Columbia faculty members walk out after pro-Palestinian protesters arrested - Page 10 - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#15314025
So are people of Jewish descent being discriminated against? Can a Gentile move about campus carrying an Israeli flag without being harassed? Can a Gentile move about campus carrying a confederate flag without being harassed?

Are Islamoophile Cultural Marxist bully boys interfering with student rights? I don't doubt it. But this has been going for decades. Why is everyone so suddenly concerned just because a few Jewish Zionists get their rights infringed upon?
#15314026
wat0n wrote:No, that's a simple statement of fact.


Then it's also a simple statement of fact to say that Anthony Cabassa is a Christo-Fascist, and that you don't do anything at all to vet your sources.

No, they were not.

They were caught on camera.

Students being harassed were simply exercising their right to be on campus and use open spaces.


[Citation needed]

Indeed, he actually has every incentive to deny any of that happened since his inaction risked opening UCLA up to litigation. It may still happen if it hasn't already.


Don't be stupid. He knows his Zionist friends will not sue him and will, in all probability, reward him for bashing in protestor's skulls.

No, it has not.


Are you kidding me, or are you just completely ignorant of all American history?

It was not legitimate to take over schools and universities to protest desegregation, for example.


That's because it's disgusting and wrong to oppose desegregation. It is 100% morally legitimate to shut down schools in order to integrate them.

I wonder if you will say that enforcing civil rights law to desegregate schools was "legalistic bitching" too.


The Civil Rights Act is a thing that exists ONLY BECAUSE of protestors who had to break numerous laws in order to be heard.

Or segregation is fine when the ones being segregated are Jewish?


No, but segregation is fine when the ones being segregated are launching fireworks into crowds, stabbing Palestinian students, beating them up, spraying them with mace and skunk spray, doxxing them, and supporting genocide.
#15314031
Saeko wrote:The UCLA Chancellor is not an objective party. Also, protesting by shutting down public or private services has long been a legitimate form of protest throughout American history. So take your legalistic bitching elsewhere.


The only real point of difference I would have with your characterization is that I would see such acts of civil disobedience to be that of resistors rather than of protesters . And while I might still deem it to be morally justified , per the right of revolution , I do not feel that it is necessarily legally protected . On a personal note , if I were to ever decide to personally defy the powers that be , in such a blatantly disruptive , and unruly manner , I would fully expect to face forcible suppression , and possibly even official aggression . Which is why I would admonish people , in this and any matter of conflict between the people and the power , to first count the cost , and choose ones battles wisely . Maybe that's the difference between myself , as some who came from an old school ethnic German background and as such had faced corporal punishment of various kinds , to instill obedient discipline befitting of a " good little German" , and others whose childhoods might have been more lenient , and diplomatic in nature . The latter of which are the free spirited Americans shown in the fictional shows below , of which a number of the former families forbade their children to watch , for the reason that they didn't want them getting any such bold notions . This is also why spanking is brought up in the political compass quiz . The relationship of ones attitude towards governmental authority mirrors that of parental .

https://news.yahoo.com/first-amendment-means-campus-protests-172947610.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights

https://www.thefire.org/news/heres-what-students-need-know-about-protesting-campus-right-now

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/models-obedience

https://www.jstor.org/stable/350737




#15314032
Rich wrote:So are people of Jewish descent being discriminated against? Can a Gentile move about campus carrying an Israeli flag without being harassed? Can a Gentile move about campus carrying a confederate flag without being harassed?

Are Islamoophile Cultural Marxist bully boys interfering with student rights? I don't doubt it. But this has been going for decades. Why is everyone so suddenly concerned just because a few Jewish Zionists get their rights infringed upon?


They are not mutually exclusive.

Gentiles carrying Israeli flags have been harassed.

Jewish students dressed according to their branch of Judaism have been harassed too.

Saeko wrote:Then it's also a simple statement of fact to say that Anthony Cabassa is a Christo-Fascist, and that you don't do anything at all to vet your sources.


It is indeed, and it is also a statement of fact that he was harassed and posted footage of that.

