#and also for the jewish Americans who have a target on their backs because of this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

matan4il · 14 days

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I'm gonna put it as simply and blatantly as possible.

Russia in 2022 attacked another Eurovision participant and made a whole bunch of other contestant countries scared of being attacked next, after already having attacked a fellow competitor in 2008 -> Russia got banned from Eurovision

Ukraine in 2022 got attacked, had its civilians targeted intentionally, did not choose to start the war, has no record of past attacks against ESC contestants, and is not currently posing a threat to any other Eurovision participating country -> Ukraine did not get banned

Israel in 2023 got attacked, had its civilians targeted intentionally, did not choose to start the war, has no record of past attacks against ESC contestants, and is not currently posing a threat to any other Eurovision participating country -> Israel did not get banned

There isn't a double standard, except for people who insist on not following the geopolitical logic. Same ones who didn't use Ukraine's retaliation activities against Russia as justification to get Ukraine banned, but are doing that to Israel, usually with a side dish of false, hyperbolic accusations that have nothing to do with reality.

Also...

The only flags allowed are of participating countries and the pride flag. The American flag is therefore banned. The Mexican flag. The Japanese, the Korean, the Nigerian flags. The world doesn't actually revolve around Palestinians, they're not actually the ultimate victims, and honestly, it's offensive they're cast that way when there are conflicts far worse and bloodier than the current war in Gaza, not to mention it takes away attention and help from them, to make everything constantly about the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, this is supposed to be the rule. Outside the performance hall, but within the borders of the Eurovision village, a visiting Israeli comedian called Guy Hochman was assaulted for walking around with the Israeli flag. Swedish police intervened, but they didn't act against the anti-Israel protesters who attacked and spat on Guy, they stopped him from openly carrying the Israeli flag. He asked why are they not allowing it, even though the flag is of a participating country, in accordance with the rules. He was told it's too dangerous. He then asked why are Palestinian flags not being removed, if they're banned according to contest rules, and was told that in Sweden, freedom of speech is above anything else. He was also grilled about whether he's Jewish by the Swedish policemen. Why was his flag denied, then? Why was his freedom of speech not protected, why was his Jewish identity a matter for questioning?

Another thing, the Swedish singer who ended up in third place in 2011 Eric Khaled Saade went on a childish rant crying over the Palestinian flag being banned (again, as if it's the only one), and as he was invited to perform this year, he got on stage live with a kaffiyeh tied to his left hand, even though he knew that was considered political, and therefore not allowed. Once more, he whined about it as if this is specifically against Palestinians, but you know what? The dress designers wanted to have a Star of David on the dress of the Israeli singer. She's a Jewish woman, that's a Jewish symbol, so why not represent her identity? But they were told that's "political." And you know what the Israeli delegation did? Followed the rules. You won't see the Star of David on Eden's dress. When they were told not to wear the hostage pin, because that's "political"? They followed the rules. When the Israeli song writers were told that their song, expressing Israeli pain, is "too political," what did they do? Followed the rules, they changed the lyrics. And you don't hear them crying about it all over social media and the news.

Not to mention, Eric Saade had no problem kissing the ass of Israeli fans back in 2011, when he competed and needed their votes. Was his dad less Palestinian back then? By the way, Israeli fans didn't hold his identity against him, they didn't demand he be questioned about Palestinian terrorists, or what his stance is on Hamas, they didn't drag politics into it, they focused on music and culture connecting people across borders and identities (as the ESC is supposed to do), and Israel gave its 12 points in both the semi and the final to Eric Saade that year. How did he repay those fans? Campaigning to ban Israel (and therefore them) from the contest, because he's incapable of seeing them as people first, and political rivals second, or maybe even (God forbid!) not at all...

It all smells like hypocrisy to me. But we all know this post won't get anywhere near the exposure (through likes and reblogs) that the lying, self-centered, hypocritical anti-Israel posts do. Doesn't matter. I'll still be here, speaking the truth.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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fairuzfan · 18 days

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"Israel also secretly hires Jewish Americans as spies to work out of its Washington embassy and its consulates around the United States to covertly surveil and monitor fellow Americans, including students. Thoroughly vetted to ensure loyalty to Israel, many of those hired have spent years heavily involved in pro-Israeli activities from the time they were in college and before. Among them was Julia Reifkind, who led a pro-Israel group at the University of California at Davis before moving on to become an activist with AIPAC. After she graduated in 2016, she was hired by Israel and assigned to its embassy in Washington.

Reifkind had good preparation for her assignment. Thinking that Kleinfeld was a fellow pro-Israel activist, over dinner at Washington’s Mari Vanna restaurant she revealed that while at AIPAC she spent much of her time deceiving college students about her covert connection to the organization. “Obviously, I’m an AIPAC-trained campus activist,” she said. “When you’re lobbying on behalf of AIPAC, you don’t say AIPAC, you say, ‘I’m a pro-Israel student from UC Davis.’ And when you’re meeting with students on campus I would never say, ‘I am the AIPAC campus rep.’ I’d say, ‘My name is Julia and I’m a pro-Israel student.’”

At the embassy, Reifkind focused on developing intelligence on fellow Americans, including students on college campuses. “So nobody really knows what we’re doing,” she said. “But mainly it’s been a lot of research like monitoring BDS.”

In a different conversation, Reifkind explained: “It’s mainly gathering intel, reporting back to Israel. That’s a lot of what I do. To report back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, and make sure they have the right information.” Among the ways she spies on pro-Palestinian activists and Palestinian human rights supporters is with phony Facebook accounts. “I have my fake Facebook that I follow all the SJP [Students for Justice in Palestine] accounts. I have some fake names. My name is Jay Bernard or something.”

Once Reifkind collected the intelligence on her targets, she passed it on to her boss at the embassy. Then it was sent to the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and other offices over a secure encrypted system called Cables. It’s “really secure,” she said. “I don’t have access to [it] because I’m an American.… I’ve seen it, it looks really bizarre…. And then they’ll send something back and he’ll translate it and tell me what I need to do.”

Since the brutal Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians on October 7 and the Israeli invasion of Gaza, the ICC and its US-based spy networks are no doubt working overtime. But there is little likelihood of interference by the FBI—well trained to look the other way when it comes to Israel. It was a situation that even frustrated a former head of the FBI’s counterintelligence division. When I asked him why no one would talk to me about Israel’s massive espionage in the United States, he simply shook his head.

“You don’t think Israel’s a sensitive topic?” he asked, requesting that his name not be used. “So, Israel has been looked at and is being looked at and that’s all I can tell you,” he said. “But nobody’s doing anything.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“You can imagine,” is all he would say, implying high-level political involvement. I then said that I was planning to write about the topic. “I hope you do. I hope you do,” he said. Sighing, he added, “I’ve been there done that. I know it. I’ve brought cases to the Department of Justice on Israel.” Cases that were never opened."

— Israel’s War on American Student Activists by James Bamford on The Nation

#palestine

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kelluinox · 2 months

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Oh are people mad at JKR again and calling out her antisemitism? That's funny. No, it is! It's funny when people suddenly care about antisemitism after these 5 months we've had. It's funny when people who threw a grand ol party on October 7th suddenly care about being antisemitic. It's funny when the people who called the kidnapping and rape and largest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust justified resistance... suddenly care about the Holocaust. It's funny to hear their "very angry very loud very righteous outrage against antisemitism" when they have:

1) said and done nothing about the hostages being held by Hamas, among which there is a baby and a 4 yo and women being subjected to sexual torture

2) done nothing to pressure the embarrassment called the Red Cross to pass vital medicine to the hostages and actually do its job

3) have gone full Holocaust denial with their denial of the 7th... despite eagerly sharing videos of Shani Louk and Naama Levy and Noa Argamani and the Nova Festival massacre as it was happening, asking Hamas to film their slaughter horizontally and calling victims "hipsters" as the massacre was actually happening

4) called for the murder and expulsion of half the world's jews from the Levant, labeling them all colonizers despite us being indigenous... which is ironic because they certainly don't seem eager to move their own ass and go back to wherever they came from (looking at you Americans, Canadians, Australians - shut the fuck up you hypocritical bitches)

5) attacked, and harassed, and bullied, and even murdered jews all over the world since the 7th. Jewish students were told to hide in the attic from an angry mob, have been unable to walk to class without verbal or physical attacks, have been unable to mourn the biggest massacre of jews since the Holocaust, have had posters of the kidnapped jews that they put up torn down, have had all their attempts at talks about antisemitism and peace derailed and have even been unable to wear their magen david without harassment. Jewish business have been targeted and defaced. And Paul Kessler and Samantha Woll were murdered. Murdered!

