The Third Estate Sunday Review focuses on politics and culture. We're an online magazine. We don't play nice and we don't kiss butt. In the words of Tuesday Weld: "I do not ever want to be a huge star. Do you think I want a success? I refused "Bonnie and Clyde" because I was nursing at the time but also because deep down I knew that it was going to be a huge success. The same was true of "Bob and Carol and Fred and Sue" or whatever it was called. It reeked of success."
The latest propaganda effort signifies a desperation in the Israeli
propaganda machine. Activists and journalists have rightly pointed out
how the Israeli government has weaponized sexual assault allegations,
deriving from ulterior motives rather than a place of genuine concern
for women and children given Israel’s own horrific track record on rape and
sexual abuse, and furthermore, its active censorship of human rights
groups investigating sexual assault abuses of Palestinian children,
which Josh Paul, former director at the U.S Department of State, admitted to CNN.
The U.S. State Department’s toothless allegation that the ceasefire
ended because of Hamas’s barbaric desires towards women lacks
credibility. However, the manufacture and escalation of a sensationalist
media storm around October 7 allowed the Israeli government to reassert
its hegemony over narratives surrounding events on that day. The wild
descriptions of Hamas’s assaults re-center Hamas, thereby detracting
from emerging investigations by news organizations that complicate the
Israeli government’s account of a ruthless Hamas-led attack and probe
the IOF’s complicity in slaughtering Israeli civilians, suggesting the
IOF’s indiscriminate assault upon Hamas may have also caused the death of Israeli citizens.
In addition, emphasizing the brutality and inhumanity of Hamas’s
attacks on October 7 increasingly serves to legitimize Israeli revenge.
Israel’s assault lacks any semblance of proportionality, as the death
toll exceeds 16,000,
and widespread graphic videos document, extensively and in detail, the
annihilation of Palestinians, including the incineration of infants and
toddlers. Exaggerating the inhumanity of the Hamas attacks suggests
there is an equivalency of the Israeli response; though not in scale, it
purports to suggest Israel’s assault is equal in nature and brutality,
and therefore, revenge upon a population of 2.2 million people is
logical.
The US-Israeli propaganda machine has launched a new argument in
defense of Israel’s mass slaughter in Gaza: the claim that Hamas, which
carried out the October 7 cross-border strike into Israel that preceded
the current war, was guilty of mass rape of Israeli women during that
uprising.
That there is no direct evidence to support these
allegations is irrelevant to the perpetrators and defenders of genocide
in Gaza. The claim, suddenly blared out in the media, serves to distract
public attention from the catastrophic escalation of Israeli military
operations against the population of Gaza since the end of the limited
“pause” that accompanied the exchange of hostages held by Hamas for
Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
More than 1,000 Palestinians
were killed over the weekend by Israeli bombs and missiles. Some 2
million Palestinians have been herded into a tiny corner of Gaza, itself
an enclave no larger in area than the cities of Philadelphia or
Detroit, but with many more people. The purpose of the Israeli military
operations has become increasingly clear: to drive the entire population
of Gaza across the Egyptian border into the Sinai Desert, emptying Gaza
and making it available for Jewish settlers.
The US government has rarely been on the side of peace. Apartheid?
They supported it for decades. They verbally trashed -- especially
during Ronald Reagan's two terms as president -- Nelson Mandela as a
"terrorist." So Friday's action at the United Nations wasn't that
shocking. But they are appalling. Mallory Moench (TIME) reports:
The U.S. is facing criticism from the Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank, and other global leaders and organizations, after it vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The U.S. vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire put forward by the
United Arab Emirates and backed by more than 90 Member States at a
meeting in New York City. Compared to 13 council members’ votes in
favor, the U.S. was the sole veto. The U.K. abstained.
Yes, the White House is facing criticism. Even from Recep.
That's
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, and he's calling out the
US. Recep who does the same to the Kurds in Turkey that is being done
to the Palestinians is calling out the US. Because anyone can now. The
US government is in the wrong -- completely -- and now even Recep can
call the US government out. And he can do it on strong ground. There's
no weak foundation that's about to crumble under him as he makes this
call.
The vote on Friday resulted from Antonio
Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, triggered the vote.
As noted in the December 7th snapshot:
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used a rarely exercised power
to warn the Security Council on Wednesday of an impending “humanitarian
catastrophe” in Gaza and urged its members to demand an immediate
humanitarian cease-fire.
His letter to the council’s 15 members said Gaza’s humanitarian system
was at risk of collapse after two months of war that has created
“appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma,”
and he demanded civilians be spared greater harm.
It’s a special power, and the only independent political tool given
to the secretary-general in the UN Charter. It allows him to call a
meeting of the Security Council on his own initiative to issue warnings
about new threats to international peace and security and matters that
are not yet on the council’s agenda.
In Article 99, the charter states, “the Secretary General may bring
to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion
may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.
Now Guterres will have the right to speak at the Security Council,
without having to be invited to speak by a member state, as is usually
the case.
THE NEW YORK TIMES notes that the veto "has sparked
frustration among Arab governments that are pushing to end the conflict,
with one group of regional officials expressing 'deep dissatisfaction' over the move. Mahmoud
Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority -- which Washington and
others have floated as a potential governing body for postwar Gaza -- called
the veto 'a mark of shame that will follow the United States for many
years' and said that American officials' policy toward Israel had made
their country 'a partner in genocide'." As if the veto wasn't bad
enough, there's the ongoing supply issue and the lack of Congressional
oversight. Wafaa Shurafa and Bassem Mroue (AP) report, "The sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition was announced a day after the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution
demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, a measure that had wide
international support. The U.S. said Secretary of State Antony Blinken
determined that 'an emergency exists' in the national interest requiring
the immediate sale, meaning it bypasses congressional review. Such a
determination is rare." Julia Connelly (COMMON DREAMS) adds, "The State Department notified congressional committees of the sale
around 11:00 pm EST Friday, hours after a new Pew Research poll showed
that only 35% of Americans support the Biden administration's backing
of Israel's attacks on Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces have now killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza in just over two months, while claiming they are targeting Hamas." Missy Ryan, Michael Birnbaum, Abigail Hauslohner and John Hudson (WASHINGTON POST) note:
The
Biden administration faces mounting pressure over its provision of
powerful weapons to Israel, with the spiraling death toll in Gaza
deepening questions about whether the United States, as the country’s
chief military backer, must do more to ensure civilians’ safety.
