Here is the dissenting opinion

It goes into detail about the role of the Oslo Accords and Palestinian and Arab intrasigence.

https://t.co/6q5oCaGbzY

Declaring the settlements illegal is one thing, but declaring the occupation illegal is an obvious demonstration of bias imo.

Eta - demanding that every settler leave the OTs is an Arab maximalist position, no serious person believes that it's possible, and in this context is a tell that the authors are unserious and biased against Israel.

We aren't talking about Netanyahu.

We are talking about antisemitism on the left. Anti-Zionism for example is literally a creation of the far left, and the vast majority of it is antisemitic. Leftist professors at American universities are starting Critical Zionist Studies programs¹ to "explain how zionism is racist".

The Boycott, Divest, Sanction movement (BDS) against Israel is also overwhelmingly anti-Zionist and antisemitic² and it's only seen among leftists primarily in a collegiate setting.

SJP is another leftist anti-zionist, antisemitic group seen on American campuses³ SJP is even receiving funding from Hamas linked organizations⁴. Does that seem progressive to you? It doesn't to me.

The sad truth is there has been a troubling increase of antisemitism on the left, and it's structurally and philosophically different than RW antisemitism, which primarily stems from white supremacy. Leftist antisemitism has it's roots in Marxism and postmodernist heuristics that push the simple (and false) view that Zionism (and Israel) is a colonial enterprise invented by European white people. The view also embraces false narratives that create indigenity for the Arabs of the Levant that doesn't really exist, averring that Palestinians can be traced back to the Canaanites when that is clearly wrong.



¹ https://fathomjournal.org/the-institute-for-the-critical-study-of-zionism-a-new-stage-in-the-degradation-of-the-american-university/

² https://www.ngo-monitor.org/key-issues/bds/bds-and-antisemitism/

³ https://www.ajc.org/news/what-is-students-for-justice-in-palestine-the-hamas-supporting-anti-israel-group-being-banned

⁴ https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-799733

Zionism is an anti-colonial, indigenous rights movement

That successfully repatriated indigenous people to their ancestral homeland.

The Zionists did not seek to displace anyone, that occurred in 1947/48 because the Arabs tried to commit genocide against the Zionists but failed. The Arabs who didn't flee from the oncoming Arab armies became citizens of the new nation of Israel.

Iran Ramps Up Executions, Averaging One Every Five Hours

Over the course of two weeks, from April 16 to April 30, the Iranian government executed 63 individuals, averaging one execution every five hours, continuing a trend that began last year.

The data presented by the Iran Human Rights Organization (IHRNGO), headquartered in Norway, highlights a broader pattern of capital punishment in Iran.

Since the beginning of 2024, 171 people have been executed across various prisons in the country.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of IHRNGO, criticized the international community's silence on the issue, stating, "In the last two weeks, the Islamic Republic has executed one person every five hours without any political cost. States that adhere to human rights and have diplomatic relations with Iran must react to the wave of executions in Iran. Silence paves the way for more executions."

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202405032382

Iran executed 834 people last year.

What I Saw at Columbia's Demonstration

-snip-

I was at Columbia hours before the police came in and liberated Hamilton Hall from its occupiers. Unlike protesters of the past, who were usually eager to share with others what they thought and why, these demonstrators would generally not speak or make eye contact with members of the press, or, as they say, “corporate media.”

I was on a bench taking notes as a group of young women, all in sunglasses, masks, and kaffiyehs, walked by. “Friends, please come say hello and tell me what you think,” I called. They marched past, not making eye contact, save one, a beautiful girl of about 20. “I’m not trained,” she said. Which is what they’re instructed to say to corporate-media representatives who will twist your words. “I’m barely trained, you’re safe,” I called, and she laughed and half-halted. But her friends gave her a look and she conformed.

I watched small demonstrations of dozens:

“Israel bombs, Columbia pays! How many kids did you kill today?”

In front of Hamilton Hall, students milled about and chanted. From a second-floor open window, next to the window police would enter that night, two male students with a big rough rope were hauling up food—vegetable sandwiches on wheat bread, Dunkin’ Donuts—from the first floor entrance way. They hauled that black plastic supermarket hand cart up like they were re-enacting the siege of Sevastopol. There was a lot of re-enacting going on.

What struck me, beyond the chanting and bull horns, is that the demonstrators didn’t seem to want to make progress on questions you’d think would engage them. If they cared about the pummeling of Gaza, about overall U.S. policy in the Mideast, or the destructive impact of Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership in Israel, half of New York City would march alongside them. But they don’t want allies. Nor did they seem interested in marching in compassion for the people of Gaza.

-snip-

Gift link:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-i-saw-at-columbia-demonstration-masks-lack-of-engagement-4c778d4c?st=ctdtb2l3k49tx45&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Different link:
What I Saw at Columbia’s Demonstration https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-i-saw-at-columbia-demonstration-masks-lack-of-engagement-4c778d4c

There is no truth to the accusations of genocide

And it happens some of the folks making this spurious charge are antisemities. They often are the same people who don't think Israel should exist (anti-Zionists) or think that Israel has been illegally occupying "Palestine" so for them any attempt at defense on the part of Israel is unwarranted because Israel is illegitimate in their eyes. Even 10/7 has justifications.

Israel has been attacked by Hamas four times, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2023. The Israelis have every right to eliminate Hamas and in the current conflict they have captured or killed 14,000 militants. Given that studies like the one just published by Lancet show that the Hamas numbers are wrong by at least 10k, and that 14k of the deaths are militants, the civilian to combatant ratio is quite good, especially since this is urban warfare, and the enemy embeds itself in every civilian heavy location they can, like hospitals, schools etc.

Claiming Israel is committing genocide is just the latest lie being told about everyone's favorite punching bag, Israel.

I think a lot of people have been assuming the occupation is illegal

So it's already backfired before it even starts. This was a pretty stupid idea. Is the court going to invalidate the Oslo Accords? Why would they do that and what authority/right exists to allow them to? Are they going to change the Law of Belligerent Occupation and modify or eliminate the fourth Geneva convention?

I suspect they will create a set of rules made just for little Israel. Obviously their motivation is highly suspect, otherwise they would be directing their efforts to getting the hostages released, ending the war and facilitating change in Palestine to make the two state solution possible again. Nothing that has been happening at the international level is encouraging peace, just the opposite in fact. It's like they think they can bully Israel. They can't, not anymore.

Eta the Apartheid charge is a red herring. The law of occupation doesn't suggest that the occupied people should be citizens of the occupying nation, in fact it says the opposite. The status quo is to be maintained, politically, culturally, and legally until the conflict is resolved.

Super bowl ad.

[THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP]

https://twitter.com/ShmuelReichman/status/1756724007464788319

Antisemite screams at Secretary Clinton "you will burn!"

She was institutionalized because doctors cut out part of her brain

Because the doctors consensus at the time said that lobotomies were a legitimate treatment, and if Joe and his wife Rose wanted to help their daughter they should let doctors chop up her brain. If CPS existed at the time they would have probably threatened to take away their daughter if this accepted treatment wasn't performed. She could kill herself, the social workers counseled.

Unfortunately the quack treatment didn't work out too well, she couldn't speak or walk properly after her frontal lobes were separated from the rest of her brain, so she had to be put in an institution because she couldn't take care of herself.