6) refused to listen to jews about antisemitism and have eagerly repeated antisemitic conspiracy theories as old as the middle ages like the gullible bigoted little idiots that they are: Jews control the media by distracting Americans from Gaza by using Spotify Wrapped, the Superbowl, and making a Stop Jewish Hate ad (wow do I 'love' it when Americans make fun of their own intelligence by admitting that they're so easily distracted). Jews poison wells - they poison Palestinian land. Jews steal Christian kids and drink their blood - Jews kidnap blond Palestinian children and steal organs from Palestinian corpses. Jews love killing and are bloodthirsty monsters - Jews intentionally target civilians, have killed 0 terrorists whatsoever, and are rubbing their hands in glee watching mass starvation unfold. Oh, and they also do all this on Ramadan because they're evil like that. Beyond that we also have had: Jewish doctors are not to be trusted - straight out Stalin's doctor's plot. And Zionists are racists - straight out of Imperial Russia's Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Wow, congrats on quoting Imperial Russia and the leader of the Soviet Union, fuckers. Though frankly you don't seem embarrassed about that considering your genocidal intifada posters display the hammer and sickle, do you?

7) have ignored literally everything Hamas has done. From the rape and brutal murders and kidnapping (videos of which they published themselves!). To the tunnels. To the theft of aid. To the execution of civilians following humanitarian corridors to safe zones. To using hospitals to hide weaponry, terrorists and hostages. To forcefully keeping civilians in said hospitals even as they try to evacuate, using them as human shields. To shooting at civilians who try to get some aid before it's stolen. To sending 4 yo children to Israeli soldier camps to assess their preparedness. To keeping weapons beneath a child's bed. To enlisting child soldiers. To programming children with Mein Kampf. To launching rockets from next to kindergartens and across the street from a building belonging to the joke we call the UN. To breaking the November ceasefire 15 minutes in because even an hour without killing jews was too difficult for them to accomplish. To separating families despite the hostage deal being that families will not be separated. To branding the Jewish boys they took hostage (sound familiar to you yet?). To forcing child hostages to watch their October 7 videos and threatening to shoot them if they cry. To raping female hostages. To depriving elderly and chronically ill hostages of life saving medicine. To forcibly converting female hostages. To not releasing the Bibas family despite the deal being that all children be returned. To executing hostages and then lying they died in air strikes despite the cause of death being a bullet. To creating sick games where they publish photos of hostages and dare psychopaths on the internet to guess which are dead and which alive. The list goes on and on and on and you lot stick your fingers in your ears every single time and go "lalala not listening".

8) Have supported the Houthis who literally have "a curse upon the jews" in their slogan

9) Have supported Bin Laden

10) Have supported Iran by supporting its proxy - Hamas.

11) Have shamed Ukrainians for trying to remind them that Russia is still attacking them, and told them that they should support Palestine when... Hamas and the Houthis have literally visited Moscow and Iran are Russia's allies. Good job, guys. Good job.

12) Have done everything to exaggerate what's happening, twist the facts and demonize Israel, all the while portraying it as "criticism". A war is suddenly not bad enough on its own - it has to be a genocide to get people to care. Displacement caused by a war is not bad enough - it has to be ethnic cleansing. Israel is suddenly a fascist Nazi state... despite being democratic and Jewish (where have all the people who laughed at Putin for calling Zelensky a nazi despite Zelensky being a jew gone? I wonder). The war in Gaza has to be the worst conflict on Earth, despite there being ongoing genocides in Sudan and China and the goddamn invasion of Ukraine.

And before any of you antisemitic goyim start furiously typing that it is a genocide and I'm a genocide apologist, please do keep in mind that jews know more about genocide than you ever will. And being a Russian jew I will know more about fascism than you ever will. So do us all a favor, shut up and listen to people more educated on the matter than you.

13) Have tried to define Zionism and Judaism and Jewish history to jews. Thanks for the goysplaining, I guess

14) Have mocked released hostages and their testimonies. Falsely claimed that they were not mistreated and actually written fanfics of them falling in love with the terrorists who murdered their families and kidnapped them

15) Have defaced the statue of Amy Winehouse

16) Have made lists of jews. Oh, sorry, "zionists"

17) Have devolved into race science

And to conclude my post, here are just a few photos of the shit goyim have done since october:

#jews feel free to add more bullshit that the goyim have done that I might've forgotten to mention #i hope this was as scathing and insulting as possible because i am done #i am tired of goyim pretending they care about antisemitism #they don't #and they never did #antisemitism #leftist antisemitism #jumblr

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doberbutts · 7 months

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just a random guy w no stake in this but yr guy also fully regurgitated israel’s/zionist lies abt the “””misfired rocket””” hitting the hospital as if there isn’t documented evidence of israel admitting to - wanting to do that - doing that - expressing joy at the fact that they did that. the israeli govt spent days saying they were gonna bomb a hospital, bombed a hospital, /said they bombed the hospital/, and then changed their story to “misfired rocket” among other things (not a single hamas rocket is capable of that kind of destruction…) when they got flack for it. and Avi has yet to retract that statement despite it being another blatant lie from the israeli govt.

& obv this is much smaller but when pointed out that what ngaiman said that was zionist (“israel has the right to exist”, which he reconfirmed was still his stance), avi doubled down on that…not being zionism. and said ppl only call gaiman a zionist bc he’s jewish (which.. sure some ppl do, but the claim that a settler colonial state (or any state, tbh) has an inherent “right” to exist, and specifically that Israel has a “right” to exist, is literally zionism. which avi seems to think is not.)

i don’t think he’s a zionist himself but he certainly repeating a lot of zionist bs uncritically

I literally just got an article this morning talking about the forensics going on regarding the hospital bombing, from CNN, citing multiple sources saying the same thing; that it was a misfired rocket originating from somewhere in Gaza and probably not intentional, with all parties with munitions denying that it was theirs despite the firing of rockets nearby from all of said parties. No shrapnel or casings have yet been recovered and until that is recovered there is no way to know for sure where the device was made or where it came from.

So unless you are leaning on the antisemitic claim that Jews control the media, either all of CNN's sources are wrong including the Palestinian ones, or he's literally just repeating what multiple sources have been saying as of this morning.

Also conveniently you're leaving out that he's also stated that it doesn't matter where the device came from, the targetting of hospitals and other civilian centers is abhorrent and an immediate ceasefire needed to be called the moment it happened. Weird how he's not praising it, he's stating what the forensic team on site is reporting, and he's stating that no matter who is at fault they shouldn't be involving peaceful civilians.

As for whether or not Israel should exist... where exactly do you want the Israelis to go? A significant number of them were born there, with ancestors that originated there, as Arabic people living alongside Palestinians. They do have just as much right to be there as Palestinians because they have common ancestry with Palestinians. Those that came from elsewhere largely were forcibly expelled as an act of genocide- "going back where (they) came from" means going back to somewhere that's made it plain they are not welcome and they'll be killed on sight. They went to Israel because they were told that was the only correct choice for them.

Also I think it is incredibly dicey to be wielding "Jews are inherent outsiders that need to go back where they came from" because that is an antisemitic statement that has echoed across history ANDDDDD I think it's uhhhh incredibly hilarious as afronative to hear fucking Americans saying this when we're on stolen land ourselves with a government that is still trying to wipe out the few indigenous people we have left and sweep its continued atrocities under the rug.