Saeko wrote:[Citation needed]


I have posted several videos of that. The most obvious one is that of a Hasidic Jew who was harassed at Yale.

Saeko wrote:Don't be stupid. He knows his Zionist friends will not sue him and will, in all probability, reward him for bashing in protestor's skulls.


UCLA is already under a Title VI investigation, like many other schools.

Saeko wrote:Are you kidding me, or are you just completely ignorant of all American history?


Was the occupation of the University of Mississippi to block James Meredith from enrolling seen as a legitimate protest?

Saeko wrote:That's because it's disgusting and wrong to oppose desegregation. It is 100% morally legitimate to shut down schools in order to integrate them.


Correct, and it is also disgusting to harass Jewish and Israeli students and barring them from using school facilities, aiming to segregate them, or moving freely on campus.

Saeko wrote:The Civil Rights Act is a thing that exists ONLY BECAUSE of protestors who had to break numerous laws in order to be heard.


Wrong, the movement had began as early as 1954 with Brown.

Saeko wrote:No, but segregation is fine when the ones being segregated are launching fireworks into crowds, stabbing Palestinian students, beating them up, spraying them with mace and skunk spray, doxxing them, and supporting genocide.


Prove that each and every student who has been harassed was launching fireworks into crowds, stabbing Palestinian students, beating Palestinian students up, spraying Palestinian students with mace and skunk spray, doxxing Palestinian students and supporting genocide.

Start with him, the Hasidic Jewish student who was harassed at Yale:

#15314054
A bill that would enshrine a popular and contentious definition of antisemitism passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a wide margin.

The Antisemitism Awareness Act mandates government civil rights offices to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which has been endorsed by hundreds of local governments, corporations and universities.

But the definition has also drawn criticism because most of its examples of antisemitism involve criticism of the state of Israel, including calling it a “racist endeavor.”

The bill is moving forward at a time when criticism of Israel, and when it crosses over into antisemitism, have been in the spotlight. Protesters at the pro-Palestinian encampments on campuses nationwide have harshly criticized Israel, with some using language decried as antisemitic. The bill’s passage would mean the definition would apply when officials adjudicate Title VI complaints alleging campus antisemitism.

Supporters of the bill say it covers the range of ways antisemitism manifests in the present day. The definition’s opponents say it chills legitimate criticism of Israel.

Those critiques did not hinder the bill, which passed Wednesday 320-91. Republicans voted 187-21 for the bill, and Democrats supported it 133-70. Eighteen members did not vote, split evenly between the parties.

An identical version is under consideration in the Senate, and while it is in its early stages, it too is likely to pass.

But opponents of the IHRA definition in Congress included New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the House’s longest-serving Jewish Democrat.

“Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination,” The Associated Press quoted Nadler as saying during a hearing Tuesday. “By encompassing purely political speech about Israel into Title VI’s ambit, the bill sweeps too broadly.”

Kenneth Marcus, the chairman of the Brandeis Center for Human Rights and a Department of Education civil rights official under the Trump administration, said that the bill, should it become law, would be a useful tool on campuses given the recent turmoil.

“From a federal perspective, this legislation won’t change current practice so much as it will reinforce it,” Marcus said in a statement, noting that both the Biden and Trump administrations have worked to combat antisemitism on campuses. “From a university perspective, however, there are few U.S. universities that are consistently applying the IHRA definition in appropriate cases. This legislation should put a stop to that.”

Americans for Peace Now, a dovish pro-Israel group, worried in a statement that the bill, should it become law, would be used “as a cudgel against the millions of Americans, including many Jewish Americans, who object to the Netanyahu government’s decisions and actions,” referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war against Hamas.

How each lawmaker voted was not yet available, but a number, including Nadler, had said in advance they would oppose it. Others include Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the Washington Democrat who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said passing the legislation was a priority, but the Republican no votes were a sign of how difficult it is for him to control the party’s far right and also of the increasing tendency on the Republican far right to reconsider, if not embrace, long-scorned antisemitic tropes.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who constantly clashes with more moderate Republicans, said she would vote against because she worried it would criminalize what she said was a Christian belief that the Jews were responsible for killing Jesus, a belief repudiated by many large Christian denominations. Others on the far right voting against included Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who also recently voted against aid to Israel.

