Not when the Iranian women revolted. Not when Israeli women were killed, raped, and kidnapped by Hamas. Total silence. The same day Hamas attacked Israel, the United Nations "UN Women" Twitter/X account celebrated "transwomen lesbians". When called out, they doubled-down, the woke takeover is surreal. All organizations are captured. I hope Bari or someone will expose the insidious widespread total capitulation of institutions to the Church of Woke. It's not only limited to universities.
Good point.
There are many churches of all denominations here in NC that have been overrun by the woke social justice movement and actually have BLM and Trans flags hanging in their sanctuaries. Not a single peep out of any of them supporting the Jewish state. Its unreal.
Despicable.
Or the hypocrites who posted Ukrainian flags on their social media pages but have yet to post an Israeli flag or a word of support for Israel.
crickets.
Where in the hell are the hordes of George Floyd protestors, letting us know that the massacre of 1400 Israelis is also an intolerable racist outrage?
I never expected the pro-Palestine demonstrations to be made illegal. I expected them to be drowned out by the counter-protestors denouncing racism.
I'd also like to know why the corporate CEOs are all very quiet on this, because they've been pretty damn loud over basically every Democrat propaganda push for the last five years.
Sigh. The 2020 riots (and occasional peaceful protests) were NEVER about “racism” -- they were about POWER. They were about rigging the election, and about bringing into being a new wide ranging power structure across government, industry, and the media. And here we are...
"I'll also add that if the justice department is going to prosecute J6 supporters (not ones that actually vandalized the capital) for simply being inside the capital building or on capital grounds to protest, then they certainly must go after the pro Palestinian protesters that took over the capital building yesterday. Otherwise how can one not see a double standard of justice by the government?"
The DOJ to prosecute them??? HAHAHAHAHA. Yeah right. The NYT headline today about this is these protestors are "pleading for ceasefire". Yep. They're just peaceniks "pleading". Come on! And Newsweek's already have an article out headline making it clear, "No! Pro-Palestinian protest on capitol was not an Insurrection." https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/no-the-pro-palestinian-protest-on-capitol-hill-was-not-an-insurrection/ar-AA1ivG70. The propaganda machine is already hard of work. Bright an early.
Free speech all the way…with the exception of representatives like Tlaib using her time on the clock that we pay for to protest with the anit Israelis while crying and calling out Biden for supporting Israelis. Her mouth is filthy and she should be removed. Ever since she called Trump a MFer in her campaign, you could tell she was up to no good.
Our justice department is a joke for not going after these people disrupting business on the hill.
You are absolutely correct and how the people keep re-electing her is beyond belief. Yet, that tells you what the people of her area really think and advocate for. Silent support for killing of those who are different.
Her district is Dearborn, outside of Detroit, which has one of the biggest Palestinian/Middle Eastern (not sure which…specific or general) in the country.
She'll never be disciplined. The Dem/Socs say they are Pro Israel but they are not. Where is Chuck Shumer and the ever vile Nancy Pelosi denouncing Tlaib? You will never hear it out of their mouths. Their silence speaks for itself.
To be specific, she said: "We're gonna IMPEACH the Mother F___ker!"
Yes! Thanks for the clarification!
> Otherwise how can one not see a double standard of justice by the government?
They know but they don't care. They just won't prosecute them, continue to call the J6 protesters "insurrectionists" and not acknowledge what happened yesterday.
Great post Evans W. I will add that in my opinion, the ACLU no longer commands a moral high ground on free speech. Years ago they seemed to act out of principle. Since Trump, that all appears to have gone out the window as they became political and part of the Trump resistance.
Wow, I didn't see this coming:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/john-fetterman-s-israel-remarks-spark-furious-backlash/ar-AA1iuX2Z?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=b675ce3e9188414886f342fffbb85ef8&ei=11
Maybe this asshole isn't as big an asshole I thought he was.
I hope his constituents vote him out now.
Yeah, he is a dipshit but he is right on Israel.
Honestly, I don't trust a word that political Democrats say in support of Israel right now. Until they do something about the openly loud antisemites in Congress, they're just virtue-signaling.
Many of these Democrats have previously voted to fund Hamas. A fair number of them have been against support for Israel in the past. And they all support BLM.
I don't believe any of them are earnest in their words of support for Israel. That's just what "looks good" right now.
We need to stop listening to their words and follow their actions. Too many politicians get credit for things they didn't actually do or actively voted against.
The Saudi reign ing prince kept Blinken waiting for hours and then ghosted him completely. To me this appears orchestrated to undermine Biden.
