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https://archive.md/tTqEn

In the days after the Hamas attack on Israel, Max Strozenberg, a first-year student at Northwestern University, experienced a couple of jarring incidents. Walking into his dorm, he was startled to see a poster calling Gaza a “modern-day concentration camp” pinned to a bulletin board next to Halloween ghosts and pumpkins. At a pro-Palestinian rally, he heard students shouting, “Hey, Schill, what do you say, how many kids did you kill today,” an echo of a chant from the anti-Vietnam War movement, now directed at Northwestern’s president, Michael H. Schill, who is Jewish. Mr. Strozenberg’s paternal grandparents escaped the Nazis just before other family members were taken to the concentration camps. Now, he finds himself in an eerie time warp, resisting his grandmother’s pleas to take off the small star of David that he wears around his neck. It’s not that he is feeling safe — just defiant. The mood on campus these days, he said, “is not pro-Palestinian, it’s antisemitic.”

Jewish students cite a litany of attention-grabbing antisemitic incidents. Pro-Palestinian students at George Washington University used a library facade to project giant slogans like “Glory to Our Martyrs.” Next to a Jewish fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania, someone scrawled “The Jews R Nazis.” At the Cooper Union, a private college in New York City, frightened Jewish students huddled behind locked doors at a library, while demonstrators shouted “Free Palestine” and banged on the doors and windows. And at Cornell, a computer science major was arrested, accused of making online threats to shoot up a kosher dining hall and rape and murder Jewish students. “I’m scared to walk outside,” said Simone Shteingart, a senior and vice president of Cornell Hillel, the Jewish campus group. “I’m scared that my name is out there as a leader of the Jewish community, and I’m scared for all my peers.”

Many Jewish students say that while these attacks are alarming enough, they are also pained by the slogans that harness the horrors of the Holocaust and turn them against Jews or Israel — like accusing Israelis of “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.” In this telling, Jews are not victims but “Nazis” and “fascist” oppressors. To many Jews who believe Israel had a right to self-defense and retaliation after the Hamas attack, accusing Israel of such atrocities against Palestinians is an insidious form of antisemitism. Jason Rubenstein, the senior rabbi of the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, wrote in an open letter that he was “no defender of many of Israel’s policies.” But when it came to the Hamas attack, he said, “nothing could be more beside the point: No one is inevitably forced to kidnap babies, or massacre wheelchair-bound revelers at a rave.” “Antisemitism isn’t primarily about hurting or killing Jews, and it’s not based on some theory of racial inferiority (or superiority),” he wrote. “Instead, antisemitism is a fear, and hatred, of Jewish power — expressed primarily as a readiness to believe that Jews, when organized and acting together on large scales, are dangerous, the very essence of evil.”

Pro-Palestinian supporters are quick to push back, asking whether any criticism of Israel and Zionism is acceptable. They say that the cries of antisemitism are an attempt to stifle speech and divert attention from a 16-year blockade of Gaza by Israel, backed by Egypt, that has devastated the lives of Palestinians. They point to the uprooting of 700,000 people during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. And they rail against Israel’s current invasion of Gaza, which has killed more than 10,000 people, according to the Gazan health ministry. “We stand staunchly against all forms of racism and bigotry,” said Anna Babboni, a senior at Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., and one of the leaders of the local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Ms. Babboni said her group is not antisemitic, but it is anti-Zionist. “We are fighting against a root cause, which is white supremacy, and trying to build a world which is beyond Zionism, beyond racism, beyond white supremacy,” she said. Pro-Palestinian students like Ms. Babboni see their movement as connected to others that have stood up for an oppressed people. And they have adopted a potent vocabulary, rooted in the hothouse jargon of academia, that grafts the history of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples onto the more familiar terms of social justice movements at home.

[...] skipping the irrelevant university donor drama [...]

To some extent, the debate is inflamed by a generational divide surfacing on campuses. In a recent Quinnipiac University poll that asked whether voters approved or disapproved of Israel’s response to the Hamas attack, those 35 and older tended to approve, with percentages rising as voters aged. But for 18- to 34-year-old voters, slightly more than half — 52 percent — disapproved. “There is much less of a taboo in being very aggressively critical of Israel among the younger generation — and I think that is true among young liberal Jews as well,” said Angus Johnston, a historian who studies and supports student activism.