Other bills with bipartisan backing that would combat antisemitism are wending their way through both chambers of Congress, including one that would set up a coordinator to monitor and combat domestic antisemitism, a counterpart to the existing State Department envoy to combat antisemtism overseas, a position currently held by the prominent Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt. Jewish Telegraphic Agency


While hundreds of Israel protesters on campuses across the country came to blows and arrests continued to mount this week, students in Providence, Rhode Island, faced a calmer reality on Wednesday.

There, the tents in the pro-Palestinian demonstration came down peacefully. And the organizers of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” celebrated, dancing and partying on Brown University’s Main Green.

That’s because they achieved a landmark victory: In exchange for ending their encampment now and pausing all future campus actions through commencement, Brown’s administration agreed that its board would vote in October on whether the university should divest from companies that do business in Israel.

For decades, dozens of student governments have voted symbolically to divest from Israel but have gained no traction with the university administrations with the power to act on their wishes. Brown is the first school to ever agree to a divestment vote — a key demand of the students and other members of the nationwide movement opposing Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. “We’ll see a peaceful end to the unauthorized encampment,” Brown President Christina Paxson wrote Tuesday in an open letter announcing the agreement. She added, “I feel strongly that a vote in October, either for or against divestment, will bring clarity to an issue that is of long-standing interest to many members of our community.”

Through a spokesperson, Paxson, who is Jewish, declined to speak with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. In her letter, she also expressed hope for “a full and frank exchange of views” at the planned October meeting of the Brown Corporation, the school’s board.

More broadly, the moment heralded something of a turning point for relations between university administrations and the encampment protesters, whose movement has only grown in the two weeks since the first tents were pitched on Columbia University’s campus. Many schools have turned to police to clear encampments, some after unsuccessful negotiations between protesters and administrators; Brown itself arrested more than 40 students during a sit-in to push for divestment in December.

But at a few schools — including Brown, Northwestern, The Evergreen State College and Portland State University — the two sides have succeeded, at least to some degree, in reaching agreements to keep the campus climate under control.

The Brown agreement earned praise from one campus stakeholder who staunchly opposes divestment — Rabbi Josh Bolton, director of the Hillel serving both Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design. Bolton said the existence of the encampment was bad for Jews on campus, and the Jewish community should celebrate its peaceful dismantling.

“We will not be seeing the police and guards tearing down encampments as we’ve seen on other campuses, and ultimately, that’s good for our community,” he said. “And ultimately ending the encampment is good for our community.” The Brown agreement allows for five students chosen by the encampment’s organizers to meet with the board to make the case for divestment. An advisory committee will also present Paxson with its own recommendation on the issue. The proposal in the agreement is based on one Brown considered in 2020 but rejected the following year, in which 11 primarily military-based companies — including Boeing, Airbus, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman — were proposed for possible divestment on the basis of Israel’s settler activity in the West Bank.

The new agreement was signed by members of the Brown Divestment Coalition — including leaders of Jews For Ceasefire Now, a pro-Palestinian campus group that saw 20 of its members arrested. “While we acknowledge that this is by no means a total victory, we celebrate this step in the fight for divestment, and further, Palestinian liberation,” the Jewish group, which did not reply to a JTA request for comment, wrote on Instagram Wednesday.

The university rejected a separate demand from the students that it not prosecute the students arrested for protesting on campus in recent months.

Yet supporters of the encampment are still celebrating.

“I’ve been very impressed with the fact that the students were finally able to get divestment on the table,” Jackie Goldman, a staff member at Brown’s School of Public Health who is Jewish and has been part of campus pro-Palestinian protests but was not an active part of the encampment, told JTA. “They’ve been organizing on this for a really long time and it’s definitely a win.”