Rights
groups, along with a growing bloc from within President Biden’s
Democratic Party, are intensifying scrutiny of the arms flow to Israel
that has included tens of thousands of bombs since Hamas militants’
bloody attacks of Oct. 7. Local authorities say that at least 17,700
people, many of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s operation
to dismantlethe Palestinian group.
At
the UN, the Americans duly vetoed this resolution calling for a
ceasefire. For those concerned about the significant loss of life, that
does sound a bit hollow - the Americans claim the Israelis are saying
they will stick to the rules of war and avoid unnecessary civilian
deaths. But, they say, there is a gap between what Israel says and what
it does.
I
think the strategy behind the secretary general's decision to bring a
vote - which he knew would probably get vetoed - was to hurry up the
inevitable moment when the Americans will say to Israel: "Enough is
enough, you've had enough time and killed enough people and it's time
for a ceasefire."
Some
diplomats I have spoken to have said they might give the Israelis
another month - I think Mr Guterres's strategy is to try and shorten
that, partly by increasing international pressure and also partly by
shaming the Americans into thinking that they cannot continue to hold
this position as it becomes less and less tenable.
That
pressure has also increased today with the publication of footage of
prisoners in Gaza, held by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), stripped to
their underwear and being driven away in trucks. It's a cruel image of
war seeing these men, which local reports on social media suggest could
be as many as 700.
Those
same sources, including family of some of the men, say that they were
taken from a UN school where they were sheltering, and where others
tried to get away and were killed.
Friday, on DEMOCRACY NOW!, Amy Goodman noted, "Video has emerged showing Israeli soldiers in Beit Lahia in northern
Gaza detaining over 100 Palestinian men at gunpoint, forcing them to
strip to their underwear while lined up, kneeling on the pavement. Among
those detained was Diaa Al-Kahlout, a Palestinian journalist with the
London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. In a statement, the
newspaper condemned the mistreatment of Al-Kahlout and other civilians,
saying Israeli forces 'deliberately subjected the Gazans to degrading
treatment, forcing them to disrobe, conducting intrusive searches, and
subjecting them to humiliation upon arrest, before forcibly transporting
them to undisclosed locations'." Today, AP reports
that they spoke with several of the detainees, "One of those freed,
Osama Oula said troops ordered all men to come
down to the street in their underwear. He said the men were were taken
to a yard, handcuffed and dropped off at a warehouse. During days of
questioning, the men were beaten and forced to walk or sleep on raw
rice, causing great pain, he said."
I didn't watch the
garbage that was HOMELAND and the reason why is I avoid it and all
'adventure' product based on Israeli entertainment is due to the fact
that the Israeli government practices and promotes torture. I'm sure the
Israeli government will deny that torture took place but their long
history of practicing it makes any such claim hard to believe. As AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL noted last month:
Israeli authorities have dramatically increased their use of
administrative detention, a form of arbitrary detention, of Palestinians
across the occupied West Bank; extended emergency measures
that facilitate inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners; and failed
to investigate incidents of torture and death in custody over the past
four weeks, Amnesty International said today.
Since 7 October, Israeli forces have detained more
than 2,200 Palestinian men and women, according to the Palestinian
Prisoners’ Club. According to Israeli human rights
organization HaMoked between 1 October and 1 November, the total number
of Palestinians held in administrative detention, without charge or
trial, rose from 1,319 to 2,070.
Testimony from released detainees and human rights lawyers, as well
as video footage and images illustrate some of the forms of torture and
other ill-treatment prisoners have been subjected to by Israeli forces
over the past four weeks. These include severe beatings and humiliation
of detainees, including by forcing them to keep their heads down, to
kneel on the floor during inmate count, and to sing Israeli songs.
“Over the last month we have witnessed a significant spike in
Israel’s use of administrative detention – detention without charge or
trial that can be renewed indefinitely – which was already at a 20-year
high before the latest escalation in hostilities on 7 October.
Administrative detention is one of the key tools through which
Israel has enforced its system of apartheid against
Palestinians. Testimonies and video evidence also point to numerous
incidents of torture and other ill-treatment by Israeli forces including
severe beatings and deliberate humiliation of Palestinians who are
detained in dire conditions,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for
the Middle East and North Africa.
[. . .]
Amnesty International has for decades documentedwidespread torture
by Israeli authorities in places of detention across the West Bank.
However, over the past four weeks, videos and images have been shared
widely online showing gruesome scenes of Israeli soldiers beating and
humiliating Palestinians while detaining them blind-folded, stripped,
with their hands tied, in a particularly chilling public display of
torture and humiliation of Palestinian detainees.
A British Palestinian surgeon who spent weeks in the Gaza Strip during the current Israel-Hamas war as part of a Doctors Without Borders medical team said he has given testimony to a British war crimes investigation unit.
Ghassan
Abu Sitta, a plastic surgeon specializing in conflict medicine, has
volunteered with medical teams in multiple conflicts in Gaza, beginning
as a medical student in the late 1980s during the the first Palestinian
uprising. He has also worked in other conflict zones, including in Iraq,
Syria and Yemen.
