The framing of this “war” is threatening free speech in the USA, the UK and elsewhere
JVL Introduction
Speaking up for justice and peace in Palestine and Israel can come at personal cost. Here the focus is on the United States but similar pressures are happening in the UK and elsewhere; for example Avi Shlaim’s talk at Liverpool Hope University was ‘postponed’, the Home Secretary calls demonstrations calling for ceasefire and justice for Palestinians “Hate Marches”. not least in the Labour Party where Andy McDonald MP has lost the Party whip for using the expression “river to the sea” even though he was clearly calling for peace for Israelis and Palestinians. And when calling for a ceasefire brings allegations of existential threat to Israel (with not so subtle subtext implying that we mean Jews). In Germany protests are forbidden and there are concerns that the same may happen in Canada and elsewhere.
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This article was originally published by The Guardian on Mon 30 Oct 2023. Read the original here.
‘McCarthyite backlash’: response to criticism of Israel alarms rights groups
Civil rights groups say critics of the Israeli assault on Gaza have lost jobs and students who support Palestine have been blacklisted
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It came as no surprise to read of the Oxford Mosque where a can of petrol was thrown at the mosque, allegedly with “IDF Rule” written on it. The real effects of the anti-muslim, anti pro-palestine propaganda is hitting the streets. Everywhere the media repeats speeches fron “IDF Spokesman” with no comment from Palestinians or Anti-Zionist Jews. We have a controlled media whipping up race hatred on a daily basis. As Andrew Feinstein argues, not only is Israel becoming a fascist state, our politicians are clearly leading us down the same path.
https://twitter.com/andrewfeinstein/status/1630590994591694849
A young woman student at UCL – she’s doing an MA in global Health and social justice told me on the march for peace that she and her fellow students had been warned by staff at UCL not to march and that if they became involved in Palestinian activism it could jeopardise their future job prospects.
May I suggest that from now on every statement made about anything is prefaced with “from the river to the sea”. For example From the river to the sea, Is the prime minister truly intending to ignore the number of people waiting for housing in this country? Or “From the river to the sea is the minister prepared to ignore the number of constituents complaining about sewage deposits in our waterways. “From the river to the sea How can we tolerate the price increases on food in supermarkets? Any statement about anything from now on shows how utterly ridiculous the Labour leader is being.
@Jenny King – thats interesting as some of the archaeology students there go out to do digs in Israel, digs that are then used to add validity to its existence and legitimise Palestinian oppression. I also believe UCL might house some Palestinian antiquities, and they still blindly honour eugenicist Flinders Petrie, whos buried in Jerusalem.