As a Jew I wholeheartedly believe that, folks who are pretending nothing is wrong and Palestinians aren't being murdered every day would have absolutely ignored the Holocaust and let my folks get killed without blinking an eye.
Americans have a lot of heroic fantasies about what they would have done during the Holocaust or chattel slavery, and the answer for a lot of them is absolutely nothing. They would have complained about the people actually doing things for being too disruptive. We Jews did the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and they would have called this terrorism. They would have also complained about MLK and Malcolm X, the former of which took the economies of entire cities hostage. Modern day disruptions don't hold a candle to historical disruptions.
In a two of more decades, people are going to use excuses like "I didn't know!" or pretend they were supportive all along, making tear jerking films about the Palestinian plight. We need to not let them do this.
I'm also not asking people to be action heroes or anything, since it takes a very specific kind of person to do that sort of direct resistance. I'm asking for people to actually acknowledge and discuss the fact that there is a genocide going on, and to not pretend things are fine. (This applies to all social justice struggles. Acknowledgement helps normal conversations about it, and de-normalize the ignoring of it like we do for many social problems.)
Also there are many ways to support efforts for justice! The people doing direct action require people to support with costs, food, care supplies, etc. For everyone in a visible position, there are a lot of folks cooking as well.
At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel’s Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photograp
for anyone else who cant open the thread, here's the cnn link. this is one of the most disturbing things i've read in a long time. a lot of what's written here is heavily reminiscent of firsthand accounts of nazi concentration camps and i'm not being hyperbolic in the slightest when i say that
the creator of this tiktok, zainah.mb, has many family members in palestine who have been martyred. at least 37, in fact. if you would like to help her out financially, she runs a hijab shop called modest behavior, and sells sister minnie merch. here's a link to her paypal as well.
as far as i know, she doesn't live in palestine, but she is palestinian. consider supporting her
I’ve known Ayelet for over twenty years, and am now, as so often, proud of her. Here’s her husband, Michael’s Instagram, with more background and information.
Do you condemn the murder of children? Or is it complicated when it’s middle eastern children? When it’s brown children? When it’s Muslim children? Is it complicated when they don’t speak English? When you can’t understand their cries for help? Is it complicated when the news tells you it is? When they lie? Is it complicated because you can’t let go of the idea that your friends and your politicians know everything, or is it complicated because you don’t care for the lives dying in this genocide?
The evidence is undeniable by anybody with a shred of morals and a brain at all. Only the uneducated, stupid, ignorant, or evil continue to support the Israeli government’s war crimes, genocide, and apartheid state. It isn’t antisemetic to support Palestine, it’s the intellectually and morally correct stance. Free Palestine, fuck Israel.
The number of arrests has crossed 1,100 since New York police detained first demonstrators at Columbia on April 18.
Columbia suspends students after deadline to end Gaza camp passes
The number of arrests has crossed 1,100 since New York police detained first demonstrators at Columbia on April 18.
(April 30th 2024)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a protest outside Columbia University in New York City. [Michael M Santiago/Getty Images via AFP]
Columbia University has begun suspending student demonstrators after they defied an ultimatum to disperse.
The New York University, the epicentre of pro-Palestinian protests that have upended college campuses across the United States, made the call on Monday.
The move follows almost two weeks of protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, which have swept through higher education institutions from coast to coast, and spread into Europe. The demonstrators have demanded that the universities cease all investment in Israel or companies that are seen as supporting its war effort.
The response of the authorities has been tough, with critics of the protests referring to sporadic instances of anti-Semitism. About 100 protesters were arrested at Columbia on April 18.
In the latest crackdown, authorities at the prestigious university in New York had demanded that the protest encampment be cleared by 2pm (18:00 GMT) or students would face disciplinary action.
“These repulsive scare tactics mean nothing compared to the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians,” said a statement, read out by a student at a news conference after the deadline passed, referring to the death toll in Gaza.
“We will not move until Columbia meets our demands or … [we] are moved by force,” said the student.
A few hours later, Columbia vice president of communications, Ben Chang, said the university had “begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus”.
He said students had been warned they would be “placed on suspension, ineligible to complete the semester or graduate, and will be restricted from all academic, residential, and recreational spaces”.