Here's a video of the doctor explaining what he saw:
Of course, the Israeli government denies they are committing War Crimes. It's not that easy, it's not that simple. Josh Meyer (USA TODAY) notes:
But a growing chorus of international experts – including some former U.S. government war crimes officials – say Israel's bombing of civilian areas is a clear violation of the internationally recognized rules of armed conflict.
“I
have very serious concerns about their compliance with the law of war
in Gaza based on what I’m seeing,” attorney Brian Finucane, who spent
nearly a decade as a State Department adviser on the law of armed
conflict, said in an interview. One of the biggest concerns, said
Finucane, who left the State Department in 2021, involves “how Israel is
defining military objectives, and whether those definitions are
consistent with the law of war.”
[. . .]
“Is Israel doing everything feasible to limit
civilian harm? Is it causing disproportionate harm when attacking
civilian targets?” asked Anthony Dworkin, senior policy fellow
at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “These depend on context –
such as information on targeting – which is why leaders are hesitant to
make conclusive statements.
“But I would say
that Israeli actions fall outside what is reasonable and do constitute
war crimes,” Dworkin, a former director of the nonprofit Crimes of War
Project, told USA TODAY.
After a lull, Israel’s allegations of sexual violence committed by Hamas have returned to international headlines with a vengeance. As the UN faces heightened pressure to
condemn Hamas’s alleged sexual violence, the sudden onslaught of media
and international attention nearly two months after October 7 begs the
question, why now?
Indeed, narratives of sexual violence have not only resurged, but
they have done so with vim. Lurid stories of gang rape, mutilation, and
even necrophilia, have been disseminated by the media. This has occurred
despite there being no substantive developments in evidence of sexual
assaults from the Israeli occupation forces. Israel has repeatedly
failed to provide forensic evidence, concrete photographic evidence, or
victim testimonies to news organizations beyond inferences made by
Israel’s forensic teams. Indeed, the Times of Israel alleges that the IOF will never provide forensic evidence because
“physical evidence of sexual assault was not collected from corpses by
Israel’s overtaxed morgue facilities,” and it is now, reportedly, too
late to collect conclusive evidence.
Presently, Israel’s case consists of one eyewitness testimony shown privately to journalists by
the Israeli police, witness testimonies of “body collectors,” forensic
teams, and army staff, photographs taken at sites that suggest women may
have been sexually assaulted, and witness testimonies of Hamas fighters
acquired from Shin Bet, whose use of torture is notorious. Testimonies
of victims will not be shared; the police have not interviewed any
surviving victims, and according to May Golan, Israel’s Women’s
Empowerment Minister, the very few victims who survived are receiving
psychiatric treatment and are therefore, conveniently, unable to talk.
It’s a far cry from the persistent efforts of the Palestinians,
forced to film their murdered relatives, their burnt and mutilated
children, and their friends and families in their most vulnerable
moments of grief, all in a desperate attempt to show the world what is
being inflicted upon them. Perhaps that is what privilege looks like,
where the dignity of Israeli victims is preserved, and the dignity of
Palestinian victims must be discarded in a desperate voyeuristic attempt
to publicize their suffering, starkly aware that the survival of the
Palestinian people depends on this.
Israel’s secrecy remains deafening; the IOF exclusively screened a
47-minute compilation of “raw footage” to invited journalists, as
opposed to sharing the footage with news agencies to report on and
verify independently (Al Jazeera journalists, notably, were not invited
to attend). Amongst those invited, journalist Owen Jones saw no “conclusive evidence”
for torture, sexual violence, rape, or beheadings. Furthermore, despite
calling on the UN to condemn Hamas’s acts of sexual violence, Israel
refuses to cooperate with a UN commission of inquiry into sexual
violence committed by Hamas on the ludicrous basis that the UN has “an anti-Israel bias.”
[. . .]
The latest propaganda effort signifies a desperation in the Israeli
propaganda machine. Activists and journalists have rightly pointed out
how the Israeli government has weaponized sexual assault allegations,
deriving from ulterior motives rather than a place of genuine concern
for women and children given Israel’s own horrific track record on rape and
sexual abuse, and furthermore, its active censorship of human rights
groups investigating sexual assault abuses of Palestinian children,
which Josh Paul, former director at the U.S Department of State, admitted to CNN.
AP notes, "The Palestinian death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 17,700 [. . .]" ALJAZEERA notes
the death toll on UN workers, "The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
confirmed the deaths of 133 employees in Gaza due to Israeli attacks."
This is the largest number of US workers killed in any conflict or war.
Fiona Nimoni (BBC NEWS) reports:
A senior UN aid official has warned that half of Gaza's population is starving, as fighting there continues.
Carl
Skau, deputy director of the UN World Food Programme, said only a
fraction of supplies needed have been able to enter the Strip - and nine
out of 10 people cannot eat everyday.
Conditions in Gaza have made deliveries "almost impossible", Mr Skau said.
Eduardo Cuevas (USA TODAY) notes, "Israel continued its bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, including in areas where Israeli forces had previously told Palestinians to evacuate. The strikes came just hours after the U.S. stood alone against an historic U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire." THE NEW YORK TIMES words it this way, "Some of the strikes targeted the southern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli
military has ordered civilians to go to avoid bombardment, underscoring
the reality that there is no safe place in Gaza to take shelter." ALJAZEERA explains, "Two hospitals in central and southern Gaza received 133
bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli bombings over the past 24
hours, health ministry officials in Gaza said on Saturday. Dozens of people held funeral prayers in the hospital’s
courtyard before taking the bodies for burial – a scene that has become
routine over the past two months of war."