Student protester demands regarding divestment at other campuses have tended to push for a total break with any company that has a relationship with Israel or invests in a company that does. Brown’s vote will be more targeted, with a focus on the 2020 proposal, which made it more appealing for the university to agree to, according to Chris Marsciano, a professor of education policy at Davidson College.

“It’s pretty hard to divest more broadly by targeting specific companies,” Marsciano said, adding that while Brown’s proposal was “more likely than other divestment efforts to happen,” he still emphasized that the situation could change drastically by October.

“This is a win for protesters in some way, but at the end of the day I sincerely doubt this will affect much of the war effort in Israel,” Marsciano said.

At Northwestern, protesters also dismantled all but one tent related to their encampment this week after reaching an agreement that called for the school to meet several demands, including reestablishing a dormant committee tending to “investment responsibility,” renovating a center for Muslim, Middle Eastern and North African students and committing to bringing more “at risk” Palestinian students and faculty to campus.

A request for comment to a university spokesperson was not returned, but the school’s Jewish president, Morton Schill, said in a video, “I am proud of our community for achieving what has been a challenge across the country: a sustainable de-escalated path forward.” Schill also condemned antisemitic actions at the encampments, including one image depicting him with devil’s horns.

A representative for The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, confirmed to JTA that the school had also reached a divestment-related agreement with protesters, who agreed to dismantle their encampments Wednesday. The school says it will form multiple “disappearing taskforces” made up of both students and faculty, including one that will propose changes to its socially responsible investment policy, with a special focus on Israel.

Meanwhile Portland State, in Oregon, attempted to broker a similar deal with protesters who occupied and vandalized a campus library over the weekend, with the president agreeing to incorporate Palestinian content into the school’s ethnic studies requirement and make a “personal donation” to the school’s Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian student center. Yet protesters remained in the library as of Wednesday, leaving the terms of the agreement on hold, a university spokesperson said.

(Separately, the university has agreed to “pause” all financial support it receives from Boeing after the school’s pro-Palestinian student coalition demanded it “cut all ties” with the embattled airplane manufacturer.)

But unlike Brown, neither school has agreed to hold a formal vote on divestment. Even the prospect of such a vote was enough to draw the ire of some Jewish groups, with the regional Anti-Defamation League office decrying Brown’s agreement as “a path of capitulation rather than condemnation” that was “validating a movement rife with antisemitism and hate.” (The ADL also denounced the Northwestern agreement as “reprehensible” and “dangerous.”)

Bolton was optimistic about how the vote would ultimately play out. The Hillel director said the issue was too contentious on campus for the university to seriously consider making such a “radical change” to its policies. Whether the school could even divest legally is an open question: Rhode Island is one of dozens of states that have passed laws prohibiting any financial association between the state government and companies that boycott Israel.

“Brown is not going to divest from Israel. Brown was never going to divest from Israel,” Bolton told JTA, adding that he would be taking a “wait and see” approach regarding the fall vote. “October is a cosmos away,” he said.

Before then, the university will see a tangible investment in its Jewish community, as Brown/RISD Hillel will break ground on the first stage of a new $10 million renovation project for its Jewish center, including a worship space that will incorporate elements from historic Eastern European synagogues.

The head of Brown’s Chabad center, too, praised the school’s administration without commenting on the agreement.

”I’m very grateful to President Paxson for her leadership over these years and for working to make Brown a space where Jewish students feel welcomed and supported,” Rabbi Menachem Mendel Laufer, co-director of Chabad of College Hill, told JTA. “I think it’s a great Jewish space now, and I think it’s going to be even better.”

Jewish leaders said that Brown remains a safe and thriving place for Jewish students today. And, Bolton hopes, actually putting divestment to a vote could help quell the unrest on campus by demonstrating that there is not as much popular support for the idea as protesters think.

“In some ways, it’s good to have votes happen,” he said. “Because we can then really check and get a better and better sense that, in fact, this is a contended issue.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency


For the past couple of days, Eli Tsives has watched a video of himself spread online.

It shows him trying to enter his campus, the University of California, Los Angeles, and go to class, only to be blocked by a growing number of pro-Palestinian activists wearing keffiyehs, or Palestinian scarves.