God help us!
Evans W
Speech calling for a second Holocaust of Jews is not free speech. If you are not troubled by protests supporting Palestinians - who elected Hamas, which wants to eliminate Israel - there is something seriously wrong with your knowledge, values or intelligence.
I’m afraid you’re wrong here. It’s loathsome and despicable however it is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. It’s political speech. If we ban their rights we lose ours. I am Jewish BTW. We can’t let our emotions destroy our republic.
We benefit from knowing who these people are. We can't know that if they open their mouths and tell us.
💯
Rather than a discussion of Free speech, I think the discussion should focus on specific groups' power over others. We give people on the left way too much deference and power. Because you are a self-professed black leader, whatever stupidity comes from your mouth is treated as gospel. On the Stupidity scale, there is little difference between Margorie Taylor Greene and Cori Bush, Talib, Pressley, Omar, and AOC. But the mainstream media treat them in the same light as Civil rights icons, but where Greene is a great threat to Democracy.
The race hustlers like Kendi, Blm leaders ( Patrice Cullors), and 1619 project author Nicole Hannah-Jones are all given high perches to preach to us all. I hope this war will shine a light on these groups and those promoting them.
So, letting them speak and seeing who they are will help, but the destruction of their ability to shape society's values and morality must be won. We should let them speak but follow up with the question, why do we give them so much authority? No, I am not a racist or hate people of color because I think their ideas are an abomination. This war allows defeating them in the battle of ideas and gives those who love freedom, justice, and equality a chance to replace them on the high ground.
Spot on.
I’m all for these people telling the rest of us who they are and what they support.
I wish the uncut footage were broadcast on CNN so everyone who watches knows precisely what and who they support.
Scary thought, because the greater likelihood is that it would simply inspire them to “join the crowd”. Think about Covid...
Yeah there is that.....
Free speech YES, but also consequences. Those expressing vile and hateful speech must not be allowed to remain anonymous. Employers should know who they are hiring.
That’s a point I’ve been trying to make. If I come out in favor of Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, the Green River killer, Samuel Little, etc... (in other words, violent serial killers), is it “unfair” and “an attack on free speech” if a prospective employer decides that I might not be the right fit for his firm?
This is not the same level of “cancel culture” as trying to destroy the career of J. K. Rowling, for example, because she said she believes in biological women. It’s the scope that is different: although the trans lobby insisted that Rowling was enabling a genocide of trans, she clearly was not. The same goes for the “defund the police/decarceration” movement: incarcerating violent criminals is not violent. What we’re seeing over the past week or so is very clear support for an unprovoked massacre, mass rape, and kidnapping. I don’t know about you, but I see a big difference.
Free Speech is different than condemnation of Free Speech. The antisemitic marchers can have their free speech rights. (Although I’m SURE Harvard would shut down an antisemitic campus Klan rally in 2 seconds). But these protests everywhere should be roundly and publicly condemned for disgusting celebration of human butchery.
Even Antisemites deserve free speech. Of course. In America that comports with our bedrock, First Amendment value. But it doesn’t mean that your speech is immune from consequences. Say whatever you want, just be prepared to accept how others might react.
Which ironically is what those wokies have been telling us the last few years, isn’t it?
An unjust war is when someone starts the war, a just war is when those who are attacked defend themselves and seek to eliminate those who attacked them.
I would add to deter future attacks at the end of your last sentence. Deterrence is paramount.
I dislike the notion of proportionality in war as being "just". Doesn't it just prolong hostilities and cause generational warfare? In my opinion, if war is declared, it should be pursued with overwhelming force with the goal of rapid and total defeat of the enemy.... the General Schwarzkopff way.
Douglass Murray nails it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-p19dN0tEA
ka-boom!
Amen!
The US is a country of immigrants. But I cannot recall any other immigrant group brazenly and aggressively demanding the destruction of another minority (Jews) that has lived in the US peacefully, productively and loyally for centuries. Hamas plainly called for a day of “mobilization” against Jews wherever they are. So this is not just about Jews in Israel (which is horrendous enough).
It’s especially mind boggling since these recently arrived Muslim-Americans supposedly were fleeing persecution and brutal dictatorships. Instead of appreciating the incredible opportunities and (clearly) easy access to elite universities for their children, they demand that we all bend a knee to barbarian and primitive practices. They bring strife and fear to our public life. And I’m grateful that Free Speech is bringing this all to light.