What's that saying about glass houses and stones? If you're on American soil and you're not indigenous, how about you go back where you came from? Oh? You were born here? You have a family history here? You have deep ties to the area and can't just uproot your entire life? It's a little more complicated than just getting on a plane back to Europe or Asia or Africa? Hmm. Interesting. Don't you know that makes you complicit in genocide? No no no, it doesn't matter that your family was fleeing genocide yourselves, or that your ancestors were forced to come here, or that you personally took no part in the ongoing political war being waged against the dwindling number of Natives we have left. You don't belong here. You need to be forcibly detained and expelled. Maybe even kept in a cage for a while until we figure out what to do with you.

Whoop. But that's the silent part you're not saying. You can call it Zionist if you want. But I think people need to think a little more critically about the actual logistics of what caused this problem in the first place, before firing off about it. Especially not when a lot of these talking points are at their heart incredibly antisemitic.

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stealth-liberal · 8 months

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Anyone who reblogs and adds antisemitic rhetoric to my posts about what's going on in Israel will be reported and blocked. Anyone who comments on my posts about what's going on in Israel with antisemitic rhetoric will be reported and blocked. It's already started happening, and the reporting and blocking have begun. I will not engage with a single one of you. I don't give turds with a pulse what they want.

And if you're too stupid to realize that saying that indiscriminate killing of civilian targets, of running down fleeing on foot and unarmed civilians at a picnic in trucks and shooting them like fish in a barrel and laughing about it, of abducting civilians (including CHILDREN) to bring them back to Gaza and then release videos of their mistreatment, of parading captured women in various states of undress (videos of that too) and lastly of sexually desecrateing female Jewish corpses (video of a naked Jewish female corpse being desecrated in an act of NECEOPHILIA), if you think that all of that is ok, then you're guilty of Jew hatred. You are a Jew hater pure and simple.

Don't deny it. SAY IT WITH YOUR FULL CHESTS YOU MOTHERFUCKING COWARDS!!! Don't hide behind Palestinians as your shield, grab your tiny balls or your dried up tits and be public with your bigotry and hatred of the Jewish people.

If this was happening in ANY other country but Israel, in ANY other country but the only one on Earth that's run by Jews, you'd be decrying the actions of the war criminals doing this. Because guess what? What Hamas* is doing right now is classified by the United Nations as war crimes. But that's OK when you hate Jews, all Jews, any Jews, and the thought of dead Jews gets you off.

*I am wise enough to know that Hamas is not synonymous with all Palestinians. I've done the work to educate myself on the extremely varied worldwide Palestinian community. And unlike Jew haters, I don't assume every Palestinian I meet wants me dead because I'm a Jew. As an aside, I have also never once thought that about any Muslim dominant group. Unlike the violence as for pleasure seeking Hamas and other Jew Haters (like many over privileged white Europeans, Canadians, and Americans on here) I don't cheer when Palestinian civilians are killed or mistreated. Because I'm not a monster.

#sl speaks #jumblr #jewish #the jewish people #isreal

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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beardedmrbean · 15 days

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is being hit with a censure resolution on Tuesday after she referred to some Jewish students as "pro-genocide" during a recent visit to Columbia University.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is introducing the resolution against Omar on Tuesday, a source familiar with his plans told Fox News Digital.

The New York City Ivy League school has been the flashpoint for nationwide demonstrations on college campuses, where students have set up tent encampments to protest their universities' financial ties to pro-Israel companies.

COLUMBIA FACULTY ATTEMPT TO BLOCK CERTAIN STUDENTS, PRESS FROM ENTERING ENCAMPMENT UNTIL POLICE CALLED

Omar's daughter was one of more than 100 Columbia students and young adults attending its sister school, Barnard College, who were arrested over their encampment last month.

The progressive "Squad" Democrat visited the demonstration on April 26 in a show of solidarity for the pro-Palestinian protesters.

"I actually met a lot of Jewish students who are in the encampment, and I think it is really unfortunate that people don't care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe," Omar told Fox 5 New York while there. "We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide."

Bacon's resolution text said Omar's "slanderous comments against Jewish students could inflame violence against the Jewish community."

In addition to censuring her for those comments, Bacon's resolution also accused her of having "a long and demonstrated history of hateful rhetoric that plays into the worst antisemitic tropes."

Omar has long been targeted by Republicans for her criticism of Israel. It even got her removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee last February when the GOP won back the majority in the 2022 election.

Bacon told reporters last week, "To generalize, to say that the Jewish students are responsible for this and treat them that way, that is antisemitism, right? It's one thing to protest Israel, but to stretch it over and accost Jewish students is wrong."

"I'm working on a bill right now to call out Omar for what she said. She's talking about pro-genocide or anti-genocide Jewish students…all this talk is all wrong because Jewish Americans are Americans. Quit treating them that way," Bacon said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar's office for comment.

A spokesperson for Omar told Axios last week regarding Bacon's comments on preparing a censure resolution, "Attempts to misconstrue her words by drafting this baseless resolution are meant to distract from the ongoing violence and genocide occurring in Gaza and the large antiwar protests happening across our country and around the world."

Escalating tensions at the protests at Columbia and elsewhere have spurred bipartisan criticism amid multiple clashes between students and police, resulting in reports of people on both sides being injured. Jewish students at Columbia and other schools have also reported feeling unsafe on campus.

#nunyas news #at least diaper rash knows better than to open her mouth right now #about the best thing I could say about her #bunch of nazi wannabes in congress

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theconstitutionisgayculture · 6 months

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Here's what I don't get. When the Russia-Ukraine War started, the public opinion was all about supporting the Ukrainians, but you never heard any stories about Russian-Americans being victims of hate crimes.

Now, with the Israel-Hamas War, there's loads of stories about antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes being committed in America.

What exactly made it okay to be hateful against American citizens who just happen to share religious or racial traits with the combatants of a war overseas?

You actually did see anti-Russian crimes in the beginning. There were some vandalizations and I believe also a few assaults/fights. But they were mostly ignored by the mainstream media because the narrative they were pushing is "Russia = evil" so reporting on anti-Russian hate crime might have softened that narrative.

And that's the main difference between the perception of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Gaza one. The media has gone all in on supporting terrorist rhetoric, irresponsibly reporting terrorist lies of "genocide" and the IDF targeting schools because they want to kill Palestinian children and all that nonsense. There is a concerted effort from most of the mainstream media and the left (though I repeat myself) to vilify Israel and every Israeli Jew. And if Jews outside of Israel suffer the predictable backlash, they don't care. They'll save those stories for after the war is over and they go back to pretending to care about the "Rise of anti-semitism" because it's election season and they can find a Trump quote to take out of context and blame for all the anti-Jewish hate they themselves just inflamed.

And since you mentioned anti-Muslim hate, the number of actual anti-Muslim crimes since October 7th in the US is actually less than the anti-Russian crimes after Russia attacked Ukraine, and while I absolutely don't condone those crimes, you can see the difference in how the media and the left is treating them. The crimes against Russians were mostly ignored. The crimes against Muslims are being treated as rampant, pervasive "Islamophobia" that needs a government taskforce to handle while anti-semitism is ignored or celebrated.

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socialjusticeinamerica · 5 months

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For decades Iranian and Saudi money has been paying for propaganda that targets elitist American liberals. They know Republican shitheads will never leave the Middle East be so they have been covertly trying to sway academics and other liberal leaders into their camps. They have been quietly influencing far left academic circles and it has trickled out into the larger left leaning community.

There’s nothing more polarizing than the Middle East and whichever group you back will be the wrong choice. I don’t know who’s been running their mouths over at the fledgling Starbucks union but they need to zip it and stop taking sides in a Middle East conflict. Their job is to gain better pay and working conditions for their members, PERIOD. This bullshit from one person drinking Kool-Aid could cripple the entire revitalized and burgeoning labor movement. This is exactly the kind of thing the oligarchs want to turn the public against the unions. They’re already exploiting it and possibly had a hand in it covertly.