Tsives, who is in his first year, handed his phone to another Jewish student who filmed the interaction. He posted the video, but says he didn’t mean to go viral. The newfound fame, he said, has made his life more difficult.

“For the first time in my life, I actually have to say, yeah, I don’t feel safe,” Tsives told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Wednesday morning. “Other students used to not feel safe, and I would advocate for them. But personally, I always used to say, ‘No, I’m fine.’” He continued, “But now that I’ve become so public, I’ve been receiving hate calls, people have been publicly posting on Instagram about me. So it’s very difficult for Jewish students right now on campus.”

The episode was one example of rising tensions at UCLA in the days since pro-Palestinian students set up an encampment akin to those at dozens of other schools. It turned out to be a relatively tame altercation.

The day after Tsives went viral, another video of clashes did so as well: This time, it showed pro-Israel activists physically attacking the perimeter of the school’s pro-Palestinian encampment as well as at least one protester.

The demonstrators arrived just before midnight on Tuesday night, many dressed in black clothing with white masks. Photographs and videos from the scene show numerous fights breaking out, objects being thrown into the camp, and at least one firework being set off. Security guards were present at the scene but did not intervene. Police eventually cleared the area around 3 a.m. UCLA canceled classes on Wednesday. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the violence as “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable” and called for an investigation. According to the Los Angeles Times, at least 15 people were injured, though it is unclear if anyone was arrested. As of Wednesday afternoon, the area remained restricted to law enforcement and credentialed media, while campus and L.A. police maintained a heavy presence. Police began clearing the encampment early Thursday morning, clashing with protesters and making arrests as they moved into the area.

Among those condemning Tuesday night’s pro-Israel violence are Jewish leaders in L.A., and Jewish students at UCLA, which, according to Hillel International, is home to 2,500 Jewish undergraduates among a total of about 32,000.

Tsives, who said he witnessed Tuesday night’s clash, said the incident “slows down” those who advocate for Israel. He also laid blame with the university administration, which he said should have removed the encampment days ago when it was found to violate campus rules. “If you’re a student who’s not biased in this situation, and you’re looking at the sides, and you see a pro-Israel mob rush what they think is a peaceful encampment — even though we know this is not a peaceful encampment — it makes us look really bad,” Tsives said. “I’m here to let them know, this was a small group of what the majority of the Jewish people actually believe. We don’t support what they did.”

That message was echoed by the L.A. Jewish federation in a rare statement criticizing the actions of Jews on campus. Like Tsives, the federation also said the violence was a result of the administration failing to act.

“We are appalled at the violence that took place on the campus of UCLA last night,” the Wednesday statement said. “The abhorrent actions of a few counter protestors last night do not represent the Jewish community or our values. We believe in peaceful, civic discourse. Unfortunately, the violence at UCLA is a result of the lack of leadership from the Chancellor and the UCLA administration. The Chancellor has allowed for an environment to be created over many months that has made students feel unsafe.”

Some Jewish students who condemned Tuesday’s violence also said they were made to feel unsafe on campus. One sociology student said that, like Tsives, he was blocked from crossing campus by pro-Palestinian activists.

“It’s been surreal. Surreal is an understatement,” the student told JTA. “I just don’t feel safe on my campus as a Jewish student… It’s kind of gotten to a point where, what are we doing here? This is America.”

But the student, who requested anonymity because of the tensions on campus, said the scenes from Tuesday night “just made our stock plummet.”

“If this was the stock market we’d be a penny stock right now,” he said. “It’s over. Anyone pro-Israel looks like a barbarian right now, which isn’t a fair representation of most of us.”

Many schools with encampments have also experienced counter-demonstrations by pro-Israel students. But UCLA has stood out for the intensity and persistence of pro-Israel protests, which included a mass rally outside the encampment on Sunday that appeared to exceed the encampment’s footprint. A sophomore who gave her name as Stella V., and who wears a Star of David and a Hebrew “Shalom” necklace, said a Jewish professor of hers had recently asked if she felt safe wearing visibly identifiable Jewish jewelry at school.