While
the US government voted no on a cease-fire, the United Kingdom chose to
just be present and not vote for or against. They're not listening to
their citizens either. UK SCOCIALIST WORKER explains:
Over 100,000 people joined the sixth national demonstration in London on Saturday against the Israeli mass murder and destruction in Gaza.
Marchers were sickened by the daily evidence that Israel
has stepped up the bombing and ethnic cleansing after the end of the
brief truce. And many were disgusted -- although not surprised -- that the US vetoed a resolution on Friday at the United Nations calling for a ceasefire. Britain refused to support the motion.
Some of those marching have been on all the national
protests and local ones as well. But there are still new forces turning
out. Vinny, a taxi driver from Kent, said, “I missed the first few
protests but thought I better do my bit. I can’t watch the news—it is so
annoying and upsetting. Every day there is another horror story.
“Obviously there needs to be a ceasefire, but that isn’t
going to bring back the thousands of dead people. There has to be
something else. The Palestinians need to get more than ruins, they need a
country of their own.”
Since the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza began in
October, numerous protests have taken place throughout the Philippines
opposing this barbaric crime. At times clashing with police,
demonstrators have denounced not only Israel, but the roles of both
United States imperialism and the government of President Ferdinand
Marcos Jr in Manila.
Demonstrators gathered in Quezon City, Metro Manila on November 29,
marking the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian
People. Protesters held signs demanding Israel “Stop the bombings. Free
Palestine.” They also drew attention to the large number of women and
children who have been killed since Israel’s slaughter began.
Rallies
were also held the previous weekend, with marchers in Manila on
November 25 denouncing Israel’s genocide. Demonstrators chanted “Free,
free Palestine,” and “US, Israel Terrorists” and headed to the US
Embassy before police forcibly diverted them from their planned, and
supposedly government-approved, route. The protesters have been mostly
youth, students, and large contingents from the Muslim Filipino
minority. Thousands too marched on the Philippines’ southern island of
Mindanao, where most of the country’s minority Muslim population lives.
Former Vice President Al Gore reacted to the congressional testimony of Claudine Gay, President of Harvard.
Gay appeared before the House Education and Workforce Committee on
Tuesday, when she avoided questions regarding students who advocate the
"genocide of Jews" and whether they are violating the school's code of
conduct. Instead, she said she thought any reference to genocide was
"abhorrent." Gore is an alumnus of Harvard University.
"Well,
I was shocked by the tone-deafness of those comments, and I think they
got bad legal advice in putting together what they were going to say,"
Gore said onState of the Union Sunday.
On Thursday, Gay issued an apology to the campus newspaper following her congressional testimony. She assured students that she felt regret and that "words matter."
Gore
agreed with the statement, saying that Gay and the former University of
Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who also testified before the House
committee on Tuesday, "certainly do need to clarify that."
He
was shocked. We weren't shocked when a Portland massage therapist
accused him of harassment in 2010. Because we know how sordid his
personal life is and has been -- going back to his affair with E who
picked out his tie for the 1992 debate and who picked up and touched a
lot of other things. When we noted that here many, many years ago, it
confirmed what Tipper suspected but he had forever denied. That's why
they separated,
We were
shocked that three women were targeted last week and that numerous
Democratic males joined Republicans in attacking the women. Then we
read Ryan Grim's new book THE SQUAD: AOC AND THE HOPE OF A POLITICAL
REVOLUTION and we were mad at ourselves for being shocked.
Among
other things, Ryan details AOC's rise as first term member of
Congress. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was elected to the House of
Representatives in 2018. Two years prior, a presidential election,
found her endorsing Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Party's
presidential nomination. He ran again in 2020. AOC debated whether or
not to endorse him again. Among the things that concerned her for
2020? Bernie's supporters. Most of them were focused on real issues --
such as Medicare for All -- but some of them were annoying.
Now,
this is us speaking, not Ryan's book, there will always be annoying
supporters. We can support a candidate and be annoyed by other
supporters.
But what was
concerning AOC was something we noted in real time. Bernie's most vocal
supporters were often attacking women. They wanted to pretend
otherwise. Michael Tracey, for example, would insist he covered all the
Dems fairly. But he didn't. And by the time he wanted to note Kamala
Harris dropping out, we were tired of his b.s. and made a point of
noting that when men dropped out in 2020, it was a tweet from Michael.
When Kamala dropped out, it was 24 Tweets.
The numbers don't lie.
For the record, we weren't (and we aren't now) Kamala supporters. And we made that clear long before she dropped out.
So this wasn't us protecting 'our own' or standing up for 'our beloved.'
We
were also vocal about Tracey, Glenneth Greenwald and others attacks on
Elizabeth Warren. More than once, for example, at THE COMMON ILLS, it
was noted that Elizabeth was not going to get the nomination and that
all these attacks were doing were making it that much harder for Bernie
to draw Elizabeth's supporters to his campaign when she did drop out.
So reading Ryan's new book THE SQUAD, we were glad to learn that the attacks on women had bothered AOC as well.
Like
us, she was getting tired of the White man brigade (we'd say Tracey and
Greenwald and their supporters) constantly dismissing real issues with
their non-stop pretense that only class matters. It's easy for certain
White men to argue that because they've never been outside the focus.
But if you're a person of color or if you're a woman (of any color) or
you're transgender or Muslim or another category, you know very well
that the focus imposed by Tracey and Greenwald is limiting and
reinforces divisions.
Yes,
economy needs to be focused on -- but let's expand beyond the White
male property owners that certain White men know damn well have always
had their needs addressed.
From
Grim's book, let's quote AOC, "Bernie's supporters have been very, very
damaging to him, and it's really frustrating to see and experience.