The current pro-Palestinian protests, he said, are “being supported by, and in many cases, led by young American Jews.” Sarah Lawrence College, in Westchester County, N.Y., is ranked seventh on Hillel’s list of “Top 60 Schools Jews Choose,” because of its high percentage of Jewish students. But at the left-leaning college, students who support Israel say they can feel isolated. “There was an active campaign on campus of saying that if you go to Hillel, you’re racist,” said Sammy Tweedy, a Jewish student from Chicago, who described himself as sympathetic to both sides in the conflict . Mr. Tweedy said he began to feel particularly ostracized after attending a Birthright trip to Israel in 2020. “I did not have friends anymore,” he said. “And I would hear that people had heard I was a fascist or a Nazi or a racist. And I was like, ‘Where is this coming from?’” The problems accelerated when the war broke out; he was studying in Tel Aviv. He shared Instagram screenshots with The New York Times in which students went so far as to tell him, “The blood of Gaza is on your hands.” In October, the local chapter of Hillel wrote a letter to the college’s leadership threatening a federal complaint if it did not take steps to rectify “persistent and pervasive antisemitism.” Sarah Lawrence’s president, Cristle Collins Judd, said the college stood in opposition to all forms of hate. “Sarah Lawrence treats and fully investigates all reports of bias,” Dr. Judd said in a statement, adding, “We are actively engaged in direct conversations with students from our various Jewish student organizations, and have responded individually and collectively to concerns shared with us by students and families.”

Mr. Tweedy, who said his complaints to the university had not been addressed, has decided to finish his degree in a study-abroad program. “I have a pact with myself that I will never, ever step a single foot on their campus again,” he said. The demand for ideological conformity with the Palestinian cause — as a condition of participating in other aspects of campus life — is a form of antisemitism, said Bethany Slater, executive director of the Hillel chapter of the Claremont Colleges in California. “I don’t feel Jewish students should feel socially threatened and have to give up their connection with their Jewish culture and community for the sake of something else that they care about,” she said.

But in a sign of the impasse, Bella Jacobs, a Jewish student at Pitzer, a Claremont college, said that as a pro-Palestinian supporter, she felt ostracized by Hillel. "A lot of Jewish students feel excluded from Jewish spaces on campus that are run by Hillel,” said Ms. Jacobs, the campus leader of Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist organization. “And they’re especially disappointed by the fact that Hillel has recently tried to speak on behalf of all Jewish students, just like the state of Israel tried to speak on behalf of all Jewish people.”

PA is SUS.

The entire article

Samantha Woll: Suspect arrested in killing of Detroit synagogue leader | CNN

A suspect has been taken into custody in last month’s killing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll, Detroit Police said Wednesday.

In a statement on X, Detroit Police Chief James E. White said details of the investigation will remain confidential at this time.

“While this is an encouraging development in our desire to bring closure for Ms. Woll’s family, it does not represent the conclusion of our work in this case” the statement reads. “The details of the investigation will remain confidential at this time to ensure the integrity of the important steps that remain. Investigators will be continuing their work with the Wayne County Prosecutors Office until the conclusion of this investigation.”

Police did not identify the suspect in Woll’s killing. It’s unclear what charges the suspect may be facing.

Over two weeks ago during a news conference, White said police had “a number of people that give us interest” but were “just short of calling one of the people a suspect.”

The articles I looked at don't mention the possibility that it still could be a hate crime. But the lack of information hasn't stopped talking heads from rank speculation.

I just heard a CNN talking head idiot say something like "She had a large Israeli flag which was not touched and you'd expect it would be damaged if it was a hate crime."

"on X", eh? I guess the phrase "on X, formerly known as Twitter" is no more.

On October 28 I posted (with the author's permission):

An Interview On Gaza With Dominique De Villepin (As Translated By Arnaud Bertrand).

There is a new interview with Dominique De Villepin which has also been translated by Arnaud Bertrand.

Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand - 1:22 UTC · Nov 8, 2023

Another masterful interview on Gaza of Dominique De Villepin, former Prime Minister of France, who IMHO is the best diplomat the West has produced in decades.