“I told her yes, but in reflecting on that, I realized no, it’s not comfortable for me to wear my necklaces on campus,” Stella told JTA. “And yet, I’m going to anyway. Because it’s important that we stay proud and stay true to who we are in this tense situation.”

Stella attended a peaceful pro-Israel gathering at UCLA on Sunday next to the encampment and said it was more characteristic of how most Jews in campus have responded to the pro-Palestinian activism and set a clear contrast between the pro-Palestinian and the pro-Israel advocates.

“It was for the vast, vast, vast majority very peaceful, and very just loving and uplifting,” she said. “It felt so good to be a part of that community. You could really see the difference in the two communities. One was very angry and very aggressive, and the other was full of love and just happiness. I think that doing things like that is a great way to stand up for what I believe in.”

The violence on Tuesday, she said, “gives our name a bad rap, because the vast majority of pro-Israel supporters and pro-Zionists and Jewish people are not violent, and they’re not looking for any type of aggression,” she said. “I think that that type of incident gives our community a really bad representation and a really bad look.”

Tsives, along with many of the students who spoke with JTA on Wednesday, said that he was confident that many of the violent counter-protesters were not UCLA students. Students at Columbia University and other campuses with encampments have likewise said that many of the pro-Palestinian activists filmed being aggressive and making antisemitic comments are not affiliated with the university.

Tsives, who is active with several Jewish clubs on campus, said he did not recognize a single person who participated. Some students who are from the L.A. area told JTA they saw fellow local Jewish Angelenos on Tuesday night who are not UCLA students.

Dov Waxman, a professor and the director of UCLA’s Israel studies program, came to the same conclusion. In a social media post decrying the violence, Waxman also claimed that many of those involved were not students. “I am absolutely appalled by the violence that took place,” Waxman told JTA. “I just feel totally sickened by it, really, to see those kinds of scenes of violence and mayhem on UCLA’s campus, which is ordinarily a place of peaceful studying and conversations. To see that descend into a kind of warzone is really, really deeply disturbing.”

He had harsh words for the violent pro-Israel protesters.

“I would certainly say they’re not doing anything to support the needs of the Jewish community at UCLA, and their actions, in fact, only increase the tensions on campus, including for the Jewish community at UCLA,” Waxman added. “I also don’t think they are doing anything to advance what they might think of as being pro-Israel, either. They weren’t acting on behalf or in the interests of the Jewish community at UCLA.”

Waxman said he supports students’ right to peacefully protest, adding that he recognized former students of his in the encampment. But Waxman is also a target of sorts: the protesters are calling to boycott UCLA’s Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, which he runs.

“To call for a boycott of a center that’s based at the University of California at UCLA, which engages solely in teaching and scholarship about Israel — it’s not linked to the Israeli government in any way, it doesn’t engage in pro-Israel advocacy, we’re an Israel studies center — I was really disappointed by that and frustrated by that,” Waxman said.

Michael Sassounian, a Jewish UCLA alum and assistant professor in the university’s psychiatry program, told JTA he visited the encampment last Thursday and was met with aggression and obscene language.

One pro-Palestinian activist, who Sassounian said nearly started a fight with him, called him a “Zionist piece of s—.” Sassounian, who was waving an Israeli flag at the time, also said some of the activists mocked him for mentioning the hostages, while another chanted “globalize the intifada.”

Sassounian said he had no issue with peaceful protest but said the violence Tuesday night as well as the ongoing harassment of Jewish students were both unacceptable. He called on the university to act.

“The university clearly has not done enough,” Sassounian told JTA. “They really have not done anything on the part that really concerns me most, which is the bullying and the barring of Jewish students from certain parts of campus.” Early Thursday morning, police moved to clear the encampment after amassing outside of it for hours and issuing an order to disperse. As at other schools, they began making arrests and clashed with protesters, according to reports from the scene. In an apparent reference to the attack by pro-Israel counter-protesters, some protesters yelled, “Where were you yesterday?”