They don't realize how influential they are. It's frustrating to feel
like they are hurting him. I feel like Warren is scooping up LGBT,
progressives, women, and progressives of color because of how they
[Bernie Bros] isolate."
And
we've seen the same nonsense from White men in the Democratic Party
during the last days. Men like Senator Bob Casey, Josh Shapiro and so
many more including Al Gore.
Three
women appeared before a House Committee last week. Republicans
attacked them at the hearing. And distorted them. And the bulk of the media ran with it. An exception?
Writing about Magill, Harvard University President Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth, Moustafa Bayoumi (THE GUARDIAN) noted:
The question is a
trap, of course, and for several reasons. The first and most important
reason is that there’s no evidence anyone since 7 October, or even in
recent history, has called for the genocide of Jews on any American
campus, public or private. Stefanik’s question implies that such calls
are commonplace, but she offered no proof.
The
second reason this is a trap is that the question can’t be answered
with just “yes” or “no”. Public universities, as state actors, are bound
by the first amendment, as are private universities which receive
federal funding. And the vast majority of private universities guarantee
freedom of speech and academic freedom as part of their core mission.
The American university is, by tradition and design, precisely where
abhorrent ideas can be uttered. So, if someone had called for the
genocide of Jews, which they haven’t, that would be extremely disturbing
but still protected speech.
The
utterance alone does not constitute harassment. In fact, the utterance
should be an opportunity to debate and debunk – and not silence – the
worst ideas of our day. To rise to harassment, such conduct must be
targeted at an individual and, as a 2019 supreme court case decided, be
“so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively
bars the victim’s access to an educational opportunity or benefit”.
Context makes the difference, or as this 2011 article,
published by the American Bar Association, says, “It is the context
that matters, and the context helps to make the determination about
whether conduct is actionable under school policy or protected by the
First Amendment.”
The
third reason the question is trap is that the situation is complicated
by the overarching codes of conduct many universities have adopted,
codes that I believe do often (wrongly) cross over into limiting speech.
But here, too, Stefanik seems confused. Writing
in the Wall Street Journal after the hearing, Stefanik ridiculed
Harvard for requiring incoming undergraduates to take an online training
session to help them identify language and behavior that could be
considered hateful to others. But, while mocking Harvard’s approach,
Stefanik – a rising Maga Republican – is at the same time demanding to
be included in it. So, which is it?
The media didn't care about complexities or, in fact about what was said at the hearing. They were interested in promulgating a lie. That's why they didn't
bother to correct the record. That includes two idiots -- Jonah Miller
and Emily Scolnick of the college paper -- who were eager to misreport
and someone might want to ask them how that qualifies as journalism? From the two 'reporters':
During
the hearing, Magill said it was "context dependent" when asked whether
individuals calling for the genocide of Jewish people violate Penn’s
code of conduct. Penn Hillel, the White House, Pennsylvania’s governor
and United States Senate delegation have joined the chorus of criticism
of these remarks, with many donors, students, and politicians calling
for the president to resign.
The scrutiny follows a now-viral exchange between Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Magill during the hearing.
Stefanik
asked whether individuals who call for the genocide of Jewish people
violate Penn’s policies or code of conduct, describing calls for
"Intifada revolution" among some protestors on campus as calls for
genocide of Jews.
“If
the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill told
Stefanik, later adding, “It is a context-dependent decision."
This response prompted Stefanik to continue probing.
“This
is the easiest question to answer, 'yes,' Ms. Magill,” Stefanik said.
“Conduct meaning committing the act of genocide? ....This is
unacceptable, Ms. Magill.”
Magill ultimately reiterated that calling for the genocide of Jews "can be harassment."
Yes, she did say that. She said a lot more, but, yes, she did say that.
Senator
Bob Casey Junior took to Twitter to share, "President Magill's comments
yesterday were offensive, but equally offensive was what she didn't
say. The right to free speech is fundamental, but calling for the
genocide of Jews is antisemeitic and harassment, full stop."
Fool, stop.
Let's note the following remarks at the hearing:
Let
me begin by saying that I, and the University of Pennsylvania, are
horrified by and condemn Hamas’s abhorrent terrorist attack on Israel on
October 7th. There is no justification --none -- for those heinous
attacks. The loss of life and suffering that are occurring in Israel and
Gaza during the ensuing war are heartbreaking. The pain extends to our
campus. I know it from my daily conversations with our students,
faculty, and staff, as well as parents and alumni. This hearing was
called to discuss antisemitism on college campuses. I value this
opportunity to reaffirm my and Penn’s unyielding opposition to
antisemitism and to outline the urgent, university-wide actions we are
taking to combat this centuries-old and resurgent threat. As President,
my first priority is to members of the Penn community and, above all, to
their safety and support. I must also ensure that our academic mission
thrives; that academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas endure;
and that we swiftly address any violation of the law or our University’s
policies. These are the priorities Penn is seeking to achieve in the
actions I will discuss today
The vibrant
engagement of Jewish faculty, students, staff, and alumni has long been
an integral part of Penn. To see this sense of belonging shaken by
recent events is deeply troubling. We trace our history back to 1772
with the enrollment of Penn’s first Jewish student, Moses Levy, who
later became the first Jewish Trustee of the University. The Jewish
Students’ Association at Penn was established in 1924. In 1970, Martin
Meyerson became the first Jewish Ivy League President. Since 2012, we
have partnered with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s Visual History
Archive to make available to students and researchers more than 50,000
video testimonials of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses. We -- and
I -- are proud of our history and the prominent role our Jewish
community plays in campus life and, broadly, in Penn’s academic
excellence. Under my leadership, we will never shrink from our moral
responsibility to combat antisemitism and educate others to recognize
and reject hate.