BLM is another group showing “solidarity” with people in the Middle East when they should be focusing on the grave and severe MAGA/police war on African-Americans. MAGA propaganda has capitalized on this and many of their numbskull followers have this bizarre and irrational fear of BLM as a terrorist movement which is complete bullshit.

We must be aware of optics and keep our eyes on our goals which we are far from realizing. We are potentially one election away from a fascist dictatorship and members of our side are risking it all on literally the most divisive issue in history. I keep repeating this for good reason, we need everyone on the same page voting blue. Protest Netanyahu on your own and DO NOT MAKE IT A MATTER OF DEMOCRATIC POLICY. This will only cost us votes and lose us elections. Do you really want a repeat of 2016 with a bunch of us sitting at home and not voting out of spite.

If the RepubliKKKlans win then we lose, the Palestinians lose, and Muslims everywhere will lose. Israel and the Jewish people will also ironically lose because MAGAts hate both groups and definitely will smash both along with us on the American left.

#unions #Starbucks #israel hamas war #middle east policy

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eretzyisrael · 7 months

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by Jaxson Kaplan-Rudolph

“No one asked you, you dirty Jew.”

“I bet you can hear a penny fall from a mile away.”

“Go back to the gas chambers.”

At first glance, these sentences, with varying degrees of problematic content, sound like they come from a 1930s movie, Nazi propaganda or an interview with post-2020 Kanye West.

But these are all sentences and phrases I have heard directed at me or my Jewish friends in 2023, in a place that is supposed to be an institution of higher learning. When you hear people offhandedly mention that antisemitism levels are rising in America, that does not just apply to hate crimes like those tracked by the Anti-Defamation League. It also means it is becoming more socially acceptable for people, especially teens, to revive and repeat anti-Jewish stereotypes that have been around since near the beginning of our existence as a people.

If you walked a day in the shoes of a Jewish high school student, regardless of which high school, you would be shocked by the number of racist tropes or casual references and off-color jokes to atrocities that have befallen the Jewish people you would hear. Of course, in some areas, it is worse than others; as a kid in Metro Detroit, I shudder to think of the conversations in areas of Michigan where our communities are tiny or nonexistent.

Yet, even in an area where Jews make up a substantial portion of the population, this behavior is increasingly prevalent. So, what exactly is happening in our high schools, what do Jewish students do to cope with it and how can the community help us deal with this social burden and distraction from our education?

I go to a school where students routinely have some of the best test scores in the state and often garner excellent scores on history exams. We are required to take World History and American History courses where WWII, 9-11, American slavery, the Armenian genocide and other acts of brutality are well covered, and students seem to have no problem handling the moral weight and solemn attitude associated with discussing these topics in class.

Yet, it is shocking how my peers who will gasp with outrage if someone did make jokes about these topics or did not treat them appropriately will not intervene if the same thing were to happen with quips about the Holocaust or abusive Jewish stereotypes.

I’ve seen people jokingly form a Nazi salute at a poster of Hitler in a history class or repost a “funny” meme about Jews secretly having horns and wanting to eat Christian children. Now, there is getting to be a climate where these dangerous portrayals are somehow not only deemed OK, but also humorous.

Discussing this with my Jewish friends from Monday night school and around other high schools in the area, we were not appalled, but grimly unsurprised to learn that we were all going through similar kinds of situations. Even close friends who were not Jewish might call out kids for making uncouth jokes, only to make a comment about Jews or our Jewishness in private. I won’t get into every example of stories I’ve heard, but suffice it to say that we’d all seen or heard something, directly or indirectly, that ranged from uncomfortable to horrific.

It was at least reassuring for me to talk to my friends about how we are all going through the same thing, but it’s hard to find solutions for this issue.

Besides saying “that’s not funny,” or “what the hell,” it is hard to do much without putting a target on your back, because even in the schools with the highest Jewish populations, we are firmly in the minority. The way we are able to power through this casual adversity that people don’t think causes actual harm is by sticking together.

Over the past year or so, I’ve developed a silent understanding with other Jewish kids my age who I wouldn’t normally talk to: a glance across the room, a pat on the back or a nod passing each other in the hallway. With a lot of people angrier than usual because of the current situation in the Middle East, this only becomes more important as the feeling of isolation and targeting has compounded within the last couple of weeks.

Since many of our peers began to mercilessly attack Israel and Israelis after the reignition of the conflict and speak to us as if we are representatives of the Israeli government, remembering the words “Hinei ma tov, umah na’im, shevet achim gam yachad” (“How good and how pleasant it is that brothers dwell together.”) becomes more important than ever.

Even if we are treated like outsiders, whether we are religious or not, we must stick together with our tribe and treat everyone with harmony and respect, no matter what they say back to us.

The way the adult Jewish community can help us deal with this struggle is to do the confronting when we feel socially like we cannot. Parents, temples and Jewish organizations should be actively supporting and asking their high school kids if they need to share anything, because chances are, they probably do.

Problems obviously need to be worked out on a case-by-case basis, but most of the time it’s not the fault of a specific person or a few people; it’s a problem with the atmosphere or culture of the school or group.

Most Jewish kids I know are strong, motivated and intelligent, but it can be too much to ask for everyone to plan their own initiatives and reach out to create things like antisemitism seminars and panel discussions that help heal. What could be beneficial is if groups and congregations can provide opportunities to students that seem interested but aren’t sure how to take the first step to healing.

The next time you see a Jewish high school student you know, do not apologize or act super worried about what they’re probably going through now. But please offer them support to work toward the Jewish concept more important now than ever: tikkun olam, healing the world.

Jaxson Kaplan-Rudolph is a junior at a Metro Detroit public high school.

#antisemitism #high school #jaxson kaplan-rudolph

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matan4il · 6 months

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Daily update post:

The IDF has entered the Shifa hospital today in Gaza, and searched it for hostages, but none were found. There was info that they had been held there, so the time the IDF has given the civilians to evacuate, was probably used by the terrorists to move the hostages. A possible scenario is that they were moved to southern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the BBC had to apologize today for "misquoting" Reuters twice. The original report said the IDF entered the hospital with medical teams and Arabic speakers. Instead of reporting this, the BBC said the IDF was targeting these groups:

Here's the original Reuters report that the BBC misquoted. Twice.

Here's an image from a vid showing IDF soldiers bringing medical equipment into the hospital:

Yesterday in Washington DC, a pro-Israel rally drew a crowd of 290,000 people, making it the biggest Jewish rally in modern history, and the biggest pro-Israel one:

I'm sorry I didn't know I can watch it online... Something to add to this is that there's a group of 900 people from Detroit, who flew to Washington DC to participate in the rally, but were stranded in the Dulles airport, because their bus drivers refused to drive them to a pro-Israeli rally.

American congress woman Rashida Tlaib is known to have been a part of a hidden American-Palestinian facebook group since 2017. In 2019, it came to light that the founder of the group has doubted the Holocaust has happened, and a lot of criticism was aimed at Tlaib for her membership in the group, but she didn't leave it. Now, it's been shown that there were posts in this facebook group celebrating Hamas' Oct 7 massacre.

I mentioned peace activist Vivian Silver, whose body was identified yesterday, in this post. A lot of "peace activists" tweeted in mourning today. I haven't seen one who has mentioned that Hamas murdered her. One explicitly said, "We don't know who murdered her," even though there's no doubt that Hamas terrorists murdered her on Oct 7 (she was on the phone with her son until the almost last moments).

As rockets from Gaza continue to be fired at Israel, here's a small reminder that around 1,000 misfired, and killed Palestinians:

youtube

This is 37 years old Anton Gurionov.

He was at the Nova music festival on Oct 7. He managed to make it out, and also got his girlfriend out of there. But then he insisted on going back to try and get a good friend out. That's when Hamas terrorists got to him. He had a 6 year old daughter. May his memory be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #israelunderattack #terrorism #anti terrorism #antisemitism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish

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freedom-in-truth · 6 months

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youtube

Are they LYING to us? CIA spy tells all

Uploaded Oct 28. Transcript below.