Again I believe that his words are so important and so rare among Western leaders today, that I decided to translate it in full (the bold parts are emphasis Villepin himself made when speaking):

One does not have to agree with De Villepin. But one has to acknowledge that he is one of the few European politicians who has put real thoughts into the issue and who points to a potentially sensible end:

What follows is Arnaud Bertrand's translation:

Begin of translation

"The Israeli government, Benjamin Netanyahu, failed on October 7th and failed doubly. Firstly, in its ability to ensure the protection of the Israeli people by allowing massacres that are an abomination to occur. He bears direct responsibility for what happened. And his second failure is having encouraged a policy of occupation and colonization, which continues at this moment in the West Bank and constitutes another threat to Israel if a second front in the West Bank were to open.

"The Israeli government, Benjamin Netanyahu, failed on October 7th and failed doubly. Firstly, in its ability to ensure the protection of the Israeli people by allowing massacres that are an abomination to occur. He bears direct responsibility for what happened. And his second failure is having encouraged a policy of occupation and colonization, which continues at this moment in the West Bank and constitutes another threat to Israel if a second front in the West Bank were to open.

Force does not ensure the security of a people! This is what all Israelis must understand today. And what is important is that since October 7th, the Israeli government's choice has been to escalate the use of force. You know, neither force nor vengeance ensures peace and security. What ensures peace and security is justice! And justice is not being served today.

The rationale of the Israeli government for the bombings happening today is flawed, and the whole international community can see it. The principle is: "we target terrorists, and unfortunately, there are also civilian populations," what is euphemistically called in military language "collateral damage." It must be understood that this collateral damage is not accidental. That is to say, it is perfectly predictable and fully accepted.

[Host: "But once again, the responsibility is not solely Israeli."]

But once more, let's stop asking about responsibility; let's look at the reality of what's happening on the ground! Assigning fault, allow me to tell you, we will leave to historians. What we want is to stop this violence, to stop these massacres. Israel is putting itself in danger, even more today, with this type of warfare and these types of strikes.

We are essentially dealing with a policy of vengeance from the Netanyahu government. Israel has the right to self-defense, but self-defense does not give an indiscriminate right to kill civilian populations. When you target an ambulance, you can always imagine that there was a terrorist in one of the ambulances, or not. But the result is that there are children, women who die. Every child, every woman killed, that's more terrorists. Therefore, Israel's objective, what Israel achieves, is exactly the opposite of what they wish. So, it is essential today to change this logic and return to a strategy that is sound.

Hostages, everything must be done to secure their release. But let's not forget: the Palestinian people are also taken hostage, by Hamas and by Israel. And Hamas, we all know, cares little for the Palestinian people. So telling Hamas: "we will not lift the siege, we will not have a humanitarian truce until the hostages are released," is a dialogue of the deaf.

Benjamin Netanyahu is waging a war to do everything so that the political solution does not come to the table. And this is where the international community, Europe, the United States, must tell Benjamin Netanyahu that this war is not acceptable. It is not acceptable because it leads us directly [to escalation] - because we can see it well, from Hamas we will move to Iran, from Iran we will move to other targets, and we then enter into the logic of a clash of civilizations. When Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu says that on one side there is the people of light and on the other the people of darkness, we can see the kind of spiral we are getting into.

All the wars that have been going on for the past twenty years are wars that begin and do not end. These are frozen conflicts. We know how to start a war; we do not know how to end it. And Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu could control Gaza, it would change nothing. There will continue to be terrorist attacks, Israelis will continue to live in fear. We must get out of this. The second reason why this is yesterday's war is that the war against terrorism has never been won anywhere. Force is not the answer, once again. Vengeance is not the answer. The answer is justice, and that is what all the peoples of the world, all those who today watch what is happening, call for justice.

Today the direction we must follow is to prevent Benjamin Netanyahu from continuing his suicidal logic that will make Israel a besieged state. They can besiege Gaza, but they will be besieged. And do not think that tomorrow we will again have a pacified discourse with Saudi Arabia, with the Arab states that will normalize the situation: no! The wounds of history are awakening.