Meanwhile, at the University of Texas in Austin, police used pepper spray as they clashed with protesters on Monday. Arrests were made as they dismantled an encampment, adding to the more than 350 people detained nationwide over the weekend.
“No encampments will be allowed,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on social media. “Instead, arrests are being made.”
Protests against the Gaza war, with its high Palestinian civilian death toll, have posed a challenge to university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and hate.
Footage of police in riot gear summoned at various colleges to break up rallies has been viewed around the world, recalling the protest movement that erupted during the Vietnam War.
Columbia University president, Minouche Shafik, in a statement on Monday announcing talks had broken down, said, “Many of our Jewish students, and other students as well, have found the atmosphere intolerable in recent weeks.
“Many have left campus, and that is a tragedy,” she continued. “Anti-Semitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent.”
Protest organisers deny accusations of anti-Semitism, arguing their actions are aimed at Israel’s government and its prosecution of the conflict in Gaza.
They also insist there have been incidents engineered by non-student agitators.
A protester wears the university's disciplinary warning covered over by support for Palestinians in Gaza at Columbia University in New York City. [Alex Kent/Getty Images via AFP]
The protests have upended university campuses across the US, with the number of arrests crossing 1,100. [Caitlin Ochs/Reuters]
A faculty member holds up a sign as faculty members seek to protect students in the Pro-Palestinian "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" at Columbia University. [Michael M Santiago/Getty Images via AFP]
Protesters at Columbia defied a deadline to disband the event with chants, clapping and drumming. [Stefan Jeremiah/AP Photo]
Columbia University issued a notice to the protesters asking them to disband their encampment after negotiations failed to come to a resolution. [Spencer Platt/Getty Images via AFP]
Demonstrators gathered outside an entrance to Columbia University as the 2pm deadline to disband or face suspension approached. [David Dee Delgado/Reuters]
Students condemned the university’s attempts to silence the protesters and said they were determined to continue. “What trumps our fear is our love for Palestine, and our love for liberation, and our refusal to accept subjugation and censorship from an oppressive institution,” one said. [Nuri Vallbona/Reuters]
Pro-Palestinian supporters continue to demonstrate on the campus of Columbia University. [Spencer Platt/Getty Images via AFP]
One graduate student protester said: "It's finals week. But at the end of the day, school is temporary." [Alex Kent/Getty Images via AFP]
If you're having trouble keeping up with what's going on in Palestine because of US news coverage of university protests, here are some articles you can read and a video you can watch:
Media Statement 23 April 2024 Discovery of mass graves at Nasser Hospital in Gaza South Africa is appalled by the recent grim discover
Spokesperson says some bodies allegedly had their hands tied while others were bound and stripped
While CNN & all the other mainstream media try to paint the university protests as "pro terrorism" (which they're not, they're literally anti-war protests.) Palestinians are being slaughtered by the minute.
One of the things that pisses me off most about this genocide and overall occupation is how many people say it's so complicated and there's so much nuance and there isn't one easy solution. This is one of the simplest things I have ever seen. Zionists invaded palestine in 1947-48. They have occupied it for 76 years while taking more and more land. They kidnap and torture and massacre Palestinians day in day out for those 76 years. They control every aspect of Palestinian life, including their water and medical care. And now they are committing another genocide against them. Where is the complication? What is hard to understand? "Well, Jewish people need a place where they won't be discriminated against" I absolutely agree. So make every country in the world safe for Jewish people. Fight against anti Semitism across the world. Don't commit a genocide and set up an ethnostate.
despite mass arrests by NYPD and several students (including rep ilhan omar’s daughter, isra hirsi) being suspended for their participation and having their university identification deactivated, the gaza solidarity encampment is still going strong well into its second day. def recommend following independent reporter talia jane who is taking part and providing live updates. (talia was the first reporter to break aaron bushnell’s self immolation in february; she was one of the reporters he contacted personally prior to the protest.)
thank you so much alexa @shivsblunt for mentioning it…..anyone who wants to contribute to their jail support fund can do so @ bcabolitioncollective on v*nmo. also, if anyone is in the area and available to join (via cssw4palestine on ig):