Spoiler, yes the US Gov lies to you. 😱

Added [my edits] to the transcript in square commas.

Biden quote: “Terrorist group Hamas unleashed pure unadulterated evil in the world…”

Now, let’s talk about Hamas for a moment, because President Biden just called them a terrorist group. Let’s be honest about Hamas. They have been labelled a terrorist group by less than 12 countries in the world.

The vast majority of the world, including The UN, does not consider Hamas a terrorist group.

Instead they consider Hamas to be a political party; a force and the legislative body of the Gaza Strip, elected democratically and in power since 2007.

So, Hamas, whether we like to admit it or not, has a militant wing, but they are also a recognised political party inside the Gaza Strip. They were voted into power. They have an established leader and a hierarchy.

And, even worse, they are a political party without any kind of citizenship, because Palestinians (who they represent) aren’t a recognised country [thanks to colonialism]. So, what that means is that Palestine and Hamas are politically accepted by the majority of the world. It’s really only the United States, and US allies Paraguay and the European Union that see Hamas as an actual terrorist organisation. And, of course, Israel as well.

The rest of the world sees Hamas as a political group.

A political group without a country and, importantly, without a military to defend itself.

So, I want to make sure that you understand that when President Biden says that Hamas is a terrorist organisation, he’s really talking from an American point of view in the eyes of Americans and in the eyes of the Israelis.

Hamas is a terrorist group but, to be fair, in the eyes of Iran the US military is a terrorist group. So it’s all about perspective on this one.

[I can assure you! it's not just Iran who view the US military as a terrorist group!! Plenty of countries do as well!]

Biden quote: “Sadly the Jewish people know perhaps better than anyone that there is no limit to the depravity of people when they want to inflict pain on others…”

Now, this is another thing that I think is important, because the President just said ‘the Jewish people’. Hamas exists for one reason; they were created in 1987, specifically to prevent and destroy Israel, because Israel was oppressing the Palestinian people.

It was the oppression of Israel against Palestine that was the birthplace for Hamas. Let’s not get the order of actions confused here. Hamas did not exist prior to 1987.

[Israel first began expelling Palestinians in the late 1940s, look up 1948 Nakba.]

The ongoing pressure and conflict between Israelis and Palestinians [in other words, the ethnic cleansing of indigenous people, Palestinians, by Israelis] in the country of Israel, and the marginalisation, oppression, discrimination that they were putting onto the Muslim people there is really what led to the birth of Hamas, as a way of fighting back against Israeli oppression.

[Please note: Palestinians are a mix of faith. While predominantly Muslim, Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Jews also exist, and are also oppressed by Israel. Plenty of footage has been online of Israeli crimes against all three religious groups.]

Hamas is targeting only Israel, not Jews. There’s a big difference between an Israeli and a Jew.

[Plenty of Jewish people do not support the settler state of Isael. Plenty of Jewish people do not condone ethnic cleansing in their name. Being Jewish is not centered around colonizing other countries.]

The president here said that Jews are the target, and that is not accurate. Israel is the target, the country of Israel. Hamas doesn’t care whether Israel is full of Christians, Jews, or other Muslims, if it’s oppressing Palestinians, if it’s depriving the Palestinians of a homeland, then Hamas is there to fight and counteract it.

Outside of Israel, the state of Israel, Hamas doesn’t really exist, which is why the rest of the world does not see them as a terrorist group.

Interestingly, it is also the reason that the United States does label them as a terrorist group, because [the US] is trying to show support for Israel [the US sends up to $4 billion dollars annually to fund Israel’s military, to ‘fight’ a people without a state and without a military, FYI], so I don’t think Hamas is targeting Jews. They are not.

Hamas is in a very clear fight for survival of the Palestinian people in their own [indigenous country], within the landmass that is [currently] known as Israel.

Biden quote: “I also spoke with President Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president…”

Abbas the Palestinian Authority President is not the recognised leader in the Gaza Strip. He is the recognised leader in the West Bank, but not the Gaza Strip. They have two very different forms of government.

So, what the president is saying here without saying it, is that he is speaking to the Palestinian Authority who does not represent the actual body of victims who are being attacked right now.

Biden quote: “The United States remains committed to the Palestinian people’s right and dignity to self-determination…”

This is a very important lie of omission here.

The president just said that he reiterated that American support to Palestinians is there for their right to dignity and self-determination. What he did not say is that they have any right to self-preservation, or to protect themselves.

The president has said that Israel has a right to protect itself. He is not giving the same permission to the Palestinian people. That is an important point in this conversation.

At no point during this address will you hear the president say that the Palestinians have any right to protect or defend themselves. He does not acknowledge them as a group of people. He does not acknowledge them as an oppressed people within the lands of Israel, and that is a sad and frustrating thing.

It’s what’s known as a lie of omission; he is not telling you the total truth. The total truth being that the United States does not actually support the Palestinian people in their fight against Israel. [Reminder: the USA sends up to $4 billion annually to arm Israel.]

(More under the cut)

Biden quote: “The assault on Israel echoes nearly twenty months of war, tragedy, and brutality inflicted on the people of Ukraine…”

So, here the president is starting to make a transition to compare what’s happening in Israel to what’s happening in Ukraine.

It’s important to me that you understand that this is a lie of influence.

The president is trying to make you believe that there’s a connection between what’s happening in Ukraine and what’s happening in Israel. They are two completely different types of conflict.

In Ukraine, you see an outside nation state [Russia] invading another independent sovereign nation state. That’s not what’s happening in Israel. In Israel you have an oppressed [indigenous] group that is launching an attack against its oppressor, and then you have the oppressor responding and going well above and beyond in terms of capability and response to the original attack. So they cannot be compared, even though in this address you’ll see that he continues to make comparisons to the two in a plea to the American people to support American interests in both conflicts.

While I am all for American interests and I understand that there is a great deal at play, at stake here, for the United States [$4 billion annually, money that could’ve been used on American healthcare), I want to make sure that we highlight this lie of influence because this is not actually an accurate statement. It does not reflect what’s happening in Ukraine in any way. It’s a separate conflict carried out for separate reasons in a different way.

[Again, this is basic facts and history summarised from an American perspective, and yet we are at a point in the misinformation campaign from the Biden administration that these basic factd and corrections to Biden's lies NEED to be said. So please share this.]

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blazingstar29 · 7 months

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Top Gun and War

I just wanted to touch on something in the Top Gun fandom quickly.

CW: Discussion of WW2, Holocaust/Shoah, the Cold War, Vietnam War. Mentions of the AID's cris and WW2 related generational trauma

Preface/disclaimer: I'm no historian. I have studied 21st century history from causes of ww1, causes of ww2 and politics, up to the causes and consequences of Vietnam and American politics in the 60's. I am not an expert. However, I care about history/historical accuracy and have found this century to be of particular interest despite the horrifics that occured. (Any jokes about 'why do you like ww2' are not invited. What happened is real and it still hurts people.) I also say 'we', this is because I'm not targeting any specific person or fandom trope/trend. We includes me. But I also know people are writing these topics so please know i’m not pointing fingers saying that no one is doing this.

Some quick numbers.

Top Gun is set in 1986. Forty one years after World War 2 ended, twenty one years since the Vietnam War ended and the closing act of the Cold War. These are not entire life times. Even today, this is very recent history. Older family members, teachers, professors, bosses remember this time. I own a protect and survive pamphlet from the 70's that has remained in my family. It has only traveled one generation since it was distributed.

Maverick's family history with Vietnam is covered - to an extent. We as writers tend to look at his father, and rightfully so, his father is a massive part of his characters motivations.

But I believe we need to be more conscious of the era in which we right in. I am not saying you need to become a historical expert and make politics a central part of your story. But maybe we need to be aware of it. Even within yourself, even if the fic has nothing to do with politics and it's icemav rawdogging it in the locker rooms. Even if we acknowledge it and don't write about it, I just feel that we need to do that at the very least.