Prior
to October 7th, antisemitism -- a pernicious, viral evil -- was already
rising in our society, and global events have dramatically accelerated
the surge. No place is immune, and campuses, including ours, have
recently experienced an unacceptable number of antisemitic incidents. We
are combatting this evil head on with immediate action. I have
condemned antisemitism publicly, regularly, and in the strongest terms
possible and today want to reiterate my and Penn’s commitment to
combatting it. For decades our Division of Public Safety has learned
from and worked with the Anti-Defamation League office in Philadelphia,
and we are working closely with them, as well as local, state, and
federal law enforcement to promptly report and investigate antisemitic
acts against any member of the Penn community. Where we have been able
to identify individuals who committed these acts in violation of
existing University policy or law, we have initiated disciplinary
proceedings and referred these matters to law enforcement where
appropriate. We have also acted decisively to ensure safety throughout
and near campus. We have expanded the presence of Penn Public Safety and
Allied Security at our religious life centers including Penn Hillel,
the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, and the
Lubavitch House. We also enhanced security at every event, rally,
protest, and vigil on campus. Penn Public Safety works in close
collaboration with law enforcement, including the Philadelphia Police
Department. Like many communities around the world, Penn has also
experienced protests, rallies, and vigils related to the terrorist
attack and the subsequent war. Protest -- and all it entails -- has
long been a feature of university life. Penn’s approach to protest is
guided by the U.S. Constitution, outlined in decades-old open expression
policies, and supported and upheld by trained Open Expression
Observers. We recognize the right of peaceful protest and assembly, and
we give broad protection to free expression—even expression that is
offensive. At the same time, we have zero tolerance for violence or
speech intended to incite it. Our public safety officers are present at
every protest, rally, or vigil, trained in de-escalation techniques,
and, if necessary, they are ready to act. Protests playing out on
campuses and in cities worldwide demonstrate the challenges of fostering
robust debate during difficult times. In addition to respecting the
right of protest, Penn is offering many ways for students to come
together in classrooms and in small groups to discuss these issues.
Making space for this sort of debate is in keeping with the best
traditions and educational missions of institutions like Penn. Educating
citizens requires engagement with real-world challenges and hard
topics—topics that often inspire passionate responses. University
leadership must provide guardrails that encourage free and open
expression while also ensuring a secure environment, and that is what I
am seeking to do. These immediate actions are only the first step. I am
also committed to lasting change and laying the foundation for a Penn
that leads on these issues. On November 1, 2023, I announced Penn’s
Action Plan to Combat Antisemitism, which builds on our anti-hate
efforts to date and is anchored in the U.S. National Strategy to Counter
Antisemitism. Developed in collaboration with faculty, staff, students,
campus leaders, alumni, and national organizations like the American
Jewish Committee, our Action Plan centers on three key areas: (1) Safety
and Security, (2) Engagement, and (3) Education. In each of these
areas, we announced both immediate and medium-term actions. As part of
that Action Plan, I have convened and charged an Antisemitism Task
Force, with membership across Penn’s schools and communities, to
identify concrete, actionable recommendations. I have directed the Task
Force to provide me with their recommendations in real time and to
deliver their final report by this spring. We are making certain that
all our educational efforts aimed at addressing bigotry include
antisemitism and other forms of hate. To ensure our Jewish students have
a direct channel to share their experiences with me, I have invited and
received over 80 applications for membership to a new Student Advisory
Group on the Jewish Student Experience. I also sent a delegation of
university leaders to attend the Brandeis Leadership Symposium on
Antisemitism in Higher Education. They have reported back to me and are
already contributing best practices and lessons learned toward our
efforts. As these efforts progress, I know we will have more to report.
Who made those remarks? Liz Magill. In fact, they were her opening remarks for the record.
You'd
never know it because those who should have defended her were instead
rushing to condemn her. Bob Casey Junior wasn't at the hearing but he
didn't care to be or to review the hearing before commenting. He ran
with one snippet of the hearing that GOP members worked with FOX "NEWS"
to promote.
Her full testimony in the hearing was distorted and even the college paper distorted it.
John
Fetterman participated as well. He's the emotionally unbalanced
senator that lied to the country about his health so that he could get
elected to the Senate and then, after being sworn in, was unable to
serve for months (plural). He's always try to play the Big Man -- a
sure indication that he's not packing much (including any real
courage). So he joined in with Casey Junior and others to attack the
women. He's so stupid that it might go to his emotional problems. We
question the comprehension of an adult who Tweets this:
They could be protesting Hamas. They could be protesting Hamas' systematic rape of Israeli women and girls or demanding the remaining hostages be immediately released.
Instead, they targeted a Jewish restaurant. It's pathetic and rank antisemitism. https://t.co/zDZQwy84g5
There is no proof that women and girls were raped by
Hamas on October 7th. That is a claim which cannot be backed up. As
for Goldie? It's not just a "Jewish restaurant" and is Fetterman a
liar or does he need to return to the facility for additional mental
health?
And before anyone
whines that we're mocking his illness, we're not mocking it, we're
pointing it out. And we argue that he shouldn't be in the Senate
because of it -- it goes to fitness and competency.
In fairness to him, he's not the only one confused about Goldie.
They
lied about Liz's testimony and, before that, they lied about Goldie.
As Barbra Streisand sings in YENTYL, "Look at this/ The way one lie
begets another." Indeed.
At WORKERS WORLD, Betsey Piette took on
the many lies about Goldie's including that CNN and FOX NEWS skipped
off into The Land of Falsehood to lie in unison. Michael Solomonov is
the co-owner, the chef and "a prominent campaigner for the Biden
presidency" which really means that Joe Biden shouldn't have spoken
publicly on this because it looks like he's doing favors, at best, but
when his remarks are lies, it looks like he's lying for a friend -- a
friend who is Israeli, please note, not a US citizen which does make us
wonder about Solomonvo's help with Biden's 2020 presidentcial campaign.
