Ali: Mocking Gaza protesters as 'gluten-free warriors' was fun -- until a mob at UCLA attacked them

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

Mocking student protesters has become a fun and easy pastime since they began marching and camping out in opposition to Israel’s ongoing military incursions in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel. All critics and jeering old folks need is a platform (cable TV, Instagram, a tattered soap box) to discredit the movement as the performative act of feckless snowflakes and spoiled children.

(snip)

But these actions weren’t just for show. UCLA’s pro-Palestinian demonstrators did need to shield and defend themselves when a violent mob of pro-Israeli counterprotesters attacked their encampment.

Video shot by The Times, other media outlets and witnesses at the scene show counterdemonstrators in black attire and white masks ripping down barricades, beating people with batons and poles and screaming racial epithets. Campers were dragged, kicked and pummeled by the predominantly male mob Tuesday night and Wednesday morning while police and campus security stood by for three hours before responding.

(snip)

Cynical agitators like Maher will always leverage incendiary moments for ratings and clicks. But tucking one’s opposition to the protest movement into a flippant screed against Gen Z isn’t just obnoxious, it’s dangerous. It feeds a harmful narrative that their need for protection is make-believe, that they’re a whining, pampered generation we should ignore, or worse, allow others to target while we watch from the sidelines.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-03/mocking-gaza-protesters-isnt-funny-its-dangerous

[David__77]

1. Maher is terrible politically and personally.

[Uncle Joe]

2. If we were in the 1960s, I could easily see him trashing the protesters of that era, so

I find the name "politically incorrect" to be highly ironic.

It's just standard corporate spew with some rebellious style, he likes weed, but that passes for being politically incorrect on T.V.

I always believed that being politically incorrect was actually calling truth to power, and challenging the system to be better than it is but not punching down; that's just bully shit.

[David__77]

3. It is so smarmy, and at the same time supportive of existing power relations.

The complaints are reserved for those who wish for things to change.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Exactly,

Maher is corporate status quo, but I at times I do find him funny when there is nothing serious going on in the world.

[Hekate]

5. From the LA Times link: "predominantly male"...

Video shot by The Times, other media outlets and witnesses at the scene show counterdemonstrators in black attire and white masks ripping down barricades, beating people with batons and poles and screaming racial epithets. Campers were dragged, kicked and pummeled by the predominantly male mob Tuesday night and Wednesday morning while police and campus security stood by for three hours before responding.

Something tells me that if the cops actually do investigate, they will locate some Proud Boys and others of their ilk.