The character that's most obvious when it comes to this, is Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky. It's not rare to see the Jewish Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky tag, or to see him written with immigrant grandparents or great grandparents. He was born 14/15 years after WW2. That is no time at all. Do you look back remember how young you were at 14/15? That's how little time has passed. I cannot even begin to express how pain like that doesn't go away within a decade and a half, and how it affects multiple generations. But that is a topic where my voice is not the one to amplify. Please listen to Jewish voices.

This isn't even accounting for what it was like living post Vietnam and the Cold War. I know someone who grew up horses riding across Salisbury Plain in the UK and had Hercule's planes flying over and military drills. It was still real. This is still recent and in effect during the events of Top Gun.

I know that queer issues and the AIDS crisis are frequent fic topics because it is occuring at the time. And of course these topics deserve to be represented. I am not for one second saying that one issue must be diminished in order to amplify another. As a queer person I know it's also easy to write about them. It's where I'm comfortable because I'm more knowledgeable. Writing things we don't know about is intimidating. I'm drafting an icemav fic where Ice is Jewish and which more significance to the fic than what i've ever written before and it is intimidating because I'm scared of doing it wrong. But so long as I educate myself and discuss the fic with Jewish people who are willing to have that conversation, I can try and do the right thing in my writing.

Write what you wish, it's not for me to say what that is. Every fic is a gift to read and we have the choice to read what we like and the topics we like in such a big fandom. But after reading a phenomenal fic I became aware that I don't really see how the characters, particular Jewish characters like Iceman are affected by the post war era they live in. I am guilty of this. I have written 97 top gun fics and not once have I addressed the global political climate of the 1980's in any real depth.

These topics are hard to write responsibly and tactfully as well as with your own emotional capacity. I'm not trying to guilt anyone for not writing fics about war and politics. Writing is an escape and I don't want to change that for anyone. I am in a privileged position that I do have the mental capacity every so often to think about the harder topics when I write. I love history and studying it, but there are topics I can't wrap my head around, so I do understand when things don't make sense in your head.

You don't have to write it. But let's be aware of it. Let's talk about. Even the smallest of references to a Cold War conflict or post WW2 can add valuable context. Just some food for thought ig, i hope i'm not saying anything outrageous or offensive.

Amplify minority voices, listen, respect, reflect.

#top gun 1986 #top gun maverick #top gun discourse #tw #trigger warning

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cock-holliday · 7 months

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It’s so sickening to be so torn with everything.

I want to check in with friends to make sure they are safe and everyone is on alert in case of violence today…but then I have to explain how a “Day Of Rage” has historically been a frequently-occurring demonstration for oppressed people to express their grief without needing to be polite and does not originate from two days ago as a hunt-you-for-sport call to arms.

Do Palestinians mourning loved ones have to call their marches something else now? Because “Day Of Rage means killing Jews” is the only time so many people have even heard this phrase? Because they have never once even marched for the liberation of oppressed people? Does it even matter to call it something different to ease our fears when simply showing up and doing anything for Palestine is criminal now in some countries and demonized in others?

I think often about having dedicated 10 years of my life to combating nazism and white supremacist extremism and showing up in the streets to protect my community with yknow “never again means now” sentiments and then I get beaten by cops who learned their techniques from their IDF partnership. My tax dollars went to cops who learned some brutality from Israel and brought it back to us. I still taste blood when I drink the same drink someone handed me to wash mace out of my mouth even though it’s been years.

I worked tirelessly with colleagues to combat the escalating violence of an open nazi at my university, where we were silenced by the administration and forbidden from even raising awareness about his crimes for the safety of fellow students because it was “targeting him.” The same administration had the absolute gall to then also silence Palestinian students from expressing grief during a particularly heinous siege of the West Bank. Claiming it was antisemitic. I signed onto a letter standing with those punished students. I was politely disinvited from my Jewish Law Student Org.

There are so many real threats against us. Antisemitism is rampant in the states. I lived in the city with the largest domestic attack on Jewish Americans in history and had been at work blocks from that synagogue and spent the day completely unmoored by how close it hit everyone. My efforts to protect my community comes from the same place that urges me to protect my Palestinian friends, who are never even given the chance to mourn like I get to mourn. And yet my standing with them is viewed as bigoted. An attack. “Self-hating.”

You hate your made-up enemies more than you love your community if members of your own group supporting liberation is an attack to you. In the same breath that people condemn Palestinian support as “the work of nazis”, they will close their eyes to unfurled sonnenrads and punish students who tear down leaflets about blood libel for being “unwilling to engage in discourse.” The same administrations and offices that allow Holocaust deniers a platform will really have you believe they are going after Palestinian discourse to protect anyone?

It doesn’t alarm you how the biggest antisemites are cheering right now for Israeli violence?

Fuck this.

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mostlysignssomeportents · 2 years

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Uline's billions fund voter suppression

Every billionaire is a policy failure, but every billionaire is also a factory for producing policy failures at scale. The political power conferred by massive wealth accumulation makes a sham of democracy, because “one person, one vote” is easily swamped by “one dollar, one vote.”

That’s why we need to abolish all billionaires, even the “good” ones who promise to support charities or causes we support. But today, I want to focus on some extremely bad billionaires, Dick and Liz Uihlein, owners of the packing-supply monopoly Uline.

The Uihleins are a multi-generational far-right clan of wealthy conspiracy peddlers. The family money starts with the founding of the Schlitz Brewery (and you thought Coors was the only fascist beer!).

The Schlitz fortune let Edgar J. Uihlein pour money into Charles Lindbergh’s America First movement, an antisemitic, pro-Nazi isolationist group that was part of a wider anti-Jewish movement that Lindbergh helped found, whose projects included translated and disseminating an English translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a hoax document purporting to reveal a conspiracy of Jewish bankers to take over the world.

Edgar Uihlein Jr — father of Dick — was a major funder of the John Birch Society, another conspiratorial far-right authoritarian group, who campaigned against secret communists, water fluoridation and civil rights. Edgar lavished funding on pro-segregationists.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Today on Propublica, Justin Elliott, Megan O’Matz and Doris Burke document the vast and shadowy support that Dick and Liz Uihlein provide to far-right causes, using the windfall profits from Uline, whose sales have ballooned along with the rise of ecommerce:

https://www.propublica.org/article/uline-uihlein-election-denial

Back in 2002, Uline was pulling in $18m/year. By 2018, it was $712m. The pandemic goosed Uline’s sales still further. The Uihleins did their best to prolong the pandemic, putting money into local school-board races to oust trustees who advocated for covid safety measures:

https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2021/10/27/uilhlein-bankrolls-mequon-thiensville-recall/

They also campaigned against workplace shutdowns, and turned their own facilities into super-spreader sites where employees sickened at shockingly high rates:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/28/uline-dick-liz-uihlein-workers-covid-safety

That’s just a small corner of the Uihleins’ contributions to culture war bullshit in public schools. They’re also big donors to the American Principles Project and its anti “transgender ideology” attack ads, which also target abortion and “critical race theory.”

https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/07/19/uline-chairman-funnels-2-5-million-to-anti-abortion-pacs/

There’s no anti-abortion candidate too extreme for the Uihlines. They spent $50m to support Darren Bailey’s bid for the governorship of Illinois. Bailey says that the Holocaust “doesn’t even compare” to abortion” (and Bailey also condemns “perversion in our schools” in the form of curriculum that acknowledges the existence of queer people).

Dick and Liz named their foundation after Dick’s father. The Ed Uihlein Family Foundation sends tens of millions to the architects of anti-democractic, anti-majoritarian, pro-voter-suppression organizations, including the Federalst Society, the Conservative Partnership Institute and the Foundation for Government Accountability:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-filings-reveal-another-billionaire-dick-uihlein-behind-the-big-lie

The Uihleins play an inside/outside game, funding “think tanks” and other outside/astroturf groups, and also backing election campaigns directly. They’re the GOP’s largest federal donors. They’ve backed campaigns Jim Marchant, who is running for Nevada Secretary of State on a Big Lie platform that denies the 2020 election. They’re also backing the PA gubernatorial bid of Doug Mastriano, the Jan 6 insurrection participant who is associated with notorious antisemites:

https://whyy.org/articles/pa-2022-governor-elections-mastriano-jewish-democrats-press-conference/

The Uihleins epitomize the idea that rich people are born to be in charge of the rest of us, and that their wealth entitles — and even obliges — them to organize the lives of the people around them. They are workplpace tyrants, micromanaging bullies who force their employees to take down their kids’ drawings and ban women from wearing pants (they also ban corduroy!).