Joe called the protesters, who included Jewish-Americans, "antisemitic."
The corporate media insisted that this "mob" had "surrounded the
restaurant" even those Piette notes the reality that that's "impossible
to do given that Goldie is in a storefront, not a stand-alone
building." But when did facts ever matter to cable "news" or, for that
matter, slimy politicians?
Piette writes:
One
of the planned protest stops was at Goldie, described as “an
Israeli-style falafel shop” co-owned by Israeli-born, celebrity chef
Michael Solomonov, and part of a larger restaurant group CookNSolo.
Solomonov was appointed by the Israeli government as a “culinary
ambassador” for Israel. According to The Grayzone (Dec. 7) Solomonov
“appears in Department of Justice Foreign Agent Registration Act
documents as an official propagandist for the country’s Ministry of
Tourism.”
Solomonov is also well known to Biden, having been, as Grayzone notes: “a prominent campaigner for the Biden presidency.
CookNSolo
restaurants became targets of boycotts after Solomonov donated 100% of
the Oct.12 sales from several of his restaurants, amounting to $100,000,
to Friends of United Hatzalah, a nonprofit emergency medical service
partnering with the Israeli Defense Forces. Solomonov’s restaurants are
being targeted because he is raising funds to aid IDF soldiers who are
killing Palestinians.
Second,
Fetterman, "Jewish restaurant"? You mean, of course, the cultural
appropriation of the Palestinian falafel by the Jewish chef, right?
Because the falafel in Israel (and in the Philadelphia eatery) is a
cultural appropriation. They can lie and pretend otherwise, but the
world knows it -- hell, even WIKIPEDIA knows it.
Touchy
little tykes, aren't they? When someone criticizes them or tries to
hold them accountable, they whine antisemitism. They sound a lot like
the idiots in the GOP whining about SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE's skit over the
weekend.
Did you miss that? Because the same group of liars are half-truthing and inventing all over again.
Barbra Streisand -- and Alan and Marilyn Bergman -- knew what they were talking about with "No Wonder" in YENTL.
So
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE' cold open was of the hearing and that cold opening
didn't get reposted at THE COMMON ILLS. Other SNL content has and,
stuff from the weekend before went up an hour after. But that skit
didn't get posted. It was the exchange that got transcribed but not
reported -- reporting requires context -- and we felt sorry for Liz
who's already been lied about repeatedly by the press.
By
the same token, we didn't produce any strong critique of SNL. It's a
comedy show. It's a comedy show that needs a new duo behind the news
desk on WEEKEND UPDATE (five years is more than enough for any team --
when you go beyond that, they're aged out of the show's intended
audience). And, in the scheme of things, it wasn't all that important.
We have lives and things to focus on.
As
the country knows, GOP members of Congress and their allies in the
press do not have lives -- certainly not productive ones -- and live to
whine and stir things up. They've already got FOX NEWS and THE NEW YORK
POST minions trying to stir s**t up.
Grasp
what this really is as 'Doctor' Sara Yael Hirschhorn sticks her ugly
nose into it -- FCC needs to investigate, she insists. What is this
really? An attempt to allow anyone to stray from the government
narrative. Free speech no longer exists for those in the US who see
themselves as agents (paid and otherwise) of the Israeli government.
We're
getting to the point where SNL's comedy requires an FCC investigation
-- according to a piece of trash tool for the government of Israel.
This
is the United States, hag, we don't respect anything. We slaughter sacred cows. We make fun of
everything. Take your calls for an investigation to the country you
love because it sure as hell isn't the United States where we do have
freedom of speech -- even if various Democratic senators aren't willing
to fight for it.
Why are they lying about college presidents and calling for the FCC to investigate the variety show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE?
Because they're trying to distract you. As Amy Goodman noted this morning on DEMOCRACY NOW!, "United Nations Palestinian aid agency UNRWA is
warning society in Gaza is, quote, 'on the brink of full-blown
collapse' as Israel continues its devastating assault that’s killed
18,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including over 7,000 children."
That's what they're scared of and that's what they're trying to distract from.
As
we did in 2021, we're attempting to again increase book coverage in the
community. After a review posts, we try to do a discussion with the
reviewer. This go round, we're talking to Ty about his "Leslie Jordan's sweet and charming biography (Ty)" So you enjoyed Leslie Jordan's book?
Ty: I really did. HOW Y'ALL DOING? MISADVENTURES AND MISCHIEF FROM A LIFE WELL LIVED is a good read and a charming book.
It's not really an autobiography.
Ty: No, it's more of a reflection. He's reflecting on his life and zooming in on certain areas. I really thought it was a great book.
What was your favorite story shared in the book?
Ty: He, Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner are working on a play and go on THE VIEW to promote it. Leslie is so nervous he ends up talking and talking and talking and then their spot on THE VIEW is over and he realizes he talked the whole way through and Lily Tomlin didn't even get a word in. It was funny, what happened and the way he tells it and how Lily jokes about it after.
What was your favorite character of all the ones Leslie Jordan played?
Ty: Clearly Beverly Leslie on WILL & GRACE. He and Megan Mullally were a great comedy team. And Beverly and his "business associate Benji" were always funny. I miss him.