They also shouted, “Free, free Palestine” as they linked arms and resisted the police incursion, according to reports and videos from the scene, which was unfolding at about 5 a.m. local time on Thursday.

Zack, a fifth-year senior at UCLA who declined to share his last name, arrived outside the encampment Wednesday with the L.A. chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian grassroots organization Standing Together, which is a rare group in Israel calling for a permanent ceasefire. Despite advocating for an end to the war, it has also faced opposition from the movement to boycott Israel.

Zack, who is Jewish, told JTA he had mixed feelings about the encampment but supported the activists’ right to protest and agreed with the calls for a ceasefire.

He added that he was “really disturbed” by the incident Tuesday night, and more generally by the vitriolic dialogue that has surrounded the campus protests around the country, which he said distracts from the real issue: the war itself.

“I think a lot of the rhetoric on both sides is focusing on what’s happening at UCLA, when we should be focused on what’s happening in Gaza,” he said. Jewish Telegraphic Agency
#15314062
Pants-of-dog wrote:The few seconds of footage show a man walking around and not being touched at all by anyone. This is bad.

Universities invest in military technology used in an ongoing genocide. This is perfectly normal and morally just.

:|

LOL are you kidding me? They have no right to apartheid the campus and harass Jews even if what they're protesting were just. Go read Title VI of the Civil Right Act. The KKK 2.0 are back. Admin Edit: Rule 2 Violation

This was in Ottawa the other day, glorify and cheering Oct 7. Nothing to see here, eh POD?

Last edited by noemon on 04 May 2024 22:52, edited 2 times in total. Reason: Rule 2 Violation
#15314065
Unthinking Majority wrote:LOL are you kidding me? They have no right to apartheid the campus and harass Jews even if what they're protesting were just.


Since neither of these things are happening, we can rest easy,

This was in Ottawa the other day, glorify and cheering Oct 7. Nothing to see here, eh POD?


I see. If these people do something you perceive as wrong, that justifies anything and everything. Two wrongs do make a right!
#15314072
Pants-of-dog wrote:The few seconds of footage show a man walking around and not being touched at all by anyone. This is bad.

Universities invest in military technology used in an ongoing genocide. This is perfectly normal and morally just.

:|


As a matter of fact, universities have a duty to ensure their students are not harassed.

I know some people want to bring numerus clausus back, and exclude Jews from accessing higher education using the most ridiculous justifications to that effect. It won't succeed.

Oh, and I will also note that there was certainly touching going on here:

#15314075
Harassment is usually defined as some sort of repetitive behaviour towards a person or group. This was an isolated incident where the person was not touched.

This is far less significant than the fact that the US government has legally enshrined a definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of Israel, and could very well be sending monitors to ensure that campuses do not allow criticism of Israel on their campus.

Claiming that Israel is a settler colonialist state that imposes a race based apartheid (which is a political science argument that can and has been supported academically) can now be reason to cut federal funding if a campus lets a professor say that.
#15314077
This is a great development:

Union plans strike vote over crackdown on University of California Gaza protests

The largest union of academic workers, which represents more than 48,000 graduate student workers throughout the University of California system, will hold a strike authorization vote as early as next week in response to how universities have cracked down on students’ Gaza protests.

“The use and sanction of violent force to curtail peaceful protest is an attack on free speech and the right to demand change, and the university must sit down with students, unions, and campus organizations to negotiate, rather than escalate,” read an announcement of the strike vote from UAW local 4811.

Earlier this year, the union voted by a margin of more than nine to one in favor of supporting a ceasefire, according to the announcement.

Graduate workers last went on strike in November 2022 over a new union contract; it was the largest strike in US higher education history. They recently merged two UAW locals, 2865 and 5810, under the single UAW local 4811.

“We have been calling on the University of California to de-escalate and negotiate with the protesters over their very urgent and moral concerns and it failed to do that and it failed to protect students and workers and allowed this violence to occur,” Rafael Jaime, co-president of UAW 4811 and a graduate worker at UCLA, said.

“We’re holding a strike authorization vote to hold the university accountable and demand the university respect the members’ right to protected speech and right to protest.”

