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1. Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:53:00 JST Jamie Osborne

   Governments and businesses suspend democracy when their own private interests differ.

   — ‘“It didn’t seem like any kind of measures were taken to de-escalate,” Khawaja said. “It also just seems completely unnecessary. This was by all accounts, a non-violent protest … camping out on the lawn … It’s not any different from everyday life on campus.”

   As Columbia announced it would be holding classes remotely, students on campuses across the US launched their own protests.’

   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/22/columbia-university-protests-shutdown

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:51 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     — ‘Like the press and the police, the president performed several sleights of rhetoric. He mixed violent acts with non-violent acts. He conflated school policy with law and illegality with lawlessness, a word connoting anarchy …

     Biden also declined to specify who committed any of the acts he condemned, letting the impression float that the culprits are the anti-war protesters.
     …
     Vigilantes staged an assault on unarmed civilians and the state let it happen.’

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/may/06/ucla-protester-mob-attack

     Aral Balkan repeated this.
   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:51 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     Ignoring the support of Jewish students for Palestinians and the harassment they’ve received for not being unconditionally supportive of Israel – implying obligatory allegiance – is in itself antisemitic.

     These students haven’t forgotten anything – they are the ones protesting a genocide today.

     — ‘The narrative that the Gaza solidarity encampments are inherently antisemitic is part of a decades-long effort to blur the lines between criticism of Israel and antisemitism’

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/07/biden-israel-commitment-pro-palestine-protests

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:52 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     When individuals use speech interpreted as antisemitic (both real or perceived), it’s used by politicians to call out the whole “pro-Palestine” protest movement, nationwide, as “hateful, antisemitic, terrorist supporting”.

     When an entire group is blatantly hateful, racist, and/or violent, towards those protesters, it’s “protests must be lawful” – if mentioned at all.

     Then there’s the violence dished out by police for the former, and the lack of arrests for the latter.

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/04/university-of-mississippi-counter-protesters

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:52 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     It’s Israel that’s being protected.

     — “There were many Jews involved in this protest, and none of us saw any signs of antisemitism.”

     … she wanted to push back on political claims that the campus crackdowns were related to making sure that students and faculty are safe, or effective in protecting them from antisemitism. Her son showed her a tweet … that noted the irony: “A great way to fight antisemitism is by beating up the former head of Jewish studies on campus.”

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/04/police-tactics-us-campus-protest-crackdowns

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:52 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     — this protest ‘is centered on one thing: moral outrage at the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people – most of them women and children.

     To interpret these protests as anything else – as antisemitic or anti-Zionist or anti-American or pro-Palestinian – is to miss the essence of what’s going on and why.

     Most of the students and faculty I’ve spoken with found Hamas’s attack on October 7 odious. They also find Israel’s current government morally bankrupt …’

     https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/05/police-crackdowns-war-protesters

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:53 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     — ‘While some notable violent clashes have recently taken place, such as on the University of California (UCLA) campus, where demonstrators and counter-demonstrators fought at a student encampment overnight on 30 April, the overwhelming majority — 99% — have remained peaceful …

     … in cases where student demonstrators have gathered unopposed, police have intervened against pro-Palestine demonstrations more than four times as often as pro-Israel demonstrations.’

     https://acleddata.com/2024/05/02/pro-palestine-us-student-protests-nearly-triple-in-april-acled-brief/

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:53 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     Except that, as the person that first called in police to violently break up a protest, she not only sparked off many more protests but set the trend for riot police being called on to campuses across the US.

     — ‘This week’s eviction of students resulted in more than 200 students being arrested. It will be difficult to build bridges after such a rupture.

     Maybe the troubles now erupting at the UCLA will distract from Columbia’s travails. Shafik must be praying they do.’

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/03/minouche-shafik-uk-peer-columbia-university-president-gaza-protests

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:54 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment:

     — ‘For all the school's pretense of student safety, we have experienced an unprecedented amount of violence and hatred while they stood by. The university's hypocrisy all too apparent, …

     The zionist attacks, their use of chemical weaponry, their hatred, their destruction, are but a microcosm of the genocide in Gaza. The university would rather see us dead than divest.

     Media portrayal of neutrality … only obfuscates the truth …’

     https://www.instagram.com/p/C6bDyoiL_AA/

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:54 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     While I’d agree, the only reports of violence I’ve seen are when the protesters have been attacked – first by police forces across the country, then by pro-Israel thugs.

     The President, who’s been quick to condemn vague accusations of antisemitism, remains quiet about the cause of the violence and why students have escalated to occupying buildings etc.

     — ‘Biden admonished protests on campuses that use “violent” methods, including vandalism, trespassing, …’

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/02/joe-biden-protests-speech

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:55 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     Alt headline: First credible reports of (Jewish) students being attacked on campus.

     That is, excluding state and university sponsored violence – no arrests attempted as yet of those attacking anti-genocide protesters. 🙄

     — ‘Aerial footage showed people wielding sticks or poles to attack wooden boards being held up as a makeshift barricade to protect pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA, some holding placards or umbrellas. At least one firework was thrown into the camp.’

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/may/01/violence-erupts-ucla-university-campus-clashes-rival-gaza-protest-groups

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:55 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     Students have, for months, worked successfully to use their democratic processes to secure acknowledgment of, and divestment from, Israel and its atrocities.

     After that was ignored by administrators, after escalations inc police violence, after a large political operation intended to smear and discredit them and ruin their careers, students from Israel’s allies are calling bullshit on this gaslighting, outraged at the hypocrisy of their own governments and universities.

     https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/may/01/uk-students-begin-new-wave-of-protests-against-gaza-war-after-us-arrests

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:56 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     This law (that many states have enacted versions of) was presumably intended so hateful white supremacist types can’t be “cancelled” by other students or the university.

