Israel/Palestine post 10/7 - follow-on events/thoughts as relate to other countries

I'm here with Jewish Voice For Peace (@jvplive) where hundreds of us rushed in and occupied the Federal Building in Oakland.

The govt of Israel does not act on behalf of, nor represent, Jewish people.#CeasefireNOW #LetGazaLive #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/KUorzUOaWl

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) November 14, 2023

Others will know better than me, but that JVP organization posted 'The Myth of "Civilian Israelis"' one their IG (albeit prior to October). I think they're like DSA or BLM in that they have different chapters so may not be representative of the whole thing (in this case it was Detroit)

Make own judgements on how much, or if, that matters, but worth mentioning at least

Layla 🪬
@itslaylas
first lawsuit is here for the doxxing truck at columbia university.
A student is filing a lawsuit for defamation, violation of civil rights, & intentional infliction of emotional distress.

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People starting to sue for being called "pro-Hamas" and anti-Semitic.

I have mixed feelings about JVP eg for reasons stated above, also because they do weird caricatured versions of Jewish prayers/rituals seemingly in order to lend themselves legitimacy, which bothers me on a gut level, like if you don't wear tefillin as part of your normal practice that's fine, neither do I, but don't get up on a national stage and put them on wrong just to look more "Jewish." I also have friends who very sincerely protest with them and I don't think it's a bad thing overall.

Tracy Fuad
@tracyfuad
A museum in Germany cancelled an Afrofuturism exhibition the day before installation citing that the curator's posts on Instagram

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You can guess the content of these posts.

were they pro-palestine or were they virulently anti-semitic?

I do not have Insta but was able to see this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Czl3iUyuvoz/?hl=en&img_index=1

that sounds like some bullshit

could be that some were deleted, but nothing struck me as particularly offensive on the page

It's best to begin any sentence with "I disavow the actions of Hamas" this month regardless of what follows. It was a little confusing at the McDonalds drive thru, but you can never be too cautious

"Sir, this is a Wendy's"

According to the letter posted in the Instagram account, Germany passed a resolution in 2019 declaring support for BDS antisemitic.

(Just fyi, I don't have an opinion on BDS.)

It might be helpful to remember that countries outside the US do not have a First Amendment (freedom of speech or freedom of association). As far as I know some countries have in fact made illegal certain forms of speech that are not illegal in the US.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong but I believe France apparently makes certain forms of antisemitic speech a violation of the penal code.

yes that is true, but I still think it's BS for Germany to declare that stating support for Palestine is anti-semitic because it wasn't prefaced with "of course October 7th was wrong". I mean I kind of think that's a given. That said, maybe it isn't for some people.

Yeah, you'd hope that they could have a video call, the museum could explain about the 2019 resolution, and the one slide about BDS could be taken down from the curator's insta if that were the issue so the Afrofuturism exhibit could go on.

Knowing Anais through friends, there is no way they would take down a post about BDS. Fuck that museum— but hey, at least Anais got the honorarium.

Also BDS isn’t antisemitic. Period.

Yes, I agree.

this like the museum being afraid of running afoul of german law

Most social media is ad-supported. So the entire social media industry is financially motivated to encourage controversy and grift. People are incentivized to stoke outrage and conflict by getting attention and clicks.

A few facts can be plucked out and sensationalized. People start doing their own research like they did with Covid.

No idea if avoiding controversy or creating controversy is in the best interest of the curator, the museum or the artists in this Afrofuturism exhibit. Because of where we are, a perceived failure to read the room has these kinds of outcomes. I feel bad for all the artists who won't have their work shown.

One of the most insidious things about calling BDS “antisemitic” is that it presumes that consumers— whether individual, corporate, or state-related— serve corporations, and that by refusing to buy from or invest in corporations based on values, those consumers are running afoul of basic human decency. It’s corporate interests legislating ethics, and that should make people feel queasy no matter whether it’s BDS or any other type of boycott or divestment.

Museum rep also states that BDS "questions Israel's right to exist", which seems a pretty nonsensical statement to me.

imo that 2019 resolution fucking sucks and curators falling foul of it are right to stand their ground, and if artists don’t get exhibited as a result that is the fault of the suck resolution and not of the curators

Was reading this thread earlier today on boycotts (wrt to the goings on in the Congo). It's strongly put, which is how I like it.

I can't boycott this, I can't stop watching that, I can't stop drinking this shit I can't stop eating that shit etc etc. Evaluate yourself because it is extremely sad how unable you are to be human.

— K.Diallo ☭ (@nyeusi_waasi) November 14, 2023

UEFA "looking into" Kosovo fans booing and whistling Israels national anthem. They recently fined Romania for "Kosovo is Serbia" banners in a recent qualifier (which in itself is contentious as Romania doesn't recognize Kosovo so the banners were a restatement of the Romanian governments official position)

Reading about the "March for Israel"

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philip lewis
@Phil_Lewis_
Van Jones at the March for Israel: “I’m a peace guy, I pray for peace. No more rockets from Gaza, and no more bombs falling down on the people of Gaza.”

The crowd breaks out into a “NO CEASEFIRE” chant shortly after

Which country is that in?

an ad I was just served

https://i.postimg.cc/rybz1Kgw/Screenshot-20231115-085407.jpg

abominable

Every post on Threads, the failed response to Twitter that IG/Meta continues to try to push, is just the most ludicrous, racist pro-Israel stuff. I normally wouldn’t notice but there are ads for it when I scroll.