Employees who arrive for work one minute late are considered “tardy.” An employee may not display more than four personal items, and no item may be larger than 5x7 inches. “Liz would walk up and down the aisles, and if your desk looked off, you’d be written up.”

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23179330-uline-cubicle-dos-and-donts

The company hosts mandatory “lunch and learn” sessions for employees where they are required to endure speeches from Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and other far-right figures (the Uihleins once hired a Donald Trump impersonator as the warm-up act for one of these sessions).

The Uihleins are ideologues, but it’s a mistake to view their authoritarianism, antisemitism, racism, and homophobia as the main force of their ideology. First and foremost is their belief that they deserve to be rich, and that the rich should be in charge of everyone else.

That commitment to the one dollar, one vote system is the motivating factor behind everything else. The Uihleins fund voter suppression, sure, but that’s to weaken the power of the ballot box, which might otherwise check the power of oligarchs.

Oligarchs like the Uihleins say they believe the government is incapable of doing good, but it’s more true to say that they are committed to ensuring that the government can’t do good. They don’t want a small state — they want a captive one, one that will do their bidding.

In 2017, Donald Trump achieved the only significant policy victory of his presidency: a $2.3 trillion tax giveaway to the ultra-rich. Trump may have been in charge of the Executive Branch, but he lacked the executive function to get anything done. His plutocratic class solidarity overcame his poor impulse control for this issue alone.

The actual tax bill was an incredible mess. Lawmakers literally scribbled illegible hand-written amendments all over the 479-page bill, carving out tax breaks that sent millions to individual donors.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/02/handwriting-wall-and-page-senate-passes-tax-bill/915957001/

Two of the biggest beneficiaries of this corrupt bonanza were Dick and Liz Uihlein. Their pet senator, Ron Johnson, threatened to tank the entire tax bill unless he was given a clause that created deductions for “pass-through” entities. Johnson claimed this would “simplify and rationalize the tax code” for a wide range of businesses, but that was a lie.

In truth, only a very small number of businesses benefited from this, and right at the top of the beneficiaries were the Uihlnes, who donated $20m to Johnson’s campaign and got $215m back in the first year. Overall, they stand to make $500m from Johnson’s amendment:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the-canada-variant/#shitty-man-of-history-theory

The rich are a factory for producing policy failures, and the Uihlines operate one of the most efficient policy-failure factories in the world. Yes, they support causes that threaten to exterminate Black people, Jews and queers. Yes, they want to force women and children to give birth.

But most of all, they want to rule. They want to tell us all what we can wear and to dictate the maximum size of the keepsakes we post around our desks. They want to force us to attend their “learning sessions” and to watch their Trump impersonators and clownish politicians.

They derive this authority from being born rich, and from growing still richer. Having won the lucky orifice lottery and then leveraged the advantages of being born on third base, they get to impose their will on millions of others. They believe that some were born to rule, and the rest of us were born to be ruled over.

This is the core of the monopolist’s project — to deprive you of choices, so that you are cornered into doing the monopolist’s bidding. Not only do the Uihlines want to take away your vote, they also want to force you to fund it, by monopolizing the packing materials business, so that every time you ship a box, you support your own disenfranchisement.

https://marker.medium.com/we-should-not-endure-a-king-dfef34628153

[Image ID: A paper shredder that is shredding a document labelled 'official ballot'; the box is emblazoned with the Uline logo, as well as a VOTE HERE instruction and an 'I Voted' disc.]

#pluralistic

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davidmariottecomics · 4 months

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Stuff That Sucks, Part 2 (Not Everything is Terrible)

Hello!

This is going to be a long one covering a lot, so y'know, feel free to take breaks, stretch your legs, get some water. Take care of yourself. Because I took one week off and man, there is toooooooo much to talk about! One of my first blogs on my site, way back when was called "Stuff That Sucks, Part 1" in which I went over a bunch of stuff in the world that was bad. This time, I'm kinda revisiting that idea, but am also trying to put some silly or nice or just life-updatey things inbetween the bad stuff to have some balance, as much for myself as for anyone else!

Palestine

Since I've last posted about Palestine, a ceasefire agreement has been floated. Early reports were expecting it to be resolved this weekend, but we'll see. It's hard to be optimistic (generally, given the state of the world) after 120 days of violence and an agreement that's still seeking pause more than permanence (and, in that, seems more for the benefit of the aggressor). But maybe something good can come of it.

I also believe that it is because of the actions of brave people all around the world that we're starting to see more pressure and movement to resolution. Obviously, there are plenty of people and places who got it right in the first place, like South Africa bringing Israel to the International Court of Justice on genocide charges (still in review, but the ICJ did impose their rulings to not continue to kill people or commit war crimes and Israel... has ignored that). But there have also been so many protests, actions like last week's Global General Strike, and continued efforts in hitting them where it hurts (the pockets) with concentrated BDS plans. Even if it's happening slowly, minds are changing. The latest AP poll shows 1 in 2 adults in the US thinks Israel has gone too far, which I'm sure is bolstered by the repeated statistics that over 27,000 people have been killed, over 66,000 wounded, 85% of the population has been displaced, 25% is facing starvation, aid continues to be blocked, and hospitals and journalists continue to be targeted.

But, even if things seem to be developing, don't slow down on the pressure and the help.You can still contact your representatives: Call. Fax.Email. Contact the White House. Join actions from organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, and the Democratic Socialists of America, or whatever local organization is making efforts near you. If spending money brings you any comfort and you feel a need to put something into good practice, the Cartoonist Cooperative's page still lists a ton of resources for E-Sim cards.

The other thing that feels obvious to say, but I won't not say it anyway, is even if the coming week does bring a ceasefire and some sort of agreement or resolution, the work's still not done. There will be so much rebuilding to do and aid needed in Palestine. There must be measures taken to not allow this to happen again. Even if Palestinians are given full free unfettered access without the threat of violence to Gaza and the West Bank, they're still living under colonization. There're so many other places that are getting wrapped into this in various ways (like the US getting into it with Yemen and Syria). And, of course, there are still so many other places under similar circumstances, like Ukraine and Sudan. The work will change, but it won't cease.

(SIDE NOTE: You'll notice that one of the organic boycotts noted by BDS is Wix. I know a lot of people, particularly young people who are in school/freshly out of school use that for their portfolio sites. Might be worth looking into other options)

Barbie and Godzilla Okay, I'm going to try to alternate serious things with less serious ones. Because I didn't post last week, I am late entering the Oscar conversation, but my two cents is that Barbie did just fine (though... really, nominating Ryan Gosling for Ken???) with what they got. If there was one significant snub this year, it's that Godzilla Minus One only got a single nomination, when it rightfully should've been a contender in all major categories. Like, it was certainly the best picture I saw last year.

KOSA and the Invest in Children Act

I've talked about KOSA a few times here. It's the "Kids Online Safety Act" and it's notable for being bullshit. So, tell your reps to vote no. The reason KOSA sucks--as if the CEO of X being in favor of it wasn't enough--is it doesn't actually addresses the problem it claims to, but is a tool of censorship overreach. As has always been the case, preventing access to information doesn't stop people from seeking it, it stops them from getting accurate information and limits who is in the conversation. So, while KOSA seeks to "hold companies responsible for eating disorder and suicide content" or whatever to protect the kids, as co-sponsor of the bill Senator Marsha Blackburn has LITERALLY SAID, (quoted here from the Melissa Mira Grant article linked above) “Protecting minor children from the transgender [sic] in this culture and that influence,” is one of the most important issues conservatives can take a stand on now, Blackburn said, in an interview with the Family Policy Alliance, a group pushing anti-LGBTQ rights laws. “And I would add to that, watching what’s happening on social media. I’ve got the Kids Online Safety Act.” This bill, she claimed, “would put a duty of care and responsibility on the social media platforms, and this is where children are being indoctrinated.… They’re getting onto YouTube to watch a video, and all of a sudden this comes to them.”

