Trump’s anti-Semitism envoy boldly equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, & considers Israel “a central tenet” of Judaism – despite the many voices within the global Jewish community, including within Israel itself, critical of Israel. Carr demands: Every law enforcement office and every prosecutorial agency must force everybody who has even a hint of antisemitism to undergo a tolerance program.
Renowned author Kamila Shamsie won a prestigious literary award in Germany. Then a rightwing website dug up “dirt” – Shamsie supports BDS! – and just like that, the award was rescinded.
CNN’s Jake Tapper, schooled to be pro-Israel, likened the Palestinian liberation movement to white supremacy – and social media commenters are not having it…
Katherine Franke writes in the New York Review of Books that while Palestinian rights are getting more attention than ever, advocates of justice still face accusations of “anti-Semitism,” harassment, and most of all, censorship on college campuses….
A children’s speech pathologist refuses to sign a will-not-boycott-Israel oath: she loses her job, an unknown number of children lose her advocacy. She notes how outlandish it is that she is not required to uphold the interests of the United States, or Texas, or children, but a foreign country.
As The Intercept has repeatedly documented, the most frequent victims of official campus censorship are not conservative polemicists but pro-Palestinian activists, and the greatest and most severe threat posed to free speech throughout the west is aimed at Israel critics.
The Israel lobby is taking newly elected Congressional representatives, CNN-ABC commentator Tara Setmayer, & California “progressive leaders” on propaganda trips to Israel. AIPAC IS using a loophole that violates the spirit of the law… and seems to be functioning as a foreign agent…
Among the many state and local orgs that work in the shadows for Israel is the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board (VIAB), funded by Virginia taxpayers. VIAB’s main objective is to provide preferential and unconditional funding to oftentimes secretive Israeli business projects designed to entwine Israeli industries into Virginia industries and government. VIAB is currently being scrutinized by the state Attorney General over its handling of government funds.