Leslie Jordan was an actor who appeared on a ton of shows and in a lot of films. TV shows? He guest starred and starred on shows such as THE FALL GUY, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: 1984, FANTASY ISLAND, SUPERNATURAL, BOSTON LEGAL, AMERICAN DAD, REBA, THE NEIGHBORS, RAISING HOPE, UGLY BETTY, JUDGING AMY, ANY DAY NOW, WINGS, LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, ELLEN, DHARMA & GREG, NURSES, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, COACH, CAROLINE IN THE CITY, PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE, PERFECT STRANGERS, NEWHART, MURPHY BROWN, NIGHT COURT, NASH BRIDGES, SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, MONK, GEORGE LOPEZ, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN, THE COOL KIDS, THE MASKED SINGER, CALL ME KAT, HEARTS AFIRE, BOSTON PUBLIC and, the role that made him a star, he was Karen's best frenemy Beverly Leslie on WILL & GRACE.
He could get laughs where they shouldn't have been. He was very talented and, sadly, he died in October of 2022. The year before, his book HOW Y'ALL DOING? MISADVENTURES AND MISCHIEF FROM A LIFE WELL LIVED was published. KINDLE UNLIMITED subscribers and read it for free at AMAZON.
It's a warm book, like a conversation with him probably would have been.
He writes about meeting Dolly Parton and how, when people would ask him what she was like, he would explain that she's exactly like you think she would be. And that's how Leslie comes off in his book, exactly like you'd think he'd be.
He details what it was like growing up as a gay child born in the 50s in the south. Early on, he wanted a wedding doll for Christmas. His father was convinced he'd forget about it. Then Christmas is hours away and he's excited about Santa bringing that doll. His mother asks his father what they're going to tell him? His father darts out and buys a doll for his son.
He writes about accepting himself and about how Carrie Fisher did him a favor that helped him when his mother was upset because a tabloid had published some photos of him in drag. It was for a character he was playing and what bothered Leslie was that he thought he looked ugly in the photos. But his mother was bothered by the photos himself. Carrie got his mother Debbie Reynolds to call Leslie's mother and she talked to her about acting and various photos of Carrie and stories about Carrie. It made a big difference in how his mother saw his career.
He shares stories about working with Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer on THE HELP. He talks about how Vicki Lawrence was one of his heroes growing up and how it was great to work with her on THE COOL KIDS. He shares about working with Jessica Lange and Lily Tomlin.
It's a warm and funny book and a pleasure to read.
December 8th, Ryan O'Neal passed away at the age of 82.
The last time I saw him playing a character was on BONES where he played Emily Deschanel's father Max for 24 episodes. He got famous on TV, in the sixties, before I was born. The boxer turned actor started working professionally in 1960 and then, in 1964, was cast as Rodney on the night time soap opera PEYTON PLACE where he and Barbara Parkins had real chemistry which led Rodney and Betty to come back together over and over regardless of any other characters or any events.
In 1969, he made his first feature film, THE BIG BOUNCE, which featured his PEYTON PLACE co-stars Lee Grant and Leigh Taylor-Young. He would marry Leigh Taylor-Young -- his second wife. He would be involved with many other women over the years including Diana Ross and Joan Collins. His most well known relationship was with actress Farrah Fawcett with whom he had a son. They were together from the end of the seventies to the end of the nineties before getting back together in 2001 and staying together until her 2009 death.
His third film was LOVE STORY (1970) and it was a huge hit. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. I saw the film in fourth grade. It was the first time I remember seeing a man's butt -- naked butt. And I had a huge crush on Ryan. I couldn't believe that our teacher had shown the movie. It's a tear jerker and it's a good movie but I think she was of the opinion that since it was an old film it was a safe one to show.
Ryan's a "preppie" -- as Ali MacGraw dubs him. She's working on campus to pay her way through college and Ryan's rich kid. They fall in love. They marry and try to make a life together but she has a disease -- one of those movie diseases that has no name and whose chief symptom is that your mark up gets thicker and better as do your hair styles. "Love means never having to say you're sorry," she tells him.
"Working with Ryan, all those years ago, was one of the great
experiences of my film career, and we remained friends ever after. He
was a skilled actor, charming and funny too," said MacGraw, 84 — who
played O’Neal’s girlfriend and wife in the 1970 classic romantic film
written by Erich Segal — in a statement shared with PEOPLE this
weekend.
She continued, "I know that a huge part of my success was due to his
generosity as my co-star. It has been devastating to know just how ill
Ryan has been for many years now, and I was not surprised to learn that
he had passed away yesterday morning."
MacGraw added that her "heart" went out O'Neal's children and loved
ones, before she reflected on her more recent experiences with the late
actor.
LOVE STORY was a huge hit film spending 15 weeks at number one at the box office in North America. It made Ryan a star (GOODBYE COLUMBUS had already made Ali a star the year before.
As a star, Ryan would go on to make many films. He'd star in Stanley Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON, Richard Attenborough's A BRIDGE TOO FAR and Walter Hill's THE DRIVER. But it was in comedy that he'd really make his mark. Peter Bogdanovich directed him in the hits WHAT'S UP DOC? (with Barbra Streisand) and PAPER MOON (with his daughter Tatum O'Neal) and in NICKELODEON; he'd reteam with Barbra Streisand for THE MAIN EVENT; he and Jack Warden provided laughs in SO FINE, Jim Burrows' PARTNERS (due for a reassessment); Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer's IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES; he teamed with Cybill Shepherd and Robert Downing Jr. for CHANCES ARE; and Paul Mazursky's FAITHFUL playing Cher's husband. Those are the roles that he sparkled in.
Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, "Ava" started out this site as five students enrolled in journalism in NY. Now? We're still students. We're in CA. Journalism? The majority scoffs at the notion.
From the start, at the very start, C.I. of The Common Ills has helped with the writing here. C.I.'s part of our core six/gang. (C.I. and Ava write the TV commentaries by themselves.) So that's the six of us. We also credit Dallas as our link locator, soundboard and much more. We try to remember to thank him each week (don't always remember to note it here) but we'll note him in this. So this is a site by the gang/core six: Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I. (of The Common Ills).