This is the report on a press conference on the situation with the International Law UN expert:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/14/australia-and-other-western-governments-paralysed-in-response-to-gaza-conflict-says-un-expert

Clip found through social media of the reporter asking the question on "domination", and getting a fairly contemptuous reply:

Daniel Hurst from The Guardian.
Allegedly he's the Foreign Affairs correspondent.
He tried to smear Francesca with gotcha question focusing on the word "domination".

Francesca is smarter than this media hack.
She chooses words bc there's legal justification. pic.twitter.com/Vi8md4RIvD

— Dean Rosario (@DeanRosario) November 14, 2023

Threads has a really annoying but apparently effective algorithm. I keep seeing pro-isreal posts from Threads in Instagram because I clicked on one once just to read what it was saying (I clicked on pro-Palestine threads also, but it keeps shoving the pro-Israel ones at me). I barely even use Threads.

I suppose that's just what discussion is like on most social media, but since I only use bluesky where things to this point have been mostly intelligent it's a shock to stumble upon what the rest of the internet is like.

It’s just Threads showing this stuff to me, no other social media.

The Reddit algorithm shows me stuff from all over MENA now. It’s been interesting to read perspectives from Lebanon, Tunisia, etc, although I suspect Reddit skews toward a certain demographic in those countries like it does in the US

My insta threads posts are solidly pro-Palestine, not that I ever click on them.

I have a few Jewish friends who are fairly hawkish but otherwise progressive on IG who need notice/support navigating antisemitism, but only one is sharing the kind of pretty-girl Israeli propaganda that’s become me A Thing since 7/10.

The Reddit algorithm shows me stuff from all over MENA now. It’s been interesting to read perspectives from Lebanon, Tunisia, etc, although I suspect Reddit skews toward a certain demographic in those countries like it does in the US

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, November 15, 2023 6:45 AM bookmarkflaglink

Agreed, it is interesting. I browse posts from r/Palestine, r/Israel, r/NYC, r/worldnews and other subs to get a sense of what people discuss and where they are posting from.

Very polarized opinions and sources. It's been a study in seeing selectively presented information.

I am glad that The Times - seeking to condemn our movement as extremists - clarified which of my words they found most threatening pic.twitter.com/HtLrT6rIPG

— Barnaby Raine (@BarnabyRaine) November 15, 2023

I think I only saw this on bluesky, but this VC dipshit is getting fired. Nice to see someone taking a fall for anti-Palestine comments for once (his commentary was blatantly racist and genocidal).

https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/sf-tech-firm-fires-partner-gaza-18491861.php

"Ballenegger posted comments on social media about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas that were blatantly racist toward Palestinians. According to the screenshots, he wrote Sunday, “After the war, Israel should handle Gaza like China handles Xinjiang. Full surveillance state. Re education camps. Sterilizations. It's warranted and the only way to pacify the jihadi population.”

Business Insider reported that he doubled down in a second post, writing, “They reproduce like rabbits and raise them to be terrorists, creating more poverty misery and terrorism. Why should we allow that. The world would be a much better place if they didn't reproduce.”

Very good to see. Hope Biden chokes soon.

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Indonesian Pres. Joko Widodo surprises Joe Biden by calling on the US "to do more to stop the atrocities in Gaza," declaring that a "ceasefire is a must for humanity." Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, and millions have rallied there in recent weeks. pic.twitter.com/NxKFLTNa3n

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) November 15, 2023

This is on the goings on at the NYT and American media in general

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/11/new-york-times-gaza-letter-resignation

Relatedly, Anne Boyer, the poetry editor for the NYTimes magazine, tendered her resignation today via a Substack post.

If this resignation leaves a hole in the news the size of poetry, then that is the true shape of the present.

https://www.kron4.com/news/apec-sf-2023/bay-bridge-protest-blocks-all-westbound-traffic/

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Protesters blocked all lanes of westbound Interstate 80 traffic on the Bay Bridge during the Thursday morning commute. The protesters stopped their cars on the bridge, east of Treasure Island Road, and threw their keys into the Bay before chaining themselves together and to the bridge, according to California Highway Patrol.

"Relatedly, Anne Boyer, the poetry editor for the NYTimes magazine, tendered her resignation today via a Substack post."

Hope she can find something good soon.

from an interview with Zainab, a school student on the Tower Hamlets protest/walkout today https://t.co/Jh7E6xRiw5 pic.twitter.com/P3m17qfbyW

— bat020 (@bat020) November 16, 2023

Newham kids doing this tomorrow

Great.

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You voted for a genocide.

My statement about Labour women being threatened, intimidated or having their offices vandalised: https://t.co/vDOLJVStpU pic.twitter.com/Cegt7vfMFD

— Siobhain McDonagh MP (@Siobhain_Mc) November 17, 2023

https://www.timesofisrael.com/dermer-suggests-israel-should-prioritize-support-of-evangelicals-over-us-jews/

Former Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer suggested Sunday that Israel should prioritize the “passionate and unequivocal” support of evangelical Christians over that of American Jews, who he said are “disproportionately among our critics.”

“People have to understand that the backbone of Israel’s support in the United States is the evangelical Christians. It’s true because of numbers and also because of their passionate and unequivocal support for Israel,” Dermer said in an onstage interview at a conference organized by Makor Rishon, a news outlet affiliated with the national religious community

The interview marked Dermer’s first public remarks since he ended a marathon seven-year term in January as Israel’s ambassador in Washington, where he became known for having the ear and “brain” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

For years the Israel on Campus Coalition—a little-known organization with links to Israeli intelligence—has used student informants to spy on pro-Palestinian campus groups.