He said the union also plans to file unfair labor practice charges against the University of California over the university’s use of the Los Angeles police department (LAPD) against protesters, and for changing policies unilaterally in response to the protests without bargaining.

“This is the defining issue of our generation, and it’s really important for all, not just workers at the University of California, but across the entire nation, to speak up and to ensure every worker has the right to speak on this issue,” added Jaime.

“We believe all workers, all students, have a fundamental right to engage in protests and engage in free speech, and universities need to respect that right.”

The United Auto Workers union, with 400,000 active members and over 500,000 retirees, is the largest US union to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, which they did in December.

UAW president Shawn Fain recently reaffirmed the union’s position. “Our union has been calling for a ceasefire for six months. This war is wrong and this response against students and academic workers, many of them UAW members, is wrong,” Fain said in a statement on Wednesday.

Graduate student workers are also calling on the National Labor Relations Board to weigh in on how universities have responded to pro-Palestinian protests, and whether those responses violate US labor laws and collective bargaining agreements.

The Graduate Labor Organization at Brown University has filed several unfair labor practice charges against the university in regards to pro-Palestinian protests and the university’s responses to them.

Forty-one students at Brown were arrested, and charges remain, despite the pro-Palestinian encampment dispersing as part of negotiations that include a planned vote by the university’s highest governing body for October on divesting from companies affiliated with Israel. The charges filed by the union allege that Brown unilaterally changed protest policies without bargaining, and made threats of retaliation toward union members for participating in pro-Palestine campus protests.

“It’s really about the university trying to leverage this fact that, as graduate workers, we do have student status, and kind of using that as a workaround for violating labor law. This has been their playbook on a whole host of issues,” said Michael Ziegler, political director of the Graduate Labor Organization and graduate worker at Brown.
#15314079
Pants-of-dog wrote:Harassment is usually defined as some sort of repetitive behaviour towards a person or group. This was an isolated incident where the person was not touched.


There have been too many "isolated" incidents here. There's an obvious pattern, one that is being supported by the left.

Pants-of-dog wrote:This is far less significant than the fact that the US government has legally enshrined a definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of Israel, and could very well be sending monitors to ensure that campuses do not allow criticism of Israel on their campus.

Claiming that Israel is a settler colonialist state that imposes a race based apartheid (which is a political science argument that can and has been supported academically) can now be reason to cut federal funding if a campus lets a professor say that.


Nonsense.

But it's unsurprising those wanting to bring numerus clausus back will play victim when called out.
#15314082
Pants-of-dog wrote:Since neither of these things are happening, we can rest easy,

At least we have your opinions in writing for the record.

I see. If these people do something you perceive as wrong, that justifies anything and everything. Two wrongs do make a right!

What do you mean "I perceive as wrong"? They're glorifying and calling for the targeted murder/rape and hostage-taking of civilians. Do you know what terrorism and genocide is? Do YOU perceive this as wrong, @Pants-of-dog? We're waiting....

And justifies what, exactly? I'm not calling for the targeted murder and rape and hostage-taking of civilians. I'm not defending Israel allegedly stifling aid to the Gazans. and arguably committing their own genocidal actions. Unlike you and those protestors I have consistent moral standards. I don't pick and choose which genocides to support.
#15314110
Unthinking Majority wrote:At least we have your opinions in writing for the record.

What do you mean "I perceive as wrong"? They're glorifying and calling for the targeted murder/rape and hostage-taking of civilians. Do you know what terrorism and genocide is? Do YOU perceive this as wrong, @Pants-of-dog? We're waiting....

And justifies what, exactly? I'm not calling for the targeted murder and rape and hostage-taking of civilians. I'm not defending Israel allegedly stifling aid to the Gazans. and arguably committing their own genocidal actions. Unlike you and those protestors I have consistent moral standards. I don't pick and choose which genocides to support.


Who cares about all this personal feeling and opinion things?

—————

On topic, no one seems to be able to refute the looming censorship that will be caused by this new definition of antisemitism.
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