Israel's interest is to have a responsible state at its side. And this responsible state, let's stop splitting hairs, must clearly be the West Bank, all of the West Bank. It must be Gaza, with access between the two territories, and East Jerusalem. The problem, and this is the whole point of Benjamin Netanyahu's escalation, is that Benjamin Netanyahu does not want it. And the policy of separation must be dignified. That is, it must confer to the Palestinians a state where they can live, a viable state, a true state, which can build itself and which will be all the more at peace...

[Host: "Does that mean that the settlements in the West Bank have to be removed?"]

Well, when we left Algeria, there were a million French who left Algeria. Today there are 500,000 Israelis colonizing the West Bank, and there are 200,000 in East Jerusalem.

[Host: "They must leave the West Bank?"]

Yes. Yes, that is history, that is responsibility, that is the price! I tell you solemnly, it is the price of security for Israel! And all those who today consider that it will never be enough are pursuing the worst policy."

End of translation

Bertrand adds:

Credit to @caissesdegreve who took these extracts from the original interview which can be found here: Conflit Israël-Hamas : la riposte israélienne n'est "ni ciblée ni proportionnée"

Alternate title:

Another Yakkkt Drowned - Glory to the Joint Dictatorship of the Proletariat of Oppressed Mammalia!!

The measure, called Question 3, prompted heated debate in the months leading up to the election. Central Maine Power and Versant Power, the state’s dominant utilities, poured more than $40 million into a campaign opposing the referendum, outspending Pine Tree Power advocates 34 to 1. Political groups funded by the utilities and their parent companies mailed flyers and aired ads on TV, radio, and social media, urging Mainers to reject the measure, which would have effectively put the two companies out of business.

The leaders of progressive groups focused on mobilizing young voters are warning President Joe Biden that his handling of the war in Gaza could depress turnout in a demographic that’s already notoriously difficult to energize on Election Day.

"We write to you to issue a very stark and unmistakable warning: you and your Administration’s stance on Gaza risks millions of young voters staying home or voting third party next year.

“We mobilized the record youth turnout in 2020 that pushed your ticket over the finish line... Many of us worked to provide the critical source of support for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections that prevented the Red Wave.

"Young people are a cornerstone of a winning Democratic coalition, and the vast majority of young people in this country are rightfully horrified by the atrocities committed with our tax dollars, with your support, and our nation’s military backing.

“We did not spend hours upon hours knocking doors and making calls to turn out the vote so that you could support indiscriminate slaughter of civilians and violations of international law. Your legacy hangs in the balance.”

Signers include the heads of groups like March for Our Lives, United We Dream, Gen Z for Change, and the Sunrise Movement.

A New York Times-Siena College poll of five swing states found that among voters under 30, who lean heavily Democratic, just 5% “strongly approve” of how Biden is doing his job and 25% “somewhat approve.”

Literally has a lower approval rating with the most Democratic generation than the most Republican generation. Zero chance his ass is getting reelected

Mohammed Al Ahel, an MSF laboratory technician, was killed along with several members of his family during the bombing of Al Shati refugee camp on November 6.

Early last week, Israel’s Arrow 2 missile system successfully intercepted and destroyed a suborbital ballistic missile suspected of launching from Yemen.

the missile was intercepted and destroyed above the Kármán line, which at 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea level is widely recognized as the boundary of space.

There have been many earlier instances of missile-on-missile interceptions above the Kármán. However, all previous cases involved interceptors targeting missiles launched by the same party for testing purposes, whereas this is the first occurrence of a missile successfully intercepting an incoming missile from an adversary in space

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/israel-hamas/2023/11/07/netanyahu-israel-plans-to-control-gaza-after-hamas-war-ends/71486260007/

But Novik said that any such plan would require something that is just not realistic: a willing partner.

"There is no third party that is going to take responsibility for Gaza and release Israel from the burden of occupying it long term with its 2.3 million Palestinians. It's just not going to happen."

It was fun while it lasted, folks

r/NewMexico thread

“At first, the son took the munition in his hands and began to turn the ring. Then the serviceman took the grenade away from the child and pulled the ring, causing a tragic explosion,” Klymenko said.

Military culture and fetishism, not even once.

Building a floating platform specifically so you can do digital crimes against humanity.