Jews have been the canary in the mine historically. Who is the next targeted group? Perhaps we ought to believe what Hamas, their chosen leader, is actually saying. And plainly stating in their charter.
While I agree with most of what the writers have to say on this topic, I would ask the readers to do the following: in the “death to JEWS” chant heard at UPenn, instead substitute the name of any other minority or marginalized community. Then let me know if you don’t believe that it constitutes a call to violence for a specific group of people. There is a persistent double standard in this country when it comes to Jews, where we are expected to prove more, endure more to enjoy equal protections.
Free speech is ok for anti-semites, but it's not ok for the American public (and elected officials) to question the 2020 Presidential election vote? SMH
What makes a just war? How about history to justify exterminating Hamas? Consider this: Jerusalem – Hajj Amin Al-Husseini – met with Adolf Hitler to discuss bringing the Final Solution to the British Mandate of Palestine. ---- Now what could that have been? Exterminating the Jews! So, since the WW II era, the goal of the Palestinians has been to kill the Jews and join with others worldwide to eliminate the Jews.
So now we have the very long history of the Palestinians wanting and working to kills the Jews. So, justifiably, the Jewish population has a right to go and rid themselves of the radical Palestinians once and for all. Israel and the Jewish diaspora has been dealing with the crazy Jewish haters for all of history. At some point, people need to understand that if your family has been slated for elimination through generations, there is a point where you go, What the Hell. Take them all out so we can be left alone.
Free Speech is one thing. Unfortunately, when it is hysterical and rabid, it eventually becomes violent. So do you eliminate Free Speech. "Absolutely not"! Do you say advocating for killing old people, women, and children is fine, absolutely not. There is a fine line between free speech and condoning the slaughter of people just living their lives.
We can discuss the values and use of free speech all day. Yet we ignore the most basic of rights. The freedom of religion! The bottom line is that the mass killings of people everywhere must be stopped and never allowed to be accepted based on speech. Religion is one of the most used reasons for mass killings. Shia versus Sunni, remember that one? Used by Hamas, Hezbo, ISIS, Boko Haram, Janjaweed, and others. The Muslims worldwide are estimated to be 40% illiterate, making them unable to actually read the Koran. Perfect targets for radicals and add in your rewards in heaven for killing babies.
Here is free speech. The world has not moved on from the radicals in every way, shape, and form around the world. Until we as people reject and never support mass killings and move to punish those who conduct it, we are not worth calling civilized. Only idiots, lemmings, and those truly so without a soul can condone, protest, and be happy for genocide.
If anyone ever tells you that you and your family do not need a gun and that a civilized society doesn’t need weapons of war- punch them in the face or at least run the other way right into a gun store and legally purchase yourself protection from people that hate you, us, Israelis, Americans. These stories make me cry- thank you Bari for letting us in to horror straight from hell. It is real.
I agree that even contemptible people get free speech as long as it isn't incitement to violence. So, while the grinning Cornell professor who found the Hamas attack exhilarating is someone I would cheerfully throw into Cascadilla Gorge if I could get away with it, I don't want the Cornell administration to punish him. What I do want is for it to condemn him strongly, not with a tepid statement that his views are contrary to Cornell's values. If students parade around yelling that Jewish Israelis are colonist settlers, I don't want them punished, but I want Martha Pollack, if she is going to make a statement, to put the words Hamas and terrorist in on sentence (she did, ultimately) AND to refute the antisemitic canards. The same would go for the other university presidents, who all seem to use the same PR firm with their wordy statements that try to please all the people while remaining morally opaque.
There’s free speech and there’s “free speech.”
I’m all for literally and equally free speech. We haven’t seen that in a long time. If Jews, other Israelis, or Trump say something, most media distort it to fit an evil story they have in mind. If arabs say or do something, the very same media surround it with an aura best described as heroic. All sides are given what is loosely and recklessly called “free speech,” but it plainly is not.
When the savages’ apologists—the ones referring to terrorists as “gunmen”—can be interviewed personally, when defenders of logic and reason are given the same seats at the table as the floridly evil, that’s when we will have truly Free Speech. And not until.
I have been struggling with this all week...when does 'free speech' become 'hate speech' become 'hate crimes' and then 'criminal acts'? This spectrum is way too fuzzy for my comfort. When depressed people SAY they are considering suicide, isn't that sometimes the step right before they actually do take their life and when we were supposed to have taken them seriously? Are hateful words towards individuals and groups precursors/prequels to future criminal thoughts and actions? And how does one decide that someone is actually going to do what they say? Words matter.