     But protest against Israel’s actions: send in the troopers.

     — ‘a policy at the school that builds off of a Texas law that Abbott signed … in 2019 that designates outdoor spaces at all Texas public universities as traditional public forums, … public spaces with the highest level of speech protections.’

     https://eu.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/04/25/austin-protest-texts-reveal-why-ut-president-called-in-for-dps-help/73454193007/

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:56 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     American police are world famous for shooting and choking people to death without any need for them to commit a crime.

     Here’s a state representative crowing over a video that starts with a black man held on the ground while being repeatedly tasered.

     Y’all down south must be wanting to start another movement against police violence. 🤷🏻♂️

     — “Not sure what y’all are doing up north, but we don’t give them the time to encamp. Tazers set to stun!”

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/27/emory-university-georgia-police-campus-protests

     https://x.com/RepMikeCollins/status/1783580352331608540

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:56 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     Students falsely smeared as antisemitic, terrorist supporters, should sue the people and orgs identifying them as such.

     I’m surprised this story didn’t use the Reuters image attached (from yesterday’s “Clash at UCLA”, in alt text).

     — ‘Several other pro-Israel organizations, such as StopAntisemitism, have similarly dedicated websites and social media accounts posting the personal information of protesters. People have described receiving death threats, harassment …’

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/30/why-are-pro-palestinian-students-wearing-masks-campus

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:57 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     That’s support of terrorism, and surely counter to anything these protests aim to achieve. Similar has happened in the UK, and those individuals should be dealt with according to law.

     But politicians want to use such to tar the entire movement as antisemitic hate. A movement that has had Seders, etc. forcibly broken up by police. 🤷🏻♂️

     — ‘At demonstrations aflutter with Palestinian flags, chants may be heard calling for repeat performances of the atrocities of 7 October.’

     https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/25/pro-palestine-israel-language-conflict

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:57 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     — ‘… he has watched with amazement as the media and political figures have attempted to characterise the protests as antisemitic and dangerous, despite Jewish student organisations playing a central role in them.

     “… this discourse that Columbia is this hotbed of antisemitism, but it’s just a bunch of nerds sitting on the ground playing games, chanting and doing homework. There was a Passover Seder held on Monday … It’s crazy how bad faith that discourse has become.”’

     https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/columbia-protests-jewish-students-antisemitism-b2534307.html

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:57 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     It’s certainly unhelpful. It’s as naive as it is abhorrent – Israel is going nowhere.

     A few dozen fools being used to justify police violence though, when Israel is *actually implementing* the “we want all of it” ideology – not with chants, but with military and settler aggression – seems… disproportionate.

     — ‘demonstrators were filmed chanting … “Ya Hamas, we love you / We support your rockets too”. Another one runs: “We don’t want no two states, we want all of it.”’

     https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/26/jews-palestinians-peace-gaza-narcissist-allies

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:58 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     — “We as American Jews will not be used, we will not be complicit and we will not be silent. Judaism is a beautiful, thousands-year-old tradition, and Israel is a 76-year-old colonial apartheid state, … This is the Passover that we take our exodus from Zionism … Let Gaza live.”
     …
     [Naomi Klein said] “Our Judaism cannot be protected by the rampaging military of that ethno-state, for all that military does is sow sorrow and reap hatred, including hatred against us as Jews.”

     https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/24/not-like-other-passovers-hundreds-of-jewish-demonstrators-arrested-after-new-york-protest-seder

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:58 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     The exodus from Zionism. Naomi Klein’s Seder speech.

     — “We want freedom from the project that commits genocide in our name. Freedom from an ideology that has no plan for peace other than deals with murderous theocratic petrostates next door, while selling the technologies of robo-assassinations to the world.

     We seek to liberate Judaism from an ethnostate that wants Jews to be perennially afraid, … or at least keep the weapons and donations flowing.”

     https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/24/zionism-seder-protest-new-york-gaza-israel

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:59 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     — ‘Protesting this slaughter is not expressing antisemitism. It is not engaging in hate speech. It is not endangering Jewish students. It is doing what should be done on a college campus – taking a stand against a perceived wrong, thereby provoking discussion …

     If Columbia or any other university now roiled by student protests were doing what it should be doing, it would be a hotbed of debate about the war. Disagreement would be welcome; demonstrations accepted …’

     https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/23/israel-gaza-campus-protests

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:52:59 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     Politicians say antiwar protesters support terrorism and antisemitism?

     — “being uncomfortable is different than being unsafe,” said one Jewish student on the call, …

     “Months ago, I was sprayed with a noxious chemical on this campus. Multiple of my friends were hospitalised for the attack. I was bed-ridden for a couple days. I felt extremely unsafe on my own campus. I feel unsafe when Columbia professors like Shai Davidai tell me I’ll be on the last train to Auschwitz.”

     https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/23/university-protests-arrests-yale-nyu-columbia

   • Jamie Osborne (jmeosbn@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 08-May-2024 19:53:00 JST Jamie Osborne

     in reply to

     I’ve not seen any video but would condemn such, if so. Only mentions of a small amount of people apparently wanting to poison various protests or stage other interactions (see London protest).

     What is clear from reporting, is that fear from donors/lobbying and GOP, not protesters, drives this clampdown on protest.

     President Shafik should step down.

     — ‘Fetterman likened the situation on campus for Jewish students to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.‘

     https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/22/house-senate-members-call-on-columbia-university-president-to-resign-00153656