Other advocates against KOSA have pointed out that not only is it seeking to further marginalize queer folks, but it'd also be bad for sex workers (who we'll get back to in a second), and potentially abortion information, as well as actual resources for people who are seeking help with disordered eating or suicidal thoughts. The only "good" that comes from this bill is, well, if you're an evil person in a governmental position looking to suppress information, you can do that if it passes. And if you want points for "protecting the kids", the name says you get them to people who don't know what's actually happening.

BUT, with all that said, instead of just saying to reject KOSA, we now have legistation we can point to as what we want instead: the Invest in Children Act! Unlike KOSA, or it's shitty predicessor, EARNIT (which I've also previously rallied against), the ICA actually seems interested in fixing the problems that do actually exist in the gaps between internet companies that already widely report issues of child sexual abuse online and a lack of action from NCMEC and the DOJ. But, y'know, the name isn't as snappy and this bill would actually protect children (something that given their response to what's happening in Palestine and the US, most of our representatives don't actually care about) and would do good for the world, so unfortunately my expectations are low.

(SIDE NOTE: Because this literally just happened while I was writing--I was listening to music on YouTube [not that they're great either because, I guess just everything is terrible now, but nominally better than Spotify???] and the video for Collective Soul's The World I Know was next in my queue and it paused. Y'know why? Because the website's already set up to tell me if a video may have references to suicide or self-harm! A thing that is already in place and doesn't need KOSA to happen!!!)

Original Comic Art

Be on the lookout for a couple original pieces by J.G. Jones that were stolen from him at OAX. Poor guy had these commissions stolen from his table during the show and I'm sure everyone in the situation (barring the thief) would like to see this beautiful Poison Ivy and Fairchild go to their proper homes. And, semi-relatedly, there have been a lot of creators this week announcing they're parting ways with their current art dealer and if you'd like a commission or to buy their art, you should contact them directly. I don't have a full list, but if you were in the original art market right now, might be worth double-checking where you can make your purchases from.

The War on Porn and Trans People

As if KOSA wasn't enough, it's been a bad few weeks for y'know, most people. In Oklahoma, a bill was introduced that sought to criminalize porn on an incredibly wide definition, brought forth by the sort of far-right Christian who despite being a preacher, has literally 0 understanding of what the Bible actually says because to him, religion is not about practice or belief in a shared understanding of how the universe was formed and how we got to this point, it's a tool of control.

There's a report that the owner of OnlyFans pleged $11 million to a pro-Israel group in the last few months. He has denied that claim. Regardless, as these things so often do, it has dragged performers on the site into the conversation despite A. OnlyFans not (yet) being a BDS target and B. with everything else going on, there are only so many places to move to left. At time of posting, PornHub is blocked in... 6 states. There are a lot of walls being thrown up to try to limit our access to adult material and further deplatform and marginalize sex workers, which was already a massive problem and it sucks.

Meanwhile, this week, Florida's trying to revoke trans people's driver's licenses and Ohio's banning trans kids from sports or gender-affirming care in their quest to ban trans people from existence entirely. And these are part and parcel of the pattern of trying to further criminalize, censor, and legislate women's bodies, trans bodies, sex workers, and anyone who isn't a cis straight white man. In the US, the New York Times, and in the UK, the Guardian are both doing the Tim Robinson hot dog "we're all trying to find the guy that did this" thing despite how much anti-trans bullshit they've spread.

As there are more bills introduced that forbid (or have to shield against consequences for) interstate travel of trans people and people seeking abortions, we're really reaching a breaking point and coupled with the dissatisfaction of both promient Presidential candidates for their records of *checks notes* inaction or hostile action toward the majority of the American people... let's just say I'm not looking forward to how this year shakes out for the most part.

Wedding Plans One exciting thing, though, is Becca and I soft-announced our wedding plans. We'd still like to try to organize something in San Diego for our friends and family presumably around SDCC time, but tha'ts up in the air because that's expensive and coming up much quicker than I think either of us would like with no plans firmed up. But our plan for the wedding itself has largely shifted to doing it internationally.

We were always thinking of a honeymoon in Japan and now have kinda figured that if we're going to do that, instead of trying to do a ceremony in the US and then also pay for a trip, it's cheaper and maybe more special for us to roll it into a single plan. Becca's been looking a bit at Sanrio PuroLand, the Hello Kitty amusement park, because they have reasonable packages and you can bring in an outside coordinator (and we'd love to find someone who has experience with queer weddings in Japan, if anyone might have any recommendations). I'm not quite as sold, but that is generally what we're looking at.

As things maybe solidify around SDCC or otherwise we get our picture all figured out for Japan, I'll share more news.

Virgilio Mendez Virgilio Mendez is a 19 year old migrant who has been held for a crime he obviously didn't commit. He's been charged with aggrivated homicide for a cop who confronted him for the crime of being brown and not speaking English. Mendez was literally just on the phone, repeatedly communicated that he does not speak English (and recently the court found the case couldn't move forward because, as a product of that, he has no understanding of the American justice system), the cop harassed him, ultimately called back-up, the cops proceeded to batter and tase him, and then the original offending officer had a heart attack and died, as the coroner has reported, of natural and pre-existing causes, and all of that has been pinned on this poor kid's back. It's just depressing and despicable.

Baldur's Gate

Okay, so... at one point I thought this was going to be shorter (haha, I don't know why I thought that) and I was going to talk about how I've been playing a lot of Baldur's Gate 3 and my thoughts on it. But I've run out of room for this time, and soooo... next week. I'm going to talk about BG3, Persona 5, Honkai Star Rail, and the ways that things that might activate similar sensations can leave you with very different impressions in the long term. But that'll be next week, so see ya then!

New Releases (2/7/24) Godzilla Valentine's Day Special (Editor - IDW)

Announcements: Happy Black History Month! This week, I want to spotlight Clarence Matthew Baker! He is notable for being one of the first successful Black men in American comics and one of the first successful gay men! That's a lovely little profile of him and his work, including some classic Phantom Lady and It Rhymes With Lust! The man had gorgeous art and influenced comics so much, not in the least because his art was one of the primary examples of the "seduction" of Seduction of the Innocent, the famous anti-comics book that turned comics into a witch hunt for pornographers because the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Check out my Patreon where you can access this blog as well as a ton of cool other stuff! Some recent highlights include the holiday catalog I made at the end of last year is now available to all backers (though $10+ backers got it almost 45 days early) and I've previewed some materials for something I'm working on and hoping to launch in the next month or two. Patreon will also be where I start posting some of my new original comics work later in the year, so keep an eye out for that too!

You can also check out my webstore, my Kofi (I still need to throw up my updated Anti-AI Zine), and Becca's site (also pending a new update)!

What I enjoyed this week: Nancy (Comic), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video Game), Baldur's Gate III (Video Game), Blank Check (Podcast), Dungeons & Daddies (Podcast), The Traitors Season 2 (TV show), The Sopranos (TV show), Almost Famous (Movie), Heartburn (Movie), the mango pineapple chicken from the local Indian food place, getting new comics and making friends with an employee we don't know at the comic store (If you ever read this, hi, Clay @ Nuclear Comics North Park!), having had a good first couple of weeks at the new job!

Pic of the Week: Feels like it has been a while since I did this, but here's a cute picture of Tiansheng for what it's worth, but Hourly Comics Day was this week and Becca put together some strips. First one's linked and you can find the rest on their Bsky page!

#minus one snubbed #oscar snubs #godzilla #barbie was nominated for a lot and deservedly so #dumb cats #matt baker comics #wedding plans #personal update #world news #comic art theft #free palestine #free gaza #fuck kosa #stop kosa

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